Okay you legends hows this for an idea?

[Wild Dingo]

Okay so Ive got this Conway camper an ex UK job and having had a bit of a gander under the thing Ive realized that our UK bretheren have no bloody idea of what camping is all about!!

I mean this thing has some ali type or if not ali then REAL thin C channel as the main under frame... mates Id be lucky to trust this thing on me driveway let alone where we're gonna be going!!

Soooo me an me son in law young Daniel sat down an mulled over this problem last night over a few... mmm okay quite a few... stubbies after a wonderous barbie at his place... and we finally at around 2am came up with this brilliant idea!

Our plan...

Get ahold of a good nick 6x4 trailer one with landcruiser tyres already on it... take of the front and rear sections... then take of the wheels axle and front drawbar of the camper so we end up with just the frame under the thing... then beef that up with some RHS fitted into the C channel... then bolt the whole thing to the trailer!... so working out the numbers this am I came to the conclusion that there would be a 10inch overhang at the front and a 7in overhang at the rear... the camper proper would sit around 3inches above the sides of the trailer and the kitchen at the rear would still retain its sliders and legs... although the legs arent really necessary as theres a table that I can beef up a little that would take its weight without any probs... so maybe I will do away with them as well not sure yet

Anyways what do you blokes reckon?

Now why Im doin this is simple... a) We do NOT stick to roads when we go camping we GO BUSH! so the underbody frame NEEDS to be strong and this thing is NOT strong by any stretch of the imagination under there b) It needs to be RAISED to be at least level with the back of the 4x4 at present the ???? is about 4inches of the ground! c) The tyres are like the tyres on wheelbarrows SMALL and Im not into small tyres out where we head I want MEAT on the suckers!

So after much thought many beers much to an froing humming an haaaing and realizing at about 1am that we basically WANT TO GO camping THIS YEAR the initial ideas sucked something shocking I mean they meant work for gawds sake!! MUCH WORK over a long period of time due to families, kids, problems, work etc so this seems to be the most brilliant of ideas :2tsup:

Also it means I can save some $ on licensing as the trailer would be lisenced the camper wouldnt need to be!! WHAHOOO savadamoney! :2tsup:

Anyway ideas or thoughts?

Cheers!

[echnidna]

There are commercially built offroad campers made like that

[dazzler]

On the right track....but...... I would just fabricate your own frame. 100 x 50 x 2mm RHS Duragal would do the trick with a new axle, hubs and wheels. Much better IMO than stuffing around with old stuff. :2tsup:

Why we could even help sketchup it if you have the dimensions. :)

[Wild Dingo]

Demensions I have!! gawd its great havin young Joshy to give me a hand :2tsup:

I was thinking after I posted that... It would behove me to buy a new trailer rather than an oldie... difference of a few quid... will have to consider that not sure I want to spend much more... but then for ease of doing it would be best I guess

Alright Dazz mate here comes the campers demensions (folded of course!)

Length of camper 6ft 10in length of kitchen side 17 1/2in width 4ft

Height if camper base 13in height of camper to top of cover 27in height of kitchen 18in

I suppose you want that in millimeters huh?? :doh:

ohhh sigh okay then...

Length of camper 2082 length of kitchen side 445 width 1025

height of camper base 33 height of camper to top of cover 689 height of kitchen 46

I think???? damn!! I will leave it to you to sort out cause it just boggles my mind if its not in imperial measurements alright!!! :roll:

Cheers!

[Wild Dingo]

There are commercially built offroad campers made like that

REALLY??? :o Man now that does make me feel better! :;

[Buzza]

Making your own sounds like a brilliant idea, so there must be something wrong with it. W. D; if it weighs over 750 Kilo's loaded up, you'll need to have brakes fitted, and if they aren't on it already, kiss a grand goodbye on that job. Apart from that, if your state, Western Australia, is anything like the South Australian government, they frown on home built trailers. They put it to all sorts of stringent tests.

The only other thing I can see wrong, is that it was made in the UK. I hope it will be comfy to camp aboard it in Australia. Should be good in the Snowy Mountains. :D

[Wild Dingo]

Well... dont know about the laws thing but since its already classed as a "custom built" jobbie cant see as they can complain if I do some... errr ummm modifications?... only "slight" ones! :;

Sooo what Ive done so far whilst waiting for Dazzler to get it together with the sketchyuppy thingymabob is to do the following...

1) Bought a tow hitch
2) Bought an axle (heavy duty sucker! :2tsup: )
3) Bought a set of 4 leaf springs and assorted bits an bobs to fit them
4) Bought a set of Landcruiser hubs (I gots a shyteload of spare tyres and a spare rim due to having upgrading the tyres when I bought the car and have a bead on another 2 rims)
5) Bought in a mess of 4x2 RHS steel
6) Cleared a section of the shed and prepared for...
7) Backed the camper into the shed

Did a bit of a scout around underneath the thing and I am sure I am going to take the whole damned shootin match off completely and start again! The things undercarriage is thin C channel 1in x 2in... so off its coming!...

Was thinking of welding the new RHS to the C channel and then send 4 U bolts through each corner to pull it all up but thinking about it it would be a better option Im thinking to just rip the old buggar off and whack up a new one... easy as eh!! :doh: :U

Mind you between 1 and 2 above I bought a whangdangdoodle of a UHF CB for the car... and what with this and that the bloody thing is still in its box behind the front seat... and the old VHF still resides in the console :~ Trouble is I have NO BLOODY IDEA how that thing comes out let alone how the other one sets up and in :doh: but hell I'll get phissed of with the thing soon enough and then just rip something out and jam the buggar in! :2tsup:

But the plan is to rebuild the subframe and take out the old one replacing the whole thing... give myself a bit longer A frame for the hitch... and then hopefully I will be able to jam a couple of Prado wheels under her and whallah! Just the same spare for both... and that has gotta be easier!

As for the snowies... well mate given the thick curtain stuff that hangs like a flynet over both beds Id say Id be pretty warm and toasty in there :2tsup: and as when I was a young fella wandering around the country I never did get to see snow... still havent... the snowies could be on the cards!

But I gotta jab Dazzler a bit more about the sketchup thing...

Okay new measurements for the underbelly

between centres of the two side rails is 800cm the side rails are 2100cm and the present tow bar is 1000cm

Although old dumbass here measured and had the RHS for the between centre peices cut at 800... he didnt take into consideration the thickness of the damned side rails did he?... ummm no he didnt!! WAKKER! :doh: so its gonna be 800 between centres PLUS the thickness of the side rails instead of 800 overall... ah well a tad wider is a better wider tread pattern Id say :2tsup:

Present setup under there is 3 rails running the length of the trailer with only centre rails at the ends... intention is to have 2 rails the length of the trailer and 4 cross members also will make some angles to give some more meat to each corner... The tow hitch should end up being 1500... I will I think have to cut wheel arches into the sides since the wheels were so small and therefore the arches were built into the unit and not veiwable... so I will cut the arches out and fit a couple of wheel arch things since its going to be wider and higher and the tyres will be bigger all round but thats okay... present tyres are 10in tyres sorta like a ruddy brickies wheelbarrow tyre and bloody useless as is the present axle/suspension setup... so Ive now got everything I need and have drawn one hell of a ROUGH sketch of what Im going to do...

and this is where the legend of Sketchup old DAZZLER our ol sock himself steps up and draws me some PROPADOPPA plans!!! Goodonyermate! :2tsup:

Anyways theres where Im at... woodworking has gone on the backburner until this is done... but I can I think just about still get at the lathe... so who knows I might get bored and turn something like ooh I dont know... toothpicks? :U