Thread: Had another thought... yep I have!!

God help us all! Good on ya Shane, trust you to think outside of the box

ACTUALLY...

Ive been thinking again...

Gettin to be a right worry eh?

Sooo my latest incarnation of this thought process works like this... buy an old caravan say 20ft... and...

CUT THE TOP OF!!!

Then get some canvas and make it into a pop top!! I mean how hard can it be right? a good pair of tinsnips a few hours cuttin around the top say 10in down... then put that aside thats the lid... then down to the window tops and cut again toss this section should be what about 10in or so?... then fold over the bottom of the top section say 1in and the bottom section again say 1in this gives the strength for the canvas/flyscrean section to connect to... get the canvas/flyscreen made to fit... then 4 gas struts or similar and connect them to the four corners fit the canvas and whallah! one pop top

All up? One maybe two days work cutting and bending installing the struts and buttons (connections for the canvas/flyscreening) another few hours conneting it all together... oh and the weeks wait while the canvas/flyscreening is made... so whats that a couple of weeks to get it all together?

EASY EH!!

Now your wondering why on earth would he do that when all he has to do is buy a flamin poptop to begin with right?... Well aside from the "outside the box" thought processes... Id also want to... ahem... mmmm... ummm... aaahhh... redo the subframe!! gotta lift the thing I mean its got to take me BUSH serious bush that is not namby pamby sometimes a little bit bush but mean hard BUSH... so the bums gotta be tuffened up!! and raised of course

Still... some plans would be good eh!

Cheers
Shane

No good for you Ding your to short you'd have to install a ladder to POP the top

and a winch to pull it back down

What you really need is a mobile cara/house boat then you get best of all the worlds

Or get one of these cut the caravan loose and stick it on top only thing you couldn't do then is fly

Unfortunately until u have worked out what it is u are wanting to achieve, then its hard to offer any advice. Currently working for a joint that does heaps of custom canvas work, unfortunately its on the other side of the country.

If it is a pop top u are after, then maybe buy one thats in need of work and beef up/ raise the height of it on the subframe level. Recon it would be easier to do it that way then buggering around with the actual van part. Ever cut the roof off a car? Like a car the van would need its roof to maintain the integrety (shape). Once u cut the top off, getting everything to fit back together right can be a pain, even if u braced it first.

Then replace the canvas if required.

The fiddly stuff like ally channeling to support (and just as importantly sealing) the canvas pop top would be set up right and be good to go. A good idea is to velcro the flywire onto the canvas bit. Fixing a busted flywire is simply a matter off remove,
taking them into a canvas joint for them to remake.

U then reattach, insted off taking off the entire canvas. Not a cheap or good job I can assure u.

If u are keen to make it yourself it would pay to have a look around to see what others
have done. Some vans run a few gas struts, others use a scissor design. Perhaps u could incorporatate the scissor idea with struts to make it easier.

Plans for pop tops --- I cant help u there.

Once u have made a decision of what u r going to do and how u propose to do it, let me know if u like.

I think a normal old caravan done in this way would not stand up to off road experiences W. D. The top mounted on struts would also be very heavy come setting up, pulling down time. I've seen roads in the N. T. with big yellow signs up advising not to take caravans and such onto them. They fall apart, literally. Lots of lovely coloured glass shattered on the sides of the roads back then.

I reckon, make or buy an off road camper trailer without the the top, and wreck a caravan for the fittings and furniture, and get the tent part made up. The other problem is, those buttoned on parts usually allow the winds and mozzies to enter, as well as the bulldust.