Guest wunntenn Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 I've read the various trailer threads, but not seen any from anyone building a caravan. I'm fed up with camping and getting soaked so interested in a slightly stronger than average caravan that I can take off the tarmac with ease. Does not have to be huge as my 110 can carry a load of junk so the caravan can be fairly compact. I've looked at the T@B (TAB) Offroad model but cant contemplate the mad £11k price tag. Next idea was to get an old Eriba and stick it on a beefed up chassis but even 20 year old Eribas are £2.5k. So I thought a heavy duty chassis and suspension from my local pro trailer builder would give me a good base to start from at £1k onto which I could fabricate a robust upper frame with a few mod cons. The Aussies have loads of them so there's enough ideas floating around to get inspiration from. I would not be doing anything like the Oz offroad torture - more likely trips onto hill and forest tracks around the Scottish Highlands, coastal and beach tracks in the Western Isles and the occasional trip to Norway and Finland on dirt roads so it could be a good bit lighter than the Oz 'vans. Looking at something that's about 7 or 8 feet long by Land Rover width wide, and light enough to be towed by a car if needed occasionally. Anyone been down this route? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 One thing I would say is to make sure you start from an existing trailer, since a certain date a little while back all new built trailers have to be type-approved, which has pretty much put a stop to home-built trailers. Of course, there's nothing to stop you just restoring an old one. "The chassis was rusty guv', I had to replace it" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wunntenn Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Aha. I was not aware of that. Hmm - might have to rethink the idea (or not). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 I did seriously consider this and found a great website that I got a load of ideas from however now on a different computer and can't find it now it was a camper type conversion done in Germany to a Toyota. the engineering was awesome and I stole loads of ideas from their build. From the many hours of surfing the web reading blogs and forums I came to the following conclusion: You can't just take a caravan and strap it to a chassis or stick bigger wheels on it and expect it to stand up to any sort of journey, the way caravans are constructed does not lend it's self to being shaken about and will simply shake it's self to bits both internally and externally and you will end up with a pile of bits. The existing height of a caravan does not lend it's self to strapping it to a trailer the centre gravity is all wrong water tanks etc are not where they need to be. If they bothered to the caravan will often be balanced to the chassis and therefore can be unstable. If you even touched a tree you are likely to put a significant dent hole in it, have you ever seen the aftermath of a motorway crash involving a caravan!! So basically taking a caravan and making it an 'off road caravan' just won't work or I have not found anything that will work. Where I have seen it work well as I say was the German chap and some in the US but they started from a new box, when I was looking at it I found that the Sankey Raiper trailer would have made the best base for a project as it is bigger than the 'regular' widetrack Sankey and either look at building a body or converting either a Land Rover rear body or a Quadtec type body. After all of the options I looked at I would have built a body frame out of Ali and lined it either with Ply or aluminium and then insulation, I think the tips I picked up would be to make the inside as light as possible drilling out the wood to make it light weight using boxes for storage etc as everything will shake around. any type of normal cupboards. A pop top of some sort is essential otherwise you are not going to get the internal height again the German one had a great top that fitted over the body it was lifted up via a air line and then locked in place with pins it drooped the height made the whole unit water tight and secure from the more light fingered type as unless you knew about the airline you would have never figured out how to get in the trailer. When I costed it up I think you could have made it/have some of it made for around £2/3K or cheaper depending on your fabrication skills. Jason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markt Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Why don't you have a dormobile conversion on your 110 ? expensive but the best of both worlds & well worth it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wunntenn Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Good advice Jason, thanks. I considered the Eriba compact caravan as I have seen a couple of German off-road conversions to those involving beefed up suspension and larger tyres. They have the pop-top too, so a lower c.o.g. and they have a robust airframe-inspired tubular steel frame and from what I've read have been towed (in standard trim) to everywhere from Iceland to Cape Town. Markt - have considered that too but want something that can be towed behind other vehicles, and be used more comfortably for winter time use. I also carry a load of stuff around - sea kayaks and bicycles, filming and photography kit etc so need the space afforded by a caravan. I have gas burning and welding experience, and am a time-served carpenter and cabinetmaker so am happy to undertake a build, although I wanted the professional chassis makers to do the base so it was guaranteed to be up to legal standard and they could advise on material specs for the weight and length etc saving me a load of work. Must take a look at these Sankey Rapiers. Cheers chaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Train Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 If it is only to replace a tent then why not just have a box to sleep in on a Sankey chassis? Or put all the stuff in a box on the Sankey and sleep in the back of the Land Rover? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wunntenn Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Two adults, small boy and a collie means its going to have to be a bit more than a basic box! Have done the sleeping in a box routine in various small vans, and the LR (which is ok if alone) as well as the flappy tent, well flappy is an understatement as the westerly gale that hit us on the Isle of Coll (down the bottom of a crofters track right beside the beach) was strong enough to destroy my North Face tent and lift a fibreglass expedition sea kayak and leave it 100m down the beach. In my advancing years a degree of comfort is appealing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicks90 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 what about a trailer tent? ok, its still a tent - sort of - but it packs away very neatly and solves the height issue. Also as it packs down tight, things probably wont get shaken about so much and hence wont fall to bits like a regular caravan would, and then doing a bit of additional work to strengthen the chassis and suspension to prevent issues with that. Many of them have solid lids as well, so you can mount a roof box on them for kit instead of chucking it all in the back of the 110. maybe worth considering - like this one? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/COLEMAN-MISSOURI-HARD-TOP-FOLDING-CAMPER-TRAILER-/220801966252?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item3368d2a0ac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wunntenn Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I've discounted the trailer tents as not robust enough, and after a good soaking when packed away you have a damp soggyish thing to look forward to next evening. I'm looking for something that is 4 season capable, easy to use and quick to get into, and likely to be able to withstand some serious weather, which I find myself out in fairly often, sometimes working and sometimes as an unavoidable consequence of far northern British leisure! Dont mind it being pretty compact as once our wee lad gets older he can kip in the back of the 110 so the likes of the Eriba compacts like the Puck would be fine. There's one here: http://www.eribaforum.co.uk/mwf/attach/59/13259/FordingRoyalBardiaTigerReserveNepal.jpg which is as far as I can see a standard van. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zardos Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Check this thread out A pic from the thread or I've also seen one where a series 3 I think had everything in front of the bulkhead chopped off and drawbar added to make a enclose trailer/caravan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardAllen Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 These guys http://www.overlandwithkids.com/ went to Oz with two adults, two kids, a 110 and a Jurgens Xplorer caravan. I think the caravan fell apart in the Ukraine. I hope to meet them one day as driving a family 12 months to Oz in a 110 without much idea how to fix it is BRAVE. Regards Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Train Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Here's the trailer I built. Based on a LWB roof on top and SWB roof on the front. I used 3mm aluminium sheet I found dumped for the sides. It is just shy of 10' long 54" wide and 44" tall. It would have been taller but I was thinking of a height restriction it would occasionally have to pass through. This is built on a chassis made from 50x50x3mm box section, a lot of it so it is really solid, and placed on caravan suspension but it could just as easily be built on a Sankey. I can see if I can find photos of the chassis another time if you want to see but I am not at home at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q-rover Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Kedron caravan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrfarmer Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Kedron caravan thay look nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreebieFreddy Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Try this website. http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/index.php Scroll down to 'Off Road trailers' or 'CT Trailers' (as in Cargo Trailers.) I built this one ..... http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=44261 and rebuilt it to this .... http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=44262 and now finally (until I have another thought) ..... this one.... http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=44263 there are many more pics in the links above. This trailer has two slide-outs ....1 for the bed ..... the other for the seat area. This trailer has appeared at many a Land Rover Show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreebieFreddy Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 I once saw this one ...... and it is made to a very high standard. The pics are all over the place, but if you 'assemble' them in order, you can see what a great trailer it is. http://www.disco3.co.uk/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=3357&page=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wunntenn Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Excellent stuff - thanks everyone! Love the slide-out! Plenty to think about...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinny Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Here's a few pics of the us version http://www.google.ie/search?q=off+road+teardrop&hl=en&prmd=ivnsfd&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=C-4YTo-wG8KDhQfOicXMBQ&ved=0CC8QsAQ&biw=1280&bih=737 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 A few years back, possibly on the Belgium National? I saw a van which slept 3 people and was remarkably compact. It had three bunk-beds on one side. The top two folded up against the wall and the bottom one had the base divided into three, each bit of which could be folded up individually - which provided different seat configurations, while allowing space to cook etc. Each of the bunks had a fabric sheet hung from the ceiling / bunk above which made it into a light-tight cell. When I saw it, one of them was asleep on the top bunk. The outer structure was constructed like a box-van with extruded Aluminium edging, corners etc and the walls made from some kind of foam-board. The whole thing was just sat on top of a small transporter type trailer such that it could be lifted off and the trailer used normally. They had clearly put a lot of thought into the ergonomics of the interior considering how small it was. It was not tall enough for me to stand up in - but the owner said they were thinking about making two retractable boxes which would descend into the gaps in the bed of the trailer in front of and behind the axles so the bottom of the box sits on the ground. They probably only need to be an insulated board with curtain sides. I liked the fact that you could still use the trailer when it's not being a Caravan. OK, it was only suitable for the lightest off roading - but with bigger wheels on the trailer it could probably have done OK. I'm sure I took photos of it, but they are not coming to hand at the moment! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wunntenn Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Cheers Simon. Thats in line with some thoughts I've had after the mention above about type-approval. If its a commercial trailer and compliant then its irrelevant whats inside it as a 'load' - even if its a rectangular shaped sleeping/cooking device. Ahh food for thought! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil_me Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 FreebieFreddy that is excellent, well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Baldwin Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Check out: http://www.volker-lapp.de/trailer.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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