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Nice camper, but .......


smallfry

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Having just spent 3 hours packing up our tipi and caranex etc. I can really see the appeal of a camper, especially when the ferry's then cancelled and we need to spent 2 nights trying to get a ferry home. On the bright side we were staying at the mother-in-laws so slept on her floor.

But I do feel a caravan build coming on, anyone got a rapier trailer or a Tesco's delivery van body kicking around.........

Mike

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3 hours ago, miketomcat said:

But I do feel a caravan build coming on, anyone got a rapier trailer or a Tesco's delivery van body kicking around.........

 

Funnily enough I stumbled across this about 20 mins ago! 🤣

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It might be an age thing ( i was dragged around europe as a kid with my dad's Datsun Urban converted with rover seats in it and with a caravan on the back), but i really do see the attraction of a caravan for holidaying.

 

It does what you ask of it and no matter where you are, you have somewhere to sleep, cook and do your business. 

 

Now if the off road caravans weren't so stupidly expensive, it'd be a perfect set up.

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Funnily enough I just finished helping guide a trip around the Highlands which involved a US spec OPUS trailer and a "DIY" one.

The Opus trailer on the face of it was quite impressive but wasn't that fast to setup (I could put up our awning, pod and beds in half the time) nor take down.

The most impressive setup was a tray back camper setup with a Swiss couple that was imported from Aus. 50,000€ though. OPUS railer was bigger and half the price. Thing that struck me about the OPUS was how far the wheels were from the hitch which meant on anything remotely resembling offroad it was getting dragged about.

Having camped on two beaches o this trip for me any build (which may involve a 6x6) will have to have a porch where muddy, sandy boots etc can be left to keep the rest clean. There's sand everywhere in the 110 after 8 short hours on a beach.

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20 hours ago, miketomcat said:

But I do feel a caravan build coming on, anyone got a rapier trailer or a Tesco's delivery van body kicking around.........

Would you need a trailer THAT high and yet that small? I can understand a little more robust & a little taller than the average white box, but I'm sure you're not planning to drag it down any serious green lanes?

I thought the builds based on commercial box trailers were quite good - a sturdy galvanised chassis made to work hard with a robust box on top.

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I haven't settled on a trailer yet but the biggest driver will be cost versus robustness. Caravan chassis are pence but flimsy. Plant/box trailer chassis are robust but normally £1500 plus. Military trailers tend to be cheaper and robust. I'm not frightened of modifying it or of IVA ing it.

Mike

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3 hours ago, miketomcat said:

I haven't settled on a trailer yet but the biggest driver will be cost versus robustness. Caravan chassis are pence but flimsy. Plant/box trailer chassis are robust but normally £1500 plus. Military trailers tend to be cheaper and robust. I'm not frightened of modifying it or of IVA ing it.

Mike

If you're up for IVA-ing it.... would building a chassis from scratch be easiest?

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7 hours ago, landroversforever said:

If you're up for IVA-ing it.... would building a chassis from scratch be easiest?

Not from a cost point of view and I'm short on time.

37 minutes ago, muddy said:

 

14' or 16' Ifor Williams flat bed with a box on would work well, you could even make it demount so you have a trailer aswell. Not to mention that they match in PCD....

 

I have considered this.

Anyway as I have a caravan thread probably should get back on topic. :offtopic:

Mike

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This feels worthy of further investigation:

bu290r9xjjg91.jpg.35d69a9053e8f91a3f46a6079b9b8ef9.jpg

 

qg6rh6xyjjg91.jpg.f763255ec48c29cb7d9a6d2b9d0791b5.jpg

Quote

Sleeping for 4, bathroom with toilet, shower with hot water, stove, 80l of fresh water, and seating for 4 as well.

Pod is 230kg 480lbs there or thereabouts. We build ourselves. This is the second unit. Made entirely out of renewable composites. Instead of grp we use flax fibres and it's insulated with Cork.

It'll be sble to withstand hammer blows and tree branches no problem. There are even sailboats built from this material. No skeleton is needed. That's why it's so light.

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6 hours ago, geoffbeaumont said:

I suppose it depends on your criteria. If your primary aim is to shout "look at me" as loud as possible then the one in the OP is kind of hard to miss!

There are a number of caravans and vans around here that people sell coffee etc. out of.  I recall one or two look like that aluminium one and that shouting "look at me" is a good thing for the owners.  Which would be a pain when travelling - people continually knocking on the door wanting to buy a coffee!!  That would annoy me, as I don't drink coffee...

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