Box Trailer Slide on Camper Design

[aussiebulldust]

Originally Posted by Steve F

I'll be adding shocks to me after its all registered, currently my springs have the short rebound leafs in them but I think shocks is a better bet.

Cheers
Steve

if your planning on water crossing go override rather than electric. Water and electrics don't mix well

[starter]

Originally Posted by greenjk

Does'nt really matter if you use coils leaves or torsion bars they are all springs and need a shock absorber to control them try taking a shock of a car and see how well it behaves going down the road let alone off road

that is correct for a vehical, but not allways the case for a trailer.
i wont rant on about it though like i normally do....
i don't want to corrupt a great build up thread...



keep up the good work

[Adomw07]

Thanks Gildo

Definately put shockies on! my mate runs a camper similar to mine but with no shockies and he shakes the bjesus out of the stuff in the camper - I put the rubicon shocks on mine (old ones off the Jeep) and people travelling behind my mate and I can see that my camper is smoother over the bumps

anyhoo you can always add them later

Ado

[glend]

I managed to get the roof on past weekend. The box trailer slide on has now been primed. I used some boat primer that I had on hand, over a base ply sealer of two coats of Norseal (like Everdur but cheaper). The roof has also been sealed with Norseal prior to priming with two coats of White Knight Grip Lock Primer. I've used the Grip Lock water based primer on the roof because I am about to put two to three coats of Therma-Shield on the roof, which will be followed with a topcoat to hide the sand like surface of the Therma Shield. I have attached some progress photos.

I've finished off the side panel, which will be the hinge out section roof and will start on the rest of the hinge out bed next weekend. Its hard to get much done with epoxy in the weather we've been having in Sydney, ie slow curing and the amine blush.

I'd appreciate your views on insulation. I've priced Isoboard and was thinking of lining the interior with 25mm after sealing with Norseal, but I can't come up with an interior surface if I do that - what to apply over Isoboard that doesn't weigh too much? I could just insulate the roof sections and forget the sides(or maybe use Therma Shield on the outside and boat headliner on the inside. It would be nice if there was an Isoboard with a thin ply veneer already bonded to it on one side.

You'll notice I have mounted three hatch vents in the main roof panel. The smaller roof panel section hasn't been put on yet (still curing), I should have it all set up next weekend. Went to Camec at Kogarah to look at their gas struts, and I'll probably order some long ones for the big roof section (from Caravansplus).

Note to readers - due to slight sagging of the original roof (shown below) the roof shown on the camper has been replaced with a composite panel made of an interior layer of decorate ply veneer, 30mm of closed cell high density foam, and and exterior layer of 6mm marine ply sealed with epoxy resin. The entire roof panel was laminated on my garage floor with epoxy glues and does not require additional framing support. So do not use the design of the roof panel shown below, it will sag over time and better to do it right the first time.


GD

[starter]

with no side in it it looks like a pie and coke trailer....

i like the idea of using a box trailer so you can lift it out and still have a usable trailer to cart junk around

[glend]

Well its nearly finished, I had the trailer over to Mario Trailers today to get the extended drawbar put on (he cut the old one off). I have also upgraded the leaf springs to Alko 4 leaf (rated to 900kg a pair). Getting the camper off the trailer proved a trial, with my son in Queensland I had to do it myself. I used the old up down lever technique. I dropped the back down to the ground and slid the camper off about 400mm then raised it back up to place the shoring under the rear. With the rear end tied off to a tree I pulled camper out gradually adding more shoring as I went. It's sitting on blocks in the front yard now while I finish the trail mods (gas bottle holder, and storage box). I will post some pics in the next few days. Any ideas on how to go about putting shocks on a box trailer?

[glend]

Well my camper/caravan is almost complete. I finished my last work contract on 30 June and have been working at finishing it off to head up to Mackay, hopefully mid next week.

I have attached a few photos of the finished exterior (the two small triangle pieces on the extension section are there but are folded down in the photos). I have had my draw bar extended and put a LPG bottle holder there along with the spare tyre and my storage box (not in photo). I still have to add the weather stripping around the roof top rails and the back door.

I have decided to go with 25mm Isoboard insulation in all the roof panels. Its from Solartex in Sydney and is tongue and groove edged. Surprisingly easy to paint. I finished cutting and gluing the end gable insulation this evening and should finish the two main panels tomorrow. I will not insulate the walls at this time, they are being Estapoled to retain the natural wood (which I prefer to a painted surface).

I'd appreciate any comments you might have on the structure.

Glen