Box Trailer Slide on Camper Design

[Gojeep]

Any idea what it will weigh all up now?

[glend]

I have taken the camper round to the local weighbridge, it came in at 410kg (that's TARE or empty - although the spare and storage box were on the drawbar). I'm pretty pleased with that figure as the box trailer alone weighed over 200kg empty. I still have to load it up (fridge, battery, and LPG bottle) which will take it close to 500kg, but it will always be well under the braked trailer limit of 750kg. Now that it is through bolted to the trailer, I took it out on the Sydney M4 for a run at speed - no problems tracks straight and I can see right down each side with my standard mirrors and through the rear view mirror out through the back door window at things right behind the rear of the trailer. I do need to get abit more weight on the towball, and have had the LPG bottle holder welded on there ahead of the storage box.
GD

[Gojeep]

Not bad at all on the weight.

[Steve F]

Will you be putting off road tyres on it etc. Mine weighed 430kg but that was with a 40mm axle and 31" tyres

Cheers
Steve

[Gojeep]

Dont think you would take that off road would you? Be worried about the COG on side slopes and clearance under trees etc.

[glend]

When I started on the design I wanted a camper that provided maximum space when stationary but had the smallest possible frontal area for towing (ideally the same height and width as my KJ). When the roof panels are folded down it is the same height as my KJ roof (it was designed to be that way). The width is the same as the KJ, and the wheels share the same track as the KJ. The Centre of Gravity is lower than you might think, my 100Amp/hr gel battery is right on the floor in a seat box ahead of the axle, LPG bottle, the storage box and the spare tyre all live on the drawbar at the same level as the battery. My Waeco fridge sits in its own cubby hole in the kitchen area and rests on the floor of the wing, so all of the heavy weight is located lower than waist high, and most of it is no more than knee high. The sleeper extension is hinged at the bottom so that it rotates inward and rests inside on the wing floor for travelling.
This first trip I am doing to north Queensland will be mainly a road trip, stopping in caravan parks and established camp grounds. The purpose of this trip, in addition to visiting my son, is to test the camper and debug any problems, which I will report back to the board. I am confident that the centre of gravity is low enough for the uses that I will be make of the camper.

[glend]

I have just returned from my 6000km trip from Sydney up to Cairns and back down through Charter Towers and the Gregory Development Road. I stayed in caravan parks, some camp grounds, and spent a couple of weeks with my son in Moranbah (one week going up and one week coming down). My camper proved to be a good home for my adult Labrador dog and myself for more than a month (ok I had a room when I was at my son's place).

The insulation turned out to be a good inclusion, as it was very cold this past six weeks even up into the north interior of Qld (at night). My LCD TV allowed me to watch most of the Olympics in the evening (with my amp boosted antenna).

I found an annex to be a useful inclusion, I used one meant for car roof attachment, but modified it to attach to eyes screwed into my rear gable panel. The camper endured some fairly rough roads, the worst of these being the Gregory Development Road from Charter Towers to Clermont, which is still not fully paved all the way and we had about 150kms of single lane of red gravel with deep dust shoulders. The single lane was of very poor quality, and with the road trains it was badly rutted and holed. Obviously, parties travelling on this road have to give way and try to keep one set of wheels on the surface. I came across a motorhome which had rolled when it dropped its wheels off the graded surface into the dust while trying to make way for a road train. These poor folks were waiting for a big tow truck from Charter Towers and while they were Ok their dream trip was ruined.

Re the interior, I have included some photos taken on the trip. Forgive some the mess but you know how these things get when out on the road. No problems structurally during the trip, the rig came through with no real damage. No weld cracks or issues with the trailer. The camper does allow a little water to get in up under the front edge of the roof panel when travelling at speed in rain storms (pressure is pushing it in), so I will have to look at that for the future. A couple of wet cushions and water on the table were the result. I have a minor hairline crack in the edge of one roof panel which I put down to over tightening of the lockdown clamps.

The unit was comfortable and I highly recommend a toilet if your building a camper . I was so glad to have one onboard on those cold nights.

I met many very nice people, and the camper attracted much attention from the grey nomads. I was even photographed by a couple on the Bruce Highway near Townsville. Everyone who talked to me about the camper thought it was a great idea. One couple in the Ingham rest area (who were travelling in their homemade tray top camper) intend to start on one when they get back to Victoria.

At Airlie Beach (Seabreeze Park) it took me about ten mintues to set everything up and then I had a cup of tea while I watched the poor guy next to me setting up his Cub Camper (hardfloor). It took him one hour to get it all organised (had to put up his annex due to a few showers that night). His wife loved my toilet inside and the fact that I could cook inside (after coming from Victoria and then down from Cape York she was sick of doing the cooking outside everyday).

Work to do for next time: I have to finish the bed panel that attaches to the interior wing surface to make the bed into a Queen size (right now it more of a king single). This panel will extend from the dinette seat to the toilet with legs that fold up (whole thing attached via piano hinge).

Next year the Cape, but the camper will be on a new off-road trailer that I am drawing up now.