peterg Posted September 28, 2004 Posted September 28, 2004 Bit off topic but you never know We're going to get a 7.5t truck for next year which will be partitioned off for car stowage/living accommodation to give us somewhere to kip/eat that'll be cheaper than B&B and pubs and using a tail lift for loading the car as I'd like to get rid of the box trailer/ramps etc and the associated towing hassles (it'll also be more secure but that's another matter). Anyway, has anyone on here got any experience of fitting out a motorhome/caravan etc as I've no idea what to put in as regards water supply/shower/toilet/fridge/cooker and also what's best for electrical power, generator/inverter etc. - we'll have a TV/DVD and small stereo system as well as plenty of lights. It's not going to be luxurious but we want somewhere warm and dry and comfortable for a few nights.... I've seen multi supply fridges (12v/230v/gas) which look expensive to me and Thetford cassette toilets seem to be the thing to have as are decent windows that have flyscreens etc but don't know what's best in actual use. We looked at a truck at the weekend that had been done to a nice layout so will nick that for ours. We have a friendly carpenter that will do the partitioning work and I know someone who can extend the taillift and make up some belly lockers etc but all the gas/electric stuff is a bit alien to me Quote
S13RUM Posted September 28, 2004 Posted September 28, 2004 The most cost effective way of fitting out is to buy an old caravan with all the bits you want and transer them. you should have everything you need. Quote
Rob Navin Posted September 28, 2004 Posted September 28, 2004 Try having a chat with Paul at Playscool. He got his running for the start of this season. Quote
peterg Posted September 28, 2004 Author Posted September 28, 2004 Thanks Rob Old caravan eh? - well I suppose if I buy it and strip it at least it's one more of them off the roads Quote
Al Yupright Posted September 28, 2004 Posted September 28, 2004 Show us a sketch of the floor pan then? Interested to see how it'll all fit in! How high is the car storage deck gonna be? Cos you could have this partitioned with a 4foot high ceiling and then have a sleeping area above that. It is a nice idea, and much more convenient than trailering, but the show stopper for me would be having to find somewhere to store the truck and tax/insure it. For my project car I'm working on either having the car itself form the chassis of the trailer, or a semi-foldaway trailer. Quote
peterg Posted September 28, 2004 Author Posted September 28, 2004 Floorplan is still in my head being 'improved' but roughly there'll be a 14foot car bay at the back (big enough for any car I might aspire to in the future) which is 8ft high for first 2ft6in (with tyre rack mounted above head height, well mine anyway) then 4ft max high for next 5ft over rear wing and rollbar (with our double bed above it) dropping to about 2ft6in above the racecars's nosecone for the rest (giving 6ft6in benches above it on each side with a removable table for eating along the centre of them). The rest of the 20ft GRP box will be full height (8ft) with toilet/shower compartment at the front, cooker/fridge/sink on RH side with lockers above, entry door is on LH side. I'm hoping to put some belly lockers on as well but that may be later apart from one to house the gas bottle/water tanks. Bill Chaplin of Force Racing Cars showed me his truck layout at Prescott this weekend and we really liked the layout as it could sleep 4 people very comfortably and yet there is plenty of storage space and it was airy too. Budget for fitting out is £5k on top of £10k for the truck but once it's done it'll be worth at least £20k as professional ones start at £25k+vat not including the truck! I hate towing the trailer and it's a pain to store it anyway (20ft long and 6ft high) so the truck is no worse and we have friends with a house set in 7 acres who will let us leave it there over the winter Truck is a Mercedes Atego 815 with 150bhp and 428lbft - Bill says his one cruises at 85 on the motorway and gets 20-25mpg...my poor 1.8 petrol Passat averages 18mpg towing the box trailer! Pic of similar truck here:- Edited to add - all measurements are approximate as I haven't got the truck at home yet to check everything exactly Quote
Rob Navin Posted September 28, 2004 Posted September 28, 2004 Pete. have you had a look on Piston heads and racecars direct ast there are already a few on there for reasonable money which are already kitted out. They may not be perfect but for the saving on your budget you could add showers and things. ( Not that I have been looking, honnest ) Rob Quote
Al Yupright Posted September 28, 2004 Posted September 28, 2004 15K is only 300nights in a B&B (at 50quid a night). So assuming 10events a year, and 2nights per event, it'll pay for itself in 15years. Quote
peterg Posted September 28, 2004 Author Posted September 28, 2004 Yeah Rob, I've been looking for the last 3 months but a lot of them have alloy boxes (very cold and need a big framework inside to support the partitioning etc) and they're mainly Daf and Iveco which rust after 3-4 years! Bills old truck is the MAN 7.5 tonne for sale here - a guy bought it off him last year unseen and when he got it home suddenly remembered that his TVR had a great big scoop on the bonnet and it won't fit inside under the bed area It cost Bill £9k to buy and fit out 5 years ago and he sold it for £14k (he reckons he should have only got £10-11k for it) Quote
peterg Posted September 28, 2004 Author Posted September 28, 2004 Al, it doesn't need to pay for itself as it will still be worth £15k in 5-6 years time but it will save money in the longer term and that's why we've decided to go this route (that and the fact that once our house sale is completed we'll actually have some money for a change) and you're not taking into account the meals we usually have in pubs etc whereas this way we can eat/drink whatever we would have had at home saving ££s on that as well Quote
RICHARD+PHILIP Posted September 28, 2004 Posted September 28, 2004 Sad I know But I was flicking through a copy of Horse and Hound (I wonder if they will be changing the name soon! magazine yesterday they have a large section on vans like that for sale most with horse and Human living sections well It maybe of some use when planning. as you have similar requirements and access problems Quote
peterg Posted September 28, 2004 Author Posted September 28, 2004 Been there done that (we have friends in Cornwall with a horsebox) sadly horses are rather shorter in length and taller than my car so consequently the layout will be very different (and for same reason they don't tend to use taillifts! - there are some horsebox companies who also do racecar transporters but they're prices are out of our league Quote
peterg Posted September 28, 2004 Author Posted September 28, 2004 S'funny but when I posted this I expected some of the closet caravanners and others to offer some advice but so far: Stepps hasn't told me how to keep it clean MB893 hasn't advised using the lightest toilet paper even Mr Stanton hasn't contributed after his many years of experience in keeping Stella at the correct temp what's up with them all? are they away at some Camping Expo? I think we should be told Quote
Mark Stanton Posted September 28, 2004 Posted September 28, 2004 O.K then Mr G Make sure you build yourself a fully insulated "Cellar" compartment There's a big camping expo at the NEC in Jan/Feb time - well worth a visit An old varacan would be a good idea as Nana's for getting some stuff and check out KAK tanks near nuneaton they do loads of stuff Quote
peterg Posted September 28, 2004 Author Posted September 28, 2004 Well, apart from the fact that they're called CAK Tanks and are in Kenilworth you've been 100% useful Mr Stanton Quote
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