Anyone converted a standard trailer tent to an overland trailer tent?

[Jongould]

I have always had camper vans and use them throughout the summer for festivals, camping trips e.t.c. but now I have got my 90 I dont really want to get another campervan as 2 ongoing projects is just too much plus the tax/mot/insurance expense...


So, im thinking of a trailer tent, they are pretty compact and offer lots of usable spoace. The correct one wont matter as far as height off the ground as many just have legs I can extend (im not looking at the huge fold out, awnings and seperate ensuites e.t.c.). What I am thinking is beef up the chassis, add an outer roll cage type thing to protect it laning and use maybe a spare landy axle for the trailer. The ones im looking at are about 400KG standard so maybe 600KG with the added metal...

Anyone done this before?

 

[johnny curt 1]

ive seen the arse end of a series 109 van back chopped and the chassis rails pinched together at the front converted into a sleeper van type thing if that gives you any ideas

 

[jamesmartin]

ive seen the arse end of a series 109 van back chopped and the chassis rails pinched together at the front converted into a sleeper van type thing if that gives you any ideas

sounds bloody poor

 

[johnny curt 1]

sounds bloody poor

looked cool as fook to be honest hed cut the front end of the rear tub to match the curve on a truck cab rear pannel and reversed that left the roof corners as they are to overhang a little and put his side lights under there then had the van sides with the windows in and rear end as normal looked verry well thought out and matched his series 109 station wagon a bloody treat

just wondering though if i built one would i need to take the towing test as i passed my test in late 97

 

[Bump]

I've seen someone put one on the roof of a van before with massively extended legs... seemed a bit odd.

I don't think a trailer tent would last that long off-road tbh, I own one, it used to be my parents, it's about 25 years old and still going strong, but, even if transplanted onto a protected beefed up chassis I think the roughness off road would smash it to bits, the hinges, joints, internal workings, etc. are not designed to be thrown around. Maybe a more modern one is better built than mine, but, even just road travel you get hinge pins walking, screws occasionallly working loose, etc.

You could maybe look at buying a very scrap one and using it as a pattern to build your own from scratch using sheet metal and thick wood?

OR

Just buy a pre-1973 camper van, cheap insurance, no tax.

 

[Jongould]

I've seen someone put one on the roof of a van before with massively extended legs... seemed a bit odd.

I don't think a trailer tent would last that long off-road tbh, I own one, it used to be my parents, it's about 25 years old and still going strong, but, even if transplanted onto a protected beefed up chassis I think the roughness off road would smash it to bits, the hinges, joints, internal workings, etc. are not designed to be thrown around. Maybe a more modern one is better built than mine, but, even just road travel you get hinge pins walking, screws occasionallly working loose, etc.

You could maybe look at buying a very scrap one and using it as a pattern to build your own from scratch using sheet metal and thick wood?

This is what I was thinking, not sure if it would stand up to being battered about. I was thinking of getting a cheap feww hundred quid one and basically beefing up everything, the units I can easily make heavy duty, it would just be the hinges like you say but im sure piano hinges bolted through the panels should hold up...

OR

Just buy a pre-1973 camper van, cheap insurance, no tax.

Just buy a pre-73, thats way to expensive, you looking 5K+ and then there is the maintanance!! I have done campers for years and even the best ones cost money, I want cheap cheap budgie cheap...

 

[Bump]

This is what I was thinking, not sure if it would stand up to being battered about. I was thinking of getting a cheap feww hundred quid one and basically beefing up everything, the units I can easily make heavy duty, it would just be the hinges like you say but im sure piano hinges bolted through the panels should hold up...

In that case, i expect if you bought one, stripped it and replaced / re-built with stronger parts then, yes, it probably would work - you could probably do some quite sensible modifications at the same time (external access storage hatches, electrics / water plumbing if needed, etc.)
Depending what you buy, mine has real glass in the windows and doors - i'd recommend replacing it with perspex for off-roading.

I'd be interested to see your progress if you do decide to go ahead - make a post in the expedition section and keep us all updated with lots of pictures.

 

[Jongould]

In that case, i expect if you bought one, stripped it and replaced / re-built with stronger parts then, yes, it probably would work - you could probably do some quite sensible modifications at the same time (external access storage hatches, electrics / water plumbing if needed, etc.)
Depending what you buy, mine has real glass in the windows and doors - i'd recommend replacing it with perspex for off-roading.

I'd be interested to see your progress if you do decide to go ahead - make a post in the expedition section and keep us all updated with lots of pictures.

This is the sort of thing im thinking about:

No glass or upright panels, no roof panel, it is just the base and the slide outr (or flip over) bed bases. The bottom section isnt needed and it doesnt stand off the floor so height can be adjusted...

I think I will end up getting one as they are around for about £400, if its not suitable for an overland trailer I will just make it look the part and only use on land, it will still be much better than my cheap crap tescos tent!!

 

[Bump]

Ah ok, mine's similar but where the window is on the Pennine in your pic is a solid (hinged) wall with window, and same opposite it for the door - sides are still the plastic / canvas stuff

But, yes, that looks like it would be easier to ruggerdise

I suppose the easiest thing is to put it on the new chassis and take it laning and see what breaks then beef that up and repeat!

 

[Paul D]

First thing I think I'd do is not worry about the chassis too much, but take the body off and make a decent base, maybe 18mm Exterior grade ply edged with steel angle section, so the living section has a much more solid base to sit on. Everything else from there can be beefed up, even the tent folding mechanism, but if the floor is solid enough It'll take a lot of the flexing out and you might not have to beef up much else at all.

 

[Jongould]

First thing I think I'd do is not worry about the chassis too much, but take the body off and make a decent base, maybe 18mm Exterior grade ply edged with steel angle section, so the living section has a much more solid base to sit on. Everything else from there can be beefed up, even the tent folding mechanism, but if the floor is solid enough It'll take a lot of the flexing out and you might not have to beef up much else at all.

I was thinking about seperating the body and chassis, making a new sub chassis for the main unit and then with some rubber mounts mounting this to the chassis, this would allow some chassis flex... might be a bit of an arse about face way of doing it though. I would also want to move the axle back slightly to help over bumps e.t.c, seeing as I would need to remodel the arches this wouldnt be too bad, I would run it on a landrover axle anyway to make sure it tracks behind inline...

 

[Jongould]

Well I thought I would bring this thread back from the dead as I have started on this little project now, heres a few pics to show progress...

Heres what I started with, its a pretty standard trailer tent, I got this one as there is no pegging into ground, its self contained into the base with just a set of legs on each side which are easy extendable:

I have then modified an old defender rear axle to take leaf springs, the springs themselves are unknown origin but I believe something along the lines of an old MG judging by the width of the axle I removed from them (it also had a rover diff attached). I used part of an old trailer and some heavy duty angle to make the frame for the springs. The axle itself has had the diff removed and the halfshafts cut right down to loose some weight whilst keeping the bearings sealed:

And then with some messing I have mounted the frame to the base of the trailer tent. The trailer unit has got a nice heavy galved chassis already to it, I simply removed the axle and aframe, bolted this one in with some HT mountings, modified the a-frame to fit the new sub chassis and bolted it all together:

Now all I need to do is make a new set of mud guards, I will incorperate a tree slider style bar around the edges to help protect the trailer from knocks and scrapes. The trailer will connect to my fender using a standard ball and socket setup mounted directly to the crossmember, the bottom of my trailer and the member sit at the same height so should look good, will post more pics as I progress...

 

[Paul D]

Looking good that, and relatively simple. Nice one ..

 

[Bump]

Nice job, and thanks for posting an update