Sankey Off Road Camper Project

Talk to Nene over land one of there guys has done exactly that with a sankey.....hope that helps

now then , i have been looking at all pics and info about sankey conversions , i have been working on mine thought some one would be intrested in looking.

The NATO hitch is a piece of crap designed by the army. We suffered them for twenty years, and trailers coming adrift was a real worry.

The Landy hitch height and the tow-ring height of a Sankey trailer are MUCH higher than the 18" to 20" a standard small trailer hitch height should be.

CharlesY

Another point youi may wish to think about.
The road springs of the Sankey are fit to take the weight of the empty trailer PLUS a good half a ton more plus 50% on top. We used to fill ours with three layers of full jerry cans and had no trouble with springs at all.

These tough springs will make the trailer suspension very stiff when running empty or light-loaded, and for a camper you might want to use a much lighter softer spring, and a damper.

In my days with 222 Squadron RCT we had the REME convert a couple of Sankeys into little mobile offices, known as Dog Kennels for pretty obvious reasons. They were very useful indeed, wired for field telephones, 12 volt lights, Tilley lamp too, maps on one wall, bed on the other side, and a space for making coffee and heating compo.
Those were the days!

CharlesY

CharlesY said:

The NATO hitch is a piece of crap designed by the army. We suffered them for twenty years, and trailers coming adrift was a real worry.

The Landy hitch height and the tow-ring height of a Sankey trailer are MUCH higher than the 18" to 20" a standard small trailer hitch height should be.

CharlesY

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aye , ah use me sankey wide track every day fer moving sand , stone, concrete blocks , fire wood ,bricks and steel around, i do hundreds of miles with it, the NATO hitch is a must in my opinion, along with an original 12 pin plug, hitch goes on the cross member in the 4 holes that are factory drilled , no exeption , they dont go on a drop plate, if your trailer has a towing eye / A frame and brakes , the nato hitch must be the same height, i dont see the point in putting the eye on the underside of the a frame either as done erlier in the fred! yer dunt need steps or awt on a landrover yer use fer WORK !
if yer want a large light weigh trailer go to b&q and get one fer £280 or a ifor trailer as a lot lower to make a trailer tent out of, also on a standard 50mm ball.
and one thing ne one has done on here is put a jocky wheel on ! how do you unhitch a trailer with 3/4 of a tonne of concrete blocks on , and rest it on the front leg ? the back legs are handy , i also have a NATO hitch on the front bumper , good for pushing trailer in to a tight space as the sankey int so good fer reversing with , seems people only have sankeys on here as a weekend toy, :doh: use it to its full potential , or else yer towing 3/4 of a tonne of empty trailer round for nothing, just to keep yer lunch box in ! it dont add up to me,

90truckcab said:

aye , ah use me sankey wide track every day fer moving sand , stone, concrete blocks , fire wood ,bricks and steel around, i do hundreds of miles with it, the NATO hitch is a must in my opinion, along with an original 12 pin plug, hitch goes on the cross member in the 4 holes that are factory drilled , no exeption ............. use it to its full potential , or else yer towing 3/4 of a tonne of empty trailer round for nothing, just to keep yer lunch box in ! it dont add up to me,

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Thats different!
Do you fit the skinny split pin across the latch?
We had several incidents of a trailer jumping the hitch if that pin wasn't in place.

CharlesY

CharlesY said:

Thats different!
Do you fit the skinny split pin across the latch?
We had several incidents of a trailer jumping the hitch if that pin wasn't in place.

CharlesY

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yeah wont leave me yard with out the pin in the top, even empty, yer never kno.
pluss its a good habbit to get into, hahahah its supprising howmany people reverse without dropping the clamp over the bar ! that makes me laugh when it rears up on them , them bars are so easy to bend too !

QUOTE"i dont see the point in putting the eye on the underside of the a frame either as done erlier in the fred! yer dunt need steps or awt on a landrover yer use fer WORK !
if yer want a large light weigh trailer go to b&q and get one fer £280 or a ifor trailer as a lot lower to make a trailer tent out of, also on a standard 50mm ball."

Your needs are clearly different from mine. I have a NAS spec rear step on the back of my 90 and therefore without dropping the eye on the sankey to under the a frame the sankey wouldn't tow at a level height. I wanted a camping trailer for a good price, and thats what i got.

Being a tiff in the REME i am more than capable of a good bodge!!!!!!!

anthony5351 said:

QUOTE"i dont see the point in putting the eye on the underside of the a frame either as done erlier in the fred! yer dunt need steps or awt on a landrover yer use fer WORK !
if yer want a large light weigh trailer go to b&q and get one fer £280 or a ifor trailer as a lot lower to make a trailer tent out of, also on a standard 50mm ball."

Your needs are clearly different from mine. I have a NAS spec rear step on the back of my 90 and therefore without dropping the eye on the sankey to under the a frame the sankey wouldn't tow at a level height. I wanted a camping trailer for a good price, and thats what i got.

Being a tiff in the REME i am more than capable of a good bodge!!!!!!!

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fair enough, i work my series and sanky like a bitch, but if yer only using if as you are its more than good enough, there a good trailer

hi all, i wonder if any 1 can help...i am looking at using a sankey myself for some trips but i need both nato and normal towing gear and if i put a nato hitch straight to the cross mem it will foul with the spare on the back door.??????????

Hannibal said:

hi all, i wonder if any 1 can help...i am looking at using a sankey myself for some trips but i need both nato and normal towing gear and if i put a nato hitch straight to the cross mem it will foul with the spare on the back door.??????????

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on the door or a wheel carrier? shunt make a difference, nato hitch thru the x-mamber, that also holds the drop plate with the 50mm ball on, is yer wheel low/ big tyre?

just a thought and i might be talking bowlocks but would it still foul if you fitted one of them swing away wheel carriers ?

thats the height of the nato hitch, will yer wheel miss it?

the bottom of the tyre on a carrier will be near the bottom of the door, if the door misses the hitch the wheel will? rite?

Well thanks for the help guys, i'll give it a go....

Works ok on mine with the wheel carrier..



Only thing that will foul the spare wheel is the jockey wheel when it's up

there we go , cheers buster, thats like the pic i were tryin to find, had on on me old 110 never had a prob with it,
ooooh you have a jockey wheel on yer sankey ? posh eh? ah got a leg with a lump of steel on it !

Cheers buster the pic really helps mate.

Hi Anthony 5351 Got similar problem with ride height. Happy to put the towing eye under the drawbar but what about the brakes? My sankey brakes work on the ring compressing. onto the pressue pad to apply the brakes. Interested to know how you got round this.

Mauricio said:

Hi Anthony 5351 Got similar problem with ride height. Happy to put the towing eye under the drawbar but what about the brakes? My sankey brakes work on the ring compressing. onto the pressue pad to apply the brakes. Interested to know how you got round this.

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make a striking arm that reaches the old position , by extending it . or move the lot underneath ! personaly i wouldnt do it . then again most people who use a sankey for a camper or trips, dont use it to its full potental , weight wise, so might be safe enough