Hi all!
So following a good look at the recent caravan and camping show on the gold coast, we pick up our new offroad soft floor camper trailer on Saturday. The model we have gone for has some nice inclusions including a 105ah dual battery system, kitchen, independent suspension, fully welded powder coated trailer and toolbox, rated recovery points, boat racks, dual jerry can and gas bottle holders, water tank and electric pump, electric brakes, LED lights to the kitchen and tub and dual cigarette lighter outlets to the rear of the trailer. We optioned a kids room and on board gas hot water system.
I already have a range of mods planned, with some lined up ready to go already.
Tent and Top: Christina's dad John owns and operates Hervey Bay Canvas and will be adding an internal wall in the annex section to make another small partiton/room. We are also thinking of fitting an insulation layer to compliment the tropical cover at some point. The mattress is getting a topper for now but we will upgrade to a decent mattress at some point in the future. I will also be fitting gas struts for the under bed access.
Power/Electric: Straight up I am adding a pair of usb charging ports and a voltmeter on a moment switch to the area at the head of the bed. There will be a further 2 points fitted to the kitchen for the kids to charge Ipads etc. The panel is already made and waiting to go in. I will also be fitting a flush mount socket style Anderson Plug below the cigarette lighter outputs to run the fridge. I have a battery meter on order and will be fitting that to a panel in the toolbox along side the battery along with an ammeter that I have already as well as a cigarette lighter socket. At the moment we will be charging on a 120watt solar setup but at some point In the near future I will be putting in a DC DC charger for better charging in transit. Im also trying to source a suitable 12v DC power supply to run on if we have access to 240v power. Lastly will be a second 100+Ah battery.
Trailer: Rustproofing underneath as well as a bearing upgrade will be done ASAP. Im thinking of also having a bracket made up to be able to have the fridge on some sort of swing away attachment off the corner of the trailer so it can sit under the kitchen but swing out for access. Lastly I will source 3 more rims and change up to match the tug (94 nj pajero). I have the tyres already.
Water: I'm looking at fitting and in-line style water meter to keep track of usage and levels as well as an in-line filter. Im also not sure if the hot water is plumbed all the way to the kitchen with a mixer tap but if not its an easy change.
Lighting: I have permanent fixture LED strip lights to go in to the main tent and bed area. These will be switch controlled from a panel. Will go with some velcro ones for the kids room and annex area. The existing tub light is switched via a switch from the kitchen. Its also not hugely bright. Im going to replace it with an LED panel and add a pressure sensitive switch so that it comes on automatically when you raise the bed to access the tub.
Cooling/Heating: Im looking for a low draw fan for the main bed area. The windows in the tent are pretty generous and the tropical roof should keep things cooler so hopefully Im not too much of a hot potato. For the winter months we are going with a diesel heater. Having used a campervan in NZ in the middle of winter we were pleased at how well they work.
Kitchen: as we have a kitchen with an extended work bench area we felt that if one of the kids were to lean on it, it would bend, so Im going to fit a swing down/drop down leg to support it. At some point I will install a SMEV stove or similar.
I will be doing all the electrical/mechanical/plumbing work myself and we are keeping the canvas work in house too. That leaves any welding which Im absolutely terrible at, so that will be outsourced. Either way cost should be kept to a minimum which helps given how much we want to add.
The tug: Im towing with a 94 3.0l manual pajero. The trailer is at the upper weight limit of what I wanted but still well within the parameters of the towing capabilities. Electric brakes are controlled via a tekonsha primus IQ proportional controller. I have dual batteries with an automatic isolator, although the second battery isnt very big but will do fine running the fridge while its in the car for transport.
There will probably be more mods I can do. We are hoping for some remote touring opportunities want to be totally self sufficient because caravan parks are not really our thing. Any suggestions, comments or questions are welcome.
Dave
