[shep]

I am going to look at a secondhand teardrop on Friday. It is a Avan weekender, does anyone know what I should look for?
Also it is 4 years old and never been registered, sounds a bit strange to me so should that be a concern?
Hopefully it checks out ok and I can get it cheap enough that I can put the body on a decent chassis and suspension

[atari4x4]

My olds had an Avan caravan & they reckon the kwality shat all over the other makes

[cairns27]

Hard to seal a van with an opening back.

bye

[pete_79]

We travel a lot with friends that have a teardrop.

Couple of things I see with that one.

The good;
That cover over the kitchen looks great.
Our friends have tried many, many setups to give them a dry kitchen area. None with any great success I must say.
The design of that one actually looks ok. As long as it stops water coming in the top corners of the door and wetting those (chipboard looking) benches and cupboard.

The not so good;
No side door???
You’ve lost two thirds of your kitchen. No space for fridge and bugger all storage space in the back. Obviously a bit of room under the bed, but you don’t really want to have to lift your bed every time you want to grab a frying pan.


And I can’t see those plastic flares last too long on your expeditions.

These guys make a good product, that might suit your conditions a bit better.
http://travelbugteardropcampers.com.au

[shep]

It doesn’t have a kitchen and the awning doesn’t need to be fitted so can close the big door to keep the cold wind (A/C) on the inside.

I normally take a 3x3 gazebo for shade. If I do get it I want a slide out kitchen in front of the wheels and will put a cheap pull out awning on the roof for a 2.5x3 shade area.
I only want it for wet season camping or when I go on my annual no family man holiday.

Cold season or family camping I will still use my hard floor camper.

[Eddy]

if the price is right it should be a good jigger. No rego could simply mean they bought it with great intentions and things changed ... like maybe the bloke had a stroke or lost his job.
Not sure I'd want to hang a kitchen out front over the draw-bar ... starts to get fairly long once you get into that;- maybe you could get a slide out kitchen into that cupboard on the right and run it through under the bed?

[shep]

I mean a kitchen like this. Should be responsibly easy to retro fit.

Maybe

[Eddy]

Ahh! gotcha.
Responsibly easy huh? ... probably relatively easy too if the company already do it.

Oh ... and ... what I said about through the cupboard at the back ... there's a wheel arch in there somewhere

[shep]

Haha bloody iPad spelling

[shep]

To make it trickier this has popped up for sale locally as well also same price as the teardrop.

Apparently tare weight is 680kg and it also has aircon.
Seppo built body on a chassis made by Kimberly kampers

Also how does max tow weight on a car work?

My car can tow 1000kg and have 160kg on the towball, does that mean I can tow 1160kg as long as 160kg is on the towball?

Also can ya tow a trailer with max weight 2000kg as long as it weights 1000kg when towing?

Tow weight is a bit strange on my car. Lwb can tow 2000kg but swb is only 1000kg same motor/driveline etc just 2 door instead of 4.

[Eddy]

Stay away from those floppy roofed abortions!!
Not too bad on smooth roads but anything else will kill'em.
The BIL has one and is forever repairing the roof and wall sections. When traveling, the panels flop and bounce around. Had to replace the RH wall panel twice before they finally figured how to support it properly.
He says packing up is a bitch. Has a dozen bits of padding to be placed in just the right spot as ya go.

[Eddy]

shep wrote:

Also how does max tow weight on a car work?

My car can tow 1000kg and have 160kg on the towball, does that mean I can tow 1160kg as long as 160kg is on the towball?

means you can tow 1000kg, with up 160 of that on the towball

Quote:

Also can ya tow a trailer with max weight 2000kg as long as it weights 1000kg when towing?

nope ... well .. ya could until some bloke in one of them cars with lights 'n' aerials 'n' shit stops you for a little chat ...
With some fast talking you may get away with it, but basically the weight of a trailer is deemed to be what it weighs fully loaded, rather than it's actual weight then and there.

Quote:

Tow weight is a bit strange on my car. Lwb can tow 2000kg but swb is only 1000kg same motor/driveline etc just 2 door instead of 4.

strange on most vehicles ... absolutely no rhyme or reason to it

[Gwagensteve]

Wheelbase. The shorter the wheelbase the more the tail is going to try and wag the dog. There is no international standard for tow capacity and power/torque has little to do with it. I read up on this some time ago and there are different rules for gradability with a towed load. I believe the US is more relaxed than Europe (as in, Europe demands the car can pull away/accelerate on a steeper grade than the US) and we are tied to the European market, which is why the US tow ratings for their big pickups are so high.

Back in the olden days (when 50mm balls were rated at 5000kg (or something) not 3500kg, Range Rovers were rated to tow 4500kg. Despite having no power at all. I have no idea how they managed to think that was possible, but there you go. At least they have a very stiff chassis and self levelling rear suspension.

Also watch GCM. Generally, if you're towing at maximum legal tow weight and tongue weight, the car must be almost empty or you're over GCM which will have the same insurance ramifications than towing an overweight trailer, if it gets to that.

[shep]

Eddy wrote:

Stay away from those floppy roofed abortions!!
Not too bad on smooth roads but anything else will kill'em.
The BIL has one and is forever repairing the roof and wall sections. When traveling, the panels flop and bounce around. Had to replace the RH wall panel twice before they finally figured how to support it properly.
He says packing up is a bitch. Has a dozen bits of padding to be placed in just the right spot as ya go.

Cheers mate, the hinges just look like cheap piano hinges. Will forget about the fold up thing.

[shep]

Eddy wrote:

shep wrote:

Also how does max tow weight on a car work?

My car can tow 1000kg and have 160kg on the towball, does that mean I can tow 1160kg as long as 160kg is on the towball?

means you can tow 1000kg, with up 160 of that on the towball

Quote:

Also can ya tow a trailer with max weight 2000kg as long as it weights 1000kg when towing?

nope ... well .. ya could until some bloke in one of them cars with lights 'n' aerials 'n' shit stops you for a little chat ...
With some fast talking you may get away with it, but basically the weight of a trailer is deemed to be what it weighs fully loaded, rather than it's actual weight then and there.

Quote:

Tow weight is a bit strange on my car. Lwb can tow 2000kg but swb is only 1000kg same motor/driveline etc just 2 door instead of 4.

strange on most vehicles ... absolutely no rhyme or reason to it

Cheers. police couldn't care less, I just don't want to over stress my car.

[shep]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Wheelbase. The shorter the wheelbase the more the tail is going to try and wag the dog. There is no international standard for tow capacity and power/torque has little to do with it. I read up on this some time ago and there are different rules for gradability with a towed load. I believe the US is more relaxed than Europe (as in, Europe demands the car can pull away/accelerate on a steeper grade than the US) and we are tied to the European market, which is why the US tow ratings for their big pickups are so high.

Back in the olden days (when 50mm balls were rated at 5000kg (or something) not 3500kg, Range Rovers were rated to tow 4500kg. Despite having no power at all. I have no idea how they managed to think that was possible, but there you go. At least they have a very stiff chassis and self levelling rear suspension.

Also watch GCM. Generally, if you're towing at maximum legal tow weight and tongue weight, the car must be almost empty or you're over GCM which will have the same insurance ramifications than towing an overweight trailer, if it gets to that.

When I am towing 3.5T with my at gvm work car it feels very dodgy however the jeep with 1.5T @120kph feels good and stops better then not towing.

Jeep has all sorts of towing related electrical tricky bits and yet has a lower tow rating then a Jimny.

Hopefully the JL will have a higher tow rating

[Technotron101]

That's true actually. ABS enabled Jimmy's can tow 1300kg right?

Seems odd, especially when you factor in the substantial difference in overall general size, and of course wheelbase.

[shep]

Well I put in a offer for the teardrop, hopefully they accept it and give me another project

[Eddy]

good luck

[vet 180]

Technotron101 wrote:

That's true actually. ABS enabled Jimmy's can tow 1300kg right?

Seems odd, especially when you factor in the substantial difference in overall general size, and of course wheelbase.

Yeah it’s crazy. I know the SWB is a lot lower due to shorter wheelbase and less weight, but both are bigger than the jim


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[missmyljdaze]

shep wrote:

Well I put in a offer for the teardrop, hopefully they accept it and give Ball another project

fixed it for you

[shep]

Woohoo they accepted my offer so ball has a new project.

[USMC5811]

shep wrote:

To make it trickier this has popped up for sale locally as well also same price as the teardrop.

Apparently tare weight is 680kg and it also has aircon.
Seppo built body on a chassis made by Kimberly kampers

Also how does max tow weight on a car work?

My car can tow 1000kg and have 160kg on the towball, does that mean I can tow 1160kg as long as 160kg is on the towball?

Also can ya tow a trailer with max weight 2000kg as long as it weights 1000kg when towing?

Tow weight is a bit strange on my car. Lwb can tow 2000kg but swb is only 1000kg same motor/driveline etc just 2 door instead of 4.

Has a lot to do with wheelbase. The trailer will wag the tow vehicle around like crazy. The 160 on the ball is minimum to keep the trailer from wagging the tow when it is empty. You always want to try and keep 10% on the nose. And no, the 160 is part of the 1000.

[vet 180]

shep wrote:

Woohoo they accepted my offer so ball has a new project.

Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[shep]

USMC5811 wrote:

shep wrote:

To make it trickier this has popped up for sale locally as well also same price as the teardrop.

Apparently tare weight is 680kg and it also has aircon.
Seppo built body on a chassis made by Kimberly kampers

Also how does max tow weight on a car work?

My car can tow 1000kg and have 160kg on the towball, does that mean I can tow 1160kg as long as 160kg is on the towball?

Also can ya tow a trailer with max weight 2000kg as long as it weights 1000kg when towing?

Tow weight is a bit strange on my car. Lwb can tow 2000kg but swb is only 1000kg same motor/driveline etc just 2 door instead of 4.

Has a lot to do with wheelbase. The trailer will wag the tow vehicle around like crazy. The 160 on the ball is minimum to keep the trailer from wagging the tow when it is empty. You always want to try and keep 10% on the nose. And no, the 160 is part of the 1000.

If the 160kg is a part of the trailer weight then why is it also added to the weight of the car when working out GVM?

[shep]

vet 180 wrote:

shep wrote:

Woohoo they accepted my offer so ball has a new project.

Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am not gunna pay him either and will park it in the way so has to be finished before he can do paying jobs