[inbits]

I know this has been covered a couple of times but after camping at inskip for a couple of nights we have come to the conclusion the swag ain't cutting it anymore.
I have been looking at campers and I think I'll build my own so now some questions.
Firstly I was thinking about using vitara front lower arms coils and struts. My theory with this is I'll have plenty of clearance for big ruts with the independent suspension and the same stud pattern as the vit what are your thoughts on this?

Is there some way I could ad brakes to this setup?

Keeping it light but strong I was thinking steel chassis with aliminium sides again thoughts?

And the tent should I go with a roof top tent like joe's or buy an actuall camper tent or there is the option of making one?

What's a good length for the draw bar I know longer is better but how long is too long

I want to keep it light but functional with 12v power to run lights and a water pump with a small tank? When setting it up should I try and keep the weight over the wheels?

And lastly what's the towing capacity of a lwb v6

So put in your suggestions on what is good and bad with what I have mentioned and what else would help

Cheers inbits

[zukenutter]

Except for the suspension it sounds similar to mine.

My camper trailer

I aimed to make mine as light as possible with the max unbraked load capacity in mind. Brakes would probably add 50kg. Complicated suspension may also add extra weight but depends where you plan on dragging it, also coils will require shock/struts while leaf if fine without. Again less weight.

[tombutt]

max unbraked is a bit under 400 i think max braked is somewhere around 750 its all in your manual in the car if not i can look for you tommorow

[Fatzook]

Those cast arms, and hub assemblies will make for a very heavy trailer.

[christover1]

my camper build pix
weighs 260 kg with tent top fitted, 220 kg without.

http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p237 ... r%20stuff/

[inbits]

But saving weight with alloy would counter this right I plan on taking this many places from beach to outback etc

I could build my own arms for it and use a shock instead of a strut I just like the idea of the clearance. I have seen countless axles snap under harsh conditions and trailer hubs snap completely off but I haven't seen a vit wheel fall off or even any other car for that matter.

I don't have a manual if you could look for me that would be good

[inbits]

The other thing I liked about the vit arm idea is I could determine the track width when I build it without having to buy a custom axle

Does anyone know how much the vit arm and hub would weigh

Where did you get the tent christover?

[Fatzook]

inbits wrote:

But saving weight with alloy would counter this right I plan on taking this many places from beach to outback etc

I could build my own arms for it and use a shock instead of a strut I just like the idea of the clearance. I have seen countless axles snap under harsh conditions and trailer hubs snap completely off but I haven't seen a vit wheel fall off or even any other car for that matter.

I don't have a manual if you could look for me that would be good

You will still nee a robust steel frame if you plan to hang the heavy vitara components from it. Building the rest of the trailer from ally instead of steel would save you 50kg at most.

And try not to over complicate it. A straight beam axle with F100 hubs and leaf springs is much easier to maintain ( no bushed, ball joints, expensive wheel bearings etc). Just carry a spare leaf spring, and hub assy and that it.

And if you make the trailer to suit the same sized tyres as the vehicle, the the trailer will have the same or slightly better ground clearance anyway.

[inbits]

Ok that sounds like a good idea what's an electric braked axle cost approximately

Now that I think about it I can see where your coming from with the extra weight as the vit arms will want to twist the chassis

[christover1]

inbits wrote:

The other thing I liked about the vit arm idea is I could determine the track width when I build it without having to buy a custom axle

Does anyone know how much the vit arm and hub would weigh

Where did you get the tent christover?

Having same suspension and wheelk track as the car does have huge advantages.
Have towed many a half car type trailer before.
always heavier, but easy towing, if you have the engine power.

For reversing, longer draw bar is much better...off road, the shortest possible
gives best clearances and ramp over etc off rd.

I found these useful
http://www.angib.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/t ... tear81.htm


http://www.angib.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/t ... tear84.htm

[inbits]

Thanks for the links I'll have a read through them I don't think my engine power is a problem

Keeping the weight over the axle is a must aswell I'm guessing

[christover1]

Having driven with my trailer a few times serious off road, I would prefer a braking system. Vit hanles the weight ok power wise

[Moph]

Mine's in my sig link. Pretty basic but works very effectively. Need to upgrade to a 1320 WMS-WMS (to match the Sierra) 45mm square axle with Ford SL bearings and F100 hubs yet ... then will bolt on my spare 15x5.5 stock rims with the skinnest, lightest 31" or close to tyres I can find.

Small diameter tyres plus light duty bearings = fried bearing and hub assembly on corrugated roads =(

[zukenutter]

Moph wrote:

Small diameter tyres plus light duty bearings = fried bearing and hub assembly on corrugated roads =(

Poorly maintained or dry bearings are also often the cause. Off road trailers are especially at risk of bearing failure.

INBITS - It's very easy to over-engineer something like this.
my trailer loaded is about 400 - 450kg, The axle is rated for 1500kg and that's where the HD ends. Keep in mind mine was built solely for beach camping although it had a good run at Ormeau for the 4WD Action shoot. The springs are from memory rated to 600kg to ensure they do their job. Overly heavy springs will just be like steel bars and send feedback through the trailer and into the car. Leaf springs create their own dampening from the friction between each leaf so shocks are unnecessary for most applications.

When I was planning mine I looked under a lot of trailers to get ideas. Also Qld Transport have a guidelines booklet with legal specs of how a small box trailer should be built and proportioned.

[Moph]

Bearings only had 3000km on them since new and were still well packed with grease before we left for that trip - 5000km on them at the time of the incident. Should have checked them in Exmouth (hindsight's a wonderful thing...) but still reckon I wouldn't have had the problem with larger tyres and HD bearings. I was doing 100kph on the corrugations as the Zook on 31's comfortably just skipped over the top ... obviously the trailer wasn't skipping.

Definitely make sure you have an axle stub fitted with spare hub and bearing assembly with the spare wheel though. Makes a toasted bearing a relatively minor inconvenience in any case.

[Taylor74]

Towing capacity for an XL7 with a reice hitch is 1850 kg. My XL7 drags my camper very well and when loaded with water extra fuel and everything weighs a huge 800kg, Its not braked which is a tad scary on gravel roads when you got to stop in a hurry, ABS is a wonderful thing. We set up our camper to travel to a spot so we can stay out in the bush for a couple of weeks. Only complaint I have is fuel consumption and fuel tank size of the car.
The draw bar on mine is 1300 long to the pin of the treg hitch, Makes it easy to get in and out of tight spots, though might be extending it an extra 20 to 30 mm this year as im thinking of putting the fridge on the draw bar and moving the water tank behind the axle. Still thinking about it though as its so easy to get around in the bush as it is.

[buzbox]

When funds permit, I hope to either do up the old cub camper I have or I will be getting the oztrail camper 6. Including trailer it would weigh about 280kg. Of course when you add a battery, kitchen, water, spare wheel, gas and fuel in the mix, it'll weigh an extra 50-80kg.

I think your better off buying a trailer, a second hand 6x4 would cost anywhere between $200-500 and a brand new one from $600. Considering most of the time it will travel on road, I don't think there's a need for a heavy duty type trailer, Just put some decent wheels on it and she'll be right..

I like the roof top tent idea, but for a couple hundred extra I'd get a propper trailer tent, mainly for the extra room and annex.

This is the setup i'd love to get: http://marlincampers.com.au/which-marli ... er-camper/

It costs $3000 but I know If I were to buy the tent and trailer seperate, It would cost about $2300. not a bad deal I think.

[shep]

i am going to use al-ko independent suspension, good shockies, parallel
wheel bearings with disc braked hubs and trig hitch on my next boat trailer.

remember when choosing a hub tyre combination that ford/Holden bearings
were originally used on 13 and 14 inch car rims/tyres and i think using a
tyre rim combination bigger/heaver then that leads to early failure just as
much as a trailer that is stiffly sprung.
just like a softly sprung car is a lot smoother to sit in, a softly sprung trailer
will last a lot longer on rough roads although ya do need to know what sort
of load it will be carrying which is a lot easier to work out on a boat trailer.

[christover1]

shep wrote:

i am going to use al-ko independent suspension, good shockies, parallel wheel bearings with disc braked hubs and trig hitch on my next boat trailer.

Alko stuff is brilliant, almost nothing can go wrong, simple and effective.
Its supposed to be self dampening, ie not need shox, but I'd still use shox.

[inbits]

I was aware of the bearing failures due to poor maintenance and I don't want to over engineer it but at the same time I want it to be trouble free. Working out the loaded weight will be easy once I've built the trailer itself. In the research I've done there are a tonne of peope that are really happy with independent suspension and say they wouldn't go back to a leaf trailer.

That's what got me onto using vit stuff but I can see where fatzook is coming from with the leverage but I'm still a little undecided on this

[Fatzook]

inbits wrote:

I was aware of the bearing failures due to poor maintenance and I don't want to over engineer it but at the same time I want it to be trouble free. Working out the loaded weight will be easy once I've built the trailer itself. In the research I've done there are a tonne of peope that are really happy with independent suspension and say they wouldn't go back to a leaf trailer.

That's what got me onto using vit stuff but I can see where fatzook is coming from with the leverage but I'm still a little undecided on this

Make your own arms. You can use trailer stub axles, coil springs from your vit and cheap shock. Should be HEAPS lighter than the arm and hub assy from the vit.

Independant is a great idea, but I'm not sure recycling the vit stuff is such a great idea.

[ajsr]

or this
they make whatever you want in independant axles
http://www.alko.com.au/vehicle-technolo ... nsion-irs/

[inbits]

Fatzook wrote:

inbits wrote:

I was aware of the bearing failures due to poor maintenance and I don't want to over engineer it but at the same time I want it to be trouble free. Working out the loaded weight will be easy once I've built the trailer itself. In the research I've done there are a tonne of peope that are really happy with independent suspension and say they wouldn't go back to a leaf trailer.

That's what got me onto using vit stuff but I can see where fatzook is coming from with the leverage but I'm still a little undecided on this

Make your own arms. You can use trailer stub axles, coil springs from your vit and cheap shock. Should be HEAPS lighter than the arm and hub assy from the vit.

Independant is a great idea, but I'm not sure recycling the vit stuff is such a great idea.

This Is what I was thinking after your first comment making it won't be hard considering I'm building the trailer from scratch.

[christover1]

inbits wrote:

Where did you get the tent christover?

Got from ebay, south african canvass, sewn together in China $400 or thereabout.
He dont stock them anymore, but somebody will

[christover1]

Is it feasible to use just the vit arms, with a trailer stub welded on, much lighter, less building.
Then you could use the vit arms trailing, with the coil fitting in its spot.
Hope that made sense, did to me lol )

[christover1]

like this?

[inbits]

I could do it that way but I think it would be easier to build the arms

[zukenutter]

When I built my original trailer that I scavenged the axle and hubs from the trailer people told me that F100 hubs only take HD bearings. If you find hubs that have a 4wd stud pattern but only have Light duty bearings then it's not a true Fwd pattern hub but rather a ford or holden hub with a different stud pattern. Not good.

My hubs, axle and bearings are close to 10 years old and have spent their working hours on the beach, although not much in the way of corrugations or mileage. So far so good... Touch Wood!

[shep]

CUB campers independent suspension is the same or at least very similar to the alko stuff
my old dad has a CUB pre production prototype off road camper and watching the way it works in the
bush has me sold on coil sprung independent suspension.

[zukenutter]

shep wrote:

CUB campers independent suspension is the same or at least very similar to the alko stuff
my old dad has a CUB pre production prototype off road camper and watching the way it works in the
bush has me sold on coil sprung independent suspension.

Say no more. If anyone is going to know what works best in the bush, it would be Shep.