Aluminium camper trailers

Don't own one Bob but have had a look at one... It w2as a dura-gal chassis, incl. 'A' frame and the top was bolted onto it. Looked real nice but I was also concerned with fatigue taking it's toll on the aluminium body work.

Bob
I own a Pacific offroad aluminum camper trailer which has a galvanised chassis. They use the gal steel chassis because of the reason that aluminum will fatigue and crack after a while but since there is no real stress on the body this is not a problem. The body is glued to frame with Sika-flex and bolted, Since mine gets used on the beach a lot I rust proofed the frame, axil, springs and wheels with a spray on rust proofing and so far have had no problems with it rusting, the body is also marine grade aluminum so no problems with corrosion so far, and yes the other main advantage is that they are so light when compared to a full gal trailer making for better fuel economy and ease of towing.

Chris

Hi,

We have a 3-dogs Camper trailer which has a dura-Gal steel frame ,7 leaf springs and electric brakes but is all aluminium from the frame up.

We have towed some "hired" all steel systems before we bought ours and found them a bit heavy (in feel and response) and a bit heavy on fuel (sorry forgot the consumption figs).

We have customised ours to be a "3 bedroom flat on wheels" and have not skimped on loading the rig up. When we purchased ours we had some issues with the tail gate hinges but that was soon resolved with the help of the 3-Dogs crew. As it has turned out, the axle weight is much reduced and it feels very nimble on and off the road, The difference in fuel economy between an unloaded car (Prado 2002 3.0 ltr TD, Manual) and the same rig with the fully loaded Camper was about 100km in range 1245Km unloaded v 1160 max loaded.

If you intend to go on the beaches a lot insist the Aluminium/ Steel connections are done with Stainless (marine) fittings and bolts. It goes a long way to minimizing galvanic action. If you are driving in the sand, make sure that the Track width of the trailer matches the track with of the 4WD. This means that the trailer is not trying to cut a new set of tracks ......this is good practice for a number of reasons but fuel economy does improve because of the effective reduction in drag.

Well thats my 2c worth....hope it helps

Cheers,

Chris

Mine is Aluminium Check plate body & galvo chassis.
Sigaflex & bolted together.
It is probably 100kg lighter that the equivalent in steel.
No problems so far with the Aluminium, only 12 months old.
Glad I went with the Aluminuim, nobody likes a heavy trailer. especially if you are trying to man handle it into position at a camp site.

Marty.

Got a Pacific custom built by "Danny" at Logan Village , main reasons for purchase was weight [200kg lighter than same in steel] + the advantages of nil rust ,never needs painting ,modification [if required] is simply easier on alloy [no paint ]..
Chassis is Duragal , each side runs with no welds from treg hitch all the way to rear ,by no welds I mean chassis rails are curved like you see on better boat trailers ,zero chance of busting a weld ,,springs are eye to eye 7 leaf + rebound spring ,,, alloy "tub" is marine grade ally [stands to reason as Danny was a ally plate boat builder] that is sikaflexed and stainless steel bolted to the chassis ,,
have had this c/trailer just on 2yrs ,Frasier ,Moreton, Bribie islands on a regular basis ,no rust ,no flex/stress /cracks ,l/cruiser park/levuka/birdsville /flinders ect ect, somewhere round 30,000 klm so far ,,when we bought ours the price was not an issue ,quality was.

Check out some old series I, II & III Landrovers