Calling all Cavalier Camper owners

We got a 4wd cavalier not very old. It had the extra long tent and we found it such a pain we got it shortened for $300. The paint started peeling off cos the painter had not taken enough care to prime the steel so I just spray it over every year rather than go to the trouble of taking it back to the metal. I removed the useless gas bottle holder and reinforced the corner where the door hinges. I must get around to making proper hinges so I can close the door squarely and seal out the dust. I removed the outboard bracket and put some steel square tube there to take a tool box which needs to be sealed to but it is ok it only carrys the tarp we throw over the entire tent to keep the sun and the wet stuff off. The bed used to roll us into the middle all the time so I reinforced the bed board with 25 mil tube but we did not solve the prob until we fitted a second hand inner spring mattress. Now I know why we have the trailer! Much comfort.

I put a frame on the inside of the door and put a large piece of board their for a table to cook on. To this I fitted 240 volt plugs and then ran the cable (heavy duty flex) inside the tent to take a couple more double outlets. I can feed this off the genny for lights and charging stuff or the van park. I included an earth in case the trailer gets touched with a live wire but that wont work with the genny unless someone can show me how to earth the genny.

I put an ammunition box on the side of the trailer and I carry water on the other side but I had to reinforce the welds which were pathetically short to prevent it cracking again.

The genny is problematic cos I dont like to upset the neighbours even if it is very quiet (honda). Friends do the lighting with gas and I will travel that route next time too. But thats another story, sorry.

I replaced the pathetic jockey wheel with a pump up job cos the wheel would dig in and I wrecked the handle and tyre going up the Maytown to Laura road last year. A new wheel I bought when we got home and I picked up a cheap heavy duty but unservicable boat jockey and used the handle off that. Must take more care next time. Oh that reminds me I have to re route the rear lights cable because the way it was it got chopped when I negotiated a steep and short gutter somewhere and the coupling touched earth. (or maybe it was when I had to separate the trailer to get the car forward and drag the trailer?).

I have to patch a small hole where the cross brace inside lost the cap from the end and cut the canvas too.

I am currently thinking about how to rig the spare wheel on the back now cos there is too much weight forward and I havent figured a good way to store all the uprights yet. I need the extras to pole out the tarp. I havent got around to removing the wind down braces at the back that I have never used only enough to find out how long it takes. I am looking for one of those old kangaroo jacks that came with sedans but I think they pretty rare these days. I notice you can get tailor made devices for money that do the job but the bottle jack under one side or let the tyre down does the job. (the door side needs to remain same height or its out of kilter and you trip over it.

I keep thinking about rails on bearings to carry the plastic tubs and maybe it will get done one day. Nothing too elaborate cos I like to keep things simple.

Thats about it I think. Take care then...

Owen

Geeeze... poor Owen (above) hasn't had much luck with his, has he??

Our Cavalier is a 1994 model, we have had it for a little over two years now and are extremely happy with it! We have the 14' tent and wouldn't dream of having anything smaller, at least not while we still cart our kids with us. Ours didn't come standard with a water tank, doesn't have a built in kitchen either, but we have found that this suits us perfectly. We carry four jerry cans of water, one on each corner, we have had the bed base tilt up thingy installed so that the trailer can be opened from the side and the cargo area accessed without setting the tent up... the previous owner built a box inside the trailer by the tailgate and had four plastic tubs in there for crockery, cutlery, dry food etc. I have since built _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx into this box which has made life so much easier! I took the spare wheel off the drawerbar and added two 100mm plumbers pipe tent pole holders and an ARB spacecase for extra storage. The spare now resides on the dustcover of the tent, tied down with ratchet straps and a cargo net..... sounds like a pain doesn't it? but it really isn't, takes a minute to get it down and a couple of minutes to put it up there. On a long trip, we put it on the roof rack.
We also carry an Oztrail deluxe gazebo, my bride has made fly sceen walls that velcro onto it when the flies are bad, and we have solid walls for when the rain comes. Our cooker, table and chairs and Coleman camp kitchen fit into it nicely and we have the benefit of being "modular".... (we were away camping this weekend just gone and moved our gazebo and kitchen gear 3 times till we found the ideal setting for us.) About the only other mod we are thinking about is a way of mounting the bike rack on the rear, so the kids can bring their bikes away, I have the plan in my brain, just need to get it outta there and onto the trailer!
For lighting, I was going to install lights and a battery etc, but "discovered" the jump start packs that Repco sell. I think the brand is Projecta. There are others... We bought the 18 amp hour unit it has two ciggy sockets and we use a couple of fluoro lights, which will work for 17 continuous hours! So plenty of light! On a three week jaunt last year, we re-charged the projecta just once! We carry a porta loo and accompanying tent and have a Primus hot water shower system which we can also run off the Projecta if we need to. It's again a very modular set up.
To be honest, I can't think of anything to say against the Cavalier, although I agree with Owens comments about the jockey wheel.... we certainly are happy with ours! If you have any questions, just ask, or send a member message and I'll give you an email address if you'd rather that.

Hope this helps Kevin

Cheers

Brian