I'm excited!!
Submitted: Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 15:32
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Member - jjt98 (QLD)
Hi all - After about 3 months of procrastination, i have just ordered a new Customline Camper & pick it up next week. It seems good value & pretty
well made (compared to the dozen or so others i looked at around the same price).
Question - I'm putting a larger storage box on the front to house my fridge (obviously
well vented etc etc), any advise or tips would be appreciated.
Cheers & Happy Travels
Jason
Reply By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 16:17
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 16:17
Have you got the trailer yet.
We have a customline offroad about 3 years old, with the standard spare tyre mount and standard box. And we have the pole carriers between the box and trailer.
Didn't think there was that much room between the spare tyre and trailer for a larger box?
Have a good look first. There is some angles across between the draw bars to support the box. You may need to add to these as
well.
Other thing we have found is that fully loaded the draw bar weight gets pretty high. I have no chance of lifting the coupling by myself. I am currently investigating what I can move to the rear. :o)
Even with the rear
water tank full, the draw bar load is high.
We keep our fridge in the back of the car running off the 2nd battery under the bonnet.
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Follow Up By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 16:20
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 16:20
PS - as pepper said above. Also
check room for the stone deflector in front of the spare. Where it goes back at the ends, we just have room to get the spare out between the stone deflector and the standard box. You might have to move the stone deflector forward, and will it then let you open the back door of the car when hooked up?
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Follow Up By: Member -Signman - Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 16:25
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 16:25
G'day plodder
Saw a jockey wheel- with inbuilt weight indicator.
Obviously just a spring scale inside the telescopic tube..
Probably wouldn't be accurate to the ounce- but the closest pound of ball weight would be close enough !!
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Follow Up By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 17:12
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 17:12
Signman,
Thinking I should
check the actual load, might jack up the front A frame and put the bathroom scales under the jockey wheel. If it goes off the scales (200kg) I definitely know it is overloaded :o) But not expecting it to go that high, it is only a 750kg ATM trailer (520kg tare), and we don't have it full.
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Follow Up By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 17:21
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 17:21
jjt98,
If you are in SE Qld, we are on the south side of Brisy.
You would be welcome to come around and have a look at ours if it helps, and talk things over, over a beer of course.
Still modifying ours, but quite happy with the trailer 'off the shelf'.
Have added to the kitchen, put filters on the
water tank vents and a few other little mods that pleases the SWMBO.
I am looking at the
suspension at the moment.
Wife has got used to mods to the car, so a few little tweaks on the trailer get slipped in to with out too much drama :o))
For ventilation and dust sealing on the box, have seen people mount a rear facing vent on the box lid and mount a standard round air cleaner underneath. Like the old ford / holden air cleaners.
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Follow Up By: Member No 1- Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 17:56
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 17:56
i wonder if thats the reason why
Kimberley has a 200 x 50 draw bar?...compared to so called standard off roaders having 150 x 50?
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Follow Up By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 18:12
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 18:12
Could be MN1.
Seen some like trakabout with a triple front bar.
The Customline has a standard off road double draw bar with rod and spacers welded underneath like a truss for stiffening.
But then, last time I looked, the
Kimberley Kamper classic was about 700kg tare and about 1000kg ATM, while the Customline is 3/4s that weight.:o) And
Kimberley seem to like putting boxes, fridges, jerry cans etc on the draw bar, a bit more load for the draw bar than the standard off road 7x5 CT.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member No 1- Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 18:41
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 18:41
if you look at the wheel positioning on the trailer the front looks as though it could be wieghted up more to a whole lot more than the socalled 10% requirement on the hitch....to my reckoning it looks as though it could be as much as 30-60%...god only knows what the real figures are..
wish someone could load their kimberly up and let us know
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Follow Up By: Member - jjt98 (QLD) - Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 19:15
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 19:15
Hey oldplodder (& everyone else), thanks for all the info. I have removed the pole carrier to make room for the larger box. Was looking at moving the stone guard back a little to allow for the rear vehicle door but it seems like that may not be possible?
Glad your happy with yours, makes my decision a bit more comforting.
Think i'v now got the fridge thing sorted. Thanks again for all the advise.
Travelers
Rock - They are always happy to give friendly advise :-)
Cheers
Jason
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Oldplodder (QLD) - Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 21:01
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 21:01
jjt98,
With the side hung rear door on the paj, it was a bit tight to the stone guard.
So I moved the plate and bottom of the stay back a little and got the stone guard about 5 deg more upright to give more room for the rear door of the car. Just bend the stay a little where it connects to the top of the stone guard. That's what Customline do. The rear door almost opens to the centre of the draw bar now. Enough to side the fridge out on it's slide to full extent and have a bit of clearance.
Picture of us at
Currawinya National Park.
Image Could Not Be Found
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Reply By: Member - Oldbaz. NSW. - Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 16:55
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 16:55
Pleased you have settled on a camper, good luck with it.
I am not a fan of carrying a valuable fridge on the A frame. The
weight issue is obvious. A
well ventilated box will allow the ingress
of dust & maybe moisture...not a good idea. The major disadvantage I feel is that when you daytrip without the camper
you have no cold tucker or drinks. The front storage box is a great idea, but needs to be weatherproof & lockable. Ideal for
spares, compressor, jacks,snatch strap , wheel brace, chocks etc.
Your choice,of coarse, but I would put the fridge in the 4by.
cheers...oldbaz.
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Follow Up By: Member - Willie , Sydney. - Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 18:03
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 18:03
Good comment.
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Follow Up By: Member - jjt98 (QLD) - Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 19:01
Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008 at 19:01
I'm hearin ya old baz - I have a fridge in the vehicle already & am using that as a freezer so the fridge on the trailer will be just that. Reccon I need 2 fridges as our next trip is about 3 months long.
Appreciate the
feedback.
Cheers
Jason
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