Hi everyone,

This is my first post, and i wasnt to sure where to post it so forgive me if i am in the wrong thread. I am in the process of building my own caravan, currently we have a goldstream camper which is great but the kids are complaining they have no room, i sleep fine up my end but they all fight all night long cause the bedding for them is to small which in turn keeps me awake so i also suffer. So i had this bright idea of building my own van this was based on the weight issue of 6 kids and everything out of thier rooms either in the van or tied to the roof or stuff under thier feet hung over the head rest's or jammed in the back or tied to the roof of the poor old suffering 4wd. The majority of van's out the that can house all my freaks are pushing the 2t area and with all the kids crap it is just to much, my poor 4wd is tried before we leave home.

So i am still very much in the planning stage but have settled on chassis built by a chassis builder who will build the chassis to suit my layout, the materail i am using for the floor, walls and roof is MONOPAN due to it been very ligt and all most indestructable (which is a good thing given my little angle's could kill a sherman tank) it very expensive at $140.00 per square meter but it is price i am happy to pay for the weight saving's it will give me, the van will have to fold out queen size beds at each end, bunks at one end and a lounge, table set up which goes down into a bed as well. I am putting in the usual stuff such as large fridge, shower, toilet and an out door kitchen setup under the bunk.

If anyone can me give me some tips or even point me in the general direction as to where i can sorce the items for the internal fitout that would be great, can anyone tell if i can run a normal house hold fridge in the van (my concern is it wont cope been bounced around) my reason, is they are so much cheaper than the caravan designed one's, i hope to be able to run it on an inverter for the 12 volt system.

Please dont reply to tell me i am crazy or mad as i have all the support here from family and friends who are more than prepared to drive me to the local nut house when the time comes.

Thank you Robert.

Hi Robert,
Welcome to the forum, You have quite a task ahead of you and do keep us (forum folk) up to date with info and pics of the build. There are heaps of places where you can get fittings for your van from:-
Camec - http://www.camec.com.au/
DIY caravan - http://www.caravansplus.com.au/catalog/index.php
BCF - Boating Camping & Fishing - http://www.bcf.com.au/
Easy RV - http://easyrv.com.au
Solar Power Supplies - http://www.solarpanelxpress.com.au/media/CatalogueJan2010.pdf
Just Google "DIY Caravans"
Don't forget Bunnings and ebay and make sure you shop around and compare prices because some of the suppliers are ripoff merchants.

Hope This Helps
Regards Ray

hi Robert
from another newbie

reading some of the threads here looks like you need to become friends with a registered electrical contractor (with loads of RV experiance) and with a registered plumber with LPG certification

most people seem to think running a fridge is very power hungry and not a good thing for batteries. household fridges seem to be less efficient than the rv types

good luck

Hi Robert.
Have you thought of going the other way and using an older van ie. Franklin, Viscount, Millard etc. and doing a total interior refit, it would probably work out easier and cheaper.even to the point of altering the front & rear profile to a more modern look.

Al.

Hi Guys,

Thank you so much for the reply's, i have a very good auto elec friend and also a plumber friend both are happy to help, i am going to ruff everything in and they will fit off for me and supply me with compliance paper's so i have my bases covered there, as for doing up old bus the main problem is that we like to go out and look around (i love to walk) so the bus will have to stay put which means we are locked into where ever we are and given we haul 6 yard apes with us we can't tow a small car behind us cause we cant fit them all in. So we need a van after looking around it has become VERY CLEAR just how expensive item's for the van are (the good ones) so i suppose i will just have to keep my eye's and ear's open and grab the bargains when they pop up.

The van will have fold out bed ends if anyone has any suggestions as to how i could construct this that would great, the monopan i am using(believe it or not) with a certain type of rivet has a pull out strength of 128 kg.

Cheers Robert.

Might be worth looking for a written off van for the chassis and some of the accessories (like doors windows?) just a thought?

Pickles auctions
http://www.pickles.com.au/damaged/listing/?ed_item_type_id=100000007&ed;_make_id=0&ed;_model_id=0&ed;_fromyear=&ed;_toyear=&ed;_fromkms=&ed;_tokms=&ed;_city=All&ed;_description=&ed;_damage=DAM&ed;_sort=description&ed;_search_type=AUCTION&x;=17&y;=15

Hi Robert,go for it!!!
we are nearing the end of building our monopan van.
25ft internal, 2100mm head-room,full en-suite toilet, etc, BROOM CUPBOARD would you believe!!!! Total weight will be 1800 kks, with 400 kg payload.
The material (monopan) is an amazing product, and not that expensive, if you discount the need to purchase a dirty-great-big tug to haul the thing
.
If you go to search on this forum, enter the word monopan, you will find plenty of info available.
If you are located in Perth, or WA, send me a pm, and you are welcome to have a look at the van.You can also follow Craig's posts, he has done a great "toy-hauler" out of monopan.
Any help you need, please let me know, I would be pleased to assist.
Good luck, and kind regards,
magicbob

How about some pics?

hI dEBDEE
iF YOU GO TO SEARCH, TYPE IN "IN THE BEGINNING" YOU WILL GET a link to photos.
If you type in monopan, you will find links to plentyof stuff, including Craig's set-up.
Kin regards,
Bob

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update, sadly no pics yet. My first problem is to do with the hight of the roller door, we have maxium of 2300, the hight i had in mind was just above that, so i am unsure which way to turn. Is there anyone out there that can give me chassis highets, I.E (floor level) off road verus on road. I would love an off road one but if i cant then i cant, but can i build an on road one just as strong with out the hight. I even had this planned out on the floor in the lounge (much to the delight of my wife when she came home) tell me, is it just me, as i didn't see any problem's with stacking all the furniture in one corner so i could see the (sort of) real size of the van's layout. It looked good then it dawn on me as i gazed out the window at the roller door and thought oh no will it fit and we are just a bit shy.

Can i build an off road chassis with the larger wheels but use much smaller ones just to clear the roller door, i know it will be painful changing them over but it is a price i am willing to pay. Any help or ideas would be much appreciated.

Cheers Robert.