11/12/11 - 10:15 pm loc
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(1) The decision 14/7/10 I have put these pages together for a number of reasons mainly for our friends and family as a way of communications when we head off roughly on the 28/11/10 this site is sort of like a convenient on-line diary as it saves emailing each separate individual as to where and what we are up to with pics of our travels etc This site has also been put together for anyone contemplating doing the same thing with a similar set up as there is not to much info on these set ups on the net someone can get some useful info and hopefully learn from my mistakes on how to set these things up and get some ideas, I will be updating these pages on a regular basis when I get the time. |
(2) Slide on info What
i found good about the slide on is the fact it is constructed out of
fiberglass personally i think this is a big advantage over the aluminium
clad riveted type as they like caravans tend to rattle and vibrate
eventually workin the rivets loose leavin it wide open to leaks and rot
out the interior timber work, basically the fiberglass type is a water
tight capsule and we have slept in it when it has been absolutely
hammerin down when we were out west and not a single leak!! The slide on weighs all up roughly around 750kg unloaded the ute hardly knows it's there on it's factory springs except for a bit of body roll before i fixed that with new heavy duty coil springs and heavy duty Monroe gas struts, the ute by the way is Holden of course (2003 VU) i wouldn't attempt it with a Ford :-) When huntin for one of these things i come across a website a few months back on the Murrumba Star Linda they are a vintage slide on made from fiber glass and i think they look pretty modern and unusual taking into consideration they were manufactured in 1968!! |
(3) What to buy? The
decision of what to buy? I have always just slept in a swag and was
always comfortable with that except for three days when i was prospectin
for gold in the gold fields down south and it got below -10 and snowed,
anyway Shaz deserves a lot better than that so time to make a decision
as to what to buy? Initially
I thought a caravan would be the way to go as in a pop top, then
thought of just a straight full height "hardtop" van, then a motor home
like a Toyota coaster, after much thought as this sort of thing needs a
lot of thought thrown at it I thought the pop top was a good idea as in
it's low profile and weight advantage making it more economical fuel
wise with wind resistance. Weighing up living in one of the top country's when it comes to the highest fuel prices (even though we have trillions of mega-liters of the stuff just under the surface here in Oz) although Australia refines its own crude we still import 35/ 40% of it which is ridiculous seeing we live in one of the best equipped countries in the world when it comes to natural resources. Anyway back to what i was saying, in the end we decided to go for a slide on caravan that sits in the back of the tray in the ute the reason for this is as follows .......... weight, insurance, I hate towin, ya need a load level hitch when towin in excess of 650 Kg with the ute, hitchin and un- hitchin, parking, Shaz can drive it, no rego needed, no gas certificate, electric brakes, towin mirrors, etc etc when ya weigh it all up it has far more advantages as to towin a van. |
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Gettin
it in the back of the ute (below) is very daunting as one wrong move ya
could knock it off it's legs and i don't think it would do it much good
there is only about 20 mm clearance between the rear inner rear quarter
panels and the bottom of the slide on it's a very tight fit the
whole lot is then anchored to the tray by way of stainless eyelets I
have but not installed yet with a SWL of around 3 ton each and there are
four of em they in turn are connected to stainless chain SWL 5 ton via
stainless turnbuckles better to be safe than sorry I suppose. |
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