svenwesley
New member
Hi all.
Short story; We've been travelling light for quite a while. My Vanagon has served us good and will still be my choice many years further on when I go alone. But the family grows, and the demands of better living standards slowly grows too. And after a year abroad we decided to build a bigger camper. We've been looking for an LT and even though I was more or less looking around the entire EU I couldn't find one in decent shape, the problem is that I want to get an older one to avoid paying a lot of taxes.
And then it just happened...
I ran into a guy who sold me an MB 307D from -83, with no rust at all! It's rebuilt with the biggest flat bed there is from a Sprinter, the floor area for our camper box is uge. The plan is to build a box that can be lifted off, the flat bed takes only 15-20 minutes to get back on if I need it. I will build a boogie "loose mount" in the rear that allows the frame to twist without flexing the box too much. The thing is that these kind of campers are very rare in my area, I'm only guessing that my ideas should work. So I'm seeking some advice and feedback.
I work with composites and have access to fiber glass, epoxy and paint at very little cost. My idea is to build the box like in the pictures.
On the inside I was thinking of a white painted plywood layer.
As a core material, XPS insulation with pine/plywood ribs across.
Outside fiber glass and epoxy for a strong durable surface.
Inner walls and boxes (like sofa, bed etc) will be glued and laminated to the outer walls to become a part of the structure for rigidity and strength.
All joints and corners will have an L beam protecting and reinforcing the outer edge, the inside will be filled up for a radius and then fiber glassed (see image).
Do you think I need the pine/plywood cross beams?
Is my construction ideas strong enough?
I think the inside will get a more comfy feeling with the wood even though it's painted and I have a plan to prepare the plywood with thread inserts so it will be easy to re-arrange stuff inside. But if the wood beams aren't needed I will not use them to avoid places where moist can get in. Even though they will be covered in epoxy. Just want to make sure to build a box that keeps up. We've seen quite a few delaminated constructions with XPS and it might be better to get a high density EPS instead.
Thanks in advance for all the advice, which I hope I'll get!
Short story; We've been travelling light for quite a while. My Vanagon has served us good and will still be my choice many years further on when I go alone. But the family grows, and the demands of better living standards slowly grows too. And after a year abroad we decided to build a bigger camper. We've been looking for an LT and even though I was more or less looking around the entire EU I couldn't find one in decent shape, the problem is that I want to get an older one to avoid paying a lot of taxes.
And then it just happened...
I ran into a guy who sold me an MB 307D from -83, with no rust at all! It's rebuilt with the biggest flat bed there is from a Sprinter, the floor area for our camper box is uge. The plan is to build a box that can be lifted off, the flat bed takes only 15-20 minutes to get back on if I need it. I will build a boogie "loose mount" in the rear that allows the frame to twist without flexing the box too much. The thing is that these kind of campers are very rare in my area, I'm only guessing that my ideas should work. So I'm seeking some advice and feedback.
I work with composites and have access to fiber glass, epoxy and paint at very little cost. My idea is to build the box like in the pictures.
On the inside I was thinking of a white painted plywood layer.
As a core material, XPS insulation with pine/plywood ribs across.
Outside fiber glass and epoxy for a strong durable surface.
Inner walls and boxes (like sofa, bed etc) will be glued and laminated to the outer walls to become a part of the structure for rigidity and strength.
All joints and corners will have an L beam protecting and reinforcing the outer edge, the inside will be filled up for a radius and then fiber glassed (see image).
Do you think I need the pine/plywood cross beams?
Is my construction ideas strong enough?
I think the inside will get a more comfy feeling with the wood even though it's painted and I have a plan to prepare the plywood with thread inserts so it will be easy to re-arrange stuff inside. But if the wood beams aren't needed I will not use them to avoid places where moist can get in. Even though they will be covered in epoxy. Just want to make sure to build a box that keeps up. We've seen quite a few delaminated constructions with XPS and it might be better to get a high density EPS instead.
Thanks in advance for all the advice, which I hope I'll get!
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