1993 Bushman camper trailer refit

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Goldchaser1 said:
Looking great nucopia,only checked a few pages out,nice little camper doesnt look to heavy,what are you using for waterproofing,i gotta attack our RT on trailer with something,also have you thought about a longer drawbar,that one looks 1.4-.5?,with a toolbox 1.8 will ease your pain,not such a big job,say 75x50 3mm duragal then some 50 up the middle to make it a triple,6mm plate at front hitch,just a thought....
I bought a 2 ltre bottle of Bradproof compound on ebay for $49 delivered. It says that 2 litres will cover 12 square metres.
Just use a roller or brush it on . The weather is over cast today might get some rain ...i will do the canvas cover tomorrow if the sun is out..
Yes its a 1.4 m draw bar ...I thought about lengthening the draw bar but I have no idea how to do it..
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Over cast and drizzly here in Lake Macquarie today , so I decided to work under the car port and make some detachable "home made " mud flaps for the back of the Prado.
They fit on the tow bar with a U bolt

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Next stage ; paint on the under coat and a black top coat..

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Now I only need to bolt on the rubber mats .. And it should be good to go..
 
Thanks ill suss that bradproof out and get some,got some seam or stitch sealer in a aero can from camp shop but would mind sealing the whole lot.
The drawbar just cut the old one off carefully through the old welds,if your trailers all square up front and measurements are good both sides back to front shackle mounts pretty easy,set it up so you have 1.8 out the front of course with the bars running all the way to the front of your shackle mounts,get the length sorted then make sure both are identical lengths,have the hitch ends finished except for the bottom plate,both identical and finished except for hitch plate all you need is to set them up measuring off the front of the trailer,even measurements all sides across front of trailer and if ya go to bunnings and grab a digital angle finder,even measurements and even angles across front edge of trailer drawbar should be centred,leave a gap at front (hitch area) for offroad coupling or whatever ya running,tack bars in (noticed you said u had a welder),depending on ya welder or skills maybe get a mobile welder to come around and weld it off for ya,oh yeah cut 6mm plate to join and hitch to sit on and tack it on last,then run prob 50x50 x3mm up the middle to a cross section,this one doesnt need to run to far back under trailer but back pass the front trailer crossmember a bit is better,second crossmember if it has one.
Bit of muckng about but it aint rocket science,prob about $200 in steel then a few bucks for a pro to weld it off if need be,this is what i did,built the whole trailer but got a local pro to pop over and weld off drawbar,cost $100,i suck at explaining stuff in words,see if have a pic of mine somewhere,oh and only weld along length of drawbars,never across them.
Easily done,if i can do it anyone can,only problem is looks like not an option of turning yours upside down or clamping new bars in place,cuppla car jacks either side under timber blocks would do it i think.
 
Thanks Goldchasser1
Was talking with the neighbour today and he has just had a new draw bar put on his box trailer. He is going to introduce me to the guy that did it for him. They go to the same Church so it was done on a low budget...any way if he can do it at the right price I might get it done when I have a budget . In the mean time what I have now will have to do. Not putting a tool box on it yet nor am I doing the kitchen till I have money to buy materials and pay the guy to do it...
 
Get it rolling and use it mate, you can change add stuff when time/cash permits.
You've been going 12 months and as you said didn't want to spend a lot or too much time on it.
Looks great at this point. Get it operational and listen to what the wife wants, it really is so much easier that way.
Never know, you may find a nice nugget and buy a flash one next week!

That mudflap bar could have a second bar added (like a leaf spring) in the middle to give it a bit more strength.
Like Jaros said, rubber is pretty heavy, if you go over rough stuff it will cop a hiding.
 
Jaros said:
Just a little query. Is the steel bar tough steel as the rubber is pretty heavy and may sag at the ends?

I think it should be ok Jaros , its 20x20 mm x 1.6 galvanised box steal.. Yeah ...O panner .. i have a piece of box steel left over that i could use as you suggest will test it and see ..
My mate gave me a piece of convayor belt today but its a bugger to cut ... :(
Need to borrow an angle grinder and put a cutting disk on it ...
Im thinking to make each mud flap 500 x 500 mm ..
 
No probs nucopia,nice long drawbar is handy especially if fitting a toolbox etc,mines 1.8 with a large box,cuppla months ago i finally got around to mounting a spare up there to,easier reversing with them also.....
Rear flaps are a must,ive got to get around to some for my cruza but i also ran some belt under the trailer as the roads here (wa) were destroying everything under the trailer,plumbing etc,worked well.
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nucopia said:
Jaros said:
Just a little query. Is the steel bar tough steel as the rubber is pretty heavy and may sag at the ends?

I think it should be ok Jaros , its 20x20 mm x 1.6 galvanised box steal.. Yeah ...O panner .. i have a piece of box steel left over that i could use as you suggest will test it and see ..
My mate gave me a piece of convayor belt today but its a bugger to cut ... :(
Need to borrow an angle grinder and put a cutting disk on it ...
Im thinking to make each mud flap 500 x 500 mm ..

Angle grinder will suck at cutting conveyor belt. Best to use a Stanley knife and pour water along the cut. Just run the blade deeper each pass.

I've cut miles of the stuff to put under troughs to stop the cattle undermining them.
 
Thanks Jamie but I just bought a rola rack hex key off flea bay for $15 and waiting delivery ... :(

Stanley knife and water. Ok will try that today madtuna
angle grinder worked yesterday , but produced a lot of rubber smelling smoke
We cut the piece off at the fire station , mate is a firman ...while his doing it and all the smoke , I was thinking it would be funny if some one called 000 to say they sore smoke coming out of the fire station...he'd get a call out on himself .. :cool:
 
I used a jig-saw with a Medium Wood Blade to cut the Mat... If you haven't got one a Hack-saw Blade will do...... If you are Not a Good Welder, Let a Pro do all the final Welds for you... You can Tac Weld things on if you have a welder and get the Pro to finish them off.... I 'Think' im pretty good on a welder, But when it comes to things like Trailers and Draw-bars, I don't Trust My Skills... Get All your Welding Jobs ready and call him out for a few hours.. Well worth it. :Y: .

Most Welders I know Like to be Paid in Beer. :lol: ]:D ...

LW... :rainbow:
 
Thanks Lone wolf
The hack saw did the trick it just took time and effort :D ;) Jaros :Y:
i have a mate with an arc welder and between us i think we can weld most things to a reasonable level ..

We had a welding shop in the Philippines for 5 years when we lived there and we are always welding things around the farm ..gates window grills trusses pig styes corn and rice threshers or small cultivators most things made with metal that need to be repaired and put back to work ..
But I have never done a trailer here before so if i was to replace the draw bar, which I am not planning to do any time soon , i might leave that to some one that does it for a living..

Mud flaps are finished just need to mount them on the tow ball ...
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Been a good weekend, removed the cheap controller and rewired the the solar panels that arrived Friday and finished the mud flaps for the back of the Prado.
I got inside the camper and lifted up the bed frame to access underneath to work out a plan for what I need to do in the next few days.. I want to finish installing the inlet and out let hoses on the water tank and start laying out the wiring to run the water pump and LED lights..
Problem I found was the struts are not powerful enough to raise the steel frame and the ply wood.
I recon the struts are not suitable for the purpose I have them doing.. they are for one thing way too to weak, also not long enough bigger and maybe I have set them up in the wrong place to work efficiently in pushing up the bed frame.

Struts are Showa brand ,500mm extended length . I got them from a small Japanese van, they were used to hold up the rear tail gate..

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If any one has some experience with gas struts and can give me some tips and suggestions , I would appreciate it.
Thanks
Nuc :)
 
Well simple physics will tell you if you have the output of the strut exerting force further away from it's pivot it will lift the frame easier.
But this goes to poop hell if they are simply not strong enough.
Try having the top section mounted much higher up/further out on the frame. The strut would probably need to be orientated the other way then ie bottom to the right and the top to the left. Have a look how a bonnet is mounted.
The further out you mount it the less exertion required from the strut, but the smaller the amount of opening you will have.
Or you could just buy more powerful ones since you have the mounts arranged and happy with angles of openings etc (probably smarter)
 
Price up some stronger ones before you mess with the mounting points.
I built an enclosed trailer once with a rear upward opening tailgate door, jeeeezus that was a bastard as I got waaaay too powerful struts, it makes a huge difference when you get the power of them wrong.
 

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