I am looking at upgrading from our camper to a poptop. Our camper has an aluminium frame & I find when a screw becomes loose (in a part that bears weight eg the slides at the ends of the beds, one has to use a larger diameter screw but this can only be done a couple of times.
Yes, I know all about rot, rust & timber but today I was shown a second-hand Traveller at a dealer's property in Toowoomba. He only sold (& repaired) second hand vans & therefore was not biased to one brand over another. The van was much more rigid than any I've seen in an aluminium frame. He put his body weight on the bottom frame of a cupboard & there was no movement at all. He said "Try that on an aluminium framed van & see what the results are". I could well guess as I've seen the size of the screws holding our Jayco together!
In an earlier posting on this subject in 2014, there was a mixed bag of answers between the three materials. I guess my next question is how strong are the composite vans? Are the cupboards screwed to the walls or are they fibre glassed in?
Is it better to have a frame that has some "give" in it or is it better to be completely firm? NOTE - I do my fair share of dirt road travel & do not want to be stopped from going where I want to go because the van on the back can't go there. By the same token, I don't want a Kedron or similar but I do know that Trackmaster vans (I'd have one if I could afford it) have a wooden frame.
Peter_n_Margaret said
11:11 PM Oct 1, 2016
I built the OKA camper section from fibreglass sandwich panel almost 12 years ago.
The furniture material and how it is secured will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, so you wold need to check with each specifically.
Our furniture is also made from fibreglass sandwich panel and it is glued into place (there are no structural fasteners in the vehicle). That makes the furniture a structural part of the body.
In 12 years including some serious off road work, we have not had a single glue failure anywhere.
Glue joints by their nature must allow some slight movement to compensate for the differential expansion of the various components, but it is minimal and the whole body is very stiff and very strong.
I would not ever use a different method of construction....
Hello everyone,
I am looking at upgrading from our camper to a poptop. Our camper has an aluminium frame & I find when a screw becomes loose (in a part that bears weight eg the slides at the ends of the beds, one has to use a larger diameter screw but this can only be done a couple of times.
Yes, I know all about rot, rust & timber but today I was shown a second-hand Traveller at a dealer's property in Toowoomba. He only sold (& repaired) second hand vans & therefore was not biased to one brand over another. The van was much more rigid than any I've seen in an aluminium frame. He put his body weight on the bottom frame of a cupboard & there was no movement at all. He said "Try that on an aluminium framed van & see what the results are". I could well guess as I've seen the size of the screws holding our Jayco together!
In an earlier posting on this subject in 2014, there was a mixed bag of answers between the three materials. I guess my next question is how strong are the composite vans? Are the cupboards screwed to the walls or are they fibre glassed in?
Is it better to have a frame that has some "give" in it or is it better to be completely firm? NOTE - I do my fair share of dirt road travel & do not want to be stopped from going where I want to go because the van on the back can't go there. By the same token, I don't want a Kedron or similar but I do know that Trackmaster vans (I'd have one if I could afford it) have a wooden frame.
The furniture material and how it is secured will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, so you wold need to check with each specifically.
Our furniture is also made from fibreglass sandwich panel and it is glued into place (there are no structural fasteners in the vehicle). That makes the furniture a structural part of the body.
In 12 years including some serious off road work, we have not had a single glue failure anywhere.
Glue joints by their nature must allow some slight movement to compensate for the differential expansion of the various components, but it is minimal and the whole body is very stiff and very strong.
I would not ever use a different method of construction....
Cheers,
Peter