I saw another Avan this morning on gumtree and they had attached metal tool boxes to both the front and the rear of the van. It got me wondering what other changes people had made to their vans that they have been really happy with and that we could learn from.
We are putting a new axle on ours to allow us to raise the ground clearance by about 5 inches or so as it was very low when we bought it. The microwave was taken out before we bought it and we now therefore have slightly more storage room. It has an annex canopy of course and canvas walls for around the canopy. Apart from that it is stock standard.
We only want to do short overnight or 2 night getaways from our teenage kids J so dont need it to very off road capable.
Any suggestions ???
Cheers,
Michael
Ubif said
05:08 PM Jan 31, 2018
Hi Tassiemike
we have made a window blind for Kitchen window that goes to ground level this helps the 3 way fridge
by keeping direct sun off also means we can have the window open all the time
I have added an external hatch to the kitchen side so donot need to lift seats to get to storage.
added another small one to door side for tools, put a porta potti on slides under door side seat.
saves the midnight trip in rain or cold.
we have a fold down table to the rear of the door it gets lots of use
replaced curtain plastic tape with mini Al track now they work easy.
we are taking the van away this weekend (north Qld avan club outing) so i will take photos if you would like
pm me and i will send to you.
we also custom made a Quick canopy as our one is quite large and we only use if we are staying a week or more
hope you enjoy your avan as much as we do ours
cheers
Mark
hako said
07:28 PM Jan 31, 2018
As you are raising the van you can build some storage under the van - I've made one fairly large one in front of the steps about 900 long, 150 high and about400 deep under our Cruiser.. It has a arcmesh floor so I store ramps/chocks and any dirty stuff in there. The Avan club is a good one to join plus on the web there heaps of mods done to Avans.
Trouble with too much storage is you carry too much junk!
Good Luck.
Tassiemike said
07:33 PM Jan 31, 2018
Great ideas Dennis (and Mark). I have printed out the joining form for the Avan club of Australia and will do the google search suggestions as well. Cheers,
Michael
Desert Dweller said
05:19 AM Feb 1, 2018
Best to stay on the bitumen unless you enjoy picking up screws rolling around on the floor & trying to find where they came from after driving on unmade roads.
The interior of Avans are mainly chipboard. I wouldn't be putting too many tool boxes on it either, the chassis wasn't built to take the weight.
We're not knocking ''ant hills'' they're a good unit. We've had a 17ft Avan caravan for over 5 years, pretty happy with it. Except for picking up screws!
Will raising it 5 inches affect your annexe walls, will they be high enough, just a thought?
hako said
08:22 AM Feb 1, 2018
Desert Dweller wrote:
Best to stay on the bitumen unless you enjoy picking up screws rolling around on the floor & trying to find where they came from after driving on unmade roads.
The interior of Avans are mainly chipboard. I wouldn't be putting too many tool boxes on it either, the chassis wasn't built to take the weight.
We're not knocking ''ant hills'' they're a good unit. We've had a 17ft Avan caravan for over 5 years, pretty happy with it. Except for picking up screws!
Will raising it 5 inches affect your annexe walls, will they be high enough, just a thought?
Avan Aliners,Cruisers and Cruiseliners which are all "A" shaped campers use no chipboard except for the benchtops and that is common to all brands of caravans .
All walls floors and furniture carcasses are plywood.
Regards
elliemike said
10:27 AM Feb 1, 2018
We have a 2005 Avan Cruiseliner. Been over most of the famous dirt roads with it over the years, GCR, Roper Road, Oodnadatta, Strezleki, Gibb River, Plenty Hwy, for just a few of them.
With a few modifications, reinforcement, and forethought a lot of these roads are very doable.
Joining the Avan Club of Australia, is a good move as they are all great crowd of people.
However weight is a factor to think about even for the bitumen roads.
With the van empty that is no water, food, clothes bedding,pots,pans, plates,etc. Weigh the Avan at a weighbridge. Then after youve used the van a few times weigh it fully loaded for a trip. You might be surprised to see how much weight you carry fully loaded.
Adding extra tool boxes with gear in them could put you over weight for the Aliner.
Have a great time with your van
Tassiemike said
10:41 AM Feb 1, 2018
Thanks Denis, Mike and Ellie for your input as well.
Yes, we will be joining the Avan Club of Australia.
It impresses my wife and I that strangers (like all of you) are prepared to go out of your way and send info along and even some photos. Thanks for that.
cheers,
Michael
elliemike said
12:24 PM Feb 1, 2018
Tassiemike wrote:
Thanks Denis, Mike and Ellie for your input as well.
Yes, we will be joining the Avan Club of Australia.
It impresses my wife and I that strangers (like all of you) are prepared to go out of your way and send info along and even some photos. Thanks for that.
cheers,
Michael
Heres a Youtube video, made by a Canadian "Slim Potatoe Head" (Strange name wonder where it came from) who has a series of videos about him and his Aliner Camper. There are also good websites on all this stuff on the Avan Australia Club web pages. You have to be a member to access them. Also the American Aliner Club. There is also a Facebook page for the Australian Avan Club.https://youtu.be/Ly7BcdmM5c8
hako said
03:35 PM Feb 1, 2018
Mike and Ellie - great link at the bottom of your post - I can see a toilet shower in the near future! Thanks for adding that.
Regards
Desert Dweller said
05:14 PM Feb 2, 2018
hako wrote:
Desert Dweller wrote:
Best to stay on the bitumen unless you enjoy picking up screws rolling around on the floor & trying to find where they came from after driving on unmade roads.
The interior of Avans are mainly chipboard. I wouldn't be putting too many tool boxes on it either, the chassis wasn't built to take the weight.
We're not knocking ''ant hills'' they're a good unit. We've had a 17ft Avan caravan for over 5 years, pretty happy with it. Except for picking up screws!
Will raising it 5 inches affect your annexe walls, will they be high enough, just a thought?
Avan Aliners,Cruisers and Cruiseliners which are all "A" shaped campers use no chipboard except for the benchtops and that is common to all brands of caravans .
All walls floors and furniture carcasses are plywood.
Regards
'' Ant hills'' have the exact same walls, floors & furniture as our 5 year old Avan caravan, same for their motor homes as well.
What ever it's made of it's pretty flimsy because every time we leave the bitumen things start falling apart.
We had a cupboard pop open recently & the knife, fork & spoon drawer ended up on the floor along with the utensil drawer. Stuff all over the floor.
We only did 40kms of good gravel at around 50kph.
We have a proper hard core off road camper trailer for more adventurous trips. Nothing comes loose or falls of it.
-- Edited by Desert Dweller on Friday 2nd of February 2018 07:38:06 PM
Hello,
We recently bought a 2007 Avan Aliner.
I saw another Avan this morning on gumtree and they had attached metal tool boxes to both the front and the rear of the van. It got me wondering what other changes people had made to their vans that they have been really happy with and that we could learn from.
We are putting a new axle on ours to allow us to raise the ground clearance by about 5 inches or so as it was very low when we bought it. The microwave was taken out before we bought it and we now therefore have slightly more storage room. It has an annex canopy of course and canvas walls for around the canopy. Apart from that it is stock standard.
We only want to do short overnight or 2 night getaways from our teenage kids J so dont need it to very off road capable.
Any suggestions ???
Cheers,
Michael
we have made a window blind for Kitchen window that goes to ground level this helps the 3 way fridge
by keeping direct sun off also means we can have the window open all the time
I have added an external hatch to the kitchen side so donot need to lift seats to get to storage.
added another small one to door side for tools, put a porta potti on slides under door side seat.
saves the midnight trip in rain or cold.
we have a fold down table to the rear of the door it gets lots of use
replaced curtain plastic tape with mini Al track now they work easy.
we are taking the van away this weekend (north Qld avan club outing) so i will take photos if you would like
pm me and i will send to you.
we also custom made a Quick canopy as our one is quite large and we only use if we are staying a week or more
hope you enjoy your avan as much as we do ours
cheers
Mark
Trouble with too much storage is you carry too much junk!
Good Luck.
Great ideas Dennis (and Mark). I have printed out the joining form for the Avan club of Australia and will do the google search suggestions as well. Cheers,
Michael
Best to stay on the bitumen unless you enjoy picking up screws rolling around on the floor & trying to find where they came from after driving on unmade roads.
The interior of Avans are mainly chipboard. I wouldn't be putting too many tool boxes on it either, the chassis wasn't built to take the weight.
We're not knocking ''ant hills'' they're a good unit. We've had a 17ft Avan caravan for over 5 years, pretty happy with it. Except for picking up screws!
Will raising it 5 inches affect your annexe walls, will they be high enough, just a thought?
Avan Aliners,Cruisers and Cruiseliners which are all "A" shaped campers use no chipboard except for the benchtops and that is common to all brands of caravans .
All walls floors and furniture carcasses are plywood.
Regards
We have a 2005 Avan Cruiseliner. Been over most of the famous dirt roads with it over the years, GCR, Roper Road, Oodnadatta, Strezleki, Gibb River, Plenty Hwy, for just a few of them.
With a few modifications, reinforcement, and forethought a lot of these roads are very doable.
Joining the Avan Club of Australia, is a good move as they are all great crowd of people.
However weight is a factor to think about even for the bitumen roads.
With the van empty that is no water, food, clothes bedding,pots,pans, plates,etc. Weigh the Avan at a weighbridge. Then after youve used the van a few times weigh it fully loaded for a trip. You might be surprised to see how much weight you carry fully loaded.
Adding extra tool boxes with gear in them could put you over weight for the Aliner.
Have a great time with your van
Thanks Denis, Mike and Ellie for your input as well.
Yes, we will be joining the Avan Club of Australia.
It impresses my wife and I that strangers (like all of you) are prepared to go out of your way and send info along and even some photos. Thanks for that.
cheers,
Michael
Regards
'' Ant hills'' have the exact same walls, floors & furniture as our 5 year old Avan caravan, same for their motor homes as well.
What ever it's made of it's pretty flimsy because every time we leave the bitumen things start falling apart.
We had a cupboard pop open recently & the knife, fork & spoon drawer ended up on the floor along with the utensil drawer. Stuff all over the floor.
We only did 40kms of good gravel at around 50kph.
We have a proper hard core off road camper trailer for more adventurous trips. Nothing comes loose or falls of it.
-- Edited by Desert Dweller on Friday 2nd of February 2018 07:38:06 PM
have a sticky at this guys youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5LjexFk9wZEnFsXA3TOx-g
Most of it is focused on his aliner, modifications he's done to it and traveling with it.
I was looking at them myself before I got my van and was looking for info on them when I stumbled on to his channel.
hope that helps
cheers Brett
Thanks Brett,
I watched the "trailer about my trailer", and look forward to the other videos when I get a chance. Thanks for passing that on.
cheers,
Michael