It was worse than that last FebruaryYou have some cleaning to do when you finally get home
Should have seen the rear end (Van's rear end that is!!!!)
18' Series Toolbox on draw bar
- Thread starter Lozza T
- Start date
Should have seen the rear end (Van's rear end that is!!!!)
It was worse than that last February
Should have seen the rear end (Van's rear end that is!!!!)
you were looking at @Crusty181 rear end hey @dagree
no wonder your hiding behind the sofa.........................
Only in a photo inadvertently opened one night @bigcol
I swear the van's rear end was "worse for wear" and dirtier than the rear end in the pic :spy:
Finally got around to getting my box made, very happy with how it turned out. Mount it and the bottles up this week.
Looks great @spiderpig , what are the dimensions & specs, and how will you secure the gas bottles?
Cheers, Jemmo
Dimensions of the actual "box" are 1200l x 500d x 500h, then the holders welded on the outside for the bottles. 2.5mm checker plate. Not sure on actual weight, but i can lift it easily by myself, gotta love al checker plate! Will secure bottles with tie down ratchet straps like what they use in the newer jaycos and then a bit of chain through the top of the bottles to a loop either side.
Hi All,
Picked up the new Toolbox yesterday afternoon from MW toolboxes in Mentone. $850 incl gst.
It looks pretty good although i haven't put it on the van as yet.
A couple of observations at first sight:
- when the front door opens it is ever so slightly below the level of the bottom of the box, meaning that when it is fixed to the drawbar it will scrape the powdercoating everytime it is opened - i think i will solve that by putting a few mm of rubber between the box and the drawbar anyway which should lift it enough to solve that problem
- i think they should have put some strengthening (similar to what you can see on the inside of the front opening door) under the roof as well as it is pretty flexible when it opens - having said that, it will never be open while travelling so i dont think a big deal
- the second hole they have cut in the gas bottle area is a bit rough (I asked for it very late in the piece, so done manually i think). I will need to get a rubber grommet of some description - can anyone tell me where to source that?
- all the seams are fully welded except for where the gas bottles are. I'm not concerned about strength (there's plenty of welding) but for consistency would have liked it to be fully welded the same as the rest of the box
- the seal looks pretty good, but that will be proven or otherwise through use
- I need to come up with a good mechanism for holding the gas bottles in - i have a couple of ideas but interested in any thoughts
- looks pretty big - the weber seems pretty lonely in there at the moment, but i am sure will get filled up quickly enough
And finally for the obvious question that keen observers will ask - "Why the second hole in the gas bottle holders?"
To quote Rob from "The Curiosty Show" that i watched as a kid "Well, I'm glad you asked"!!
When i went to source the gas lines to run from the regulator to the gas bottle, the gasfitting supplier advised that they are legally only allowed to supply lines up to 1000mm long, any further than that and you need to move the regulator closer to the bottle.
When i did the measurement from where the regulator would be, along the back of the box and then through the hole directly behind the gas bottle it came to 1050mm (and the gas lines are EXACTLY 1000mm long). With two bottles, that would mean splitting the line and having two separate regulators - one for each gas bottle.
So i broke out pythagoras, worked out the distances, and found that if i relocated the hole to the corner and came in at a 45 degree angle from the rear wall to the bottle it the distance is reduced to about 950mm and no right angle bend to negotiate with the flexible gas line - perfect (although some (including me) may say lucky!!).
So a quick call to the manufacturer and the second hole was arranged.
Cheers, Jemmo
Picked up the new Toolbox yesterday afternoon from MW toolboxes in Mentone. $850 incl gst.
It looks pretty good although i haven't put it on the van as yet.
A couple of observations at first sight:
- when the front door opens it is ever so slightly below the level of the bottom of the box, meaning that when it is fixed to the drawbar it will scrape the powdercoating everytime it is opened - i think i will solve that by putting a few mm of rubber between the box and the drawbar anyway which should lift it enough to solve that problem
- i think they should have put some strengthening (similar to what you can see on the inside of the front opening door) under the roof as well as it is pretty flexible when it opens - having said that, it will never be open while travelling so i dont think a big deal
- the second hole they have cut in the gas bottle area is a bit rough (I asked for it very late in the piece, so done manually i think). I will need to get a rubber grommet of some description - can anyone tell me where to source that?
- all the seams are fully welded except for where the gas bottles are. I'm not concerned about strength (there's plenty of welding) but for consistency would have liked it to be fully welded the same as the rest of the box
- the seal looks pretty good, but that will be proven or otherwise through use
- I need to come up with a good mechanism for holding the gas bottles in - i have a couple of ideas but interested in any thoughts
- looks pretty big - the weber seems pretty lonely in there at the moment, but i am sure will get filled up quickly enough
And finally for the obvious question that keen observers will ask - "Why the second hole in the gas bottle holders?"
To quote Rob from "The Curiosty Show" that i watched as a kid "Well, I'm glad you asked"!!
When i went to source the gas lines to run from the regulator to the gas bottle, the gasfitting supplier advised that they are legally only allowed to supply lines up to 1000mm long, any further than that and you need to move the regulator closer to the bottle.
When i did the measurement from where the regulator would be, along the back of the box and then through the hole directly behind the gas bottle it came to 1050mm (and the gas lines are EXACTLY 1000mm long). With two bottles, that would mean splitting the line and having two separate regulators - one for each gas bottle.
So i broke out pythagoras, worked out the distances, and found that if i relocated the hole to the corner and came in at a 45 degree angle from the rear wall to the bottle it the distance is reduced to about 950mm and no right angle bend to negotiate with the flexible gas line - perfect (although some (including me) may say lucky!!).
So a quick call to the manufacturer and the second hole was arranged.
Cheers, Jemmo
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Hi All,
Completed the installation last night and really happy with how it has finished up.
Looks terrific and will be really functional I think.
While technically the regulator isn't above the gas bottle outlet (i suppose it depends which part of the regulator has to be above the gas bottle outlet) it does meet the requirements that any liquid gas will run back into the bottle as the regulator inlet is higher than the gas bottle outlet.
Photos below:
Cheers, Jemmo
Completed the installation last night and really happy with how it has finished up.
Looks terrific and will be really functional I think.
While technically the regulator isn't above the gas bottle outlet (i suppose it depends which part of the regulator has to be above the gas bottle outlet) it does meet the requirements that any liquid gas will run back into the bottle as the regulator inlet is higher than the gas bottle outlet.
Photos below:
Cheers, Jemmo
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Looks like a bought one!
One question / concern though you may have covered this already....are you going to add some sort of stone protection? The box could be damaged by stones but, more importantly, you could get a broken rear window easily from stones being deflected.
Stone stomper or angled stone guard?
I'm no gas expert but I'd keep an eye on the gas setup with the regulator as is. If it complies...and I know you've checked it...fine but if it's at that level relative to the gas bottles it's feeding from, I wonder why all caravan gas setups I've seen have the regulator significantly higher. Maybe I've never noticed if some installations are the same as yours.
Not trying to dampen your tenacity but now interested to see if that gas setup is more usual than I thought.
One question / concern though you may have covered this already....are you going to add some sort of stone protection? The box could be damaged by stones but, more importantly, you could get a broken rear window easily from stones being deflected.
Stone stomper or angled stone guard?
I'm no gas expert but I'd keep an eye on the gas setup with the regulator as is. If it complies...and I know you've checked it...fine but if it's at that level relative to the gas bottles it's feeding from, I wonder why all caravan gas setups I've seen have the regulator significantly higher. Maybe I've never noticed if some installations are the same as yours.
Not trying to dampen your tenacity but now interested to see if that gas setup is more usual than I thought.
I just decided i would run 2 regs on mine, one for each bottle. As mounting the reg on the back high enough to be above the bottle height was going to restrict me moving my box right back against the front of the van. Unfortunately i don't have an extended draw bar so need all the room i can get.
Looks great @Jemmo
One suggestion........ It looks like you used U-Bolts to hold it down. If concerned with the bolt ends and nuts damaging what you put in there I used round headed bolts with an angle iron plate under the draw bar to alleviate any issue of damage inside the box.
One suggestion........ It looks like you used U-Bolts to hold it down. If concerned with the bolt ends and nuts damaging what you put in there I used round headed bolts with an angle iron plate under the draw bar to alleviate any issue of damage inside the box.
Thanks for your comments everyone.
You make a fair point regarding the regulator - unfortunately i am unable to mount the regulator any higher without moving the box forward - any higher and it will foul the front door opening in its current position. I have looked at a number of vans, and there seems to be many where the centre of the bottom round section of the regulator is at about outlet height of the gas bottle, which is where ours sits. I could change to two regulators on their sides (one for each bottle), but i am unsure if that is how they are designed to work?
Thanks for the pic @Scrounger , i think my reg is marginally closer to the outlet height than yours, but still very similar. It is a bit hard to see on your photo - is any part of the bottle outlet above the base of the regulator?
@dagree , i like the idea of the cup headed bolts - will see how it performs as is currently (am only planning hoses, the weber, power cord, floor matting, outside tables in there for the time being) and will keep an eye on any damage. My other thought was a thick rubber mat (say 10mm) with holes cut for the bolts which would stop anything sliding around and will reduce the impact/relative height of the bolts. I will also grind them off to nut height only,
Thanks again for the comments everyone, i really appreciate the benefit of everyone else's experience!
Cheers, Jemmo
I will now @Dobbie - it hadn't even crossed my mind that this would cause a problem. We're away for a few days now (bitumen roads only though - up to the SA riverland) but I will certainly put it into the budget. I quite like the look of the stone stomper but happy to take other's recommendations on this also (and i see there are a number of threads discussing this!)
You make a fair point regarding the regulator - unfortunately i am unable to mount the regulator any higher without moving the box forward - any higher and it will foul the front door opening in its current position. I have looked at a number of vans, and there seems to be many where the centre of the bottom round section of the regulator is at about outlet height of the gas bottle, which is where ours sits. I could change to two regulators on their sides (one for each bottle), but i am unsure if that is how they are designed to work?
Thanks for the pic @Scrounger , i think my reg is marginally closer to the outlet height than yours, but still very similar. It is a bit hard to see on your photo - is any part of the bottle outlet above the base of the regulator?
@dagree , i like the idea of the cup headed bolts - will see how it performs as is currently (am only planning hoses, the weber, power cord, floor matting, outside tables in there for the time being) and will keep an eye on any damage. My other thought was a thick rubber mat (say 10mm) with holes cut for the bolts which would stop anything sliding around and will reduce the impact/relative height of the bolts. I will also grind them off to nut height only,
Thanks again for the comments everyone, i really appreciate the benefit of everyone else's experience!
Cheers, Jemmo
