Kate and Daves 18.57.8 Mods

[dogilvie]

This set of modifications solved a few problems.

1) Our tow vehicle did not have a full sized spare tyre. When we purchased one on ebay it sat in the back of the car...unsecured. So the wheel had to go either under the van or at the back.
2) I wanted to setup for satellite but didn't want to drop the big $$$ on the automated systems.
3) On trips where we were going to be staying in the one spot we wanted to take bikes along for the kids.

We rolled all of these changes into one job...moving the caravan spare to the back and the car spare onto the A frame. Added the 4 bike bike carrier integrated into the new heavy duty bumper bar and finally added the spare 90cm satellite dish that was sitting unused on the roof.

The new bumper bar extends 2m from the rear of the van along the caravan chassis.

Very happy with the work done by the guys at Berns Beaks (Tradesmans Trailers) in Baronia.

 

[NissPat]

Guys, I love it. I'll be looking at putting a tough bar on the back to put bikes spare ,ets on as well...as soon as I get mine...2 weeks to go.
If I can ask, how much did something like that cost, and how much extra weight does it add?

Cheers and thanks in advance


EDIT: Jump into the introduction section and say G'Day to all as well

 

[dogilvie]

Thanks NissPat, we're very happy with it. All up $3100 which broke down to $1900 for the bar and tyre mount, $600 for bike rack and the same again for the satellite arm. I'm yet to run it over the weigh bridge yet but I'm guessing 30kg for the beefed up rear bar, 30kg for the additional spare wheel and 15kg for the unloaded bike rack. Not all of the bumber weight sits directly on the back of the rig, with 2m of it distributed along the chassis. I am aware of the potential for towing stability issues when weight is added to the back of a van and I took it pretty easy on its first trip this week end. The roads were wet a greasy though so I'll make another trip before making a conclusion on any effect its had on the tow-ability. I've always had a WDH on the van to level the rig up and I re-assessed the need for that before the trip expecting the weight change to have had eliminated the need for it. But its still made a noticeable difference in transferring weight from the tow rigs back wheels to the front. I'll need to re-measure the ball weight too, just to ensure that I have sufficient weight on the ball. Looking to add a tool box on the front for the generator before the next big trip, so that will bring some more weight back to the front as well.

We love the 18.57.8, with the semi circle kitchen table and all the extra room you get from having both beds folding out. Hope you enjoy it too.

 

[NissPat]

Thanks for that, I appreciate the feedback. I think with the toolbox on the front that should even the weight nicely, and that's what I'm planning to do as well.
From the pictures, does the bar run from the back towards the middle of the van about a meter or more ? looks like it from the picture. Any chance of any more photos of how it's attached?

Thanks again

 

[dogilvie]

Runs about 2m in from the back of the van, about 4 times the length of the original Jayco bar. Its bolted to the main chassis. I'll get some more photos tomorrow.

 

[dogilvie]

A couple of photos of the rear bar bolted along the chassis. The main variation on the original is that the new bar runs much further along the chassis.