Going to make a lovely camper.

[Robmac]

I

lithiums should be standard on all new vans, and I reckon they soon will be.
Rob I cannot get below 92% with two 100ah lithiums right now.
I wanted David to instal a victron 1200w inverter, but annoyingly they are to large, and I don’t see any point in fitting anything smaller.
I know winter will be different, but even then I reckon I could spend much longer out than with lead batteries.

Panels are not that heavy Rob, certainly less than what you gain from lithium.
But if you do decide to use sikaflex 554 I would maximise the surface contact area as I did with 50mm angle aluminium. And prepare the surface with isopropyl alchohal. It’s only about £8 for a 500ml bottle.

Thanks Bill. Yes I will seek out some aluminium angle and I will go for the 554.

I can't believe the Lithiums suggested by @martinmartin are only 9.5 kg! My Trojan T125's are 30kg each so there's a big saving. I forgot though I'm also adding an awning next week.

Regarding taking less beer - a ridiculous concept Bill, I'll just leave Julie and the dog at home!

 

[Fisherman]

Thanks Bill. Yes I will seek out some aluminium angle and I will go for the 554.

I can't believe the Lithiums suggested by @martinmartin are only 9.5 kg! My Trojan T125's are 30kg each so there's a big saving. I forgot though I'm also adding an awning next week.

Regarding taking less beer - a ridiculous concept Bill, I'll just leave Julie and the dog at home!

Take the dog, but remember the aircon, or I will have to come over all righteous on you Rob.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I used to subby for a firm that ran 3.5t Ivecos, a nice van more driver focussed than most but drunk like Rob and Barry on bender.

 

[Fisherman]

I used to subby for a firm that ran 3.5t Ivecos, a nice van more driver focussed than most but drunk like Rob and Barry on bender.

I think it’s shocking the way folk keep ribbing Rob for his alcohol consumption.
But just for the record Rob gets 40 mpg, I don’t know what his vans fuel consumption is though.

 

[guerdeval]

I would have loved one of the old UPS vans as a camper but they don't sell them on to the public.

Yes they were type approved, UPS ordered 10000 of them but the firm making them in the UK and USA went bust (arrival) so they were sold off yesterday at Leamington Spa alongside lithium batteries,100’s of tyres,isringhausen seats, several electric coaches and the whole production line, I think they owed almost 100 million.

 

[Robmac]

I think it’s shocking the way folk keep ribbing Rob for his alcohol consumption.
But just for the record Rob gets 40 mpg, I don’t know what his vans fuel consumption is though.

I'll have you know Bill I gave up drinking for the whole of June. (well, stopped on the 3rd actually).

AND I managed the whole month until last Saturday.

 

[Fisherman]

I'll have you know Bill I gave up drinking for the whole of June. (well, stopped on the 3rd actually).

AND I managed the whole month until last Saturday.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I'll have you know Bill I gave up drinking for the whole of June. (well, stopped on the 3rd actually).

AND I managed the whole month until last Saturday.

I love a good tale, but it has to be believable.

 

[Fisherman]

Only joking Rob, I’m no drinker Rob, but I would gladly take a pint or three with you anytime. Never could handle the stuff. My sisters could drink me under the table.
Don’t get me wrong, I love getting drunk, but by god do I suffer, I once had a hangover which lasted three days. No more those days are well over, just a boring auld fart now

 

[Pudsey Bear]

It's a long time since I seriously imbibed, Liz and I got £$%^ faced in the van once on Brandy and coke, and once on Malibu and pineapple juice, that required a lot of effort, then for some reason we just stopped buying booze, no discussion, just stopped, we never drinked at home hence why I found that bottle of Lambrusco in the other thread.

I bought a bottle of whiskey about a year ago, finished it off but didn't replace it, I can take it or leave it, I enjoy it when I have it but not wedded to the stuff, unlike some

 

[Robmac]

Only joking Rob, I’m no drinker Rob, but I would gladly take a pint or three with you anytime. Never could handle the stuff. My sisters could drink me under the table.
Don’t get me wrong, I love getting drunk, but by god do I suffer, I once had a hangover which lasted three days. No more those days are well over, just a boring auld fart now

I just love beer Bill as well as the social side of it, always have since I was 14 and always will and I expect it will do for me at some point - the beer or the fags! But whilst I can still enjoy it I will soldier on.

My downfall though is the top shelf, I don't do well on shorts. I don't get out of order or anything like that I just feel terrible the next day (until I have a fry up).

Yep, fitness freak me!

 

[mark61]

Love getting hammered, but I'm a cheap date these days, 3 or 4 pints will do now.
Although found a lovely little spot just north of Lille in may, had 3 or 4 10% beers in a shack/bar along the river. Fell over on the way back to van, won't go any further

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I just love beer Bill as well as the social side of it, always have since I was 14 and always will and I expect it will do for me at some point - the beer or the fags! But whilst I can still enjoy it I will soldier on.

My downfall though is the top shelf, I don't do well on shorts. I don't get out of order or anything like that I just feel terrible the next day (until I have a fry up).

Yep, fitness freak me!

Now yer talking, I'm partial to a nice looking lady too.

 

[Fisherman]

Love getting hammered, but I'm a cheap date these days, 3 or 4 pints will do now.
Although found a lovely little spot just north of Lille in may, had 3 or 4 10% beers in a shack/bar along the river. Fell over on the way back to van, won't go any further

Would you like to meet up some time

 

[Nabsim]

Look forwards to seeing the build on that one Mark, Liam and crew are turning out some real nice stuff

 

[Robmac]

Well I'm chuffed to bits!

Just got back from the weighbridge and the results (with me in the van solo) were as follows;

Front axle - 1520 (max 1850)
Rear axle - 1320 (max 2100)
Overall - 2840 (max 3500)

Bearing in mind that I have probably 70kg of non van related 'stuff' in there at the moment and I will lose another 40kg when I switch to lithium that gives me at least 700kg to play with for my awning (12kg), couple of high level cupboards (20kg at most I would have thought), and either 2 or 3 lithiums (9kg each) and 340w of solar panels (18kg) so a roughish total of 70 - 80 kg.

I should add the fuel was almost on reserve so add 100kg for a full tank and there was no water or food in the van. We rarely travel with water but would need to consider it. Julies about 60kg and then there are the dogs. Still leaves loads of scope.

I might suggest to Phil that weighbridges are added to POI's as they are quite important, especially to self builders but to all Motorhomers really, or are they already there?

 

[Nabsim]

Not too bad if you go overweight with water Rob as its easy enough to empty it out so you can continue the journey.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Well I'm chuffed to bits!

Just got back from the weighbridge and the results (with me in the van solo) were as follows;

Front axle - 1520 (max 1850)
Rear axle - 1320 (max 2100)
Overall - 2840 (max 3500)

Bearing in mind that I have probably 70kg of non van related 'stuff' in there at the moment and I will lose another 40kg when I switch to lithium that gives me at least 700kg to play with for my awning (12kg), couple of high level cupboards (20kg at most I would have thought), and either 2 or 3 lithiums (9kg each) and 340w of solar panels (18kg) so a roughish total of 70 - 80 kg.

I should add the fuel was almost on reserve so add 100kg for a full tank and there was no water or food in the van. We rarely travel with water but would need to consider it. Julies about 60kg and then there are the dogs. Still leaves loads of scope.

I might suggest to Phil that weighbridges are added to POI's as they are quite important, especially to self builders but to all Motorhomers really, or are they already there?

A litre of diesel is 0.832 kg.

See I just saved you 20kg assuming your tank holds 100 litres, more likely to be 89-90

Are you planning on putting a small bike on the back?

 

[Robmac]

A litre of diesel is 0.832 kg.

See I just saved you 20kg assuming your tank holds 100 litres, more likely to be 89-90

Are you planning on putting a small bike on the back?

Yes I was just assuming (foolishly) it would be the same weight as water.

I would like to take a small Biff Chariotesque scooter with me but I will wait until I've weighed it again when the mods are made (see what I did there?)

I doubt it will be able to take the extra weight so far back though. Might ask Barry to work it out for me.

 

[trevskoda]

Something dont sit well in my head, if you say down plate a 5 ton van to 3.5t then drive over bridges that say 3.5t limit.