Chassis strength

[zildjian]

Mike
this is to drop your camper onto right,
I can't quite picture the two right now, you don't have a picture you could send me do you so we can assess what you best advice is...

[Big Jim]

I am a big fan of the super (king cab). I rarely carry more than one passenger in the truck and if I do it's not me perched in the back ! I think it must make a noticeable difference having the camper a foot further on the bed . My Ranger is a 2x4 which may be a disadvantage , but it does sit lower on the road , so perhaps will roll less .

[mjb666]

Sorry, i've explained it all wrong.

1. Mazda Single cab + De-mountable built for a single cab.

2. Nissan King cab + Hoping to buy a new second hand De-mountable in the future?

3. Mitsubishi Single cab + with the same De-mountable from number 1 ( The Mazda has been swopped ).

I'am hoping to have it all up and sorted soon and try to make it to the Social. I've even now got power steering.

I'am just concerned how much effort and money i will have to put into the Nissan to prepare it for a newer unit to make it safe basically?

[TrueDink]

From what I can gather your 2011 king cab is perfectly safe. The problem with the Navara chassis only relates to Spanish built ones from 2006 to 2009. They used inferior grade steel which is rusting prematurely.

[Peaky]

Evening Mike,

I think that up-plating to 3.5t is a must for any truck including extra / king cabs. It will give you a lot more useable extra payload without fringing along the edge of the law. Which therefore means that you'll also have go down the route of airbags & stronger tyres.
With all of the above done, then this means that you'll have a fantastic rig which is:-

1. Going to keep you on the right side of the law.
2. Give you the peace of mind that nothing on the capacity side of things is going to let you down.


Andy

[mjb666]

Thanks Guys

I've had the Nissan 18 months, I'am so Pleased with it, covered 30k at 44mpg ( onboard system ) & 41mpg by my reckoning. It doesn't have a hard life & is the 190, so seems to have loads of power & torque, i'm not that technical or practical.

I will continue to get my old unit and L200 up and running to use again this year whilst trying to price up the upgrades needed on the Nissan before i decide what i'm going to do?

[zildjian]

Well I think its good to go as it is unless you feel that camper is weighing the back down so much the headlights are pointing too far upwards, in which case a pair of air springs from Marcle and a cheap air compressor from Halfords.

Tyres can wait until you are ready to go 3.5 as they bolster your argument with Swansea by virtue better tyres carry more weight that road tyres.

I'd be surprised you have much trouble with chassis as you are shifting any camper that much further forward than it would be on a crew cab like mine
that said when a more modern lighter camper comes along it will be good

[derestrictor]

and with a king cab that would be one of the best configurations in terms of weight balance anyway wouldn't it

all the weight of the load shoved forward a good bit further than a 4 door

[Gary W]

Any chassis will break if it's abused for too long. There are well documented cases of demountable related chassis breakages with all brands of truck. However by far the most common are L200 and Navara and this applies to new or old trucks. They are not weak trucks though and they will last as long as any other brand if used within their design limits.

If the demountable is of a suitable size and weight, and the weight is correctly positioned, any truck should be fine. You might find our application chart helpful but remember Dutch Campers are anal (and honest) about weight and weight distribution so please don't compare a DC-220 for example with a 2.2 metre cabin from elsewhere. What you can see however is the comparison between different trucks and different body lengths. If you double click on the image you should be able to see the whole thing, if not click this link...

http://sbsadventurecampers.com/Images/p ... bility.jpg




Hope that's helpful

Best wishes

Gary

[Madmountainman]

Gary, really useful info and very helpful chart, thank you.