4x4 camper conversion?

fonecrusher1

Seriously want to convert my 4x4 into a weekend camper for the summer. Heres a pic of what i would like it to look like.
There are tents you can attach to the back of 4x4's but there expensive & i couldnt be bothered putting up & taking down a tent all the time.



Tiz only an idea.:)

Anybody ever done this sort of thing before?

101sean

Your idea looks very neat, probably great for a weekender, longer term the lack of headroom would be a pain.

The Germans seem to be very good at that sort of thing but very pricey with it. Looked at some of the Aussie comics when I was in NZ last year, they have some good ideas, try trawling some of their websites.

Like I said in another thread I thought of doing this to my 110, you can stilll get Dormobile roofs and the interior fittings and seats.

fonecrusher1

101sean wrote: »

Your idea looks very neat, probably great for a weekender, longer term the lack of headroom would be a pain.

The Germans seem to be very good at that sort of thing but very pricey with it. Looked at some of the Aussie comics when I was in NZ last year, they have some good ideas, try trawling some of their websites.

Like I said in another thread I thought of doing this to my 110, you can stilll get Dormobile roofs and the interior fittings and seats.

Oh it would definitely be for weekends & no more.
I wouldn't cook inside, hence the pull-out cooking grill. It really would only be used as a nice comfy dry bed area. Im mad about the whole outdoors thing but tents do my head in, there just a headache to set up, take down & wake up in.
A Defender would actually be perfect for this sort of conversion because of the huge headroom. As much as i like my surf she's pretty low-roofed.
First thing i would do is build a soild box unit for the bed out of 2x4 & plywood & work around that.

peasant

That's the kind of thing you want ...lots of choice as well
http://images.google.ie/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=rooftent&rlz=1R2ADFA_enIE342&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=7epMS6S-ApT54Aa6qqHgDQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCYQsAQwAw

and then some clever, homemade solutions for your cooker, sink etc and you're away

fonecrusher1

peasant wrote: »

That's the kind of thing you want ...lots of choice as well
http://images.google.ie/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=rooftent&rlz=1R2ADFA_enIE342&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=7epMS6S-ApT54Aa6qqHgDQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCYQsAQwAw

and then some clever, homemade solutions for your cooker, sink etc and you're away

Now you're talking.



Looks brilliant but outrageously expensive no doubt.

I suppose the question is, do i convert or just get a fancy roof-tent?

peasant

The thing about converting the inside of your yoke is insulation.

One sleepover/cooking session in the back of your van will introduce liters of condensation (depending on weather) that'll drip down inside and make things very uncomfortable (and rusty in the long run)

Insulating and ventilating a 4x4 properly will cost a pretty penny too and it will also further reduce your already scarce space.

If you're serious about doing this more often, the roof tent will pay for itself, if you only do it occasionally, overcome your aversion and just get a normal tent for a few euro

fonecrusher1

peasant wrote: »

The thing about converting the inside of your yoke is insulation.

One sleepover/cooking session in the back of your van will introduce liters of condensation (depending on weather) that'll drip down inside and make things very uncomfortable (and rusty in the long run)

Insulating and ventilating a 4x4 properly will cost a pretty penny too and it will also further reduce your already scarce space.

If you're serious about doing this more often, the roof tent will pay for itself, if you only do it occasionally, overcome your aversion and just get a normal tent for a few euro

Agree with you on the possible interior issues that may occur but as already mention i would not cook inside the vehicle.

A regular tent is out of the question. I spent a fair bit of time camping last summer & i developed a hatred for tents due the constant repetitive unload, set-up, disassembling of the the thing.
Tents are fine if you intend spending maybe a week in one place but that doesn't suit me. I prefer to stay a day or 2 & either go home or move on to another spot depending on weather.

A good-sized roof tent is probably the ideal solution but im restricted to a lowish budget so i'l have a look round on interweb for a bargain.

What sort of yoke do you own?

101sean

The thing that puts me off roof tents is calls of nature after spending all night talking sh!te round a bonfire while drinking way too much In my case it would be a recipe for a broken neck

There are cheaper caranex type tents these days, but even with a vehicle you can kip inside an awning at least will be needed for cooking outside.

Must admit I go the whole hog when attending military or vintage shows, I tow a big military trailer with all my kit in it. I set up a 9x9 command tent (takes about 10 mins) and link it to the trailer with a tarp (camouflaged of course!). Bed and cooking facilities in tent, beer fridge etc stays in trailer.
Means I can use the vehicle without disturbing the camp but if it's a one nighter I'll kip in the back of the 101. I love getting away for the weekend, by the time the show season starts in April I'm going stir crazy

peasant

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

What sort of yoke do you own?

Not a 4x4

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/38469/37371.JPG

and the 4x4 is not for camping

peasant

You could do this on a low budget though:

1) one or two rooflights for the all important ventilation

2) get creative with MDF and fit a few storage boxes that convert into a bed

3) get some good tarpaulin, cut to size, fit together and screw some push-buttons on your back door to fit the tarpaulin to and you've got your awning

fonecrusher1

peasant wrote: »

Not a 4x4

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/38469/37371.JPG

and the 4x4 is not for camping

Nice camper.

Who's 4x4 is not for camping?

KoNiT

http://www.crozier4x4.com/shop/index.php?categoryID=305

dunno was this mentioned... you can rent the roof tent..

fonecrusher1

KoNiT wrote: »

http://www.crozier4x4.com/shop/index.php?categoryID=305

dunno was this mentioned... you can rent the roof tent..

Looks good KoNit but its for a Landrover.

peasant

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Who's 4x4 is not for camping?

mine

fonecrusher1

Hey peasant can you fix the spelling of convertion to conversion in the thread title please???
oops!

Slidey

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Hey peasant can you fix the spelling of convertion to conversion in the thread title please???
oops!

No, he can't... but I can!

KoNiT

"OH NO ITS NOT"... (thats my panto moment over)

http://www.rooftent.co.uk/webpages/hannibal.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mZHJd2_mno

I watched a crowd from europe unload a massive 4x4 truck "popemobile" with roof tents on it. seated possibly 16-20 people.

Driver never loaded on final tarpaulin.. tents & bedding got a bit wet

fonecrusher1

Slidey wrote: »

No, he can't... but I can!

Thanks.

fonecrusher1

This could be the solution here.
They claim it can be set-up in under a minute & its tall enough to stand up in which is exactly what i was looking for. I would position my car where its shown in the lower pic. No prices shown. Cheers Konit

quietsailor

Hey Fonecrusher,

back when i were a kiddy the family used to go camping with something like this. If you have nothing stored on the trailer roof rack you can have one of these tents set up in 60 seconds, it's a case of opening 2 latches, opening the tent and then walking inside to slide up two fittings on poles and locking them in place. -- it'll take less time to set it up if you leave it hitched to the car -- a trick I picked up when we used to use the tent to sleep at festivals.

Link It's a large photo so it may take a while to open the link

Just a word of warning, if you intend setting up the awning this will then take probably close to an hour, they are a pig to assemble, but your saying you only want it for sleeping so this shouldn't matter.

Dad had wired up a 12V lighting system inside the tent so that all we had to do was park the car bonnet near the trailer hitch and clip on the 2 crocidile clips to the battery of the car.

Here's a few links, the first one has new prices at the bottom of the page.
http://www.omearacamping.com/?gclid=CLPhlNDwoZ8CFSBk4wodgzD7JQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_tabiP5fT0

Here's a pictre of an assembled trailer tent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUuy3Lg6-00

Hope this helps

Shane

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Agree with you on the possible interior issues that may occur but as already mention i would not cook inside the vehicle.

A regular tent is out of the question. I spent a fair bit of time camping last summer & i developed a hatred for tents due the constant repetitive unload, set-up, disassembling of the the thing.
Tents are fine if you intend spending maybe a week in one place but that doesn't suit me. I prefer to stay a day or 2 & either go home or move on to another spot depending on weather.

A good-sized roof tent is probably the ideal solution but im restricted to a lowish budget so i'l have a look round on interweb for a bargain.

What sort of yoke do you own?

k9cara

I used to camp overnight in my 110. I have it insulated and plylined, with a false floor, with removable boards. It was just long enough to lie down in. I got an Autohaven plus tent, which is similar to the caranex. It gives the headroom and also has an inner tent if extra sleeping room is needed. I never use it since I bought a camper so if anyone needs one I wouldn't mind parting with it. Its a large tent but it only takes about five - ten minutes to put up when you know what goes where.

There are websites with custom made furniture for 110 camper conversions, but I don't know the web addresses off hand - they're in Germany I think.

Regards,

Sarah.

fonecrusher1

quietsailor wrote: »

Hey Fonecrusher,

back when i were a kiddy the family used to go camping with something like this. If you have nothing stored on the trailer roof rack you can have one of these tents set up in 60 seconds, it's a case of opening 2 latches, opening the tent and then walking inside to slide up two fittings on poles and locking them in place. -- it'll take less time to set it up if you leave it hitched to the car -- a trick I picked up when we used to use the tent to sleep at festivals.

Link It's a large photo so it may take a while to open the link

Just a word of warning, if you intend setting up the awning this will then take probably close to an hour, they are a pig to assemble, but your saying you only want it for sleeping so this shouldn't matter.

Dad had wired up a 12V lighting system inside the tent so that all we had to do was park the car bonnet near the trailer hitch and clip on the 2 crocidile clips to the battery of the car.

Here's a few links, the first one has new prices at the bottom of the page.
http://www.omearacamping.com/?gclid=CLPhlNDwoZ8CFSBk4wodgzD7JQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_tabiP5fT0

Here's a pictre of an assembled trailer tent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUuy3Lg6-00

Hope this helps

Shane

Cheers shane.

Thanks for the info & the links. That trailer tent is a bit too big for me im afraid. They are the ultimate bit of camping equipment arent they.
I think i would be better off with something like the oz tent as displayed above combined with some sort of sink/cooker arrangement positioned at the rear of my 4x4.
This is what i was using last summer.

It was ok but it would take me about 45 minutes to set up properly. Add to that the time it takes to set up cooking equipment & it would be well over an hour before i could relax.:mad: Feck that.
I just want to stop somewhere, pop up the tent & chill out.

:cool:

opti76

why not just get one of these... get the bigger 3 second one as oppossed to the 2 second one.. ive used it plenty of times and its quite decent really ... as you said its only for sleeping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI9m8aSZaEU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI9m8aSZaEU&feature=related

fonecrusher1

opti76 wrote: »

why not just get one of these... get the bigger 3 second one as oppossed to the 2 second one.. ive used it plenty of times and its quite decent really ... as you said its only for sleeping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI9m8aSZaEU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI9m8aSZaEU&feature=related

Thats still too much work.


Only joking. Yeah but i want to be able to stand up in it.

KoNiT

that OZ tent a single skin?

Dunno what condensation is like in Aussie land when camping?

just saw this -
http://au.oztent.com/products/viewProduct.asp?productid=6

hehe found 1!
http://img1.classistatic.com/cps/kj/090908/968r1/8807453_19.jpeg

http://www.sportzbynapier.com/truck_tents.html

this may be up your street..
http://www.autohomeus.com/rooftop/maggiolina.php

Mr.Boots

I thought about doing a 110 comercial a while ago, might get round to it soime day.
My paln was to put two pop up roof vents in the roof (from a caravan shop) for ventilation, two small windows in the side panels( defender specialest), cover the rear area over the arches with a mdf board with a matress on top , insulate the floor, walls and ceailing with spray on foam insulation and cover with ply, install a simple split charge system to run extra leisure battery for lights, stereo, tv ect, under the bed i would have a large enough rectangualr area in which i could install a full length roll out bench on runners housing a stainless steel sink, two ring stainless hob and large wooden work area (also suitable for chopping on) and some clever storage for dry food goods, crokery ect.
over the back door, some sort of modified awning to keep me dry while cooking, and at the side of the 110 a roll out awning to sit under (both waterproof)
Make up some simple pop on fastener curtains for the front windows.
For a fridge....a decent cool box that you csn plug into a cigarette lighter would be fine for ireland.
If you did most of the work yourself in would be quite inexpencive......getting the roll out bench fabricated probably the most expencive item.

Mr.Boots

KoNiT wrote: »

that OZ tent a single skin?

Dunno what condensation is like in Aussie land when camping?

just saw this -
http://au.oztent.com/products/viewProduct.asp?productid=6

hehe found 1!
http://img1.classistatic.com/cps/kj/090908/968r1/8807453_19.jpeg

http://www.sportzbynapier.com/truck_tents.html

this may be up your street..
http://www.autohomeus.com/rooftop/maggiolina.php

As much as i love roof tents....i think your better off with a good ground tent for ireland most of the time.
our rain comes sideways and we get strong atlantic gusts, both of which alot of roof tents dont like, you will use alot more fuel, a nightmare to dry out some of them, some hard to put away (fold) you will need a couple of helpers to remove it after the trip, somewhere to store it and some roofs cant suport the weight of the tent and occupants.
A good ground tent can be put up in 5minutes once you get used to it...for example my North Face tent can be put up in 5 mins and will withstand anything nature throws at it, the outside of it drys quickly and can be put away in about 10mins, and i can pop it in a bag and head to france on Ryanair....something you cant do with a roof tent.
Anyway...half the fun of camping is all the gear and messing about putting it up and assembling all your gear....its like playing "Hut" when you were 8

fonecrusher1

Mr.Boots wrote: »

I thought about doing a 110 comercial a while ago, might get round to it soime day.
My paln was to put two pop up roof vents in the roof (from a caravan shop) for ventilation, two small windows in the side panels( defender specialest), cover the rear area over the arches with a mdf board with a matress on top , insulate the floor, walls and ceailing with spray on foam insulation and cover with ply, install a simple split charge system to run extra leisure battery for lights, stereo, tv ect, under the bed i would have a large enough rectangualr area in which i could install a full length roll out bench on runners housing a stainless steel sink, two ring stainless hob and large wooden work area (also suitable for chopping on) and some clever storage for dry food goods, crokery ect.
over the back door, some sort of modified awning to keep me dry while cooking, and at the side of the 110 a roll out awning to sit under (both waterproof)
Make up some simple pop on fastener curtains for the front windows.
For a fridge....a decent cool box that you csn plug into a cigarette lighter would be fine for ireland.
If you did most of the work yourself in would be quite inexpencive......getting the roll out bench fabricated probably the most expencive item.

Hello

Yeah what you have mentioned is pretty much what i would like to end up with before the summer.
But realistically speaking i would be happy with a 6 foot bed shelf built into the left hand side of my vehicle with a pull out cooking grill.
Again what your saying about the awning is spot on. But instead of a button on system you are describing I would go for the oz tent awning/tent thats been discussed above as its very quick to set up.

101sean

Anyway...half the fun of camping is all the gear and messing about putting it up and assembling all your gear....its like playing "Hut" when you were 8

I like it!

fonecrusher1

Right lads after looking around the interweb for a while i think ive found the perfect tent to suit my laziness.
Take a look at this clever contraption.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7h5RhRV9_8

opti76

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Right lads after looking around the interweb for a while i think ive found the perfect tent to suit my laziness.
Take a look at this clever contraption.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7h5RhRV9_8

those tents are savage as i said i have the 2second version which suits my needs.. invest in a good dry sheet to place under them. there cheap as chips to. the one suggestion i would make though is record the folding technique on your mobile phone. it makes a handy reference point for when your putting it away

fonecrusher1

opti76 wrote: »

those tents are savage as i said i have the 2second version which suits my needs.. invest in a good dry sheet to place under them. there cheap as chips to. the one suggestion i would make though is record the folding technique on your mobile phone. it makes a handy reference point for when your putting it away

Good idea.
Yeah i just realized its the same make as the one you were talking about.:D
Looks good alright, compared to the hassle involved in putting up a regular tent i think its going to be a pleasure to own. Its gonna take less than a minute or two to have it fully set up. Happy days.
I have a very tough ground sheet from another tent which i will use with this one.
They come with an optional inner bedroom compartment but i want to use the tent as a little eating/drinking room so i think i'll just do without.