24 hr Camper Conversion???

[Luke]

Hi Folks

Ok, here it is... my 8 year old son and I are heading up to Lime Rock Park for the motor racing this weekend, camping on Friday night. We're taking the 109 Safari.

It might be a slight understatement to say the weather looks a bit er... poor - and I'm not sure our $20 Walmart tent will cope. So the question is can I turn my stock 109 into a camper by tomorrow night?? At minimum we want to sleep and cook in it. I have some ideas but it would be great to hear your thoughts.

Discuss :D

[greenmeanie]

Two quick things.
Fold the rear seats forward and see what room you're left with. Can you lie flat and straight in that gap. If not pull the rear seats out and try again. IT's pretty narrow between the wqheel arches though so I hope you and your son are on good terms.

THe other option is to remove the rear seats so that you have nothing above the height of the wheel arches. Buy some sheets of plywood and some 4X2s and build a flat platform back there. Add n air mattress and you're done.

I am loath to cook inside a vehicle unless it was designed to do so. There is always a risk of fire and carbon monoxide ( A bit of a stretch there but its the dumb things that usually kill you). I would buy a tarp and get some poles and line. It's then very easy to make an awning off the side of the truck once your parked up. It'll also give you a lot more space for a couple of chairs etc. to keep them dry.

Cheers
Gregor

[Myron]

Why don't you just invest in a better tent? Probably cheaper than converting your 109, even if you could do it in 24 hrs.

[Mercedesrover]

.. my 8 year old son and I are heading up to Lime Rock Park for the motor racing this weekend

What's going on at Lime Rock? I'm 10 minutes from there.

Like said, fold the seat forward and crash in the back. It's only one night.

[Luke]

Hi Jim - the Sports Car Club of America are holding their North Atlantic championship finale. Ostensibly amateur racing but some fairly serious machinery and teams turn up and it's a really nice venue. Paul Newman was a regular - not sure if he'll be racing this year though. I understand it depends on whether his wife lets him :)

With regards to the camper conversion, many thanks for the input. The ideas of using some ply across the wheel arches are pretty much what I had in mind and the key piece will be whether the seats can stay in or not. No great issue if the middle row needs to come out (they pretty much fall out by themselves ;)) but more of a pain if I'd need to take out the rear seats to make room. At that point it might be easier to go with Myron's suggestion of a better tent.

Re: cooking, my thoughts were that we'd be ok with a two burner coleman stove on the rear box, next to the door, if we also had the rear door open. Plenty of ventilation then and at least some shelter from the rain. The rear windows can also open. Otherwise we can always mackle up some sort of awning.

Cheers
Luke

[yank]

I'll be in that neck of the woods tomarrow. There is a great tractor/engine/steam/junk show in Kent Fri-Sun.

http://www.ctamachinery.com/

[Luke]

Funny you should mention that. I'm hoping we'll stop by there on the way back down route 7. :thumb-up:

[Mercedesrover]

I was hoping to get to Kent Saturday or Sunday. That's a great show. Too bad the weather is going to be crummy Saturday. Anyone going to be in the area Sunday? I'm planning on taking the new 109 out for its maiden voyage Sunday.

[Luke]

We might leave it to Sunday if we have to dry out and warm up on Saturday afternoon! If so we'll keep and eye out for you. I've seen the pics you posted of the 109 - looks fantastic.

Cheers
Luke

[LaneRover]

I am guessing that it is a 109 SW with a safari top and not a p-up.

Fold the rear seats forward, put in plywood over the wheel arches giving you storage underneath is good. Bring a few thinsolite pads or foam to sleep on. I agree that cooking inside is probably a bad idea and that you should attach a tarp to the side with poles holding the otherside up. You could also do that off of the back of the truck. If your son is not that old he could sleep across the front seats.

With a pick-up you wouldn't have the back seat to deal with and it would be even easier.

[jp-]

I've toyed with the idea of mounting hammock hooks to the four corners of the inside roof, and hanging one up. Haven't gotten around to it yet.

[Luke]

Thanks Guys - much appreciated. Yep, it's a station wagon.

It's actually working out much easier than I'd at first thought. I've got all the stuff to put together an awning in the garage and it turns out my son fits perfectly along the front seats (not for long though LOL). All we need to do is make enough room for me in the back so I'll be heading outside shortly to see if folding the seats forward will do it. I'll be leaving the rear seats in so cooking will definately be outside.

I love the idea of the hammock hooks though... wouldn't that be cool if you could find enough height above the seats? Hmmm....

Cheers
Luke

[scott]

i've slept under a lot of trucks. the series is roomy underneath.

[Leslie]

i've slept under a lot of trucks. the series is roomy underneath.


Sure, but, I don't want to wake up coated in 90wt..... :p

[Tim Smith]

I have seen the hammock idea done in an 88 between two opposing corners. Seemed to work well for one adult.

My latest incarnation for the lightweight uses two 2x4's across the back with some framing hangers sliding through between the roof sides and tub top. Then just cut an old piece of ply to fit over that. For the front, I had to make a folding set of legs that take the place of the passenger seat and front floor space which support the front piece of ply that is then screwed to the first piece with piano hinges. Toss a couple of thick blankets down for cushion and you're all set for the night.

Drawbacks:

If your cushion is too think then you'll feel trapped between the plywood and roof.
The folding support for the front section needs to fold down smartly in order to not be a hindrance when you are driving.
If you are going to sleep in your truck during cold or inclement weather, you will really want an insulated roof. If not then you will wake up soaked from the condensation dripping on you all night. In warmer weather you'll have a window cracked and it won't be so bad.
If you don't put wheel chalks down and are on the slightest incline then you won't get a wink of sleep because you will be up all night waiting for the e-brake to fail and/or pop out of gear, thusly sending you to your fiery and untimely entrance into the Darwin awards.

Don't ask me how I know these things. :o

The first version of this design used an old Ikea futon "double" mattress which took up the whole lateral space I had from left to right and front to back. I ended up rolling into the drivers side of the truck one night and by the time I woke up, I had a bent steering wheel. :(

Working on a new design now but hopefully the above will give you some ideas.

[Luke]

Thanks Tim! :thumb-up:

The latest is that the tent has won out. It's still raining hard but the wind hasn't got up so we'll chance the tent under a tarp awning attached to the safari roof supports. Kick myself daily for selling the roof rack before we moved here... If it turns bad then I've cleared enough space in the vehicle by removing two of the middle row seats for us to sleep in there.

Thanks all!

Cheers
Luke

[scott]

Sure, but, I don't want to wake up coated in 90wt..... :p

the 90w serves to waterproof your sleeping bag thus repelling water that flows under your ride.