Previous Self-Builds

Below are a few pictures of the first motorhome i ever built, i bought this locally (15 miles away), it was a Mercedes Sprinter....W reg / 5 cylinder / 3 ltr/5 gear/125hp, single wheeler on the back / rear wheel drive and 3.5 tons gross weight.

It made the perfect motorhome with regards to the power as you could go down to 20mph in 5th and it would still pull away. Could have done with a higher gross weight.

I took the body completely off as there was 6" under it and i could lower it down, as this space was not needed, i then reconstructed the chassis cross-members and laid body straight onto it.Also i took the barn doors out and turned the box completely around and set it further back to create more living space, worked a treat. so the back became the front, so all we had to do was build the pod into the body and the cab....easy.....lol.

The finished motorhome, ready for the road, we went touring Scotland in it and it never missed a beat.

This is a one i started but never got round to as i sold it before i got a body built, originally it was a  with a lowering floor in it, reason i bought this was that the back half unbolted from the front, just behind the cab and so i could build a chassis to suit what i wanted and the chassis length was 22' and i was going to make it 8' wide, the centre axle did lift from the ground as this would create lots of benefits.....it would lift the centre axle clear of the ground thus not creating any scrub when on a caravan site / create more grip to the front drive axle / lift the rear higher by 7" for coming on and off ferries, as many motor-homes ground.

  

This is the second motorhome i built, from a 16 seater mini-bus on air suspension with a wheelchair lift in the back, I bought this off eBay situated in Exeter, went down on the train and drove it back, it drove great.

This was easier to convert as the external body did not want changed.

It was a Fiat 52 reg / 2.8cc / 128bhp / 5.3 tons gross / 3 axles, was originally a Rohill Conversion from Andover.

Then finished Toured England, but the big adventure was May 2012 when we went to the centre of France to work on a camp-site for the summer we spent 3 month's on it.
Then we took 1 month out mid September to mid October touring Europe, Switzerland / Germany / Luxembourg and Belgium.
It went well with not a lot of problems.

I would not buy another 3 axle(tag axle) motorhome as it takes a lot of weight from your drive wheels and also some camp-sites will not allow them as when you turn it will scuff the ground, also length can be an issue as well but there is a website that i have found and they offer all the information anyone would need whilst travelling in the UK, also they have a section camp-sites where you need a bigger pitch the category is "XL Pitches" and the website is www.ukmotorhometravel.co.uk

This is the last self build i am doing below, you can follow the build if you like in this blog from start to finish. Something for me to look back on in later years.

 

This one is to live in full-time, and to travel around Europe in when finished later this year, but see how i get on....hopefully ready for winter 2013.

What I need

Because i am going to live full-time in my motorhome i wanted larger things and more things than the mormal motorhome would need for just a summer holiday.
My wife and i went to France for the summer in 2012 to work and have a holiday.
4 months in total we spent away from home, and living in our motorhome gave me a long time to think and work out what i needed in the 3rd one....and the last one i am ever going to build.

So this is what i need.
Because living full-time in it there are a few different things you need as to if you were just having a 2 week summer holiday.
To consider is you need:-
Large fresh water/grey water and also black water or toilet tanks, because it could be 2-3 weeks before you empty as i will be wild camping also with it.
I want a multi functional and usage motorhome, one that i can do most things in and not be restricted much.
This is being built to what i want and what i need to be relaxed in and very comfortable.
Lot of storage space.
Plenty of room inside, to put all our belongings in.
A large fixed bed.
A garage area to put all the big stuff.
Large bed above cab for people to stay over.
Powerful enough to tow.
A variation of heating options.
Economical as possible.
Reasonable gross weight.
Good grip if i am on grass.
Well insulated.
Large gas tank for LPG.

The vehicle.

I want an approx living body size of 25' and an overall length of approx 33'.

The finished motorhome will be.....
33' long front bumper to tow-bar.
8' outside width.
11' 6" overall height.
So yes it is going to be a big one.
So i need a truck with a bit of power and able to carry weight.

I thought about using a Daf 45  7.5 tons this would give me the length without having to extend a chassis, and also the gross weight is good.
The only problem is the tilting cab to get at the engine, this is something i do not want.
But there is no other vehicle that would give me all i want..........or is there.

I started thinking about some friends of ours that have a Winnebago and it has a truck at the front with a bonnet easy access to the engine.

So i started searching and came up with 2 trucks that had a good gross weight and they were the Renault Mascot and the Ford Iveco Daily.
Now which one would be easy to get second-hand parts and would be best suited to me.....

I went for a Iveco Daily 6.5 ton gross weight, should be fine as I was going to done rate the Daf anyway.
Now i have to find one?
The best place i find to look for anything is Ebay, so i had a look, there were lots but not many 6.5 tons and not in my price range.

After 2 weeks of searching i came across just what i was looking for on Ebay at Manchester and within my price range...an 05 reg, low mileage, Ford Iveco Daily 6.5 tons it had a 14' body on it with a cab pod, as you see in the pictures below.

Doner truck No3

The Pod

This is the biggest weight carrying truck out there with a bonnet, the only other i came across was Renault Mascott.

Here is my truck.

Here is my 05 reg Ford Iveco Daily (made in Spain) so should be ok when travelling to get bits for it if needed.

It has a tail lift that along with the body is not needed.

I am going to remove the tail lift and body and sell them both to get a little back.

Here i am removing the tail lift with good old faithful stacker truck....it's a god send, lucky for me my mate has a fantastic large workshop and all the tools.

This is us using old faithful again to lift the body off after i have been under it cutting the bolt ends off so as the body will lift off.

Oh forgot to say.....we use elf & safety here....not health, cos this is deffo not good for your health, especially if you underneath it and it falls....lol.

Was a litle windy this day so the guy from yorkshire that had bought it, we got his truck underneath ASAP, before it fell to the ground....glad to say we did it fine and the guy drove off into the sunset...happy as larry and i was when i got the reddies in my hand.

A little bit different now, the body was heavy as it was double skinned.

Well i removed the channel that ran down the chassis top and removed the crossmembers and i gained another 8", which with building a motorhome every inch matters.

So now its ready to go off to the fabrication man to get stretched and all new body made.

Here are 2 pictures showing the truck now 

stretched with 8' in the middle and 2' in the rear. 

 

 

This picture is showing the crossmembers 

in and nearly finished.                

Here the truck is back at Shap and ready to be towed to the Shot Blasters and also get the chassis painted.

Here we are at the shotblasters after it has been painted, the total length was truck - 33' long, towing bar - 12' long then the car - 15' so my maths say it was a total length of 60' long, this was brought up the M6 at 55 mph no probs at all and NO POLICE about, but we did things right, there were lights on the back of the truck and they were connected to the car...plus we had a flashing beacon on the roof of the truck to warn everyone long vehicle coming....lol.

Here it is at Shap after i hand painted the chassis 3 times with an undercoat first then 2 coats of vinyl paint. Its now ready to start getting its foam/fibreglass body built on.

Here's my mate Chris making the base for 

the body to go on top of the crossmembers.

 this is the base on the truck.

The type of body we are building on to the truck will be cocooned in fibreglass, so no water will be able to penetrate inside the upper body at all. The outer body will be made of 3" foam with fibreglass on both sides, so it will be warm in winter and cool in the summer.

The main benefits with this type of body is that, i have a 6.5 ton gross truck.....so with a foam body, it will be megga light and so i will not reach the max weight. 

Going to get the truck

I contacted the guy and explained what i wanted to do and he said it would be fine for that as he had contemplated going it and then decided it was too much work and decided just to sell it.
We agreed a price and i bought it subject to seeing it and was as he said it was, so we arranged to go the next day down to Manchester in my van with the wife to see and hopefully collect it.

My Fiesta Van

We arrived at his house and there it was standing outside and had not turned a wheel for weeks he said not had it been started.
So i thought...yer...they all say that, but when we got in it, it started after about 9 times turning over, so yer he must have been telling the truth as if it had just been started it would have fired up straight away.
When we looked at the logbook the guy i bought it from, his business was called Fred Dimner Ltd, i thought it strange, he did not look like Fred Dimner and also he was dead....was this a ghost...lol....Nooooo it wasn't, the guy explained he used to work for Fred and when Fred died he along with a business associate bought Fred's old house and turned it into a Museum.
We went for a run round the block as it was still taxed and insured etc, it went fine no un-necessary creaks and bad noises.
So when we got back to his house i said yer...i will have it, we done the paperwork, paid him and now it's my truck.
It had very little fuel in so we were directed to the nearest fuel station with the wife following and filled it up.
Now we were ready to head back, we got onto the M60 and headed north, it went well and i was very happy with it and said it will make a good doner vehicle.
We arrived back at home after having no problems with the truck at all.

Doner Caravan

I have used caravans in the last 2 conversions and found it to be a great way to put the contents in and save money on fittings etc.
I look for a caravan that will suit my needs and what i can get the most use from.
Because when you want to buy spares singular and mention (12v or motorhomes) they all see ££££ signs.

The guy i buy the caravans from is Phil at "EYS" he is very helpfull, Here is a link to his website East Yorkshire Salvage www.eycaravansalvage.com i am no cabinet fitter and so the finished job always looks great.
I find using a right off caravan is a great way to fill the gap as many caravans are only damaged on the outside skin and the inside is ok and not leaking in.

I found a great caravan....more money than i wanted to pay but it was worth it.

As it had a lot of items and all the windows that i could use.A Bailey Carolina twin axle 22 footer,