Drop axle on caravan

**Homestar** · 10th April 2015, 06:49 PM

Yeah, pretty happy with that. It does about 21's when I'm just hacking about in it carefully, or up to 28 with the OD I and thrashing it. When I'm towing with it, I treat things very nicely and let the vehicle do the speed it wants to do, rather than pushing it all the time.

On the freeway it sits on 90 no dramas as long as the road conditions are good. On B roads I tend to sit on about 80 which is nice and easy for it, even towing the van.

**Homestar** · 3rd September 2015, 08:49 AM

Thought I'd update this as it's been a while. I use the van a fair bit and it is working really well. Still a lot to finish, but I bought something else for it...

Speaking to a friend the other day who has a small Jayco pop up caravan named 'The Wombat Hilton' he let slip he'd got something to 'one up' me on our next trip. So, not wanting to be outdone, I bought one too...

So, now mine 'The Wombat Marriott' as it's been dubbed will also have.....

Hot water....

**Mick_Marsh** · 3rd September 2015, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by bacicat

Thought I'd update this as it's been a while. I use the van a fair bit and it is working really well. Still a lot to finish, but I bought something else for it...

Speaking to a friend the other day who has a small Jayco pop up caravan named 'The Wombat Hilton' he let slip he'd got something to 'one up' me on our next trip. So, not wanting to be outdone, I bought one too...

So, now mine 'The Wombat Marriott' as it's been dubbed will also have.....

Hot water....

John was demonstrating his to me on the weekend. He was making big noises how his is now better than yours.
John will be most upset.
Can't wait to tell him the news.

**Pedro_The_Swift** · 3rd September 2015, 10:52 AM

wow! look at that-

ropework

**Homestar** · 24th December 2015, 07:15 AM

So, it's been a while since posting about this so I thought an update would be in order (and start a sentence with a conjunction

). I've done just over 5,000KM this year with the van and been out in it countless times now and it's all working very well. Some of the regulars I camp with have seen it many many times as I've turned soft now and don't camp in the 101 any more since putting this on the road.

I have been doing bits and pieces to it between outings - the latest of which is the ensuite area being almost finished - I need 1 more day to finish painting and sealing, but alas, I have run out of time before Christmas and the camping trip we are heading out on on boxing day.

So a few pics... (Oops - another)

The first of the windows have been removed, rebuilt and resealed. These 2 have black polycarbonite in them as this wall is now blanked off inside for the shower cubicle. The paint certainly needs doing soon - its rubs straight off with metho when cleaning up the PU (Yes, I used Poly Urathane to seal the window frames in - yes, they are there to stay forever, but they wont leak, and they will outlive the van now.)

And this is inside now - still needs 1 more coat of paint, the sealing between all the gaps doing and the return near the sink installing, but it's 95% of the way there now and fully usable. The HWS mounts to the front of the van once we are on site and works a treat.

The shower rail and curtain is exactly the look I was after

For those going to Wombat on Boxing Day you can check it out in person - and even use it if you bring your own water - the HWS runs off its own supply that can be topped up at the front of the van.

**Corgie Carrier** · 26th December 2015, 07:48 PM

Great thread, Gav.

I just read the whole thing and you have done a lot of work to your van. How long is your van?

I just bought a 1973 Roma 15ft 6in van to use next year when I go north for work. It sits on one hell of an angle behind the disco because of the drop axle, what did you pay for the axle assembly you got?

I also noticed that your under floor is not painted or water proofed in any way, like mine, are you going to do anything to waterproof the floor? My floor is a little soft, so I am going to put some ply on top to stiffen it up a bit for now. I would like to replace it but I am unemployed AGAIN

as of last Tuesday, so money will be tight till I get another job, or until I start the cane harvest at the start of May.

Where did you get your roof hatch?

Keep up the good work, I'll be watching closely for ideas.

**Chucaro** · 28th December 2015, 05:00 PM

Neale, I also restoring a Franklin Arrow and replaced the drop axle.
I think that it is a good idea.
Because i have 3 brand new tyres I left the 13" rims and brakes but if I have to do it again I will upgrade to 14" rims and tyres on Ford bearings.
This will improve the weight cargo capacity of the van.
Regarding the plywood floor before you go north get some oil based decking oil and give the ply on the need few coats.
My son, also restoring his old Millard and in his YouTube page you will see several videos of the work that have been done in both caravans.

The videos are here:

Rover Tasmania

**Corgie Carrier** · 28th December 2015, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by Chucaro

Neale, I also restoring a Franklin Arrow and replaced the drop axle.
I think that it is a good idea.
Because i have 3 brand new tyres I left the 13" rims and brakes but if I have to do it again I will upgrade to 14" rims and tyres on Ford bearings.
This will improve the weight cargo capacity of the van.
Regarding the plywood floor before you go north get some oil based decking oil and give the ply on the need few coats.
My son, also restoring his old Millard and in his YouTube page you will see several videos of the work that have been done in both caravans.

The videos are here:

Rover Tasmania

Thanks for the ideas about oiling the floor, but mine is a bit beyond that stage. I am going to cover the bottom of the floor in a spray on body deadener (I have heaps in the shed) and that will have to do for now.

When I picked up the van from near Frankston, I checked the date on the spare tyre, it was 14 1995.

I drove it very carefully to my mum's house and bought some new tyres (I think I paid too much, but I needed them). So now I have them, I will be staying with them, but getting new rims because mine are rusty and I don't trust them to get to FNQ.

The axle is a must as the rear of the van sits too close to the road, even with my drop hitch. I have a weight distribution hitch I would like to use for the long trip, but the van will probably scrape the rear on the road.

It is a steep learning curve as I have never owned a van before.

Do your vans have insulation in the roof or walls? Mine has none in the roof.

**Chucaro** · 28th December 2015, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by Corgie Carrier

.................................................. .......
Do your vans have insulation in the roof or walls? Mine has none in the roof.

The Franklin has foam sandwich construction so it has insulation.
The Millard has aluminium frame and I am not sure if it has foam in between the aluminium cladding and the inside lining.
Few mwmbwrs here are also members of the Classic Caravans forum
When you have time visit the site, there is a lot of info there and a great bunch of people willing to help.

**Homestar** · 30th December 2015, 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by Corgie Carrier

Great thread, Gav.

I just read the whole thing and you have done a lot of work to your van. How long is your van?

I just bought a 1973 Roma 15ft 6in van to use next year when I go north for work. It sits on one hell of an angle behind the disco because of the drop axle, what did you pay for the axle assembly you got?

I also noticed that your under floor is not painted or water proofed in any way, like mine, are you going to do anything to waterproof the floor? My floor is a little soft, so I am going to put some ply on top to stiffen it up a bit for now. I would like to replace it but I am unemployed AGAIN

as of last Tuesday, so money will be tight till I get another job, or until I start the cane harvest at the start of May.

Where did you get your roof hatch?

Keep up the good work, I'll be watching closely for ideas.

Hi Neale, sorry to hear about your job

but to answer some of your questions - my van is around 16' long and 7'6" wide (very wide) so similar in length to yours. The axle I used is a one piece heavy duty unit running ford bearings and gives a 1,400Kg rating. My van was already running 14" rims, so the LT tyres I've fitted are rated to 925Kg each. This gives me a good fudge factor above what it actually weighs - which is 1260Kg over the axle and 150Kg on the draw bar for a gross mass of 1410Kg. This was weighed fully loaded, 2 full gas bottles, full water tank, food and clothing for a week, so I know this is my maximum weight.

Cost of the axle, with new over ride brakes was around $400 IIRC, but it could have been a bit more, I really can't remember and I don't keep receipts. Fitting this, and using slightly higher profile tyres gave me a lift of nearly 5 inches from where it used to be - a real arse dragger. Now I have plenty of clearance, and it tows level, even behind the 101 and other 4wd. (Actually was towing it home with the 101 today from Wombat)

The timber floor on mine is the factory floor and is in reasonable condition. I have no plans to replace the floor or to paint the underside for the time being. My theory here is that it has lasted more than 40 years without being painted, so I'm not going to add weight down there for no appreciable gain. It has only been towed in the rain once since I've owned it, so it doesn't get wet very often. I still have sections of the chassis to clean and paint yet, but that's about it.

Your van probably isn't insulated - as Chucaro said, Franklin vans are made of a composite material with a foam core, so they are by their very design. Insulation keeps the condensation out and is worth doing IF you're going to pull any wall sheeting off. Insulation does very little in keeping a van cool when it's hot, or vice versa, so if you're going to be living in it when you take it North, fitting an AC would be a good idea if you're camping where there is power.

Head over to the Classic Caravan Forum - http://ditzygypsy.proboards.com - and have a look around and start a thread up on yours - there are heaps of good people there (Including a few of us from here

) that will be able to offer other advice.

If you're up for more reading, the full rebuild of my van is there - all 240 odd posts - http://ditzygypsy.proboards.com/thre...ld-75-franklin

I update this thread with more detail. And more often than I do with this one.

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