Friendly Neighbourhood Slidavan

[MattLV]

Thanks

Water and Gas now plumbed in and working. I was pondering installing a gas cabinet, but in the end I decided to keep it simple and safe and just have the gas bottle outside.

[MattLV]

So we finally headed out on our first proper trip to Glastonbury Music Festival



She towed like a dream and we barely even noticed the extra weight.



After arriving in the camping area, it was a simple matter of lowering the stabiliser legs, checking she was level, then installing the lift mechanism, and up she went





I have a few minor interior trim pieces left to fit, but I think that's it for this build journal

Next project will probably be one of Benjy's boats .

[OP827]

Do you have enough daylight inside without side windows as per original design?

[JasenC]

Wow, you go all out when building the fire pit.

Sounds like the perfect 1st trip.

[Tom&Shelly]

So we finally headed out on our first proper trip to Glastonbury Music Festival

Hey! I recognize those rocks! One of my ancestors helped build that thing! Gotta say though, it really didn't work out as the tiny camper they had intended.

Seriously, great job! Congratulations on your first trip.

Tom

[MattLV]

:thumbsup: Do you have enough daylight inside without side windows as per original design?

It's actually not too bad when the door is open as the white wall reflects a lot of light. But I will definitely be adding windows once I've sourced the right set and plucked up the courage to cut the holes

[kurts-ttt]

MattLV,

I am considering a Slidavan build and was just wondering how the Slidavan is working for you. Is there anything you would change or do different? Any unexpected problems come up? Thanks, Kurt

[MattLV]

Hi Kurt,

sorry I only just saw your message. We've used the slid-a-van quite a few times now and we really enjoy using it. being able to stand up inside makes it so usable.

Having said that there are a couple of things I'd change

1) a better lifting mechanism. While Benjy's design is simple and mostly effective, it can be a bit fiddly getting the top to raise and lower without jamming on one of the corners and more often than not she needs a little encouragement to raise or lower straight. Now that's most probably down to my poor build accuracy, and as I mentioned in my build journal I made one panel that definitely wasn't as flat as it should have been. I do dream of being able to raise the top at the push of a button via some kind of electric winch mechanism.
2) Storage access. I would recommend making the seat cushions in two halves just to make it easier to access items that are stored under there (a future mod I'll probably do at some point if I refresh the interior).

Having said that, I would recommend this little camper project to anyone. We love or Slid-a-van

[delofeccles]

Hi have been looking to build a slideavan here in the UK. Was wondering how meny sheets of ply is used. Great build by the way and was interested has to how the roof is standing up. Nice to see a messy workshop by the way.
Regards Derek

[Paintsalot]

Hi have been looking to build a slideavan here in the UK. Was wondering how meny sheets of ply is used. Great build by the way and was interested has to how the roof is standing up. Nice to see a messy workshop by the way.
Regards Derek

I have the plans, although I ended up going a different route. If I remember correctly, there are 20 sheets of plywood. I don’t have the plans in front of me, but I think it was 3 mm. He recommended exterior grade plywood. The only exterior 3mm option I could find here in US is marine plywood, which is pricey, $90 per sheet. I looked at using interior plywood, like Baltic birch, and sealing it. Let me know what you end up doing. I’ll be curious to see. I’m building a folding camper which collapses down. I ended up using quarter inch ACX plywood. It buckles some. It uses exterior glue.


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[S. Heisley]

Congratulations on your successful build!

Your build thread was added to the trailers with lifting roofs thread.