from American dimensions back to tiny European sizes.....

[flaxi]

hello TC-friends,
in life things changes....and now we changed our rig. I want to tell you: kids are growing, daughter with her 19 years prefers to do holidays together with her friends, - same happens to our son, who makes his own "agenda". So, more and more my wife and me will travel alone, sometimes with kids, but less and less often.
So we decided to change to a smaller rig, which would produce less problems here in small european villages and parking slots.......
With tears in the eyes we sold our Dodge Ram and our nice Adventurer 810WS, which we used during 8 years. So, during all these years our kids were "growing up" in the camper 🙂
Our new truck is a Nissan Frontier (here called "Navara", because it is produced in Spain). It's a 2007 model with 171HP Diesel engine, and very important: conforming to european emmission standards. The TC (made in 2001) is manufactured by the Italian "TrendUP" Company: TrendUp-Camper .
The great advantage is that the cabin consists 100% of glass fiber walls, so we get a very good isolation coefficient and we must not worry about rotten wood.......
All in all we are very happy, because we feel very cosy inside the camper. Important for us was a wet WC + shower room.
Here are some photos, hope you like them.

BTW: Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all !! 🙂

















(and yes, we are able to bent so much to use the toilet-... 🙂 🙂 )


next projects (just i work): to take away the colored dots, to paint the blue corners into grey, to change the cushions, to install nice sound equipment and so far....

[RobertRyan]

Sabconsulting wrote:
I have a theory about this:

European / Japanese double-cab compact pick-ups have a very short bed and with a heavy camper the CoG can be well behind the rear axle as a result.

Steve, exactly that is why flatbeds/utility beds are used in Australia.

flaxi wrote:
now, with airspings the total max. weight is 3450kg

That is a GVWR of 7490lbs to people from NA.

[flaxi]

as some people ask me about the weight dimensions:
here we go:

the original empty weight of this Navara D40(2007)is 2230kg
the original total max. weight was 3210kg

now, with airspings the total max. weight is 3450kg

so, it results a payload of 1220kg now.

the camper has a dry weight of 645kg.

So I get enough tolerance..... 😉

[flaxi]

I agree completely, Steve ! 🙂

[sabconsulting]

flaxi wrote:
There are known cases of broken frames by carring TC !
So, what I will and must do is to strengthen the frame !

I have a theory about this:

European / Japanese double-cab compact pick-ups have a very short bed and with a heavy camper the CoG can be well behind the rear axle as a result.

This is bad enough, but I suspect this leads to the rear suspension squatting, and people fit airbags and pump them up to level the truck again.

I have airbags, but leave them at the lowest possible pressure since I don't really need them. My CoG is behind the rear axle, but not as badly as if I had the shorter bed on the double-cab.

I've noticed that as the airbag pressure is increased the behaviour of the truck suspension changes. Instead of the rear suspension absorbing the weight of the camper as it goes over bumps, the rear suspension, stiffened by the air bags, acts as a fulcrum around which the whole truck pivots, the tail dropping with the weight and the nose lifting at the same time.

The effect is subtle, but it was not present before I fitted the air bags. I suspect if my CoG was further back, and my airbags were at a much higher pressure, then this pivoting affect would be amplified.

I suspect such pivoting around the fulcrum, with the weight of the camper applying downward force on the rear of the chassis and the weight of the cab, transmission and engine applying downward force on the front of the chassis, must put a lot of stress on the chassis at the front of the load bed, leading to it flexing with every bump. It wouldn't surprise me if this could lead to premature fatigue failure of the chassis at that point.

Steve.

[RobertRyan]

Flaxi wrote:
Most (may be 80%) of TC Basis in Europe are japanese ricecookers !

Compared to Asia, the US/Canada and Australia/NZ Pickups are very rare in Europe.
We get over the bent frame or any bent frame by building on flatbeds, not an issue here.

[flaxi]

by adding the airspring it permitted a total max. weight of 3450kg, so I get a payload of about 1000kg (2200lbs).
But: not to compare with the robust frame of a US-pickup. There are known cases of broken frames by carring TC !
So, what I will and must do is to strengthen the frame !

Most (may be 80%) of TC Basis in Europe are japanese ricecookers ! 😉

[RobertRyan]

sabconsulting wrote:
1) Commercial trucks up to around 40 tons (Volvo, Scania, TATA, etc.) - require a commercial drivers license, have air brakes, have low power to weight ratio - you probably wouldn't want to drive one of these on vacation.

2) Van-based pickup trucks / flat beds (Full size Ford Transit, Mitsubishi Fuso, etc.) - often also low power to weight ratio and few luxuries as they are designed for commercial fleet use not private buyers. Equivalent I guess to the 350/3500 & 450 / 4500 range of US trucks.

3) Compact pick-up trucks. These therefore have to cover a much wider range of uses, effectively replacing the compact, 150 / 1500 and 250 / 2500 ranges of trucks in the US. They are of more compact dimensions with shorter load beds than the 150/1500 trucks, but are all rated to carry one ton payload.

Just add to that , something Steve would not see in Europe is Japanese Light Trucks used as RV bases. They are very successful here.

"I ton payload" means generally more than that. A Dual Cab Pickup will have up to a 2,500lb payload. Single Cab 3000lbs roughly.

Where we differ from Steve and Flaxi's European Scenario is the sheer number of very heavy MDT Trucks that are closer to Class 8 US trucks.
European Highways are full of HDT trucks. Vans, Cab Chassis variants, that cover US the Pickup range, but have vastly more diversity and 7 Tonne plus trucks the MDT's of Europe.

[flaxi]

hey friends,
we did a lot of work (although the camper was in splendid condition).
We removed the funny dots and already colored some corners into silver-grey.
In order to keep in use the Fastguns (which I used with my Adventurer) I had to shorten them and to sold the new pieces.
First I had to cut the original weldseam.....and I can NOT explain how the original weldseam should be able to resist a tractive force of about 500kg (as regulare chain segments).
NOW I have a much better feeling with my own weldseams 😉

Story will be continued 😉

[sabconsulting]

Majku wrote:
Nice rig! How much does it weigh, dry? What's the weight carrying capacity of your truck? It seems to me that the European vehicles have a greater carrying and towing capacity than the same vehicles here in North America.

In North America the market for personal pickup trucks is so big that a huge range of variants exist from those for people who want something that looks like a truck, but with a comfortable ride to do their commute / shopping in, through to those for people who need to carry a couple of tons whilst towing 5 more tons.

Outside of North America the market is narrower and in practice only has the following sizes of trucks:

1) Commercial trucks up to around 40 tons (Volvo, Scania, TATA, etc.) - require a commercial drivers license, have air brakes, have low power to weight ratio - you probably wouldn't want to drive one of these on vacation.

2) Van-based pickup trucks / flat beds (Full size Ford Transit, Mitsubishi Fuso, etc.) - often also low power to weight ratio and few luxuries as they are designed for commercial fleet use not private buyers. Equivalent I guess to the 350/3500 & 450 / 4500 range of US trucks.

3) Compact pick-up trucks. These therefore have to cover a much wider range of uses, effectively replacing the compact, 150 / 1500 and 250 / 2500 ranges of trucks in the US. They are of more compact dimensions with shorter load beds than the 150/1500 trucks, but are all rated to carry one ton payload.

Also, even if the car manufacturers would like to produce a 'lifestyle' pickup truck with softer suspension they are restricted, at least in the UK, by rules stating that if it cannot carry 1 ton then it is a car, not a truck, and therefore you will pay annual tax based upon its CO2 emissions.

Steve.

[RobertRyan]

Makju I can answer that Global Diesel Pickups are referred to as "1 Tonne Utes " in Australia. They are built to do substantial work, unlike a Tacoma which is correctly called a "Lifestyle Vehicle"with its small 1400lb payload. Yes they can actually tow more as well.

[Majku]

Nice rig! How much does it weigh, dry? What's the weight carrying capacity of your truck? It seems to me that the European vehicles have a greater carrying and towing capacity than the same vehicles here in North America.

[flaxi]

yes it's the 2,5.... but ok.
the 3l is a dream, but...$$$$ 😉

[RobertRyan]

Flaxi is that Navara a 2.5 Diesel? Do you get the 3litre one in Germany?

[flaxi]

hello Weymard, "dark side" haha 🙂
Truely said: no, we don't miss the comfort, because now we think only for 2 persons. So, the camper is very cosy and offers all, what we had before, just a little bit smaller. But the wet room is larger than before ! 🙂

[weymard]

Hi Flaxi,
Congratulations for your new rig.
Now your are on the "dark side" with a sweet little Japanese !
Do you miss the comfort of your dodge ?

Happy new year to you.