Mis match result

[mjb666]

I spotted these picture's on a Facebook page that i'm a member of. I thought it might be of interest to potential new owners to show the importance of matching the right De-Mountable to the right base vehicle.

[sabconsulting]

For anyone looking to buy a camper - look at it side on and try to work out where its centre of gravity of the camper is - i.e. mentally picture at what point along its length you could balance it. Then look at the truck's rear axle and draw a mental line upwards from the centre of the wheel. Where are these two points in relation to each other?

In the ideal world that estimated centre of gravity would be forward of the centre of the wheel. In the real world it might be at the same point or slightly behind the wheel centre (e.g. a few inches). If it is a long way aft of the wheel centre, you have a problem, and this picture shows the potential results.

If you perform this exercise on the picture above you will see how far back that centre of gravity was, and you can see the results.

Steve.

[TonyS]

I am currently working on modifying yet another "old school" Ranger/Mazda BT50 double cab for camper use. I find the above photo interesting, although extreme, Its unclear as to exactly where the pod is tethered at the front end. was it tethered directly to the chassis, effectively sandwiching the load tub between the pod and the chassis. . . or, If it was strapped to the load tub only, why did the comparitively fragile tub bearers/mounts at the front not give way before the main chassis rails bent. . .is this further reflecting the weakness in the chassis itself? It seems from the photos that any additional welded chassis stiffeners need to stretch a bit further forward than the front of the load tub. in order to prevent damage occurring behind the cab - Tony

[mjb666]

Thanks for the replies Guys. It was on the Nissan Navara Snapped Chassis Facebook page.

I have been following it's progress as i have a Nissan Navara King Cab. I bought this with a view to buying a second hand De-Mountable to fit on it to replace my current set-up but have been holding back as i'm now not sure whether i have the right base vehicle.

Meanwhile, back in my current world, i replaced my old Mazda B2200 with a Mitsubishi L200. I have been using this set-up for a year now with no obvious problems but after reading about center of gravity and De-Mountable positioning, i can honestly say i didn't investigate this and just wondered if you might have any comments/suggestions on how mine looks reference all the above?

imag

The picture was taken spring 2016 at the public weighbridge in Guildford, Surrey.

[zildjian]

Thats fully forward up to the cab isn't it don't what the weighbridge said of course but would be nice to weigh truck alone so you knew the camper's weight at least now

[mjb666]

I've got the official weighbridge station print out and keep a copy in the glove box should i ever get stopped.

I thought ,new truck, bite the bullet and get it all checked out?

Result, i've got spare carrying capacity when the De-Mountable is loaded and carrying all the stuf i use whilst away.

[zildjian]

Be interested to hear those results sometime Mike, spare capacity is always welcome,

sort of guessed it was lighter than its materials suggested by the way your Mazda coped with it

[mjb666]

OK, i will dig out all the info over the weekend and put it up. Not much spare capacity but the right side of not being over loaded.

[sabconsulting]

...just wondered if you might have any comments/suggestions on how mine looks reference all the above?

Yours could be used as a great example of exactly what a perfectly balanced demountable camper and truck combination should look like.

Steve.

[sabconsulting]

...Its unclear as to exactly where the pod is tethered at the front end. was it tethered directly to the chassis, effectively sandwiching the load tub between the pod and the chassis. . . or, If it was strapped to the load tub only, why did the comparitively fragile tub bearers/mounts at the front not give way before the main chassis rails bent. . .is this further reflecting the weakness in the chassis itself?...Tony

Good point. I suspect the problem is the difference between pure tension, which tub mounts would be under, which they could probably resist quite well, and bending, which the chassis would be under. The chassis would have no problem handling that flex if it were static, but I suspect the continuous flexing while driving over a road surface would be like taking a spoon and bending it backwards and forwards gently, and by a tiny amount each time, thousands of times until metal-fatique caused it to fail.

Steve.