A Sankey Trailer for Extra Camper Storage [Update 7]

We hadn’t been able to make too much progress last month so we skipped the update. But boy did we make up for during March. (That’s one small silver lining of the Covid-19 epidemic — more time to work on our hobbies).

Swivelling from driving to chill out mode

Since the last update we’ve had a few major improvements. The first of which is the new swivel seat. The front two passenger seats are now sitting on a swivel plate. So when we’re on the road they’re front and centre. When we park up, a few bolts undone and a little jiggery pokery and hey presto! Suddenly we’ve got an actual living space right in the back of the van!

“The swivel was easy and simple to install. It’s just a case of removing the old seat, removing the bolt in the swivel mechanism, and then attaching the seat on top. The only issues I had were with clearance around the wood flooring I had installed. A few washers under each bolt fixed that. Then a few extra penny washers were needed to attach the seat to the swivel. Note: the ones that came with it were too small for the holes in the seat. I didn’t mind this as it meant I had lots of play to adjust the seat into a better location.

When facing forward all four securing pins lock in and screw in easily. If they aren’t screwing in easily don’t force them otherwise they will cross thread. When facing backward only the front right and rear left pins line up. But this is plenty for just sitting not driving.

All in all it’s a well engineered piece of equipment that succeeds at its job.”

Charles’ review of the swivel seat mechanism.

With the chair now free to do a full 360 Charles was able to finish off the rest of the wooden flooring. Building this in around the chair’s floor plate gives us a neat and robust finish to our flooring. Then around the base of the chair he’s added in a simple piece of netting to give us a bit of handy storage.

Making a sturdy, but practical bed

The second big improvement was the build of the bed, mark 2. The bed we had previously was only temporary. It was enough to get out and about in the van but was a little rough (and wobbly) around the edges. It was always designed to be temporary because we hadn’t finished working out the designs. When every bit of space needs to be maximised, it’s important to understand how it all fits together before building anything. Now those designs are final, the bed could be revamped.

So bed mark two is complete. And this time it’s also got two shallow drawers and a few extra structural supports. That includes some metal reinforcement angles so there won’t be any wobbly legs this time. It also meant Charles got to have a go with his new router (a Christmas gift from my parents). Boys and their toys…

The drawers are shallow in their design because they’ll house storage boxes to keep us organised. And for aesthetics they’ll be covered with bamboo cladding which will totally transform the look. (I suspect there might be further work on those drawers though. The current drawer slides might not be man enough for the larger of the two drawers.)

Sewing up some insulation

Now that we’ve got a lot more time indoors we’ve also got back to some of the sewing work for the soft furnishings. Testing out our new heavy duty sewing machine, I spent a morning marking out a few pieces and finishing off another one of our insulation panels. See the last van conversion update for details of how we made the first one.

A little extra storage from our new Sankey trailer

After months of trawling the web looking for a good deal, Charles finally found one. Making the journey up to Stroud (a 60 mile trip), Charles got hold of a second hand Sankey trailer. It’s looking in need of a little TLC right now but we’ve got grand plans.

It’s absolutely massive and is going to give us so much extra storage space. For our grand adventure in a few years, we’ll tow the Sankey trailer behind the van. Thinking longer term than even that Charles has ideas to use it as a kind of single person camping house. Towed by a 4×4 it’ll be the perfect getaway for him. The trailer will be home to fridge, water, cooking and more. Topped off with a ‘roof-top’ tent it’s everything you need for a weekend away.

But before that it needs a new axle. Using as many transit components as possible gives us part continuity between the trailer and the tow vehicle. That way, if we break down on the Silk Road in a few years, we’ve always got spares for the van. It means we might have to sacrifice the trailer (fingers crossed it won’t come to that). But most importantly it means we shouldn’t get stranded anywhere.

Putting his new skills to use

On a side note from all our van work Charles would never let me get away with it if I didn’t showcase a few of his new pieces. All this sewing for the van has taught Charles quite a lot:

• Pattern making
• Sewing with a machine
• Seam allowances
• …

He’s been putting this to good use on a few little projects.

A new tool role (note the matching colours to the van).

And a few pouches for storing paperwork and bits and bobs. The velcro allows us to put a name tape on so we know what’s what.

My handyman is getting handier. And no doubt, that Sankey trailer of ours will fill up fast!

Originally posted on Sage Adventures travel & wellness lifestyle blog: www.sageadventres.co.uk.