Why Buy It, When You Can Build It

[ Reader DIY ] Trailer to Caravan

- NJ Mostert

In December 2015, my wife and I went camping with her brother and the family at Trekoskraal, between Vredenburg and Paternoster. My brother-inlaw had two fold-out caravans (both 1974 models) that he had restored. Right there and then, my wife decided that we should also get an old caravan and restore it.

The thought stayed in the back of my mind until around May 2016, when a friend of mine wanted to get rid of his old motorbike trailer. I bought it from him, with the intention of building an American-style teardrop mini caravan. But, after watching a lot of YouTube videos, it seemed to me that you lose too much space with that type of design. So, in June 2016, I started on my own plan, and worked only on weekends. By April 2017, the caravan was finished.

I started by lengthening the van by 60 centimetres: if I want to sleep soundly, the bed needs to be at least 2 metres long. The first step was making a frame from square tubing.

The outside of the caravan was covered with 0.6mm plating, since aluminium is way too expensive; plus, since nobody here in Kimberley supplies it, I would have had to pay courier costs as well.