From roof-top to a motorhome

[Harold]

The time has come when I have to change from a roof-top to another form of camping.
A tent or having to tow anything is definitely not an option, so it will have to be a motorhome, but not just any motorhome, it must be a 4x4.
Now I have a perfectly good SFA, s/c, Hilux that has taken me, without any hassles, through a good chunk of Arica so my plan is to convert it into a motorhome.

Would do this by taking off the existing load bin and making a caravan style box made. It would be approximately 1,6 x 2,4 meters in size. It would have either a pop-up or hinged roof to give sufficient standing room and part of one side wall would fold open for the bed. I would like to make it so I could have access into the cab, but don't know if this is possble?

I have discussed it with a friend in the panel beating business and he says that, using aluminium tread plate, it would cost about R16,000.

Has anyone ever done the same, or planned such a project, who could assist by giving me some idea of the best way do such a conversion.

Another option is to get an ambulance back, such as are mounted on land cruisers, and fit onto my Hilux.

[Huismoeles]

Have a look at AHA canopy
Then u can still use your bakkie for other stuff
1 man can take canopy of and put it on

[Harold]

AHA ............ Have looked at the AHA and other 'drop' in the load-bin campers. We need more space than they have, besides I do not need my Hilux for loading other stuff - ours will be a dedicated camper.

Once I decide on a design and get it made we will do all the rest ourselves, inside fittings and all!
As it is we designed and made our current set-up and my wife is a genious with her sewing machine, she sewed the roof-top tent on her Bernina.

This project will not happen over-night and will continue to use our roof-top for at least the next 12 months.
At this stage I am hoping for some advice and helpful ideas.

[ChrisF]

AHA ............ Have looked at the AHA and other 'drop' in the load-bin campers. We need more space than they have, besides I do not need my Hilux for loading other stuff - ours will be a dedicated camper.

Once I decide on a design and get it made we will do all the rest ourselves, inside fittings and all!
As it is we designed and made our current set-up and my wife is a genious with her sewing machine, she sewed the roof-top tent on her Bernina.

This project will not happen over-night and will continue to use our roof-top for at least the next 12 months.
At this stage I am hoping for some advice and helpful ideas.

Hi Harold. Welcome to the dark side


As you know I went the Blinkgat route - http://www.blinkgatproducts.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

my only mistake was to bolt it on permanently .... YES, I also dont use my bakkie for other stuff. BUT, if I decide to upgrade the 2,5 to a 3,0 I start all over !! There are just so many more reasons to rather go with a "slide-on-slide-off" solution. And the price difference is not that much either.



The price of these units are LABOUR related .... order it as empty as possible and do the finishes yourself and save a LOT !!


the main problem of this approach - it works perfectly with a SINGLE cab, as you then have ample space for the living area, and the bed goes over the cab. If you try this with a double cab the unit extends far over the tail gate ..... Go single cab and the grand kids cant join you on a trip .... (IF we sell our unit this would be the primary reason)

[Haboob]

Hi Harold,
A few years ago I came to the same conclusion as you, so I presume that you are at the stage that the young ones have flown the coop and that you are now tired of struggling with opening & closing a RTT.
I have seen the suggestion of the Aha Canopy by another member of the forum and suggest that you see one and even request that you put it up yourself and then pack it away again, so that you know exactly what this entails. There is also a fly sheet which takes a bit longer to fit then the claim that the manufacturers claim for set up time, but maybe practice makes perfect…
I did also look at one, but found that the packing space, especially for water, etc. was actually below the floor level and a hassle for older folk.
I did a trip around South Africa looking at all the different manufacturers, before making my decision. I even visited the trailer manufacturers to see if they had any different ideas, but I ended up doing and following my own design which was unique and different at the time…
When building your own Camper you should look for a finished structure which can be converted into a Camper (you mention an ambulance type canopy, this may be a bit high for over landing and branches or structures over your path that you are travelling).
The other point that you mention is that you are looking at getting from the cab into the back of the camper. This may work, but the problem will be that there is very little space in a one ton LDV to do this and this will also greatly increase the costs of the build as you will also have to incorporate the swinging seats to get yourself from the front to the back & visa-versa.
You can also contact First Geer (Tony) on the forum who is busy building a Camper from a Rescue Vehicle back which is very similar to the Telkom Canopies with the sliding doors on the back and sides. He has split this open on the two sides and opened it out on the bottom to take out the BOX shape and to shape it the same as the cab of the vehicle with the wheels running inside the outer lines of the vehicle. I think that he has increased the bottom width by about 40 cm’s.
He has then used about 1 210 x 2 000 cm’s for the bed and about 600 x 2 000 cm’s (bottom width measurement) for the fridge/freezer and kitchen. The last 300 x 1 800 cm’s will be for recovery, electrical, chairs & odds & sods. This is still a piece in the making and still has a way to go before it is finalised. There is a lot more to it that what I have mentioned here as there are water tanks, diesel tank, extra battery, rails on the roof, clothing cupboards, kitchen cupboards, spare wheel carrier, Hi-lift jack, gas bottle, bumper and awnings that still need to be completed.
The other point I wish to make is that if you are going to go for the professionally built version then you will be looking at about R 150 000 at this stage. If you will be spending this type of money then I suggest you do it on a new vehicle, as most of these designs will not fit a SFA 7 then be transferred to a Vigo shape Hilux…
It is also pointless spending a R 150 000 on a camper to put on a R 100 000 vehicle. This vehicle will be slower and more cumbersome with a bigger canopy which will probably be more heavily loaded than what is normally loaded on the present vehicle. I would also advise you against using a drawer system as these take up a lot more space than cupboards, are a lot heavier and a lot more expensive to build… I met a guy who we travelled two trips with who had a Camper similar to mine which he has built on a SFA and came to realise his mistake. He regretted his design when he saw mine and has since sold his Camper and bought a Hilux Cab & a half with a 4x4 caravan.
Here I also agree with you in having an extra set of wheels on the road. I also don’t think that he is really interested in doing the rough stuff, where as I like travelling off the beaten track & doing river beds as well as places less travelled…
I went the route of having my canopy built by Alu-Cab in Cape Town and would gladly send you pictures and any further questions that you may require answered. My Caper is also to serve as my retirement vehicle which is (hopefully) a 20 year project. Prices are steep, but the build quality is good and strong and will hopefully last the expected lifespan of the vehicle.
Set up time is as simple as opening the back door, unclipping the hinges for the roof and pushing the roof up, putting the table down and opening the side doors to get to the kitchen & clothing cupboards. The awning is a 270* Ostrich Wing Awning which takes a minute to open out…
I can send you photographs if you PM me you’re your email address. You would have to contact Tony for pictures of his set up as far as he has got with it…
Happy camping and all the best for your project…

[ChrisF]

Harold contact Leon at Leon's Panelbeaters in the Strand.

Through the years Leon has built a number of unique 4x4 campers - especially when you talk of being able to walk from the drivers seat to the back ....


Sadly Leon has cancer and is not often in office. But if you could get hold of him he has a wealth of knowledge and experience on this topic.


Leon even did a Hilux unit where you could wiggle your way from the cab to the back .... think this model was even the magazines more than a decade back. Long before the others climbed on this band wagon.


Though we are now a LONG way away from just adding a canopy on steroids .....



Leon refused to expand his panelbeating shop to officially do these conversions. Yet he spent most Saturdays in the shop working on his next project ... to do a couple of trips in it, then sell it and start up the next project. It was an absolute honour to spend a few Saturdays with him on a few of these projects. 100km round trip meant we did not do this often enough ....

[george]

If I had to do my 7 month trip again I would look at something like this.

viewtopic.php?f=144&t=37234
Or the Blinkgat product like Chris have. They also do the Double cabs an basically sits to the end of your open tailgate.
or the one that Haboob's have.

I had the look of the AHA and did not like it

I prefer the ones you can slide off and still have your standard truck.

If I had to do a conversion I would rather opted for a Troopy or some similar SUV type thing.