Flat Bed conversion

CamperProject2020

Also dubbed 'Project Saltire 2020' with a plan to be taking a holiday in Scotland later this year.

The project is based on a Mercedes Sprinter Chassis Cab. It was purchased second hand having seen previous service as a Sainsbury's online shopping delivery vehicle.

We had the vehicle re-sprayed to get away from the 'white-van' appearance and on collection it looked like this.

The project envisages converting this base vehicle into a flat bed truck on which will be mounted a de-mountable camper unit the idea being that the truck will be used as a classic motorhome when 'on-tour' and that the camper unit will be de-mounted when there is a need to use the base vehicle for other, utility, duties. We don't envisage taking the unit on and off whilst touring but will design and construct with this opportunity in mind.

First thought on driving the vehicle. There is no load over the rear wheels so the ride is hard. It is rear wheel drive so with no load on the back there is a tendency for wheel spin. Feeling is that in utililty mode there might be a need for some ballast. On first driving the vehicle on a dual carriageway I discovered that there is a speed limiter fitted which restricts the speed to 95kph (60mph). following a visit by a tuning expert and a call to Mercedes I learned that this restriction was made at the time of manufacture (presumably a Sainsbury option) and removing might not be a simple process. The tuning expert could see the restriction on his equipment but there was no option to remove it. I am considering what to do about this. Presently I console myself with the knowledge that this has not been one of the Sprinters that sits on my tail at 80 mph in the outside lane and has never been driven faster than 60 mph. I also don't envisage wanting to drive a motorhome at more than 60 but next week I have a 500 mile trip to southern France planned and it would be nice to be able to go a bit faster then. Thinking on this.

First task is to build a flat bed on the back so that we can go to France and collect some of the parts from a dismantled camper which we hope to use in this build. Out with the welder. I am a novice at this with a one-day course under my belt.

The frame is constructed of 40x40 3mm mild steel box section. In the process of this first real foray into welding I discovered one of the key benefits of welding, instant gratification. Once the weld has cooled the joint is made, no time waiting for glue to set or such like. So, the construction moved from parts to paint in little more than half a day. 

With the frame in place I wanted to add some weight. Next was a cradle to carry the waste water container.