Weight of bit and pieces. (1 Viewer)

GWAYGWAY

Free Member
Sep 6, 2014
4,213
3,305
Dover
Funster No
33,216
MH
Hymer ML I 580
Exp
4 years
I have been clearing out my wood working shop today and one of things in there was a cheap wardrobe belonging to my Granddaughter. It is an Argos type plat pack one, cheap and cheerful, but it took a load of space so I dismantled it to flat pack again, taping up all the parts etc. I then made a place in the roof of the shop to put it. However It was so blo**y heavy, I needed the Wife to help me get it up there into the new rack. It is made of Wasp sh*t wood. not ply or even real wood the Chip board is so HEAVY for what it is.
What has this to do with Motorhomes??? you ask. Well most of them are made with same stuff and there is loads of it in the interior parts and making all the major structure of the interior. Is it any wonder that the vans are so heavy. My new one however is made from a plywood made of Birch and Balsa wood and compared to Chipboard it is so light. No wonder the Germans have brought the weight right down on the new models, they must have saved at least 4 to 500 kilos all in, by using the new ply for all the interior doors and cabinets, partitions etc. I know that the material has been taken up by one UK maker and I hope that rest will follow suit, the cost is a lot more per sheet but if it becomes the norm then that will come down. When looking to buy a new van then you should ask what thew construction materials are and avoid the high weight ones, the maker will all start using it if they lose sales or cannot make the lower 3500 all up weight.
 

Lenny HB

LIFE MEMBER
Oct 18, 2007
52,379
146,663
On the coast in West Sussex
Funster No
658
MH
Hymer B678 DL
Exp
Since 2008 & many years tugging
Our last caravan a 2002 Hobby used the same lightweight plywood as our current 2014 Hymer. Previous UK built caravans used a sandwich of 2mm ply with softwood batens, heaver and not as strong as the lightweight ply.
 

vwalan

Funster
Sep 23, 2008
8,835
5,798
roche cornwall
Funster No
4,148
MH
lynton5th wheel
Exp
since a child
jp, whites in sydmouth were making camper furniture very light early on in the 60,s . later it all became deon conversions . since the 70,s yes many converters started using heavier materials .
i used to use birch ply in all the vw conversions we did .
i did cheat in my mini artic and used b&q kitchen units , but have a high payload.
its amazing just what 9mm birch ply can be used for .
even in the 60,s the german vw campers were no where as nice or light as devon conversions .
but glad you are pleased with yours maybe at last the germans have learnt how to build conversions .
i know i might seem odd but have never liked most of the german build qualities . like the vehicles but the conversions were crap .

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