How Carados and Sunlights are made (Coachbuilts and A Class)

Wissel ... might give you some ideas of how you could do your construction.
 
Minxy Girl said:
Wissel ... might give you some ideas of how you could do your construction.
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Yes Wissel . I thought the same. Interesting how they build the floor onto the chassis, then install the internal walls and furniture. Then they bond the side walls onto the internals thus creating a structure. There is no frame.

The video omits to show how they do that bit though. Maybe top secret.

I have to say it's the most rigid and least creaky/squeaky motorhome I have ever owned. It is absolutely silent on the road. I sometime have to pinch myself that we are moving......well apart from the noisy fiat engine of course

Maybe one day we will go over a bump and all the sides will fall off like that card trick :unsure:
 
I thought most people knew that MHs built with bonded sidewalls were built like that.

I am not sure but I think N&B were the first or nearly the first to adopt that construction, long before they were part of Hymer Group. After they were taken over the Hymer range started to adopt the method. Now it has trickled down through the other marques.

I wish I had photographs, before the sidewalls were fitted, of where all my electrical cables and pipework runs. It was not easy to see whether those runs were well-clipped - hopefully they were when they ran through walls and bulkheads.

Maybe funflair, who has done many factory visits of the more upmarket constructors would like to comment on whether he saw any notable differences from what he has seen and what is on that video.

Geoff

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gpat said:
Yes Wissel . I thought the same. Interesting how they build the floor onto the chassis, then install the internal walls and furniture. Then they bond the side walls onto the internals thus creating a structure. There is no frame.

The video omits to show how they do that bit though. Maybe top secret.

I have to say it's the most rigid and least creaky/squeaky motorhome I have ever owned. It is absolutely silent on the road. I sometime have to pinch myself that we are moving......well apart from the noisy fiat engine of course

Maybe one day we will go over a bump and all the sides will fall off like that card trick :unsure:
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I have not watched the video yet but all the vans I have seen being built just use a few screws to hold the cupboards etc to the walls, I have certainly never seen any bonded. Some manufacturers build the box and then build the inside while others lay down the floor and build the interior before putting the walls and roof on,
 
Jim said:
Thanks for that. I have to watch his videos with the sound off, his voice to me is like fingernails on a blackboard to others. Great insight into the factory (y)
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Informative video, shame about the sound track, instantly jumping from a music track to factory clatter and that God awful blokes voice presenting it.
 
When we had our Eura mobil we went on the factory tour, you can park on their stelplatz and the tour is free including food and drinks at the end. 👍
The a class they drive the chassis in sitting on a box build the inside then stick the sides and roof on, you can see why you have such a job doing anything without being a contortionist. 😁 Bob.
 
Eura Mobil have been building their motorhomes for quite a while now wood free so I was interested to see the large amount of wood (marine ply). At some stage in the life of the van the rot will get into the wood surely.
pappajohn said:
Informative video, shame about the sound track, instantly jumping from a music track to factory clatter and that God awful blokes voice presenting it.
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interesting t note the large

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Ian Bosman said:
Eura Mobil have been building their motorhomes for quite a while now wood free so I was interested to see the large amount of wood (marine ply). At some stage in the life of the van the rot will get into the wood surely.

interesting t note the large
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Wood is the new GRP. (y)

New wood based vans use injection treated ply that is resistant to rot for the life of the van. Just look at today's fence posts. They last for ever. Rot has always been it's weakness so if that can be sorted then it's the best material by far. It's even environmentally friendly.....well to a point if you ignore the preservatives.....in that fossel fuels not needed unlike GRP.

It doesn't squeak as much and doesn't expand and contract as much. It's light and strong and has natural insulating properties.

It's still widely used in yacht building although often fibreglass coated.

And most of all it's great for screwing stuff into.
 
gpat said:
Wood is the new GRP. (y)

New wood based vans use injection treated ply that is resistant to rot for the life of the van. Just look at today's fence posts. They last for ever. Rot has always been it's weakness so if that can be sorted then it's the best material by far. It's even environmentally friendly.....well to a point if you ignore the preservatives.....in that fossel fuels not needed unlike GRP.

It doesn't squeak as much and doesn't expand and contract as much. It's light and strong and has natural insulating properties.

It's still widely used in yacht building although often fibreglass coated.

And most of all it's great for screwing stuff into.
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Is the material resistant to rot or rot free? A difference I believe
 
Ian Bosman said:
Is the material resistant to rot or rot free? A difference I believe
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True. Very few materials are truly rot free though are they. Some are just more rot free than others. To be honest I don't know and only time will tell. I know that there are many thousands of vans out there with marine ply floors and most will last a lifetime. It's when manufacturers start economising by using lower grade ply and covering to make it last. That's fine until the covering is breached or damaged. That's when the rot sets in.

What do the most expensive vans use for floor construction?
 
Jim said:
Thanks for that. I have to watch his videos with the sound off, his voice to me is like fingernails on a blackboard to others. Great insight into the factory (y)
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Why does he have to shout?
 
gpat said:
True. Very few materials are truly rot free though are they. Some are just more rot free than others. To be honest I don't know and only time will tell. I know that there are many thousands of vans out there with marine ply floors and most will last a lifetime. It's when manufacturers start economising by using lower grade ply and covering to make it last. That's fine until the covering is breached or damaged. That's when the rot sets in.

What do the most expensive vans use for floor construction?
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Foam sandwich with either aluminium or fibreglass facing the outside, certainly not plywood.

Of course I'm talking about the lower floor as most if not all the most expensive ones are double floored.

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I am shocked that the floor sheet, which appears to be made of a wood and foam laminate gets bolted straight to the chassis, without any long term protection against road water and debris, I hope there is a metal sheet protecting it. you have beaten me to the question
 
Carpmart said:
Understanding the construction methodologies, it’s easy to understand why the bloody things leak too!! 🤣
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To to clarify. There are no leaks.
 
gpat said:
To to clarify. There are no leaks.
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it was a general comment about the construction approach and the propensity for that approach to, in certain situation, have a higher likelihood of water ingress.

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gpat said:
To to clarify. There are no leaks.
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(y) That's always a good starting point.

Really that should be the basic attribute of all vans, OK some vans cost more than others sometimes many times more so the people that pay more want to get something extra for their money so possibly fibreglass floors instead of Ply and double skin alloy walls instead of one skin of alloy and then ply or whatever, but the most basic thing should be that none of them leak.
 
Ian Bosman said:
Is the material resistant to rot or rot free? A difference I believe
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Medite MDF is guaranteed outside for 50 years, and can be used below ground. I believe most woods can be made effectively rotproof now, although I would have thought cost and weight would be major considerations for MHs.
I'm now not sure whether it's Medite or Tricoya which has a 50 year outside warranty. I wa going to use it for raised beds nut I lost interest whim I discovered the cost
 
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emjaiuk said:
Medite MDF is guaranteed outside for 50 years, and can be used below ground. I believe most woods can be made effectively rotproof now, although I would have thought cost and weight would be major considerations for MHs.
I'm now not sure whether it's Medite or Tricoya which has a 50 year outside warranty. I wa going to use it for raised beds nut I lost interest whim I discovered the cost
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That's interesting and I think you might be spot on. I woke up this morning and went straight to look under the van. Its definitely some sort of composite material. It feels like plastic but has flecks of wood like particles.

It's not ply of any description.

When is warms up a bit I'll get a photo. Under the garage area it's also a composite material but of different texture . See 3.16 on the video.

I have to say it looks to be extremely well put together and of very high quality.
 
Interesting video, very glad the guy did it although not sure why we need the William Tell Overture.

We bought ours new and it has no rattles. The only niggles are a couple of the blinds on the skylights are stiff and the switch to put hot air on the screen when hooked up doesn't work. We lived in it for three months until a couple of weeks ago and although it's not as posh to look at as some inside, but is really well made. Can't fault it for the price.

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gpat said:
That's interesting and I think you might be spot on. I woke up this morning and went straight to look under the van. Its definitely some sort of composite material. It feels like plastic but has flecks of wood like particles.

It's not ply of any description.

When is warms up a bit I'll get a photo. Under the garage area it's also a composite material but of different texture . See 3.16 on the video.

I have to say it looks to be extremely well put together and of very high quality.
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I thought on the video at 3.16 he said that was marine ply but doesn't look like it to me, it looks like a moulded part.
 
gpat said:


For just in case you cool Sunlight/ Carado owners havnt already seen this.
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Really good to watch I have a new Carado the T449 with the 9 speed automatic gearbox this is just fantastic to drive and up till last November I had the A class that was the I449 they are really well made vans
 
funflair said:
I thought on the video at 3.16 he said that was marine ply but doesn't look like it to me, it looks like a moulded part.
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I take you are referring to the garage floor, on my Hymer it's a GRP sandwich it looks identical.
 
Lenny HB said:
I take you are referring to the garage floor, on my Hymer it's a GRP sandwich it looks identical.
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Thats what it looks like to me Lenny but I thought he said it was marine ply, "look you can see it's been washed" he said.
 
funflair said:
Thats what it looks like to me Lenny but I thought he said it was marine ply, "look you can see it's been washed" he said.
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I noticed that and thought what a plonker.
I do wish people who put up informative videos would check their facts.

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