Lowering the travel height of a van.

[BigSkiddy]

Looking to see if anyone has any creative ways in being able to lower the overall height of their vans to fit under a carport.
I wanted to order a Discovery 17.55. 5SH Outback but she is about 90mm too tall. I gather this is from the roof hatch above the shower. The model without the shower will get me 10mm under.
Obvious idea was to let the tyres down, but not keen on leaving them deflated. My other thought was to get a set of small diameter wheels that I could put on during storage.

 

[Sterlo1]

Hi,
Not cheap but these wheels might be your solution -
http://caravansplus.com.au/catalog/index.php?cPath=34_1007_81

Cheers, Paul.

 

[BigSkiddy]

Hi,
Not cheap but these wheels might be your solution -
http://caravansplus.com.au/catalog/index.php?cPath=34_1007_81

Cheers, Paul.

You're right bit pricey, but cheaper than a caravan cover. I'll have a search on the net and see if there are any other brands. Thanks.

 

[17triton]

No chance of altering the carport?

 

[BigSkiddy]

No chance of altering the carport?

Not a chance. The annoying thing is I only put it on about 18 months ago.

Those wheels may be a goer, other option is possibly modifying/replace the shower roof hatch I'll drop into the dealer and check it out.

 

[Brad]

Didn't I see another thread just recently where someone was storing the van on an old set of rims so that it would fit in the garage?

 

[BigSkiddy]

Yes just did a search on rims and got this. Thanks

http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/fitting-expanda-16-49-2-under-carport.1138/#post-47555

 

[Soaring]

Is the hatch removable?

 

[BigSkiddy]

Looking to see if anyone has any creative ways in being able to lower the overall height of their vans to fit under a carport.
I wanted to order a Discovery 17.55. 5SH Outback but she is about 90mm too tall. I gather this is from the roof hatch above the shower. The model without the shower will get me 10mm under.
Obvious idea was to let the tyres down, but not keen on leaving them deflated. My other thought was to get a set of small diameter wheels that I could put on during storage.

I've had a dealer tell me that you can remove the roof hatch and have it mounted on the side of the van. He's chasing up a photo for me to confirm. Fingers crossed.

 

[jed]

Hi bigskiddy
We just bought an xpanda and could not fit it into the garage for the same reason but by letting the air out of the tyres and removing the shower hatch i was able to fit it in with 1 inch to spare ,once in i refilled the tyers with air compressor and called jayco to see if i could fit a flatter shower dome but not able to grrrr ,it took about 1/2 hr to work out how to get vent off so im going to modify it so i can just undo a few wing nuts to make it a 2 min. job.i hope this helps you it just feels so good to have it secure ,good luck mate.

 

[BigSkiddy]

Hi bigskiddy
We just bought an xpanda and could not fit it into the garage for the same reason but by letting the air out of the tyres and removing the shower hatch i was able to fit it in with 1 inch to spare ,once in i refilled the tyers with air compressor and called jayco to see if i could fit a flatter shower dome but not able to grrrr ,it took about 1/2 hr to work out how to get vent off so im going to modify it so i can just undo a few wing nuts to make it a 2 min. job.i hope this helps you it just feels so good to have it secure ,good luck mate.

G'day Jed,
I haven't actually seen what these roof vents look like, (didn't pay attention to it when inspecting the van) is there a fan or similar built into it? Been keen to see how you go with the wing nut mod, some pics would be nice if your able. Thanks

 

[jed]

G'day Jed,
I haven't actually seen what these roof vents look like, (didn't pay attention to it when inspecting the van) is there a fan or similar built into it? Been keen to see how you go with the wing nut mod, some pics would be nice if your able. Thanks

Hi BigSkiddy
There is a fan built into them, and inorder to get to the mechanism that has to be undone to get the dome off you have to undo the four screws holding everything in place once thats done you fold back the vent 180degrees and it slides off ,thats why it takes so long so i want to modify the arm attached to the vent so all i have to do is undue it with the wing nuts ,sorry no pics yet cause its not done yet but as soon as i do it i will post pics
.fromfrom

 

[hamish22]

I looked at a van that had the shower toilet vent installed on the side of the van which lowered the height by approx 200mm

 

[expanda]

Just a differing thought, why not go touring and get the axle under slung?

Comes in a tad bit lower than the outback but would fit....