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Bottle-carriers

Posted: Fri, 25 May 2007, 8:07 pm
by txfsealord
Hi, when I got our Ansfold it had a large bottle-box on the A-frame. Two 4.5 bottles rattle around in it, it's big enough (though not deep enough) for the next size up. I've not seen any others in the photos on this site with bottles on the A-frame. Why not? Is it a download issue or because they'd get in the way of lifting the roof, and are there other issues I've not thought of? I'm quite conscious of having little practical experience of caravanning so although I'm OK working on the standard article I don't want to spend lots of time & effort remaking something which'll be unusable for some reason I've not thought of.

I see the early vans have a very short drawbar on which there'd be no room for bottles. I've enough room, at least for a sensible sized box. Comments please?

Steve

Posted: Mon, 28 May 2007, 9:13 pm
by Neil
I know of a few portafolds with either the bottles or battery mounted at the front with no problems,i was going to fit a motorcycle top box to the front of ours to put the battery in,but ours has the shorter draw bar so i have no room.
The only problem i could see is it might make it tricky to lift the front up if you've got to stand to one side of it,or if you keep bashing your shins onit :shock:

Gas bottles on drawbar

Posted: Sat, 09 Aug 2008, 9:27 pm
by txfsealord
As reported elsewhere, I've now done this. Towing with the Minor, the 'van's now very weight-distribution sensitive. I have to be extremely selective with light, bulky items in the front lockers & heavier stuff at the rear. This produces a sort of 'dumb-bell' effect which raises the van's inertia when turning, & also makes snaking more likely. With a download on the hitch of about 30lb (less than I used to use before remounting the bottles) the overrun brakes are nice & sensitive & it tows sweetly up to 70 mph or so. Faster than that, it'll snake in a sidewind or when passing lorries, etc. The pitch of the snake is about .75 Hz, well faster than any sympathetic frequency of the stiffly-sprung car, so it's OK for control. It's not comfortable though & if spotted by the Bill would earn an immediate 'pull', plus a speeding fine of course!

As our van's quite heavy, 70's fairly hard work to attain with the Minor which isn't powerful to start with. So it makes good sense to stick to the 60 limit, & the car returns 34 mpg like that, a bonus.

Sorry I've waffled on a bit, just thought it might help someone else decide whether to move their bottles.

Steve

gas bottle mounting

Posted: Sun, 28 Sep 2008, 5:25 pm
by KorenM
Hi,
I brought 2 motor bike panniers earlier in the year to fit either side of the draw bar. I have a 'short draw bar' portafold with no room for either a gas bottle or battery box, so the theory is that I can save space inside to accomodate gas and battery by putting tools, foot pads, jack etc in the panniers.
The weather put paid to actually fitting said panniers but we did establish that we will have to be VERY acurate with measurements otherwise the lids won't open with the van closed down.
Hope to fit panniers over the winter, so probably won't know if its been a success or not 'till next summer,

Koren

Bottle-box on short drawbar

Posted: Sun, 28 Sep 2008, 7:35 pm
by txfsealord
Hi Koren, that sounds quite a challenge, what you're proposing to do.

Will you lose much 'turning angle' (the angle between the car & van) using panniers? As the 1100's fairly straight across the back as far as the bumper is concerned, I'm guessing you're going to mount them so they go above the bumper in a sharp turn?

Our Ansfold, with its long drawbar, takes up a lot more stowage room but I've always loved the huge turning angle (about 85deg) with it on the Minor saloon with its very curved rear bumper. For a caravanning novice like me, it's one less thing to worry about when manoeuvring!

Out of interest, do you know whether the short-bar is better for handling (snaking etc.) than the long?

Steve