We have an 18ft Heritage pop top that we bought for a decent price a couple of years ago but as I got more heavily into vanning I was becoming more adventurous and wanting to go on dirt roads. I've already been on a couple of roads displaying a sign which warns vanners not to go there so I thought it was time to get some mods done as a Jayco in general doesn't really like dirt roads and I ahve heard of the odd chassis breaking in two!
As a result I took it to a steel fabricators and they strengthened the A frame and chassis by joining the draw bar to some 75mm steel. As well as strengthening the chassis it has also given it 75mm of lift. I also put 195x14 tyres on it as opposed to 185's and this also aided in lifting the van. I now wish I'd bought 205's or even 215's which would have just fitted but they can wait until next time.
I much prefer this method of lifting the van instead of underslinging which is a common practice because I felt the shackles above the axle (the 'undersling') would cause problems. The fabricator also strengthened the draw bar by adding more metal (torsion bars) to it (no pic for that yet ... will get it soon).
The van tows as well as it always had and the extra metal only weighed 34kg's so there's no real change in towing practice or fuel consumption. Towing it with a V8 4wd also helps.
First pic shows the support legs almost at vertical ... I may need to buy some drop down legs now!
Second pic shows the clearance we now have with the van. I couldn't even crawl under it prior to the strengthening the chassis.
I'll get some more pics and add them to this thread as I go. I'm hoping to get four shock absorbers fitted within the next 4-6 weeks and maybe some checkerplate on the front. All up I will spend approx. $5k. A dirt road van would have cost me approx. $60k so with the price of the Heritage I've paid half. I bet I trade in the Heritage within the next couple of years tho' ...
Scol.
