Estimation of how heavy is your interior + contents

[Haveacamper]

Hey guys,

I was watching some vids about carbon fiber mouldings etc and started thinking about how heavy the interior of our vans are and whether there are ways of making it lighter? I then started thinking about the fact that my interior is pretty much a LHD version of a dormobile with a full width bed all made out of MDF.

I then started thinking how heavy this must be even without the contents of pots and pans, cookers, gas bottles, clothes, beer, table, BBQ etc etc. I was then thinking about what parts I could make lighter. Before long, I was wondering whether anyone on here had an approximate weight of their interior.

I even started thinking about replacing the bed seat/base and the area above my engine bay with some kind of honeycomb material instead of the 15-20mm MDF boards its currently made from.

so...anyone know how how heavy their vehicle is? To compare to base build weights?

I know people's views will probably be that its not worth the gains but hey ho!!!

 

[Tofufi]

I've got Microbus seats and don't keep loads of crap in my van - so mine doesn't weigh much

At a guess, approx 50kg...

I'd imagine most camping interiors weigh a lot more.

 

[Marriedblonde]

Christ I hate to think, full interior, tent (35KGS), carpet and footprint, front porch (another 10kgs) cob, safari chef, igloo cooler full of food/drink/ice (50kgs) seats and general camping stuff, bedding, air beds (easily another 50kgs)

Then when we go away there are the bikes on the rack (not that heavey)

2 adults, 2 kids. lots more weight.

The interior I reckon is another 75kgs all in - bed, 2 buddy seats and a buddy box.

Plus theres then the gas and dry food, ipads, kids toys, laptop, heater, folding table. etc another 50kgs

I could be massively out though

 

[cotswoldiver]

It soon adds up. I had the same thoughts as having sorted my westy out I wanted to check a full camping weight against the original weight so I took mine to a local public weigh bridge.

End result, the westy now weighs fully laden with a typical set of camping gear including a Khyam awning and me in it 1860kg or 4100 lbs in old money.

OK, mine has one of ATT interiors in it so I knew it would be more, the original unladen weight according to the manuals was 3296 lbs or 1495kg so a weight gain of 804 lbs or 364 kg on the road when loaded ready to go.

 

[magoo]

They were designs as buses and people are very heavy compared to your camping gear. Maybe 4 people in the back weighing 60-80kg each? A lot of those awnings and tents are unnecessarily heavy, you can buy pop up tents which are extremely light. Avoid carrying gallons of water and buy at your destination instead. I don't think there is much saving to be done with the furniture, but instead keep your gear light?

 

[Haveacamper]

Thanks for the input cotwoldiver! good figures there!

magoo if a typical laden bus is 364kg heavy that curb weight in 1UP config that's a lot of weight. As you mentiond, whether much of that can come from the interior itself or simply by being a bit smarter re: possessions. I think its probably a combination of the two.

I wouldn't mind betting that the interior alone is 120kg+ which is 1.5-2 persons being carried around all the time.

what I was thinking re my rear seat base (and rear) and my rear storage compartment is that its a bit heavy to lift up and over the table and also lifting up the rear part is a bit of a pita. lighter the better!

 

[aogrady]

Hey guys,

I was watching some vids about carbon fiber mouldings etc and started thinking about how heavy the interior of our vans are and whether there are ways of making it lighter? I then started thinking about the fact that my interior is pretty much a LHD version of a dormobile with a full width bed all made out of MDF.

I then started thinking how heavy this must be even without the contents of pots and pans, cookers, gas bottles, clothes, beer, table, BBQ etc etc. I was then thinking about what parts I could make lighter. Before long, I was wondering whether anyone on here had an approximate weight of their interior.

I even started thinking about replacing the bed seat/base and the area above my engine bay with some kind of honeycomb material instead of the 15-20mm MDF boards its currently made from.

so...anyone know how how heavy their vehicle is? To compare to base build weights?

I know people's views will probably be that its not worth the gains but hey ho!!!

Interesting about the honeycomb material, maybe something plastic, thin sheeting? You could make up the wardrobe, sink unit etc, but may need something sturdy for the bed, maybe double thickness, or fiberglassed, you could make it real light, contours shaped with expandable foam, all painted - or wrapped in vinyl?

I know the westy interior is very heavy, and thats before you add, gas bottle, leisure batterys, solar, compressor fridge, propex, and the camping gear, tent, gas BBQ, tools, trolley jack, axle stands, oil, pots/pans, i daren't think how much mine weighs....

Alistair

 

[Haveacamper]

Well the honeycomb would add the strength only when it was sandwiched and bonded between something like carbon fibre sheet or fibreglass or anything 1mm really.

id be very interested to know whether the seat base at 10mm with top and bottom 1mm CF sheet would be strong enough. without researching I would say that it would be strong enough.

with a bit of thought and effort I would think you could considerably reduce the weight. of your buses.

 

[Trikky2]

The original Dormobile interiors were made of plywood which is both lighter and stronger than MDF. My roof bunks are also made of marine ply for the same reason.

The exception is the stock table made of very heavy MDF. I often thought about replacing it but the problem is finding some matching Formica, an impossible task I think.

The bed section over the engine has been lightened by cutting lots of holes with a circle cutter since I'd doesent need to be as strong as the moving parts of the bed.

This was done back in the old days when the bus only had its stock engine and weight saving was more important.

Along those lines, with your engine Nathan, you could make your interior out of military grade depleted uranium and still be faster than 98% of buses out there :lol:

 

[Haveacamper]

Cheers Rik. what can I say other than I want to get a bit better fuel economy hehe

I can see the dilemma you have with matching formica. it's difficult enough matching one persons shade with another lol.

Having originally had a Dormobile interior I was keen to keep a plywood interior, but I could not find anyone who could make it out of ply and achieve the painted finish that I have now.

I suppose even the table could be honeycomb with top/bottom sheet.

I may have to do some rough estimations on what I think the MDF version weighs. I have a lot of the dimensions and know the thicknesses used.

 

[john the horse]

our is light now that we burnt the last one in the garden and wood burner, however r n r beds weigh a bit.

lush interior,***** install equals damp, rot and bin. p/o obviously didn't do their type two interior detective work.

 

[Haveacamper]

It soon adds up. I had the same thoughts as having sorted my westy out I wanted to check a full camping weight against the original weight so I took mine to a local public weigh bridge.

End result, the westy now weighs fully laden with a typical set of camping gear including a Khyam awning and me in it 1860kg or 4100 lbs in old money.

OK, mine has one of ATT interiors in it so I knew it would be more, the original unladen weight according to the manuals was 3296 lbs or 1495kg so a weight gain of 804 lbs or 364 kg on the road when loaded ready to go.

re-reading your comment about the original unladen weight i presume this is with reference to the westy manuals? anotherwords it includes the weight of the westy interior...

found this link to Dormobile D4/6 curb weights of 2925lbs - 1330kg
Dormobile D4/8 curb weights of 3102lbs - 1410kg

http://www.veedub.nu/docgallery/albums/userpics/pic249.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;