Newbie

[Marjorie71]

Hi
We have just bought our first camper van, a 71 dormobile. A few questions I hope some of you more experienced owners can help with.

1) how good is the cool box in the dormobile? Ours has a small hole but hubby is going to look at sealing it. Was hoping it would keep things reasonably cold for at least 3 days.

2) any ideas on where to put in an electric fridge without losing too much storage space.

3) the bed is bothering me, a bit high due to it resting on the table. I also felt a little precarious getting down as you have to tread into the space under the seat. Has anybody managed to find a solution to this. At the moment we are considering getting a 3/4 rock n roll bed and losing the storage tray at the back.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Clem]

Hi and welcome

A cool box will keep temperatures within the starting point, so pre chill or freeze stuff before you go. We often take frozen milk, juice, water and sausages etc and use them as they defrost. They will also provide extra chill for the rest of the stuff. If your travelling then plan ahead and buy cold/frozen stuff as you go. Ultimately they do a job but need managing.

If youre using an awning you can take a powered fridge along and put it in there ... otherwise youre looking at removing something in your van, like the coolbox, and replacing it.

Use the van for a few trips before you make any rash or key changes. Often its just a case of getting used to stuff.

 

[Marjorie71]

Hi

Thank you for your reply.

 

[Marjorie71]

Just a thought, has anyone ever put a 3 way chest fridge into the cool box space? Is that even possible (obviously depending on dimensions etc)? I realise if we used gas it would need ventilation but how about with leisure battery or mains hook up?

Thanks

 

[cotswoldiver]

Welcome

As others will no doubt say add pictures, we all love pictures of new buses finding their way on to Earlybay and another dormobile is always good to see.
Clems advice is spot on, use your bus first before changing anything, its amazing how your thoughts change as you make it fit your needs - don't rush as some things are a pain to return. And like all of us, just enjoy it

 

[Dickie524]

We too have an early Dormobile (1968 - sorry - no pice as photobucket etc are all blocked at work!)

Never been away in it yet, it's sat tghere all forlorn as I work on it a few hours at a time!

I'm going to give the cool box a try, use some blue freezer packs and I expect it'll be fine for a few days. Bear in mind a generation ago that's all anyone had!

The bed does seem high but I'm trying to keep the interior stock.

I also think the rear seat in a dormobile is a bit narrower than a 3/4 R&R bed would be so I think you would need to do some serious hacking to the interior to get one to fit (maybe - sure I will be corrected!!)

Enjoy!

/R

 

[Marjorie71]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the advice. I'll try upload some pics. The R n R bed we are looking at is from just kampers, narrowest for has to be at least a metre but we will measure up next time we work on it. Has anyone yet fell into the space under the seat? Have visions of twisted ankles and grazed legs from the metal! Has anyone solved that issue by making a cover for the gap to stand on? Ideally would love to keep it stock but need it to be functional as we intend to use it a lot!