Delica Trailers

Post by **Big-Bird** » Sun Jun 08, 2014 7:10 am

There is this trend in Europe for the trailer to match your vehicle. Very popular with the caravan crowd and I know a few show car folks that also do it.

Has anyone seen or have plans on how to convert a vehicle shell into a trailer...specifically a van. I have a few pics but little detail on how this is done....closing the front is the biggest challenge.

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Firesong · Post by **Firesong** » Sun Jun 08, 2014 9:15 am

I guess it depends on where you choose to take your trailer. I had thought about doing this to a 1978 vw bus I had but considered the weight, structure and where I wanted to drag it. If you cut the front off your structure is compromised for being torqued on angles etc. Plus the undercarriage... Of course I drag mine down trails, mountains, off road etc.

One other thing to consider is often the wheels/axle is not ideal for balance and puts a lot of weight on your vehicle hitch.
But they do look cool.

doodah · Post by **doodah** » Sun Jun 08, 2014 10:06 pm

Too heavy....

Post by **Big-Bird** » Mon Jun 09, 2014 4:45 pm

This is what I was looking for....thank you VW crowd!

http://www.trailerforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=106289

http://www.build-threads.com/build-thre ... bi-trailer/

ealanm · Post by **ealanm** » Sat Jun 14, 2014 1:40 pm

Maybe the way to do this is to take moulds off the back of your existing Delica and make a fibreglass body that you can put on a regular trailer frame. Probably not that much more work or cost, in the end, and it would solve the weight problem.

izack98 · Post by **izack98** » Thu Jul 10, 2014 4:01 pm

Has anyone seen this trailer?

http://uev.com.au/440-2

Pretty cool, clever design. But before you get too excited and decide to pick one up......the retail price on the fully loaded one at $66,990.00 (AUD)!!!
The base model is $49,990.00 (AUD)

T.Low · Post by **T.Low** » Thu Jul 10, 2014 11:57 pm

^^^ If you're really interested in off road trailers, Mike at http://www.vmioffroad.com in Bellingham makes some incredible stuff.

Post by **Big-Bird** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:31 am

Cooloff road units but I don't take my Delica where a trailer like that would be justified.

I was thinking more along this line to carry gear.

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Jman · Post by **Jman** » Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:20 pm

This has been done by me very recently.
The following picture was taken on the inaugural road trip along the Rainbow Road from Hanmer to St Arnaud, NZ this summer.
Regards weight. It's more a question of balance, in more ways than one. I added a double swing-away deck on the back to balance things, which is also exceptionally useful when camping.
If there is the interest I will post more pics and provide more information on request.
Cheers for looking.

Post by **Big-Bird** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 6:29 am

Nice.

What had to be done to close the opening and the stabalize the structure once the front got cut off?

Here's what the orange trailer(above) used to look like after the cut off.

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Jman · Post by **Jman** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 1:19 pm

Cheers.

Having cut it in front of the B pillar a significant amount of stability is retained. The monocoque design of the Delica actually helps as the roof has strength creating rigidity throughout the whole body. The main attachment point for the A-frame it to the torsion bar mounting points which are more than strong enough for the job.

Closing the front was tricky for me but that was due to the fact I used what materials I had collected over the last few years and that happened to be a sheet of 3mm aluminium. Definitely tricky to bend into the right shape (there really are no flat surfaces on a Delica). Once the right shape was achieved after hours of straining, hammering and cursing it was just a simple case of bolting it into the door pillars and carefully folding the roof over the sheet and riveting it to the aluminium. A seal was made against the old door edge by using the old door seals fitted to the edge of the aluminium before bolting in place. The bottom edge had about a 2" gap at the edges that was filled with expanded polystyrene, sealed with flashing tape and painted with bitumen body sealer. After that the bumper was cut to fit and secured to the aluminium it was just a simple case of playing around with the finishing details.

I can assure you that there were no, 'simply a case of' elements to any of this project other than saying I'll do it and then writing down what I did after I had finished the project 6 months later.

The rig was put to the test on the road from Hanmer to St Arnaud and held up well. The track is steep and badly corrugated in places and with a full load of camping gear for 2 adults and 3 kids for a week was not an issue for either truck or trailer.

The tracking is perfect even at 80kmh but the 20 year old suspension is way too soft and will need addressing with stiffer shocks and springs to stop the alarming body wobble it currently suffers from. Fine on good roads but bumps and hollows at 80kmh set up a nastily rocking that looks horrific but actually doesn't effect its handling. I honestly thought that by the time we had reached our destination the milk in the trailer would have been churned into butter. It didn't, but I wish I had plugged the hole where the rear air-con fan used to be as there was a lot of dust in the trailer when we arrived.

All in all a great success and really enhanced the holiday. The project was born out of the need to make use of a shell of an old Delica after I transplanted the engine into my manual LWB. Everything was done on the skinniest budget where most things were up cycled or picked up for free. I was trying to keep to a budget of $600 NZD but I spent closer to $1200 as I realised I could make it look and function better by spending more..... realistically.

It's a real head turner and that's for sure. I'm pretty sure this is the only one in NZ.
Fun, cheap and useful. Well worth it.