As part of my 1973 Pan Familia renovation project I am thinking of making a larger exterior front locker to replace the current small gas bottle locker. The reason for this is that I like to do a lot of wild camping so I need to be autonomous in power supply. In the colder months I use a 1000W generator to power my portable electric radiator, so I'm looking for more space to store the generator and a 20L jerrycan of petrol as well as the gas bottle. I intend to weld a new supportive framework in place of the existing bottle stand, and make an aluminium box cover to keep it all weatherproof.

My question is how much of an issue will adding this extra weight to the front of the van cause when driving. The 1973 Familia is very light and I've had absolutley no issues with it even in very windy conditions, but I've seen videos of what can go wrong with badly arranged weight distribution (!!!) so I'm wary of creating a hazard.

Given that I am always well within the van's weight limit (we travel light), my main concern is the added weight at the front and hence extra towbar weight. Could I simply counterbalance this out by storing more items inside the van towards the rear? The generator and fuel would weigh around 35kg, so I could easily place the same weight in water containers behind the axle to compensate. Any comments from any of you more experienced campers?

Thanks

PS As an aside, does anyone know why more recent Eribas have their gas bottle locker inside the van rather than outside on the front? Seems to me to unnecessarily take up internal storage space!

Hi Nick,

Hmm I think the total additional weight that you have in mind is considerable. It is not a question of balancing the front weight with weight towards the rear, you need to consider the "pendulum effect" whereby the van will tend to oscillate with the road wheels as a fulcrum. In my view you could probably add another gas bottle and maybe the fuel can, but no more.

Have you considered a larger tow vehicle that could carry some of these items?

As for your PS - I suggest it it quite the opposite - the upper part of the more modern van is now longer (ie over the top of the gas bottle box, and I suspect aesthetics and stream lining were additional reasons?

HTH

Dave

We have a blind Puck with an `internal` gas locker. Never thought of the reason until now, I always thought it was for asthetics. Maybe it's a weight issue as the kitchen is at the front. Maybe there's more space for a bike rack or is the `A` frame shorter? We have more space than we need as we have extra shelves in the wardrobe and under the sink, also an external water bottle.

Steve & Debbie

Just to reiterate the point about trying to compensate by putting items behind the caravan axle. It is very bad practice. A mate did this and came a cropper when descending a hill at 60mph. Use your car to store heavy stuff if at all possible.