Avan
storage ideas

 Avan campers are a little short on storage, particularly easy to get to storage. So I went about improving the situation to suit our own needs.

The under bed area in the 1D layout is divided into three sections, I installed a divider about half way back, removed the drop down door in front of the bed, constructed a drawer to suit, installed runners on the floor and attached the drop down door catch to the drawer. This drawer holds a lot of our food: breakfast cereal, spaghetti, tinned food, cling wrap and so on. Either side of the drawer is a space around 100mm wide in which we store empty plastic tubs ready for leftovers. This mod has proved to be extremely useful, no more getting on hands and knees to fish around behind the drop down door trying to find stuff or lifting the bed all the time. Simply pull out the drawer, grab what you want and push the drawer closed. The rear section of the middle compartment is just long enough to store two director chairs, a roll up table and a pop up shower tent.

A solar panel sits above the drawer on a couple of brackets I’ve installed.

On top of the three drawer cabinet just inside the door sits another handy unit I made up. Five plastic peach containers sit either side which contain, rice, pasta, coffee, tea, sugar, dog biscuits and so on. The centre section holds a couple of chopping boards on a shelf at the rear and a couple of plastic containers for biscuits (you can never have too many biscuits). The TV sits on top When traveling the unit is stored out of the way on the bed.

Under the table I’ve mounted a pine plank around 200mm wide, on top sits a box I made up which can slide one end to the other. In that we store our vegies, fruit, onions and so on. Pushing the box to one side allows space to put our radio, books or whatever you need to get out of the way.

Over top of the front storage tubs sits a shelf made of pine plank around 150mm wide. It is held in place by a couple of U shaped brackets, to stop the shelf sliding forward a couple of self tappers are positioned underneath the plank but not through the brackets. The brackets are thin enough to fit between the lid and shelf gap and secured underneath inside the two outside tubs by a couple of self tappers. The shelf doesn’t interfere with opening the lids and although it’s not suitable for tallish items due to the roof angle it is handy for books, meds and so on. When travelling the shelf is removed and placed on the bed.

Inside the window frames sit a couple of plywood shelves shaped to fit around the window winders. Again not suitable for tallish items but handy for some of the smaller stuff. When traveling the shelves are removed and placed in the centre tub.

I did away with the centre tub clothes hangar and fixed a shelf about half way down. The top section now holds our 19” TV, radio, electrical cables, teapot, scotch and a few other bits and pieces. The bottom section is where we store our 240 volt items such as pod coffee machine, toaster and heater for when in a park.

On the front I’ve mounted a V shaped aluminium box. Stored inside is our sullage hose, hose, water pressure regulator, power cord, winders and gas bottles and regulator. The box has vents fitted to the rear as well as the floor to keep it legal. Pressure regulators are available from Bunning's retic section for around $7. On the side of the box I’ve mounted three plastic saddle clamps into which slot our extendable TV antenna pole. When travelling the antenna pole is stored in the PVC tube just under and to the right of the box. These poles are around $110 from memory; however, a paint roller extension pole will do the same job and is around a third of the price.

The box sits just behind the jockey wheel and is somewhat higher blocking the use of the jockey winder. To solve the problem I constructed a winder handle from 12mm round steel, placed a rotating knob on top and a piece of 16mm square tube at the bottom. Next I removed the jockey wheel winder handle and welded a 13/16 nut in it’s place. A 13/16” socket was then welded to a piece of 12mm square steel which slides inside the winder handle thus clearing the toolbox when winding the jockey wheel. I constructed another smaller socket extension which also slips inside the winder handle and is used for lowering/raising the corner legs.

A new shelf for the Aliner some may find handy, particularly for those who are reluctant to drill holes in the wall to mount a permanent one. The shelf is 1500mm long and 184mm wide so it can take a quite a few saucepans, kettles, etc. I opted for a take down shelf rather than fixing it permanently and when traveling it resides on the bed. The shelf is set lower than the usual as the wife is quite short, that of course also allows for a longer shelf.

There are also a couple of spigots with rubber stoppers set in to the back of the shelf to hold it clear of the curtains. The shelf is made from a piece of shellacked pine from Bunnings, a couple of brackets made from 25 x 3mm steel strapping and a piece of 40mm RHS (the wall hook) welded together and painted silver. Alternative brackets can be made quite easily by simply bending and then twisting the steel to the required shape.

It takes about two seconds to put up or pull down. As it turned out the shellacked pine isn't a bad match for the internal veneer.

Our new traveling companion, Alice. What a face!

thanks to Tony Hothersall for sharing his ideas

january 2016