Is this the right van for me?

D

Del

New Member
Hi,I’m new on here.
I’m looking for a vintage camper/van that could tow a trailer or caravan.Is the commer suitable?
Are there any modifications that would make one suitable?
( Engine/ brake swaps, is there a tried and tested “easy”(there never easy) route to take?)
Any advice very welcome
Thanks Del
 
Hi Del and welcome to the Madhouse:)
As much as we love our vans in standard form they will struggle to pull any reasonable sized caravan or trailer over anything but flat or down hill, some owners do though. The simplest engine mod to do is a carb and exhaust swap which will give a nice improvement in torque and a bit more power. After that an alloy head engine from a Sunbeam Rapier or Humber Sceptre is relatively easy to adapt (but increasingly difficult to find) as it is basically the same engine with considerably more power, Jimberlake's conversion is a great example of this and he tows a well stocked camping trailer and roof rack. People have fitted alternative engines from Mazda MX5 to Lincoln V8 (see PJL's van) but obviously take more effort to fit. It all depends on your budget, skill set and what you need. The brakes, I find, are very good considering they are drums all round and they can quite easily lock the wheels if pushed so unless you are going to fit racing slicks you wont get any more stopping power. A servo is a good addition to help with pedal pressure.
Good luck and if you need any more info or advise just ask
 
Welcome to the madhouse. I used to tow a teardrop trailer with mine in standard form. Had to keep pulling over to allow traffic ( including tractors) passed. An SU conversion certainly made a difference.
I now have over 350bhp at the rear wheels so I can tow a 3 bed semi detached house with me.
Brakes are no problems if looked after.
 
Welcome, as Panky says you’ll get closer to 70-80bhp with an alloy head engine mine pulls ok with that setup but still building another alloy head engine up with a better cam etc.
I’d probably not advise a Commer for a caravan tbh though Jon in the club does that successfully with a tweaked engine but it is a folding lightweight caravan
 
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Thanks guys for making a total stranger feel so welcome !
You’ve given me food for thought.
So it looks like I need a tweaked camper to tow a trailer rather than a van and a caravan
PJL … I don’t think you’ve got any competition from me
 
That would be, dare I say it, the sensible approach. You mightn't even need a trailer as you can pack a lot in the back of a Commer - depending on how many passengers you have.
 
Hi and welcome. Commerracer does a Lexus gearbox upgrade. He prefers to do the swap but he may ship parts. He keeps the original gearbox as part of deal.
 
Thanks guys for making atotal stranger feel so welcome !
You’ve given me food for thought.
So it looks like I need a tweaked camper to tow a trailer rather than a van and a caravan
PJL … I don’t think you’ve got any competition from me
 
Panky said:
That would be, dare I say it, the sensible approach. You mightn't even need a trailer as you can pack a lot in the back of a Commer - depending on how many passengers you have.
Click to expand...
Not many passengers, but LOTS OF TOYS!!
 
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