hi guys, what a great site and so much tongue in cheek humour, i'm lovin it. anyway am new to this, i am in the exciting stage of reno-ing an old toyoto dyna motorhome. (vardo to me as i am romany, (gypsy). can anyone give me info on building a storage box on the back, attaching a swing out 4x4 door as a bike rack and making lift out awnings for over wind out windows, there are already gutters in place for some type of awning. any suggestion are very welcome and appreciated. cheers all. shadow dancer.

Gypsy
Welcome, and you are right about the "vibe" of this site. No bad in my opinion. I am sure Dave is already on the job, re your questions - he is the Guru. If you are lucky and the gin runs out, Basil, will also provide some enlightening additions.

You may need to provide a picture of the Dyna, for better understanding of what may be possible.

I have heard of "dancing with wolves" - "dirty dancing" - but not "shadow dancing" - may need to help me out there.

Hi shadow dancer and welcome.
Sounds like you have a few serious jobs on there. Good luck with them.
The Dyna is a very capable and reliable vehicle, we see them in lots of out-of-the-way places.
You don't say if it is a LWB or SWB vehicle, but watch out for the total overhang behind the rear axle. There is a legal limit maximum of 60% of the wheelbase, and it includes the box and bike.



Cheers,
Peter

welcome to the forum to you romany, the questions you ask are simple in nature but complex in answer, do you have a towbar on the back, if so a box can be constructed so as to bolt on to the tongue, the swing out 4x4 door I dont quite comprehend but the bike rack ( pedal power I assume ) can be made as part and parcel of the box setup on the towbar, if you keep the box less than say 20" deep whilst being full width of the dyna then the cantilever aspect that peter has spoken about will not come in to effect. if you plan on placing a motorcycle out there then that is a whole different ball game, what size / weight is it, how are you going to get it up and down. if you haven't a towbar then perhaps a visit to a metal fabrication yard and a talk to the on site engineer would be advisable, usually they are only too glad to help and all information is at their fingertips. the initial supports for the box and rack will have to come off the chassis members as in the same style as the drawbar. as for the awnings. the simplest way there is of course canvas, if you have the sail track in place already then it is a simple matter of either making some to fit or buy a complete awning to go over the lot. much simpler than individual lift up aluminium awnings that will eventually get loose at 90 kph and tear off. I am a guru simply because I talk a lot not because I hold any more knowledge than the next person, please take all advise and choose which YOU prefer, any way good on you for having a go, you will find absolutely nothing but support from all in here and if you have input of any kind or just want a yak dont be shy, you are of course amongst freinds, a lot of our members are away at the moment but when they return you will meet them as well. just as an afterthought I thought this photo of a dyna might interest you. she is called dyna-saw. she and others can be found on this website http://www.motorhomesaustralia.net/



-- Edited by dave06 at 15:04, 2008-10-27

well thanks for response twobob, yeah your right the guru is onto it, i've read a few bits of his in different threads and he is quite knowledgeable and very friendly. i will take a pic and add to this thread. i do have a towbar and i meant to say swing out spare tyre thingy from a 4x4. my name is my spiritual name, the full name is actually shadow of the owl dancer and means i use owl medicine to see the fear behind the words and actions of both myself and those i do readings for. cheers. shadow.

hi peter, guess whose getting out the tape measure, i had no idea about the legality of an extension, thanks so much for information. cheers shadow.

hi dave, first an apology as i have responded to some of your input via twobob, must be tired, anyway i'm sure you don't mind my fluffing up. well you sure give a person a lot of help, i only have a pushy though i do have a motorbike jacket (always the dreamer) i will check out the website you posted. on the awnings (remember me not to cluey on this, though i do sew quite well) do you mean to make them as a permanent standing out feature, if so, would this be a width problem. i may need a rough sketch of what you have in mind. read some of your comments on other threads last night, have to tell you, you made an old chook laugh so good on you and cheers. shadow.

Hi shadow, dont worry about the fluff up we dont care who gets the praise or otherwise, the swing out tyre spare tyre contraption would be quite good but I think an overkill for a pushbike, all that is needed is 50mm x 50mm square steel section welded in to an arch shape with say a small winch off a boat trailer mounted at the base with the cable running to a pulley at the top and down to a hook that you attach to your bike, the other end you make pivot off a bar that you extend off the drawbar under your box and that way you can make the whole thing sit flat against the box and fasten it appropriately. the awnings, what I meant was to make / buy a canvas awning the full length of the vehicle, you mentioned that you had a sail track on the side already, you could leave it on and roll it up into a bag that you leave on the vehicle or slide it off. I will try and make a diagram of the box and lifting mechanism for you to visualise it easier. if i make one person laugh then I am a happy man two and my job is done

-- Edited by dave06 at 18:43, 2008-10-27

thanks dave, i'll see what i can do, you put in a lot of effort and is very much appreciated. the sail tracks on my vardo ( home) are only little ones over each window and a short one low down and about a third of the length for which a tarp was provided. i'm riggging up a pulley for that one and then need to make small push out ones for each window. saw one in a mag that a couple from nz have done but am unable to see how they did it. their email is in the mag but i don't want to hassle people that way as you don't know how many others may do so.anyway thanks again and now the nose to the grindstone eh. bye for now. shadow. p.s hope to see you around a campfire someday.

never a problem, only too glad to help as we all are, I would send an email to the couple from nz, (1) I think they would be happy to converse with you and (2) what is the worst that can happen, they dont reply, well bad luck for them if they dont, but I'm sure they will, most people love to talk, sad life if you dont. I would love to meet you around a fire one day. all the best and dont be a stranger

Shadow, another thing to to be aware of with the bike. That area behind the vehicle is constantly bombarded with water, sand, dust, grit etc, even on 'good' roads. We have some mates who hung a couple of good quality bikes on the back of their big motorhome. They were in good quality covers. Within 3 years the bikes were junk. Grit constantly got into every moving part. A year later the carrier fatigued and broke off and the bikes fell off and were wrecked. They claimed them on insurance, but never replaced them. I suggest you initially try with a 'low cost' bike to see how it goesand how much you actually use it. Cheers, Peter

ha, ha, peter, as i am on a disability pension everything i own is low cost, hence me doing the reno. however i wouldn't change even if i won lotto cos there's othing like hunting for just that thing or finding something that looks like nothing and then creating something, ha sounds like what i'm always doing with myself.

-- Edited by romanyrebel2 at 21:02, 2008-10-28

yeah dave i will send an email, my dad always said "if you don't ask you don't get and theres only 2 possible answers, yea or nay, so good advice. oh and i'm never a stranger just strange. cheers shadow

Hi Shadow! Nice to meet you! Hope to catch you, either on here sometime or on the road. Good luck! Dianne

hi Dianne, thanks for checking in on this thread. i see your a fan of the very cutest cat on the planet, isn't he gorgous. cheers. shadow.

Hi Shadow,nice to meet you.Did you buy your van just up the road from Chambers island M,Dore.There was one very similar for sale when we lived on the coast.Good luck with your project.Stay away from the Sunday market.LoL.Cheers Ibbo.

hi Ibbo, no i got it down kawana. stay away from markets, me, ha.ha. all my vehicles are on automatic turn in to markets, garage sales and op shops, so much fun. to my mums horror as a child i used to scrounge the tip and take stuff home thinking it was all wonderful. my mum was very upper class, so was funny. catch up again. cheers. shadow.

We lived  at Warana.Dont mention markets ,Op ,shops,Vinnies.Oh and Tip shops.We will be back on the Coast  later on in november,usually socialise at Headlands Bowling Club.my son lives at Buderim.Cheers Ibbo.

cool ibbo, maybe i'll see you around as we will not be leaving here before december.

-- Edited by romanyrebel2 at 21:31, 2008-11-01

-- Edited by romanyrebel2 at 17:39, 2008-11-02