Off-Road Jurgens Exclusive

After purchasing the caravan and looking at the overall dimensions, it was clear that the road to off-roading would be long – but I like a challenge .

- Werner Grunder

Firstly, I had to do my homework to some extent to remove the two axles. My first order of business was to strengthen the chassis of the caravan to help it cope with rough roads, so I took 50mm x 50mm x 5mm angle iron and ran it from the front of the chassis to the point where the axles stop. The angle iron was boxed to the section where the axles are bolted to the original chassis.

I then measured the wheel arches to determine what space I had to work with, as this would determine what tyre size I could fit under the caravan, and whether I had to move axles wider than normally fitted. After doing the math, I determined I could go from 175/60/ R14 to 205/80/R14 tyres, which gave me a 30mm lift. With the 50x50 angle iron welded together correctly in a rectangular shape (not square), this gave me 60mm – so in total I had 90mm of lift. The chassis was also much stronger. 90mm is not a lot, but on this low rider caravan it makes a huge difference.

I had to move the front axle 15mm to the front and the rear axle 15mm to the rear to allow proper spacing for bigger wheels, and I fitted the brake cables in rubber hose to protect them.