Building for Spiti: Engineering a Caravan for India's Hardest Roads
The Spiti Valley is unforgiving. Altitude, lateral loads on switchbacks, freezing nights and blazing afternoons — and roads that are barely roads at all. Here's how we approached the engineering brief for a client who wanted to live out of a caravan for three weeks in Spiti...
The Spiti Valley is unforgiving. Altitude, lateral loads on switchbacks, freezing nights and blazing afternoons — and roads that are barely roads at all. Here’s how we approached the engineering brief for a client who wanted to live out of a caravan for three weeks in Spiti.
1. Chassis and Suspension Reinforcement
When you carry 400kg of camper equipment over potholes and dry riverbeds, standard shock mounts fail. We reinforced the frame brackets and installed custom twin-tube heavy-duty dampers with progressive rate springs.
2. Off-Grid Electrical Grid
A dual-battery system with a 30A DC-to-DC charger ensures the auxiliary lithium batteries charge while driving. In addition, we mounted 300W of monocrystalline solar panels on the roof rack.
3. Thermal Comfort
Temperatures in Spiti can drop below freezing even in autumn. We lined the interior paneling with double-sided foil bubble wrap insulation and installed an auxiliary diesel cabin heater.