Clarky...

[joshman]

Joshman just after an update on the leaf springs mixed with the rancho shocks. Would you say that tough dog may be a better mix? Zordo is soon to do mine

Hey rus, to be honest, I've no idea how the tough dogs will be, so I can't really comment on it. But I'm liking the adjustable Rancho shocks with the EFS leaves. The extra leaf in the pack is good, very glad i got it. I've lost some of my up travel in the rear because of it though, but that should come back as the pack settles in and sags.

Hope that helps ya rus.

 

[RustyNav09]

Thanks josh. I think I may just keep with getting the rancho. I'm getting an extra leaf added to the comfort kit.

Cheers

 

[lejackall]

Best write up/mod I've seen so far... Keep up the good work

 

[joshman]

Best write up/mod I've seen so far... Keep up the good work

Thanks mate!

 

[joshman]

Here's the latest little thing I've done - some night time running lights - purely for off-road use only. This pair is situated at the front in front of the wheels shining down on where the front wheels are going - very helpful if ever I've got to do some night runs. I've also got plans for a heaps more of these lights around the truck, and I plan to incorporate the rear ones as reversing lights also.

These are switched through a relay by a switch in the cabin.

At the moment these are just a $30 pair of h3 halogens from supercrap auto, seeing as this proof of concept works well, I'm keen to get a heap of small LED flood lights from eBay and use them because they'll run colder than these (river crossings!) and draw less current than these as well!

Tomorrow should see me hopefully installing the new front brake pads and a LED work lamp. Next weekend I hope to tackle the LOKKA and get the wiring in for more of these running lights.

 

[RLI]

Thanks mate!

Great write-up mate!

Regards

RLI

 

[joshman]

So just a small update - I've got the new brake pads and shoes on the truck, as well as some DBA slotted rotors. I've got the rear work/reverse LED lamp in and working, it's freaking sweet. I've bought a few more of these and am gonna have a go at wiring them in tomorrow - as well as the 30" BajaDesigns LED bar i got at the 4x4 show.

I spent an hour or 2 today wiring in some small LED's under the bonnet, these are absolutely awesome, very useful if i've gotta do any work under the hood. They're individually switched at the light itself. Just another thing I picked up at the 4x4 show...

The next thing I'll be tackling after this will be shelf/drawer in the tub - into which I plan on incorporating the ARB twin air compressor. I plan on salvaging the tank from an old air compressor and plumbing that in with a hose connection at both the front and rear of the vehicle.

The biggest deciding factor on the tub layout will be what size fuel container I can get for the space behind the fridge.
Edit: although, I could move the dual battery to behind the fridge, put the air compressor where the battery is currently... Decisions, decisions...

 

[joshman]

I got the 30" BajaDesigns LED light bar installed today.

Holy crap it's bright! It craps all over the halogen IPF spotties I've currently got on there. The light is a lot softer, throws a lot further, and the peripheral light is amazing. Which means that they're now very much superfluous, and must be dealt with in an appropriate manner... Sell them off and get more LED's!

I put the bar on the forward roof rack, and currently it's throwing a bit too much light onto the bonnet, so I need to tweak and fiddle with that a bit before I'm fully satisfied, and i still need to wire it onto the high beam switch (very easy fix). But it's fully awesome, so glad i got it.

I'll have some more photos for this thread over the next few days, installs and the like. Hopefully I'll have time over Easter to take the truck out somewhere awesome and get some schmicko photos of it.

The photos attached to this post are, one with just the IPF halogen spotties as seen from the drivers seat, one with the light bar as seen from the drivers seat, and one of light bar as seen from outside the truck.

 

[joshman]

Alright, I've spent the last 3 days with the tuck up on stands and I've accomplished a few very important tasks.

I've changed all my drive-line fluids, changed the sump gasket (massive PITA job) and installed the LOKKA. The reason for it all taking so long is family commitments, doing a proper clean up of all the bolts and bits and pieces as it was removed.

If it was just the LOKKA install, it would've only taken a few hours. As it stands the lokka went in quite easily, a battery powered impact wrench (Milwaukee HD18HIW) makes VERY short work of every bolt and nut - and is definitely a must for stuff like this. I have a sneaky suspicion that I need to get a thrust washer but I'm just a little vague on some of that. It's in and it operates as intended.

The photos attached: open diff carrier, running the truck up on some stands to get some flex and see how well the lokka operates (awesomely!) and the flex in the back end, I'm pretty much getting the maximum amount of down travel out of this leaf pack.

 

[joshman]

Took a camping trip upto Byfield National Park over the weekend, with a quick trip out to Three Rivers Beach and Nine Mile Beach.

Was a good weekend out, and i got to really put the ChipIT, Lokka and the tyres to excellent use. the pics pretty much explain.

 

[Pix]

Looks like a good trip, how'd the lokka go? I'm thinking seriously about making the purchase. Led bar looks good too, nice rig, and looks like a good holiday.

 

[joshman]

Mate, the lokka is amazing. I could feel it doing its work the whole day, definitely made life on the tracks easier. And climbing that rock was a breeze, the trucks crawled up it too easily.

I'm (hopefully) headed out Tuesday night with boosted for some night tracks. Hopin to grab some good night shots of the truck in awkward places and the LED bar. It's absolutely amazing. It puts the spotties to shame, they're redundant now.

 

[Boosted]

Ill bring along my good camera and get some good shots

 

[joshman]

yeah mate, i'll throw in the tripod and pro rig... could turn this into a bit of a photo shoot...hahaha

 

[joshman]

Hey all! Got some major updates for the truck and the building of a kick-ass tourer!

Five pics are attached, unsure what order they'll show up in because I'm on my phone, but here goes...

Pic1, the 'cradle' I made to sit against the headboard and take the 80L water and 80L diesel tanks, still requires a bit of work, but the basic idea is complete.

Pic2, tanks and cradle dummy fitted in the back of the truck. I've yet to plumb them up, but I have wired up a switch and power for a future diesel pump on the drivers side and a water pump on the passenger side. I'll also be building a shelf above the tanks where I'll store spares/tools/stuff that won't need to be accessed all that regularly.

Pic3, The ARB twin compressor installed behind the passenger side rear wheel. Wired to a switch locally, and plumbed to a chuck mounted on the drawer box. Have plans of installing an air tank under the tray at some point. I've got an old 21L air compressor that I'm gonna re-purpose. I've cut a door into the side of the drawer box for better access to the air compressor if I ever need to remove it.

Pic4, just some lighting I installed in the canopy to replace the crappy lamp that comes with them. It's 2x1m LED strips from eBay, and wired into the second battery. You can really see my tub layout in this shot. The battery box on the drivers side was re-done a few weeks ago, I built it from scratch in a similar design to RUSTYNAV09's, I made a few adjustments of my own to make it a bit more user friendly. It has 4 x cigarette sockets in the back panel, as well as switches for: the in canopy lighting, the rear window lighting, the work lamp on the rear of the truck and the work lamp on the passenger side roof. I wired the fridge in directly to the battery box also.

Pic5, the lights installed on the rear window of the canopy, again it's 2x1m LED strip. I'm super happy with the amount of light these LED strips throw.

 

[04SilverSTR]

Looking good jos!!!. just keep in mind and you might want to check this for yourself but Im pretty sure the filler for your fuel tank has to come outside the car while filling.

cheers
bryan

 

[joshman]

Thanks mate!
I'll look into that, I plan on using the plugs in the side of the tank for the filling, and I'll plumb up a "permanent" (but easily removed) filler cap for just inside the side window.

 

[robmacca]

Looking REALLY GOOD !!

Have u had your car fully loaded up yet - full water & fuel Tanks(below & in tray) + all other necessary gear req'd when touring??

Be interested to see some pics when u do, especially how the real end sits compared to the front

 

[joshman]

Thanks Rob! As soon as I've got the pumps organized and running I'll fill the tanks up, last thing I want is 160L of liquid that I can't get out of the tub!

I'm thinking I might need some of those SAX 3-stage rear leaves to accommodate the load that's gonna be in the tub, but i'll cross that bridge when it comes to it.

RE: the aux tank fuel filler, found this after a quick google search:

"The fuel filler inlet and cap should be located outside of the vehicle. Where an inlet is located inside a vehicle, it must not be inside the passenger compartment and the inlet must be separately sealed from the rest of the vehicle to ensure fumes do not enter the passenger cabin and that provisions are made to ensure any fuel spills are localized and drain outside the vehicle;"

Taken from this document: http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/ro...COP9_Section_LM_Fuel_Systems_01Jan2011_v2.pdf

So it looks like il be more than right for having the filler inside the tub.

 

[FatBoy89]

What light strips did you use in the canopy
Mate? Nice length. Are the flexible or hard? And how did you mount them?