OldManBeard
Member
I retired at the end of February 2002 although my wife, who is 5 years younger than me, is currently still working 3 days a week. We have been planing an extended trip, probably a year or more, around Oz. For that purpose my/our (depending on whether the wife is within earshot) Navara is undergoing some changes. Apart from a few items, like the bullbar, I make and fit it all myself. This proved to be a bit of a challenge with the canopy, on account of the fact that I had never worked with aluminium before. And, as my MIG welder is DC only and aluminium really requires an AC welder, I also had to buy and learn to use a TIG welder, which is one type of welder I had long wanted to learn to use but never had the chance before. Luckily, I managed to buy a pretty decent new one for under $600. Nevertheless, while it's not pretty, it's all completely functional, which for me is the most important thing.
When we purchased this can it was fitted with a regular tub and poly canopy. The first changes were to fit things like bonnet struts (why are they not standard in the 21st century?), LED headlight and parking globes and of course the snorkel, which is fully sealed up to and including the airbox. When water can't really get in there's absolutely no need to have the drainage holes, which of course become places where water can enter if doing a river crossing.
Here are a few photos of the progress so far, with some text for each below the photos.
An MCC Falcon model bullbar, with an Aldi winch we've had and used since 2008. This is the 4th car to have it fitted It's been fully stripped, cleaned and regreased several times over the years and continues to perform like new. The driving lights are Kings Domin8r Xtreme 9”.
Part of one air horn trumpet can be seen in the photo as well. Because space is so tight everywhere on these models I opted to fit the air horns, including its compressor, inside the bullbar before installing it on the car.
Those grey patches on the bonnet are due to nobody having warned me to wash a Navara using a high-pressure cleaner. It literally blaster flakes clean off the paintwork in several places, although the bonnet came out the worst. The primer remains intact, which means the car had been sat out in the weather for some time between having been primed and receiving the finish colour and not having been properly prepared first, resulting in extremely poor bonding between the two paint layers.
This shot also shows the camper behind the car. The 300 watt solar panel (I don't really believe it will produce more than 200+ watts) supplies charge to a pair of 100 Ah deep cycle batteries, which live in a steel box beneath the tray. I'll be adding an additional 250 watts of solar on top of the canopy, as I already have that panel anyway. The towing mirrors are a cheap knockoff. While not quite the same standard as Clearview mirrors, they work perfectly fine for our needs and only cost half as much. The awning is has a front bracket attached to the cabin roof rack so that the bit extending forward of the canopy isn't "floppy".
This shows the wife's side of the canopy. The great thing about making your own is that you can make it to suit your own needs, rather than settling for whatever compromises a manufacturer is obliged to use. This has been made to take 4 tubs. I will be adding more storage above the fridge soon. I had originally wanted to make my own drop-down fridge slide, in the MSA style. However, after getting half way through that I started thinking about the weaknesses of the MSA style. Given how much this slide will be used during our travels we decided this was an item worth spending a bit on and the Clearview design is much better than the MSA but it does come at a premium. The fridge in the canopy will be used only as a freezer, with the main fridge being in the camper. The white thing on the left is the air intake filter for venting the canopy. The outside is ducted to try and eliminate water entry.
This my side, about half finished. Just tubs here, as a lot of the gear is in bags. I find bags just work out much easier for things like recovery gear or tyre repair tools (which include an R&R bead breaker). The electrical panel will shortly have a major overhaul, as I intend to install a much better, and larger, solar charge controller, a 240v battery charger and a few additional components.
The little box at the top with the red display is the fan thermostat, which switches on the fan in the centre divider, as well as the one on the rear wall when the temperature goes above whatever temperature I set it to. This is to get rid of the heat, which will otherwise just build up and limit the performance of the fridge. Another electronic switch will also switch on the fans when the voltage is above a preset point. This will ensure they operate while we're driving, which should also prevent dust entry through the fan opening, and when the solar panels are working well, which generally coincides with higher ambient temperatures. I'll be adding the same arrangement to the camper.
On the rear we have a set of lights matching those on the tray. That white vent is the exhaust fan. The hinge in the lower right is a very heavy-duty stainless steel one, to which will be attached a swinging arm, which will hold the HF autotune antenna. The canopy has a 6mm plate welded in that corner to ensure the things is solidly attached and the antenna won't wobble all over the place. The hinge has almost no noticeable slop in it. I need to be able to swing it out because there needs to be some distance between the antenna and the canopy body when the radio is in use. This is a part I have not yet finished making.
That grey appearance on the right-hand side is where I used a rotary wire brush to clean the weld. I didn't notice what was happening until I stood back a bit. Oh well, live and learn.
When we purchased this can it was fitted with a regular tub and poly canopy. The first changes were to fit things like bonnet struts (why are they not standard in the 21st century?), LED headlight and parking globes and of course the snorkel, which is fully sealed up to and including the airbox. When water can't really get in there's absolutely no need to have the drainage holes, which of course become places where water can enter if doing a river crossing.
Here are a few photos of the progress so far, with some text for each below the photos.
An MCC Falcon model bullbar, with an Aldi winch we've had and used since 2008. This is the 4th car to have it fitted It's been fully stripped, cleaned and regreased several times over the years and continues to perform like new. The driving lights are Kings Domin8r Xtreme 9”.
Part of one air horn trumpet can be seen in the photo as well. Because space is so tight everywhere on these models I opted to fit the air horns, including its compressor, inside the bullbar before installing it on the car.
Those grey patches on the bonnet are due to nobody having warned me to wash a Navara using a high-pressure cleaner. It literally blaster flakes clean off the paintwork in several places, although the bonnet came out the worst. The primer remains intact, which means the car had been sat out in the weather for some time between having been primed and receiving the finish colour and not having been properly prepared first, resulting in extremely poor bonding between the two paint layers.
This shot also shows the camper behind the car. The 300 watt solar panel (I don't really believe it will produce more than 200+ watts) supplies charge to a pair of 100 Ah deep cycle batteries, which live in a steel box beneath the tray. I'll be adding an additional 250 watts of solar on top of the canopy, as I already have that panel anyway. The towing mirrors are a cheap knockoff. While not quite the same standard as Clearview mirrors, they work perfectly fine for our needs and only cost half as much. The awning is has a front bracket attached to the cabin roof rack so that the bit extending forward of the canopy isn't "floppy".
This shows the wife's side of the canopy. The great thing about making your own is that you can make it to suit your own needs, rather than settling for whatever compromises a manufacturer is obliged to use. This has been made to take 4 tubs. I will be adding more storage above the fridge soon. I had originally wanted to make my own drop-down fridge slide, in the MSA style. However, after getting half way through that I started thinking about the weaknesses of the MSA style. Given how much this slide will be used during our travels we decided this was an item worth spending a bit on and the Clearview design is much better than the MSA but it does come at a premium. The fridge in the canopy will be used only as a freezer, with the main fridge being in the camper. The white thing on the left is the air intake filter for venting the canopy. The outside is ducted to try and eliminate water entry.
This my side, about half finished. Just tubs here, as a lot of the gear is in bags. I find bags just work out much easier for things like recovery gear or tyre repair tools (which include an R&R bead breaker). The electrical panel will shortly have a major overhaul, as I intend to install a much better, and larger, solar charge controller, a 240v battery charger and a few additional components.
The little box at the top with the red display is the fan thermostat, which switches on the fan in the centre divider, as well as the one on the rear wall when the temperature goes above whatever temperature I set it to. This is to get rid of the heat, which will otherwise just build up and limit the performance of the fridge. Another electronic switch will also switch on the fans when the voltage is above a preset point. This will ensure they operate while we're driving, which should also prevent dust entry through the fan opening, and when the solar panels are working well, which generally coincides with higher ambient temperatures. I'll be adding the same arrangement to the camper.
On the rear we have a set of lights matching those on the tray. That white vent is the exhaust fan. The hinge in the lower right is a very heavy-duty stainless steel one, to which will be attached a swinging arm, which will hold the HF autotune antenna. The canopy has a 6mm plate welded in that corner to ensure the things is solidly attached and the antenna won't wobble all over the place. The hinge has almost no noticeable slop in it. I need to be able to swing it out because there needs to be some distance between the antenna and the canopy body when the radio is in use. This is a part I have not yet finished making.
That grey appearance on the right-hand side is where I used a rotary wire brush to clean the weld. I didn't notice what was happening until I stood back a bit. Oh well, live and learn.
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