Dagree's (David & Greer) 2014 17.56.2OB

[dagree]

Is that a pre curser for where your roughing it tonight due to the fact you have stated ''SWMBO trys to make herself beautiful'', or that'' she is a short in stature''.
Me personally, I wouldve gone with enjoying a well earned refreshment during last hour of sunlight after doing that spare wheel holder.
Let us know how you go........

Luckily @Pace she doesn't read the forum so I am a lucky man..... But if she does happen to see my comments I'm thinking at least 3 nights in the van

OH and the well earned refreshments were consumed during the mods

 

[dagree]

Thats exactly what I have on the ' To Do' list @dagree , did you just glue the mirror on and is it glass or metal, looks good . My boss has been at me about a shower curtain, now I have shown her yours I have been told to move it to the top of list......I'm still tossing up whether to put the spare underneath in a slide in rack which is easier or on the bar, just a lot of work on the bar when flats are not that commn and I can repair most in situ.

@Drover ... The mirror is held on with thin double sided tape and small plastic mirror clip screwed into the plastic with a small dob of silicone to seal the holes. It's a glass mirror.

Was going to put the spare under the van but did some weighing and hanging it off the bar reduced the ball weight a bit more after fitting the box.

 

[dagree]

With the rear bar could you take that off and give to your mate while he makes a new one or is he mounting it differently?

I had the same thought @17triton so called him and sent pics. He was going to extend the mounting bars so we could bolt it in the 3 mounting holes each side instead of two.
He rang back and said to just drop the bar off and he'll tidy up the welds and just get the existing one regalvinised as he thought I was just going to do a lightweight bolt on clamp.

Just have to wait till he has a job big enough for him to include the galvinising of the bar

 

[dagree]

Well true to her word.... The curtain was waiting to be fitted when I got home. Last van I had to use velcro straps to secure it out of the way in the corner.

This one has a slightly different tap and shower head location so just wrapped it around the shower hose... Problem solved :thumb:

 

[rcf]

Well the day has finally arrived and we now have our 2014 17.56.2OB on the front yard

Handover went well yesterday with only a couple of minor things wrong that we picked up on (one loose screw on the inside of the roof mounted air-con and one of the cupboard door catches not holding.... will sort these out myself). OH and the usual bits of silastic etc in places where they shouldn't be but can be sorted if need be!

Pickup went well this morning even though being a Saturday things were a bit hectic but Nick (Salesman) was great and gave us the run of the yard to do and recheck whatever we wanted between him chasing more sales .

My previous concern regarding not being able to use the WDH bars with the Trigg hitch disappeared after spending 20 minutes setting up the hitch heights and 10 minutes of towing. Rear end of the Prado dropped only 25mm or so but it felt like it towed better than the old 16.49.3 with WDH. Ordering airbags next week should help with the leveling of both car and van.

Got it home and within 5 minutes was setting it up so that it could get measured up for the annex walls (Mod 1).
Mod 2 was done about 30 minutes later .... Tinted clears fitted to the poptop windows thanks to @crustt. These were ordered for the old van and only used once....... More mods to follow!!!!!!

Anyway enough chitchat for now as a lot of people have commented "It's never happened unless there are pics" So a few to follow from the outside..... Internal pics to be done tomorrow after we get some daylight!!!

David & Greer

 

[rcf]

Very nice,we are looking forward to pick up date in oct.

 

[Pete]

Hi Dagree, Love all your pics of the new caravan. I noticed you said you were replacing the back bumper - is this because it is not strong enough to hold the spare wheel? I was thinking about mounting the spare wheel on my nee 1756 2 outback and just wondered if I needed to replace the bumper?? Also, is your TV mounted or just sitting there?

 

[dagree]

Thanks @Pete ... I was going to get a complete new bar made by a fabricator mate with extended mounting bars that bolt on with 3 bolts per side and not just 2 then get the whole thing galvanised together. (He thought I was just making a temporary one).
After sending him pics of it he said to bring the current one in when he has a large galv job to be done and he'll tidy up mine and get it re-galved.

The TV just sits there.... Gets wrapped in a towel and stored on the top bunk when travelling. That way we can take it outside if we want to!

 

[dagree]

Tried fitting the $5 ebay sensor light in the fridge..... Motion Sensor???? My "Backside"!!!! :doh: It requires a stick on sensor on the door to operate it (Both had to touch each other)..... Put the mobile phone in the fridge on video to check it out and NO GO!!!!!

Went to the Big Green Shed and bought a proper sensor light (Same as others have fitted but came as a twin pack for $16). Tested with the phone camera.... Close the door and turns off after 45 secs... Just needs a bit more velcro to hold it still!!

 

[Gadgets 21.63.1]

use bought a couple of the bunnings 3 pack led sensor light packs, small rectangle units, good sensor. i just hot glued them. fridge, freezer, outside hatches. been working great and great battery life. so simple.

 

[Gadgets 21.63.1]

http://www.bunnings.com.au/magic-living-8-led-sensor-nightlight-2-pack_p4351041

 

[dagree]

use bought a couple of the bunnings 3 pack led sensor light packs, small rectangle units, good sensor. i just hot glued them. fridge, freezer, outside hatches. been working great and great battery life. so simple.

Didn't think of the hot glue option... Thanks for the hint @Gadgets 21.63.1
Will try that when we get back from the WA Meet this weekend.

 

[dagree]

http://www.bunnings.com.au/magic-living-8-led-sensor-nightlight-2-pack_p4351041

Yep them's the ones we got :encouragement:

 

[Gadgets 21.63.1]

you do have to put a bit of hot glue on there. but it comes off if you do need to remove it. putting a small dab on it wont hold it for long.

 

[dagree]

Usually when I use glue I end up with it everywhere so shouldn't be an issue with "not enough"

 

[Drover]

I thought about a light but theres no room for one, ours is always maxed out but then the Engel beer fridge could do with one so I can pick the correct brand.
I picked up a TV bracket from Aldi for $30, nice solid unit.

 

[dagree]

I thought about a light but theres no room for one, ours is always maxed out but then the Engel beer fridge could do with one so I can pick the correct brand.
I picked up a TV bracket from Aldi for $30, nice solid unit.

My Waeco has the light built in.... Great for getting the "drinks" out at night time :encouragement:

 

[dagree]

OK here we are with the WA crew at Toodyay and the weather has turned to $h!t...
No issues with wet bed ends..... Just about to get ready to join tonights bonfire and the rain begins again and.......... Bloody skylight starts pissing water inside.

Towels and bucket now on floor collecting rain water Currently slowed to a constant drip!

Looks like the Jayco installers had a bad hair day the day the skylights were sealed as @Nagga's had the same problem!!!!!!! And she picked hers up the same day as us.

 

[dagree]

Well this weekend has highlighted a few extras needed
Set the van up and levelled up front to back OK
UH OH opened the door to get in, stepped up to get in and just about fell out leaning at what felt like a 45 degree angle backwards

Then realised I need to get the levelling ramps out, reverse the van up on them and....... OH !!!!!!! Remembered we sold the levellers with the old van :doh:
Not a worry I'll jack the van up from the axles and wind down the stabiliser legs a bit more...... Good idea until I realise the jack is sinking in the ground and the van is staying put where it is!!!!!! Need a base for the jack!!

Look around the park for something to use as a base with no luck so open the back door of the Prado to get a bottle of Liquid Amber to consume whilst thinking about what to do next!

Lo and behold...... There is the bag of firewood we took for the nightly campfires Open it up and the first two pieces of wood are the same size and the right height needed. Discard the empty bottle and open the Prado's back door to get another to celebrate.

Put the pieces of wood behind the wheels, jumped in the Prado and moved backward enough to get the wheels sitting on them and managed to get the wheels dead centre first time!

Jump out and wind down stabiliser bars and a perfect setup

Get another fizzy drink out of the Prado and sit back waiting for the rest of the WA Gang to get here layball:

 

[dagree]

A couple of other items needed......
1. A new or relocated jockey wheel. Since adding the ali box I have scraped my nuckles on it "God knows how many times". The handle just touches the box and I forget to move my hand to allow for it :tape:.
Will sort this one out when we get back to Perth after the couple of warranty jobs.

2. Apart from the levelling ramps I'll be adding a few plates/bits of wood to put under the jockey wheel and stabiliser legs..... Damn have been too spoilt at places we have stayed at lately with solid level ground