Dave and Sarah's Starcraft 17.58-1 OB

[davemc]

@halbster we brought two in the Aldi caravan gear sale not thinking about the space with tandem axle.
Super Cheap auto have a set on sale with the bag for $69 just picked them up.
They did not give us a starter kit at Jayco, we already had everything anyway. I think it depends on Jayco dealer. They did ask if we have hoses etc which we said yes so that could be why.

 

[halbster]

Alright I saw those ramps and figured they were the go so thanks for that.
When's your first trip? Pretty soon isn't it?

 

[davemc]

Alright I saw those ramps and figured they were the go so thanks for that.
When's your first trip? Pretty soon isn't it?

This weekend we are off to Marcus hill. Yes brought the ramps have not used them yet

 

[davemc]

Check the Aerial and if I connect straight to it works. Got the multi meter out shield is connected to TV point, middle pin nothing from the roof Middle pin seems shorted from shield so yes probably stapled somewhere I would think

 

[Joanne]

We couldn't get a good picture on ours and it turned out the Aerial on the roof was loose and only just hanging on there. Noticed when we wound it down that it didn't go into the correct position and was sitting crooked. All good now fixed at first service.

 

[davemc]

thanks @Joanne just in the van now think they plugged it into the wrong inputs in the booster. Not easy to get my fat fingers in there to put it all together now I could get great signal with the correct lead plugs straight into TV. Now putting it back together

 

[davemc]

ok plugged it back in the correct way. Need to get a multi meter to check although picture seems better. To dark and wet to do now.
Now plugged it in correctly in was plugged into the out for the 2nd point. Pretty easy to do as I did not see any labels.

 

[davemc]

Safety Dave sent me a new cable overnight so ran it through today.. Now I think I leave it cable tied and taped for this trip. Have now 2-3 meters extra length I will need to leave underneath.
We put the non slip in or the draws etc. Brought a cash safe from Bunning's might put it under a seat or somewhere. Fits 3 ipad's
Thoughts was to secure to floor.. Now not so sure I like to drill into it.

 

[dagree]

We found a similar safe already fitted under our ************ when we picked the van up. Didn't even know it was there for over a week!!!

 

[davemc]

Had a look for the small wallet sized one.. not there in the Starcraft. Or I missed it Might only be a Expanda thing. Have got a few other ideas where I could hide it. Not sure I want to drill.

 

[mfexpanda]

[QUOTE="davemc, . Have got a few other ideas where I could hide it. Not sure I want to drill.[/QUOTE]

I think it may hurt putting it there davemc .....

 

[halbster]

How'd you go with the camera mount in the end Dave?

 

[davemc]

How'd you go with the camera mount in the end Dave?

Left it cable tied on rear bumper under spare.. See how it goes.. Have a bracket I might use although need to get higher then spare to stop spare blocking view. A lot higher then I thought

 

[Pace]

A quick photo probably explains better.
Dinette
Cut timber to fit rather they overhand and wobble
bed made up

With our bed converter we got an additional wood (didnt have to ask for it, just come with van), it had the support bar underneath it. So I transferred it over to table top, then i dont need to carry additional wood to make up dinette bed. Ask your dealer for this support bar. See link. Cheers Pace.

http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/dinette-bed-converter.1182/#post-11873

 

[davemc]

@Pace thats interesting no support bar.. So will ask at 1st service. If the twins can survive in the bottom bunk we may not need it for a little while.
Table top for us does not fit in between the guides its too big hence the extra piece of wood

 

[Pace]

@Pace thats interesting no support bar.. So will ask at 1st service. If the twins can survive in the bottom bunk we may not need it for a little while.
Table top for us does not fit in between the guides its too big hence the extra piece of wood

Your most welcome. Pace.

 

[davemc]

Arrived at big4 bellarine for our first trip just before dark so hope all setup ok, roped down awning not windy.
Will try shade sails tomorrow. Kids almost quiet now get them to sleep

 

[davemc]

TV antenna not working should of triple checked it with ladder before we left. Must just tuned from aerial lead only at home. So no footy or abc for kids.

 

[davemc]

Well home from our first trip away.
Towed well only average 17.6 litres which is under what I thought we get on the Discovery V6 Petrol. Could feel it was there did not wobble at all not sure if lucky or ESC. The Brunsgaard mirrors where fine no wobble we noticed as trucks went past.
Thank god the Western Ring Road road works finished now
Very happy with the van, kids had a great time we spent a lot of it at the BIG4. Our second time there.
Had kids stuff on every morning which was great
Meet some nice people including @macca and some others who said they visit the forum. Felt a little out of it as most caravans there where Expanda's Saw one full van Starcraft and two 80's ones
Went to Ocean Groove, Portalington Market, Jayco for some John Guest clips
Had a couple of small issues with the van, we get sorted soon hopefully.
TV ariel not working, getting up the ladder for another look in a later today.
Dinette came away from wall again Third time now so packing the hole and re-screwing when you have kids does not last long. Honestly they should be able to touch the table.
Washer missing from hatch Geoff had a spare one that fitted. thanks again.
Microwave door does not pop open you need to manually open the door? I assume this is not normal
Condensation in the pop top, any ideas to lessen it. I just popped the roof up now to allow it to fully dry out.

Big kids where mostly good and twins went to sleep three nights well top to tail in the bottom bunk. Last night we made a big mistake and let them fall asleep while getting milk at 4pm. We had :minion_wave::minion_jumping: until after 10pm..

Yesterday was great we had the park to ourselves almost as nearly everyone went home So had the pool to ourselves almost for 3 hours.
Some idiot (me) forgot the grill from the new Weber so did not test it out after all.
Put up the second hand shade sails we got the track is cracked in a few places went on ok.. Off well took a while with some words the kids hopefully did not hear any ideas how to fix the cracks? it was cheap so took the chance.

Some pictures of weekend
Lots of vans ours is in the centre.

Starcraft

 

[Janbo]

Great pics, thanks for posting them, we bout some damp rid crystals from the Reject Shop for $2.50. have not used them yet but you could give them a try!!