16' Series Dust Proofing for the Outback

[S&P]

Hi all,
I've read a few posts on sealing Expandas to keep the red dust at bay by application if silicon in certain obvious places and covering some ventilation holes, but I'm curious as to what to do with the vent for the fridge while traveling.
I would think that it still needs to vent somewhere? Is that the one place that wouldn't be blocked off during travel?
We're collecting our 16.49-3 OB next month and have an outback trip scheduled not long after so want to get prep'd as much as possible.
Thanks in advance.
Cheers, S&P

 

[Holden_man]

Hi S&P,
We prepped for our trip on dirt by my getting under the van at night, turning all the lights on and also had the boss shine a torch in cupboards. Everywhere I found light I filled it with black silicon. Also covered all the vents.

http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/hms-central-australia-trip.3136/page-2

With the fridge, we travelled in winter and not for long periods so we turned the fridge off while travelling. Pulled all the Covers off as soon as we stopped and turned the fridge back on. We have a temperature gauge that shows internal fridge temp and they never got to a level after 4-5 hours driving that I considered affected the food. we travelled across to William Creek from Coober Pedy and down the Oodnadatta track and had virtually no dust inside. If travelling in Summer you would probably have to leave fridge vents uncovered.

Hope that helps.

HM

 

[BUSH PALACE]

we have vinyl velcro d to the fridge vents , leaving the fridge on and tearing them half off when we stop to vent . When on dirt outback roads we stop regularly to check the cruiser and van .

 

[S&P]

Hi S&P,
We prepped for our trip on dirt by my getting under the van at night, turning all the lights on and also had the boss shine a torch in cupboards. Everywhere I found light I filled it with black silicon. Also covered all the vents.

http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/hms-central-australia-trip.3136/page-2

With the fridge, we travelled in winter and not for long periods so we turned the fridge off while travelling. Pulled all the Covers off as soon as we stopped and turned the fridge back on. We have a temperature gauge that shows internal fridge temp and they never got to a level after 4-5 hours driving that I considered affected the food. we travelled across to William Creek from Coober Pedy and down the Oodnadatta track and had virtually no dust inside. If travelling in Summer you would probably have to leave fridge vents uncovered.

Hope that helps.

HM

Thanks HM, looks like Velcro covers are the go.
Nice choice of tug too, we have one the same (and an SSV Redline, which is not quite a Clubby but as close as I could get with the size of my wallet!)
Can I ask what if anything you've done suspension wise? Doesn't look like you've got any sag in the rear with the Expanda attached.
Do you use a WDH?
Cheers, S&P
PS. Your trip report is very inspiring to say the least

 

[Holden_man]

Hi S&P,
No nothing suspension wise, though do use a Hayman Reese WDH. It levels everything up nicely. Airbags would be ok as well, but being a novice just went with the recommendations of the caravan retailer, they didn't mention airbags and at that stage didn't even know about Airbags for levelling of Towing Vehicles.
Would highly recommend a Stone Stomper (no affiliation), does a ripper job of keeping the rocks of the van but just as importantly from bouncing onto the back of the Prado. I use it on the bitumen as well.
Love the Prado (and the clubby saving the pennies for a GTS, might be a while) and we just loved the trip, just want to get back out there, working is the complication....
Congrats on the new van, let the wait begin....

HM

 

[Marv_mart]

we have vinyl velcro d to the fridge vents , leaving the fridge on and tearing them half off when we stop to vent . When on dirt outback roads we stop regularly to check the cruiser and van .

A Photo of exactly how you accomplished this would be helpful to me. TA

 

[cruza driver]

Have a read of this @S&P its @Stone Stomper EXPANDA not much not done to this Expanda.

Also have a bit of a look through my threads to. I know you mentioned dust but imo one of the biggest issues to combat is rock protection under your van as the plumbing is VERY exposed.

The fridge vent yes does let dust in but the door vent is the biggest culprit. Another thing to consider is dust that enters the lower fridge vent then goes into the rear boot. You need to block off where the fridge cables enter the rear boot to the power point.

What area are you heading too?

 

[Marv_mart]

Have a read of this @S&P its @Stone Stomper EXPANDA not much not done to this Expanda.

Also have a bit of a look through my threads to. I know you mentioned dust but imo one of the biggest issues to combat is rock protection under your van as the plumbing is VERY exposed.

The fridge vent yes does let dust in but the door vent is the biggest culprit. Another thing to consider is dust that enters the lower fridge vent then goes into the rear boot. You need to block off where the fridge cables enter the rear boot to the power point.

What area are you heading too?

Heading North in July to Darwin via Kakado then East to Rockhampton, East coast to Pt Mac then home

 

[S&P]

Have a read of this @S&P its @Stone Stomper EXPANDA not much not done to this Expanda.

Also have a bit of a look through my threads to. I know you mentioned dust but imo one of the biggest issues to combat is rock protection under your van as the plumbing is VERY exposed.

The fridge vent yes does let dust in but the door vent is the biggest culprit. Another thing to consider is dust that enters the lower fridge vent then goes into the rear boot. You need to block off where the fridge cables enter the rear boot to the power point.

What area are you heading too?

Hi CD,
Once again, thanks for the tips.
In a nutshell, the big trip that concerns me is from Melb, we'll be heading to Copley SA (all black top on the way there) and then East to Cameron's Corner, then down to Parkes and over to the East coast and back home. Roughly 5,500km and probably not much dirt in the scheme of things.
With our aim to do mostly free camping, any other trips we do before and after will probably have dirt track driving involved to some degree so rock and dust protection is something I am very keen to do - better to be proactive than reactive. That way I can spend more time relaxing with a can in my hand rather than a spanner and a roll of duct tape!
Cheers, Paul

 

[crackacoldie]

In general, if your fridge is cold in the morning, you can switch it off while travelling, then cover the vents completely. The fridge will stay cold as the door is not being opened or closed. The big dust ingress I found, was through the gap at the rear of the van where the fibreglass shell meets the chassis, lots of silicon in there!

 

[scott_hutch]

I didn't bother sealing the fridge vents and don't believe any dust got into the van cabin through these either. I took them off and checked behind them from time to time and there was only ever a little bit of surface dust sitting there, but not too much. In theory, the back elements of the fridge are supposed to be air-tight sealed from the cabin area so gas/exhaust fumes etc can not enter the cabin. We did a few thousand kms on dusty roads from Ceduna to Oodnadatta to Dalhousie to the Flinders and our biggest source of dust was the back expanda bed (and probably the rear gap by the fibreglass that Crackacoldie mentioned above).

I siliconed the corners of all floor level cupboards, filled the many gaps left under the fan where pipes pass through the floor, as well the the gaps inside and outside around the wheel arches. I also put duct tape over the vent above the door, and dropped a thin piece of foam in the door between the flywire and solid panel to block the lower vent (so we could take it out when we stopped and wanted ventilation - I didn't think of a velcro cover at the time)

We still got 'some' dust in, but we did hit a lot of bull dust. And it was not enough to be any kind of problem.

 

[cruza driver]

Here is what we did on our most recent trip and it worked for us another thing to consider is cross winds as sometimes you will see the dust blowing away from the vents or into the vents and this determines how much dust may get in them.





The Painted Desert in 2011


And a water pipe repair a couple of years ago on the Oodnadatta trk


And the culprit which has since been protected for the subsequent trips.

 

[crackacoldie]

Taped up the rear bed too.

Gap that was the major source of dust, now silicon filled...

 

[S&P]

Taped up the rear bed too.

View attachment 19184

Gap that was the major source of dust, now silicon filled...

View attachment 19185

G'day Cracka,
So is the offending gap the seal at the bottom of the rear bed end lid?
I was at Jayco yesterday taking some measurements for the ali box and saw that the outer front bed end lid has a rubber seal on the sides and bottom, but not the top (hinge).
I would have thought that's where it would get in.
Or is it on the inner lid?
And where did you silicon?
Cheers,
Paul

 

[crackacoldie]

The offending gap is underneath the rear of the van, where the fibreglass rear shell rolls underneath the van and meets the sub frame. Once underneath the van you will see if there is a large gap, like mine was, or if it is closer together.

Hope this helps.

I am away for wrk for a few days, will try and get a different picture when I get home.

 

[S&P]

The offending gap is underneath the rear of the van, where the fibreglass rear shell rolls underneath the van and meets the sub frame. Once underneath the van you will see if there is a large gap, like mine was, or if it is closer together.

Hope this helps.

I am away for wrk for a few days, will try and get a different picture when I get home.

Thanks Cracka,
As we don't have our van yet a pic would be good so I remember what to look for when it lands.
No rush on photo, not collecting until Feb 22 but it looks like I'll need to buy a few tubes of silicon in the mean while!

 

[crackacoldie]

Thanks Cracka,
As we don't have our van yet a pic would be good so I remember what to look for when it lands.
No rush on photo, not collecting until Feb 22 but it looks like I'll need to buy a few tubes of silicon in the mean while!

You're buying a jayco, so shares in Dow Corning are worth while! Lol

 

[crackacoldie]

This thread from @chartrock has a better picture of where the gap is http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/dust-proofing-your-expanda.754/#post-7063

 

[DaveS]

Hi
another thing to look at is to let air in ....... taping up things can make a slight vacuum inside the van and suck air in.
fit a scupper vent to the roof and that will slightly pressurise the van interior and stop dust by forcing air out thus stopping it from entering thru the many other (AHEM) air tight seals. mind you they don't work that well if in convoy as you drive thru other ppl's dust, but for the price they work wonders

 

[GregW]

Hi
I did this mod before we went to ayers rock over the great central road, 1200km of dirt, got hardly any dust in the van, with i could say the same thing for the outside. Its a 139cfpm fan and filter the pumps air into the van, does not matter if you are in a convey etc as the filter stops the dust, also great at slow speed on bad roads