17' Series Maiden Voyage Over -Yes Im Back! :) - Very Important Notice The Van failed Registration!!

Stephen Galvin

Active Member
May 20, 2014
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Hi Guys sorry I havnt been on lately, I Tried to post on my phone a couple of times but kept losing the post when I hit send!! Anyway I have towed the van back to WA Via some of the Eyre Peninsular . I bought the Van from Jayco Griffith they have been good.

Straight off the bat I am mostly very happy with the Van But some issues Some I kinda new would be a issue .

Ok Van has the new suspension tows incredibly well love it Roadtrains never upset it and it seemed pretty good over the dirt. I stuck the missus in the van to check it out on the way into Fowlers Bay over some small corrugations. All well Did discover it best to remove the Microwave plate though while travelling :) Duh!

Heater on the roof Im not enthralled with as had some cold nights and anything under 5-7C it was pretty useless and when it was doing it thing it would stop and start blowin cold air at you usually down the back of your neck at the table. So will look to rectify this.

Wiring and plumbing underneath is the usual don't be rude jayco job holes with cables going through with half a ton of silicone and still miss the hole, cables hanging down, not enough slack in others to move, all over the show instead of a neat run. tank sensor wires easily exposed to rocks all that usual why not just do it right kinda stuff. No cables in cable wrap etc I new this though so no shock. Also the silicone on the guards cracked broke off and basically I just ended up pulling it all out at home well what was left will clean it up and use sikaflex will also go around and neaten it all up. back of the toilet on the join opened up as well so will redo all that as water can get down behind there now.

Beds were great we had a bit of rain some horizontal but always had the bed flys up, beds stayed dry only got abit of water in when I was washing down a bit over enthusiastically. So all good there! only thing is theres only one latch on the rear bed door this is under a lot of pressure, the front was fine and I will fit another latch to the other side as it kept coming off as one side was not locked in, the other was so a bit of twist then the other side would undo, its not an issue as the outer door holds it anyway. But Im a bit fussy so I will add another latch.

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Ok 1
Here goes
The wheel Brace what a piece of S*&t if anyone gets anew expanda please change the nuts on the van or get yourself a log 21mm socket and bar ,As have two sizes on the one nut the outer being I think 20 and the main part 21 the wheel brace is 20 so only goes on the outer part of the nut which has rounded edges to look cool thing is the wheel brace just rolls off. I happen to carry a set of sockets and had a long 21mm and a 1/2" bar to to check them but you would not remove a tight nut with the brace supplied. Only use is for bad neighbours when camping :)

Ok 2
My brake line cables on the right side both were ripped apart as they did not have enough slack to allow for suspension travel there is a loop of cable cable tied to the frame but tight to the brakes the other side is tight but just had enough play for the hwy trip any off road and they would be history so CHECK YOURS Jack it up and then check.

OK 3
This is the crunch 2014 outback Expansa owners please be aware your van maybe illegal My aggregate weight stamped is 2524 kg The Chains welded onto Chassis are 2500kg Big Fail from factory!! 24kg this may affect insurance not sure? even if yours slipped through? Im no expert but insurance companies are like worms and will always look for an out( is that to harsh?) Why wouldn't Jayco just make the aggregate weight 2500 kg?

My dealer is now onto this.

So now I look forward to doing many mods and some great ideas on this forum she will need a box on the front and I will extend the drawbar as well myself as pretty close to back of car on tight corners and I need the room for the box, Also move the spare wheel to the back fit the table in the end lid down the track a heater (real one) prob diesel or gas as I like to be free camped more than parks. need some cash though a bit tight now :)
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Last edited:

Stephen Galvin

Active Member
May 20, 2014
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I know I intend on doing a bit of dirt road so have to really rock proof under there as best I can. The chain thing is apiss off as who wants 3.5" chain? Its massive! 24 friggen kg. The rest well you would expect the wiring on an outback model to be run in one of the endlees types of cable protective coverings. Oh well it adds to part of the fun :)
 

Stephen Galvin

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May 20, 2014
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HAHA Dave lucky no one was camped close to me when I first went to use it! took me 10min to find it again hahaha. Thought I would keep it just in case I get made redundant or something and need a new career in crime hahahaha about all its good for. Even then it probably would break before the glass hahahaha
 

17triton

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Feb 24, 2013
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Have you thought of getting jayco just to give you a new plate at 2500kg? they have done it before.
 

Stephen Galvin

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May 20, 2014
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Thats what they will probably do not sure I am waiting to here back. Might be a good idea to put it on a weigh bridge to see how much it actually weighs? I can calculate the water tanks etc after. I still cant understand how others have been registered with this aggregate weight on though? As I have been told most are over the 2500kg?
 
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Dandy

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Jan 18, 2014
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I actually called the dealer because I was convinced they had given me the wrong wheel brace! The Page Bros delivery manager went out and had a look at the other outbacks in stock and sheepishly told me it was the correct brace. It was a bit annoying given that they ask you to sign disclaimers that you will check your wheel nuts using the brace! Maybe it's a compliance test to see if you spot the problem.
 

Stephen Galvin

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May 20, 2014
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[QUOTE="Maybe it's a compliance test to see if you spot the problem.[/QUOTE]
Whoo Hoo I pass the test first one in many years hahaha That was really funny :)
 
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BigSkiddy

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May 7, 2013
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Good to hear you got it back in one piece.

Does it matter that chains can't take the weight??? Why the hell do we have a break away system for then??
 

DRW

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May 29, 2013
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I recon if the van lets go, let it go the brake away will stop it, my brother had his van come off the ball once (his fault) and by the time he got it off the road the rear of his cruiser was a real mess with the van bashing into it!! He has been vanning for 40 od years, it never happened again lol. As far as the wiring goes, trust me its not confined to Jayco I can assure you, Jayco actually use good Aussie cable and its neater than most believe it or not.
 
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KevO

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Aug 12, 2013
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Wow, bloody long way to travel! And jayco griffith have been great looking after us too. Sounds like you've got a few modds planned, looking forward to seeing some
 

dagree

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Mar 3, 2012
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Welcome home @Stephen Galvin and sounds like an interesting trip and all.
Still tidying little things up on ours after having it for just over 3 months..... Still have to get under it to check/do something with the wiring tidy up!

#1 Wheel Brace....
Yep noticed the same when I took one of the nuts to off check thread size for rear wheel holder. Ended up using a large spark plug socket on long bar to get it back on and checked all other nuts while doing it. Just bought a trail-a-mate to replace the jockey wheel and it came with an extendable wheel brace with double sided socket. Bonus thing was the sockets sizes fit both stepped sizes on van and the nuts on the Prado :)

#2 Brake Wires...
Have looked under and need to get back under to tidy up the rest of the wiring... Will jack up and check brake wires... Thanks for the Heads Up!!

#3 Chains...
Our Aggregate weight is 2433kg so we were lucky with the standard chains
 

achjimmy

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Jan 24, 2011
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Chains yeah what a joke, have you seen how they are welded to the chassis? Yeah there going to take a dynamic 2.5tonne load I don't think
 

ShaneT

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Jul 24, 2014
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Hi Stephen I am bringing back (to WA) a basestation from Page Bros Seaford (got it $11k cheaper than I could from Caravanland) via 2 months in Tasmania. Any tips or things I need to do to rego it here in WA? I was hoping to keep the vic rego for 12months in my name and then just do the paper work to change it to WA with out needing to haul it up to kewdale? or can I just go through a local center?
Thanks
Shane
 

Stephen Galvin

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May 20, 2014
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Hi Guys Sorry i havnt been on for a few days and I never got some of the replies sent to me via my inbox?
Ok
ShaneT I recommend getting it regoed in Tasmania then its a simple process of transferring it this will leave the onus on the dealer there to have it licensed. The way i did it has caused me a bit of grief.

in regards to the chains yep a bit of a joke as you really only need one chain now ( its a dumb rule but it is there as with one chain the front will bite into the tarmac and can end in a disaster with at least two chains crossed not to long it will support the front end and bounce along the tarmac) The combined weight of both chains is 5 ton not sure the cruiser would be a four seater if it let go at speed.

Ok to continue on I have a new vin plate now as suggested above rated to 2500kg I will have to leave the cookie jar at home.

I will try and add some pis below having some issues with the tank sensors and the Drifter I had to rewire all three tanks and do a somewhat better job than what was done It was a joke as you will see. The wiring diagram is very simple but now I am only getting either full or empty no in between? Very confused as its a simple thing.
I ran a separate two core cable to each tank all commons are wired together back at the drifter all positives which are connected to each of the top three sensors and all attached to there correct slot in the plug its bloody not rocket science so im a bit confused ? You wont believe the mess that was there before when you see the pics and I was dumbfounded to see some 12m of wire with electrical tape the whole way?????? Who does this sort of don't be rude!!!!.

Brake lines are giving me a bit of grief as i think I will have to extend them considerably. issue is they were wired in behind the frame next to the springs to leave the amount needed for travel means that it is very likely they will catch in the springs so they really need to go around the front of the wishbone and away from the spring and then have 12" plus of loose cable to allow for the compression and bounce. I had three rip out driving on the road and good dirt road. Not only that the connectors were exposed to the elements I have a picture to show you of the one that did not get ripped out.

Anyway please see pics attached. My next effort is to rubber paint much of the underside as already getting damaged by the short amount of dirt I have done on the way home. make up rocktamers get new longer mudflaps for the van as the drain and rear underside got hammered by rocks and dirt.

This is the brake cables as they were this is the only one that survived It would not survive a real holiday.
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The wiring behind the drifter . It has a cover but was under so much pressure it kept popping the drifter off its bracket
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The new wiring
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not really happy with how the shunt is wired in either and i just loose on the battery done by a dealer Not really up to scratch!!
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The standard of the sensor wiring
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This is how I have finished them off

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This is what i cant fathom this length of three wires to 2 wires is completely wrapped in electrical tape? Who has the time for that? Reason I removed was twofold it was stretched very tight from one end to the other no slack at all so wouldve broken and it was not protected well enough . I ran a dedicated sheathed two core wire to each tank Thing is wiring seems good but tank only reads full or empty. I think its the Drifter panel I did have to reactivate the 3rd tank in the settings menu. Not sure if theres something else but its a simple diagram????
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Anyway thats it for now if anyone has some suggestions on this drifter it would be appreciated.
 
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DRW

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@Stephen Galvin not sure what the go is with the drifter, I wonder if the original wires we some kind of resister wire? although I would doubt it??
I can understand what your thoughts are with the wiring, I rewired my brakes but I only have springs and fitted Deutch connectors, then just kept going, the main power feeds coming into the van were joined under the van with more bloody screw connectors Grrrrrrr so I rewired that as well, then I didn't like the Setec battery charger, and I didn't like the stupid fuse set up so I just kept going, a couple of pics below to make you feel better lol those bloody screw connectors real don't be rude me off

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Stephen Galvin

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May 20, 2014
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DRW maybe they get a discount on those connectors :) But how about 12m wrapped in elec tape??? Your looks really neat and profesional After looking at the underside of my van I am so tempted to gut it and start again??? But I dont have the electrical knowledge but I want to do it !!

Ok As a typical Bloke I just realized what i did wrong on the tanks. As i found a thread in the tech area .....yeah i could've read that before I started . I removed the connectors on the tank to use my own and neaten up because it was a mess and I made it much more durable and neater but I just realized there is a circuit board in each one OOPS!! :) Ok I have a good soldering iron and left just enough cable to resolder the wires back on and will then re-heat shrink . So I have to undo much of my neat hard work and redo. The joys of being a novice but with high standards :)