Toy Hauler Phil & Lyn's 17.51-2OB

[Meanderthals]

I know that there's some here would disagree with me but the mounting point that is on this style of van isn't something that I would like to hang 40kg's of wheel plus the bumper on to. As to what is on other models I don't know.

The 40 mm SHS Duragal tubes I used are cross bolted through both the main chassis rails and the Jayco mounting point. Inside all are crush tubes that the bolts pass through and spacers on each side of the 40 mm tubes as they are a sloppy fit otherwise. Not putting crush tubes inside could result in the chassis rails being crushed and the bolts loosening off eventually. Placing the crush tubes inside wasn't that difficult as I just taped them to a ruler and inserted it up the tubes then pulled out the ruler. Instead of the 4 separate crush tubes I used for each side I could have obtained suitable tubing and put a longer one through all pieces and assembly would have been easier but I couldn't source suitable tubes here at the time. Disadvantage of being in a supposed remote area sometimes.

When I was ordering this van I did try to have Jayco provide axle's that would allow me to use the same rims as the car but they wouldn't do it. Having van and car with the same would have simplified things. Anyway they did fit 16" rims that seem to have the same PCD and centre hole but the offset is so different that car and van aren't interchangeable. I still haven't given up on the idea but what axle length on the van and offset rim would work on both I haven't really looked in to yet. The Ranger has alloy rims and I'm not a fan of them for any offroad work but for now I'm stuck with them. Personally I think that alloy rims are over rated as to advantages and as to weight saving I've checked the Ranger alloy to the steel spare Ford provide and it's less than 2 kg's each.

 

[Bluey]

I know that there's some here would disagree with me but the mounting point that is on this style of van isn't something that I would like to hang 40kg's of wheel plus the bumper on to. As to what is on other models I don't know.

The 40 mm SHS Duragal tubes I used are cross bolted through both the main chassis rails and the Jayco mounting point. Inside all are crush tubes that the bolts pass through and spacers on each side of the 40 mm tubes as they are a sloppy fit otherwise. Not putting crush tubes inside could result in the chassis rails being crushed and the bolts loosening off eventually. Placing the crush tubes inside wasn't that difficult as I just taped them to a ruler and inserted it up the tubes then pulled out the ruler. Instead of the 4 separate crush tubes I used for each side I could have obtained suitable tubing and put a longer one through all pieces and assembly would have been easier but I couldn't source suitable tubes here at the time. Disadvantage of being in a supposed remote area sometimes.

When I was ordering this van I did try to have Jayco provide axle's that would allow me to use the same rims as the car but they wouldn't do it. Having van and car with the same would have simplified things. Anyway they did fit 16" rims that seem to have the same PCD and centre hole but the offset is so different that car and van aren't interchangeable. I still haven't given up on the idea but what axle length on the van and offset rim would work on both I haven't really looked in to yet. The Ranger has alloy rims and I'm not a fan of them for any offroad work but for now I'm stuck with them. Personally I think that alloy rims are over rated as to advantages and as to weight saving I've checked the Ranger alloy to the steel spare Ford provide and it's less than 2 kg's each.

thanks Phild u realy know ur stuff let u know how I go when I get my van my minds a wash with thinking of all kinds of van stuff at the moment I spose lifting my car port and pergola 300mm which is about 15 meters x 6 meters is something I should think about first

 

[Meanderthals]

Continuing on with the spare wheel hoist. The winder handle fits neatly between the bumper bar and the van back edge. Mounted an “L” shaped bracket under the van and it serves as a guide to lining up the handle. Might revise this later to something that is permanent and just needs something like the drop down jacks tool to operate. Better yet I’m still leaning towards something that would probably only suit Toy Haulers by recessing a box in to the rear floor with a trap door to access from inside. This would give more clearance by about 100+ mm to the ground and have no need for a wind down mechanism and no potential crawling in the dirt/mud to get at the dirty spare.

On the “A” frame either side of the tool box I’ve made bolt on brackets that attach to the remains of the gas bottle stands and support Jerry Can holders either side. Fits either fuel cans or more water.

Made a stone shield that suits our immediate needs for minor dirt road travels. Could have gone a bit wider but wanted to keep easy access to tool box. It’s mounted on heavy duty gate hinges and the stay on the front is clamped by the 2nd jockey wheel mounting. Frame can be tilted forward if better access to tool box required for changing gas bottles. Will ultimately get a Stone Stomper I guess for ultimate protection. Time was short, so I thought, so was knocked up out of what was around the shed. Also made up a smallish cage out of old mesh lying around in place of the spare wheel under the tool box for some hoses and wood blocks.

Mounted a camera on the rear. It’s actually a dual camera (wide and narrow angle) unit from Safety Dave and runs to a 7” split screen (4 camera capable) on the car dash. One lens points down the road and the wide angle directly down for reversing. Worked quite well until the car broke down.

Now to the inside. We bought this model specifically for the rear area being a sort of blank canvas and most likely that it will just the 2 of us. The bunks are great for colder weather and we haven’t actually used the front but more suited to warmer places anyway. We’ve dumped the front mattress’s in storage at home and had the extra effect with lowering the ball weight a bit, which in this van was rather large. In practice we would use one of the rear foam ones for me up front when/if required. We’ve also diced 2 of the 4 rear cushions and the central table that was an obstruction and unstable anyway. Getting rid of the front mattress’s allowed us to fit a couple of hanging storage items to suit each side above the tunnel storage box. We may later revise these but will do for the moment as one thing the WnP doesn’t have is much clothes hanging space.

We wanted a bit more cooling inside in warmer weather so I purchased 2 Sirocco fans and an Endless Breeze box fan. The Sirocco’s are mounted with one above the entrance door pointing towards the Expanda bed and the other on the rear of the kitchen bulkhead and can be aimed at either rear bunk. For the box fan I made up an adaptor cable so that it can plug in to the socket on the light above the entrance to the front bed as well as plugging in to other 12V cig lighter points.

The most time consuming changes were to the rear bunks and to get more storage space. We fitted eggshell foam underlays to both bunks but folding up the beds was difficult with the extra thickness, especially with quilts and/or blankets there as well. I made up brackets that straight bolt on to the existing wall mounted frames so as to move the pivot point an extra 60mm outwards. As this interferes with the folding support mechanism underneath the bunks they were removed. Simple legs that pivot with gravity have replaced the supports. We purchased some lengths of 25mm black aluminium square tubing from a specialist supplier and the plastic corner fittings that are used to make display shelving and we created boxed in sections under each bunk with additional cabinets that extend upwards behind the central bulkhead. Under the beds the sections are level with the wheel arch covers and for dividing some of one side off are simple cartons from packs of 24 soft drink cans. The other side is a shortened version with a lidded section for larger items. Both have a section that shoes will go for the moment but I am thinking of relocating the 2 AGM batteries to directly over the axle’s. Lightweight structures and easily removable. The upper cabinets have divided off sections with ally shelves with a few open sections for chargers phones etc. Haven’t decided on doors so at the moment are fitted with curtain material and elastic cord top and bottom so that nothing will fall out. Have also removed microwave that we have no real use for and curtained off in a similar fashion for storage. In any case the microwave was so poorly screwed down it would have shaken loose anyway. With the 25mm tubing, at greater expense for shorter lengths you can get similar from Bunnings but isn’t as good a paint finish but they do have a different profile that has a lip that can support shelves. The plastic joints at Bunnings are also a slight colour shade different but all parts seem to be interchangeable despite what I was told. Southern suppliers may have a greater range available than up here and maybe better pricing. Much of the cabinet’s have been covered with thin aluminium plus grey checker plate rubber plus an offcut to cover the front floor. The rear floor has some rubber backed outdoor carpet, which actually cost nothing, covering the black rubber checker plate standard flooring. We initially bought it but the backing was coming off too easily so we returned a sample and were given our money back and told to keep it all as it was old stock. Also fitted was a shelf for the cable TV box and inverter to run it plus a digital clock.

Improvements to the kitchen were minimal with removing the safe in the bottom cabinet which freed up quite a space plus fitting some bathroom shower wire cages on old wall brackets on the bulkhead.

In place of the Jayco old wonky rear table, we purchased from Bunnings a folding table plus another for the Weber Baby Q. From there we also obtained a folding chair and a small set of steps for accessing the rear when the rear hatch is up. The chair is quite comfortable and inside the van it will fit on the side that has the shortened under bed cabinet

Lastly, and there will be no pictures of it, is a bodgied up rear tent/shelter/room that hangs off of the hatch and drops down with almost fully fly screened walls and a side door. We made this up out of available and poor quality items around home to test out a design idea as to extending the living area and to have a pest free sitting/lounging/eating area. We’re still debating how we actually want it to work and will then get it professionally made. I think it’s going to need stronger gas struts for the hatch and an extra support pole though. So if you see us anywhere and wonder at the rear, DON’T LAUGH, it’s a work in progress.

 

[cruza driver]

You sure have been busy @PhilD

Thanks for taking the time to do a write up mate :yo:

 

[chartrock]

Great report on a great job on a great van. Congratulations @PhilD

 

[Meanderthals]

You sure have been busy @PhilD

Thanks for taking the time to do a write up mate :yo:

I was planning on writing it up while touring WA/SA/Vic/NSW/Qld, but as the saying goes, "S__t happens" so we're still at home with no tow vehicle. Apparently they're no closer to finding the fault, even with Ford's Southern expert help. Rather than selling/scraping it, I could rebuild the engine/gearbox/transfer case/and more of my old 1975 Range Rover and take it away, and I would have total trust in it. At least with it there's only the radio and ignition that have any electronics in them. I hate electrical things where I can't use a test lamp and a multimeter to find a fault myself. An added bonus is that the wife can't reach the pedals to drive it. I was thinking of the RR the other day and while it's too early to say the Ranger is unreliable, I've had the RR since 1979 (1975 model) and the Ranger has now well and truly spent more time in the workshop disabled with this one incident than the RR had in my entire ownership of it until I let the rego lapse a few years back. I had an intention to rehabilitate it but lost interest.

 

[Grano n play]

Nice Job on those under bunk cabinets. Was it a big job to to take out microwave. ? To get to the screws .

 

[Meanderthals]

Removing microwave was too easy and was ready to tear itself loose over a few bumps anyway. Hardest part was dragging the power cord back in to the microwave cavity from the wardrobe as I had a few seconds trouble getting the hole cover loose. Microwave held in by 2 screws under chrome caps just below door and through the aluminium angle bracket which is screwed to the microwave itself. At back and underneath microwave was a metal bracket that slips in under a similar one screwed to the cabinet, and these 2 screws were quite loose already. I haven't yet removed some of the cabinet surrounds to open up the front a bit more but will do so sometime.

Parts laid out as they were fitted.

Microwave is now in use as a household item with the other white goods (fridge, oven, washing machine, wife).

 

[Bluey]

Continuing on with the spare wheel hoist. The winder handle fits neatly between the bumper bar and the van back edge. Mounted an “L” shaped bracket under the van and it serves as a guide to lining up the handle. Might revise this later to something that is permanent and just needs something like the drop down jacks tool to operate. Better yet I’m still leaning towards something that would probably only suit Toy Haulers by recessing a box in to the rear floor with a trap door to access from inside. This would give more clearance by about 100+ mm to the ground and have no need for a wind down mechanism and no potential crawling in the dirt/mud to get at the dirty spare.
View attachment 21763

View attachment 21764

View attachment 21765
On the “A” frame either side of the tool box I’ve made bolt on brackets that attach to the remains of the gas bottle stands and support Jerry Can holders either side. Fits either fuel cans or more water.
View attachment 21767

Made a stone shield that suits our immediate needs for minor dirt road travels. Could have gone a bit wider but wanted to keep easy access to tool box. It’s mounted on heavy duty gate hinges and the stay on the front is clamped by the 2nd jockey wheel mounting. Frame can be tilted forward if better access to tool box required for changing gas bottles. Will ultimately get a Stone Stomper I guess for ultimate protection. Time was short, so I thought, so was knocked up out of what was around the shed. Also made up a smallish cage out of old mesh lying around in place of the spare wheel under the tool box for some hoses and wood blocks.
View attachment 21768

View attachment 21769
Mounted a camera on the rear. It’s actually a dual camera (wide and narrow angle) unit from Safety Dave and runs to a 7” split screen (4 camera capable) on the car dash. One lens points down the road and the wide angle directly down for reversing. Worked quite well until the car broke down.
View attachment 21770
Now to the inside. We bought this model specifically for the rear area being a sort of blank canvas and most likely that it will just the 2 of us. The bunks are great for colder weather and we haven’t actually used the front but more suited to warmer places anyway. We’ve dumped the front mattress’s in storage at home and had the extra effect with lowering the ball weight a bit, which in this van was rather large. In practice we would use one of the rear foam ones for me up front when/if required. We’ve also diced 2 of the 4 rear cushions and the central table that was an obstruction and unstable anyway. Getting rid of the front mattress’s allowed us to fit a couple of hanging storage items to suit each side above the tunnel storage box. We may later revise these but will do for the moment as one thing the WnP doesn’t have is much clothes hanging space.
View attachment 21771

View attachment 21772
We wanted a bit more cooling inside in warmer weather so I purchased 2 Sirocco fans and an Endless Breeze box fan. The Sirocco’s are mounted with one above the entrance door pointing towards the Expanda bed and the other on the rear of the kitchen bulkhead and can be aimed at either rear bunk. For the box fan I made up an adaptor cable so that it can plug in to the socket on the light above the entrance to the front bed as well as plugging in to other 12V cig lighter points.
View attachment 21775

View attachment 21776


The most time consuming changes were to the rear bunks and to get more storage space. We fitted eggshell foam underlays to both bunks but folding up the beds was difficult with the extra thickness, especially with quilts and/or blankets there as well. I made up brackets that straight bold on to the existing wall mounted frames so as to move the pivot point an extra 60mm outwards. As this interferes with the folding support mechanism underneath the bunks they were removed. Simple legs that pivot with gravity have replaced the supports. We purchased some lengths of 25mm black aluminium square tubing from a specialist supplier and the plastic corner fittings that are used to make display shelving and we created boxed in sections under each bunk with additional cabinets that extend upwards behind the central bulkhead. Under the beds the sections are level with the wheel arch covers and for dividing some of one side off are simple cartons from packs of 24 soft drink cans. The other side is a shortened version with a lidded section for larger items. Both have a section that shoes will go for the moment but I am thinking of relocating the 2 AGM batteries to directly over the axle’s. Lightweight structures and easily removable. The upper cabinets have divided off sections with ally shelves with a few open sections for chargers phones etc. Haven’t decided on doors so at the moment are fitted with curtain material and elastic cord top and bottom so that nothing will fall out. Have also removed microwave that we have no real use for and curtained off in a similar fashion for storage. In any case the microwave was so poorly screwed down it would have shaken loose anyway. With the 25mm tubing, at greater expense for shorter lengths you can get similar from Bunnings but isn’t as good a paint finish but they do have a different profile that has a lip that can support shelves. The plastic joints at Bunnings are also a slight colour shade different but all parts seem to be interchangeable despite what I was told. Southern suppliers may have a greater range available than up here and maybe better pricing. Much of the cabinet’s have been covered with thin aluminium plus grey checker plate rubber plus an offcut to cover the front floor. The rear floor has some rubber backed outdoor carpet, which actually cost nothing, covering the black rubber checker plate standard flooring. We initially bought it but the backing was coming off too easily so we returned a sample and were given our money back and told to keep it all as it was old stock. Also fitted was a shelf for the cable TV box and inverter to run it plus a digital clock.
View attachment 21777

View attachment 21780

View attachment 21782

View attachment 21779

View attachment 21789

View attachment 21783

View attachment 21785

View attachment 21790

View attachment 21786


Improvements to the kitchen were minimal with removing the safe in the bottom cabinet which freed up quite a space plus fitting some bathroom shower wire cages on old wall brackets on the bulkhead.
View attachment 21788
In place of the Jayco old wonky rear table, we purchased from Bunnings a folding table plus another for the Weber Baby Q. From there we also obtained a folding chair and a small set of steps for accessing the rear when the rear hatch is up. The chair is quite comfortable and inside the van it will fit on the side that has the shortened under bed cabinet
View attachment 21791
Lastly, and there will be no pictures of it, is a bodgied up rear tent/shelter/room that hangs off of the hatch and drops down with almost fully fly screened walls and a side door. We made this up out of available and poor quality items around home to test out a design idea as to extending the living area and to have a pest free sitting/lounging/eating area. We’re still debating how we actually want it to work and will then get it professionally made. I think it’s going to need stronger gas struts for the hatch and an extra support pole though. So if you see us anywhere and wonder at the rear, DON’T LAUGH, it’s a work in progress.

thanks heaps phild theres no stoping u wish I can be as handy as u are

 

[Colsar]

gi day Phild, like the fans and plug to suit light socket, roughly whats a fan worth? if u don't mind me asking.

going to put a box on the front also with gas cylinder inside, i noticed your vent is high, do u have a bottom vent?

keep in mind LPG is heavier than air and will accumulate in the bottom of the box.

 

[Meanderthals]

thanks heaps phild theres no stoping u wish I can be as handy as u are

I'm far from being an expert, more like "jack of all trades, master of none". I still manage to burn holes in steel that take a while refill. It's a willingness to try it that's important to learning, and having somebody that will allow purchase of toys for the shed help as well. You have to try the "I could do that job for a fraction of the price if you let me buy some more tools". Now if only we were allowed to do some 240V electrical and plumbing work I wouldn't have to put up with so much being ripped off by substandard professionals. Even I wouldn't make the errors that some of them try to get away with.

 

[Meanderthals]

gi day Phild, like the fans and plug to suit light socket, roughly whats a fan worth? if u don't mind me asking.

going to put a box on the front also with gas cylinder inside, i noticed your vent is high, do u have a bottom vent?

keep in mind LPG is heavier than air and will accumulate in the bottom of the box.

I bought the first fan off of: http://www.jtsonline.com.au/12-volt-products/fan-sirocco-12-volt-white.html but I believe that it can be bought a lot cheaper from overseas but I needed it at short notice. The 2nd one I forgot who I bought from and went to Whitworths Marine and it was a bit more. As it turned out I need not have hurried.
Yes there are vents at the bottom but they are behind the box and rather hard to take pictures of. There's also a water drainage pipe.

 

[Colsar]

Thanks phil, will check out the fans.

 

[Meanderthals]

A lot has changed since my last posting. Firstly, as I detailed elsewhere we never got away last year due to a vehicle failure less than 20 km's from home. By the time that was all fixed and we were satisfied that it would not happen again then we were snowed under with helping our son with his business a bit and some unplanned house renovations. The issues with Insurance and the Builder had even delayed a start this year and even then the work wasn't finalised until we were almost back home and we're still getting the Insurance settled.

Anyway, the delay allowed me to do some more mods. What else was I going to do with a year stranded at home?
Firstly, part of the reason for the particular design of the cabinets that I made for the rear was related to ball weight. When we got the van we had obtained temporary rego that required us to take it to a Govt rego testing shed up here for an inspection. We did that as we passed back through Alice Springs and we had to put it over their weighbridge. Although they only wanted the actual GTM we asked if we could do both ball and vehicle weights while he went to do his paperwork. Wasn't happy that the ball weight was about 60 kg's over the Compliance Plate figure. While some of that was our problem it seems to me that without toys in the back of a Toy Hauler this will quite likely happen to most owners. As we weren't going to be carting "toys" we had to find some other weight reduction/relocation to fit our use.

As mentioned earlier we've taken out the microwave as we have no real use for it and relocated the spare to underneath of the rear. We've also removed the heavy front mattress and I take one of the rear foam single one's up the front expanda bit as that's my warmer weather bed. As the 2x100ah batteries are factory mounted in the front storage bin these became my next target. The rear cabinets I made up have a space in their front sections made to fit those batteries. One each side and directly over the axle's. As there was insufficient height for the battery box top's themselves the batteries sit on the floor with a couple of fabricated plastic covers locking them in place and protecting the top terminals. Heavy cables connect each via under the floor and back up to the front bin.

Then it was time to clean up the cabling mess in the front bin and still provide for everything to connect together. I've mounted a small lockable cabinet in the storage bin with everything coming in and out of it. One thing that I found out that not all power feeds were being monitored by the Drifter Panel system, but they are now. I still have a bit or shortening of some feeds to do and some will be re-done in heavier cabling plus find and fit a suitable multi fuse panel. At least now the 60+ kg's of batteries have almost nil affect on ball weight.

Now that ball weight was well under the Compliance Plate value I was able to make up a new mount for the gas bottle's forward of the front tool box and create space in the box for the Honda generator and a small ULP fuel can. Unfortunately that also made it impossible for my previous home made stone shield to be reused. Now has a Stonestomper fitted. All this has left a heap of usable space in the front storage bin. End result is with van loaded up that ball weight is near enough to Compliance plate. Had to have a Gas Fitter redo the piping and certify the new location.

A 20 litre water can mounts on one side and a Diesel jerry on the other next to the DIESEL HEATER tank filler.

Now to start planning mods to do over the Wet Season.

By the way, did anyone notice the DIESEL HEATER in the pictures?

 

[Meanderthals]

Starting to get a few outstanding mods out of the way.
1. We've had a problem with one of the rear hatch latching mechanisms and one of the locks themselves. The shaft on one side seized up and it took quite a bit of non-gentle persuasion and copious CRC to get it to rotate again. Although it's now working, the wrong part is rotating. Now it's the shaft itself rather than the centre bracket the turns. Not a problem in itself but as well we've had the lock on the other side become difficult to operate. I've tried to keep all parts well lubricated for the future but it might have been nice if the side latches were fitted with grease nipple's.

What this has shown to us though is that unless the side latches can be rotated then there is a problem if the locks themselves become faulty. The side latch covers 2 of the 3 mounting screws for the lock part. Servicing the lock then becomes somewhere between difficult to impossible. To overcome the possibility of not being able to open the hatch I decided to replace the mounting screws with bolts with suitable nuts on the inside of the hatch. When taking out the screws (one in the 3rd picture sitting upright on the lock mechanism in photo) I found that the whole of the lock is quite well glued on to the hatch so I didn't try removing them but the screws are in to a plywood inner layer but the lock could be jemmied off with enough force and possibly damage the hatch. Hopefully it wont all seize up again but I now have a backup plan.



2. Prior to the trip South last year we removed the glass cover on the kitchen sink due to potential damage but left the gas cooker one on for sitting things on at times but we were still wary of breaking it. It happened. In Adelaide I went to the Jayco Dealer and took a template from a WnP there for a replacement we had in mind. Not wanting a shattering experience again we wanted something more durable. I've just had one made up and just fitted it temporarily. It's stainless steel and 3mm thick and all laser cut with warning wording laser etched on to it. The holes are all 3mm but we wont be using it as a hot plate, just a cover.


Now only about 6 more jobs to do to clear the list for this years planned trip.