Reddog's Starcraft 17.58-1 OB

[davemc]

looking good yes I keep thinking add a pole carrier for the 22.
Have you had any thoughts on the rear boot? I put a shelf in thought about some bike hooks to get hoses off the ground. Its so big although little door.

 

[halbster]

Found a couple of doors/drawers weren't latching that well so fixed them at the caravan park.

Hey Robbie, how do you fix these? I find some of mine either don't latch closed, and others we can't open as they stay latched closed.

 

[Robbie Reddog]

I like the pole carrier, did you have to move anything to get it to fit ?

Didn't have to move anything. I went with the smaller 100mm rather than 150mm in anticipation of putting the toolbox alongside.

Have you had any thoughts on the rear boot? I put a shelf in thought about some bike hooks to get hoses off the ground. Its so big although little door.

It's quite handy the rear storage boot with quiet a bit or room inside. I put in some hooks to secure a small ladder and have the awing screens in there and beach towels etc. Having come from the swan it amazing how much more storage we have booth inside and out. Just means the wife can take more stuff (aka crap)

Hey Robbie, how do you fix these? I find some of mine either don't latch closed, and others we can't open as they stay latched closed.

I found three doors that would open when the buttons were pushed in. When we had the swan I made a number of blank striker plates from aluminium angle similar to these which were a couple of mm wider than the original Jayco install.

I had these spare in the car and the cupboards that weren't closed well I replaced the plates. The van park that we stayed at had a maintenance shed and after our little poo incident they were more than accommodating to let me borrow a drill and bit. I used the original striker plates as a guide to drill the same holes in the new plates and screwed them back in - 15min job and work much better.

 

[Robbie Reddog]

This ones not entirely for the van but going to site in the back of the car when needed.
Have a 120w solar panel on the roof of the van but wanted a additional portable one. Have seen a number of 120w portable ones on ebay for about the $200 mark. Brother has one and I played around with it for a little while.

Was in Anaconda the other day and saw the Projecta folding ones on special. Have read and watch a couple of clips on them and seem pretty good so the van and car were treated with a new 80w kit.

Tried it out on the lawn hooked up to the car battery and seem to work quite well. Was nice and sunny and giving about 13.7v and 4.5 amps.
Although about double the price of a rigid model it's very compact and light - price of convenience I suppose.
Will end up doing another lead with anderson plug so I can swap between that and the alligator clips.

 

[Robbie Reddog]

Getting a few things organised to fit the tool box.
Plan is to put a piece of marine ply over the gas bottle holders and bolt the tool box on there.
Got these Oztrail gas bottle holders and and will get some U bolts and mount the base of them to the drawbar and brace the back of them to the tool box.
That's the plan anyway - now just have to find some time to do it all :nevreness:

 

[17triton]

Getting a few things organised to fit the tool box.
Plan is to put a piece of marine ply over the gas bottle holders and bolt the tool box on there.
Got these Oztrail gas bottle holders and and will get some U bolts and mount the base of them to the drawbar and brace the back of them to the tool box.
That's the plan anyway - now just have to find some time to do it all :nevreness:


View attachment 36548 View attachment 36549 View attachment 36550

Any updates on the toolbox install @Robbie Reddog ?

 

[Robbie Reddog]

Been a bit slack and haven't had a change to do the tool box yet. Spare time has been consumed with going out and enjoying the van and been away on 5 trip since getting the van last October.
It's still on the 'to do list'

Prior to going away before Australia Day, I was hooking up the van and noticed what looked like the aluminium cladding on the drivers side of the van was warped and bubbling. Put some pics below but bit hard to see. Looks like the cladding is separating from the frame :mad-new:

Just been for a service and some minor warranty issues and showed the guys the paneling. They wen't surprised and took me into the workshop where they had just finished re-cladding another starcraft with the same issue. They said it appears to be a fairly common problem that Jayco is aware of.
The sides are now a sandwich foam construction and other than the outer frame there is no supporting frame or joist any where along the side. Essentially you can cut a hole anywhere along the sides and you won't hit anything. The aluminium is then glued to the side and if they haven't used enough glue then it just lets go causing it to buckle and warp.

Anyway we have a warranty claim in with Jayco at the moment and it looks like the whole van may be re-clad due the same thing starting to happen on the awning side as well.

The service agent may put the tool box on for me when all this gets done

 

[turbopsi]

Looks great however the warped side panelling has me worried about buying one. Did they say if there's actually a fix or is it only a case of adding more glue and hoping it doesn't happen again?

 

[Robbie Reddog]

I think the only real fix is having the van re-clad. This is what they ended up doing with ours.
Both sides were done and they glue and pin the entire join and don't glue the middle of the sheet. That way it's gives it a bit of flex and lets it expand or contract depending on the weather.
Here's a couple of naked pics

I must say Jayco were very good with the warranty claim and was fixed pretty quick. Guys did a great job re-cladding the thing.
In saying that if the option was available at the time I would have opted for fiberglass sides like the expandas, silverlines etc.
I think it was a $2k option after we had it built and I noticed at the Perth Caravan Show it had dropped to $1450.

Not to fussed now we've had the full custom sides done

I'll post a couple of photos soon as we only got it back a few days ago. Looks virgin as we are waiting on the decals to come from Melbourne.

 

[turbopsi]

Thanks for posting the pics and info. Hats off to Jayco for coming to the party with the fix. I too like the look of the fiberglass sides but then there's the trade off with damage if your unfortunate to have any. I believe the only option is to bog up any holes in the fiberglass vs re-cladding a section of aluminium siding. I narrowed down our choice of our first van to a second hand Coromal Excel 526 but the more I starcrafts I see the more I want one Just means we have to wait longer and save a bit more since the starcrafts being 6-10 years younger are more expensive.

 

[Robbie Reddog]

Here's the beast back in all it's glory from surgery. I have no doubt that it's probably better than factory.
I actually don't mind it in virgin white
The guys also put on the tool box for me and moved the gas bottles forward.

I thinks it's @achjimmy's clone on the west coast

 

[Robbie Reddog]

Iv'e also been eyeing off @17triton's tri-fold table and how well it's turned out
May have to be the next project

 

[achjimmy]

Hey @redog did Jayco move the gas bottles? They really shouldn't have welded across the drawbar like that! Need to keep an eye on it.

 

[davemc]

Naked.. put some clothes on.
great they fixed it for you.. Yes probably better then factory done

 

[turbopsi]

Looks great !

 

[Robbie Reddog]

Hey @redog did Jayco move the gas bottles? They really shouldn't have welded across the drawbar like that! Need to keep an eye on it.

Not knowing to much about welding/metal fatigue is there anything particular I should be looking for.
I would have thought being an authorised Jayco repairer they would be in the best position regarding any modifications done.
Any advice appreciated.

 

[achjimmy]

It's a no no to weld across the drawbar it induces stress that can lead to cracking. Yes I'd expect any van repairer to know that.