Hi all, seeing as I have gleaned loads of info from this forum I thought I would share the following with you. Took delivery of our 17.56.2 Outback in March and headed off for our first trip 2 days later, a leisurely 2500 kms round trip to Exmouth stopping at Dongara and Carnarvon. All went well until 7 days from our scheduled return home then we lost all power in our new toy, seems the wires for connecting the roof top air con were to big for the German connectors so the electrician, I use that description very loosely, decided to leave some wires out of the connectors so they could arc!! Classic...Result no power coming into the van and no air, great when it's 40+!! Had to shorten the trip, it was still great but had to get the panda back to Perth to get fixed. When I took it to the Jayco agent they fixed the problem , had to rewire the battery and a couple of light circuits and apparently a recall was on the cards, so alls good now. So if anyone has a 2013 built Expanda with roof air mounted air you may want to get yours checked at your first service. Have been busy doing some mods, repositioned the spare on a wind down mechanism , tool box to house the gas bottles and other useful stuff, shelves in the cupboard and I built a tri fold table to give us more room to slouch! Cheers for now
17' Series Rough shakedown
- Thread starter geejay13
- Start date
Welcome Geejay13. At least your first trip sorted out a few "teething" problems. Amazing how I can't live without power and the A/C now, when for 30 odd years it was never an issue. Look forward to pics of your mods.
Welcome to the forum Geejay. It sounds like you know your way around the tools so we would love to see some photos of your mods as well as your trips. Lots of ideas get exchanged here. 
Thanks for welcome guys , happy to attempt to post some mod pics. Just need advice, do I post them here or start another thread under My Jayco? Also to add to the return home early story I had a major brake failure on my tug, a Mitsubishi Challenger, serviced by my local Mitsubishi agent the week before we left for Exmouth, seems they forgot to tighten up the front calliper bolts and they fell out at Dongara on the way back. Drove back home, very gingerly, with only the brake controller operating the caravan brakes manually to slow me down , about 400 Kim's thank goodness in in WA theres not much between Dongara and home. Yes I was compensated by the dealer but just goes to show we are reliant on others for our and others safety without sometimes realising it so bsafe always
Yes Burnsy the brake controller was a godsend but the trip was great. I always find that what doesn't brake(excuse the pun) you always adds to he positive side of ones experiences and MrsGJ and me continue to live the dash to the best of our abilities. I figure the next time something doesn't go to plan it's life's experiences that get you through continue to bsafe
i agree completely. I was thinking about this the other day. When things in life don't go fully to plan, these are the things that you remember and talk about for years to come.
geejay
Are you insane ? Driving with out brakes is not very smart. Eletric caravan barkes are not desgined to stop your whloe rig in anny sutitation. If you can afford an expanda then you can afford deacent road side assistance to get your vechile towed home on the back of a truck in these kinds of sutations. And not risk your own life and the lives of the other people on the road. Sorry about the rant But if something went wrong you would be in a lot of trouble. Or worse still dead or in jail. Please take your own advise and be safe.
Are you insane ? Driving with out brakes is not very smart. Eletric caravan barkes are not desgined to stop your whloe rig in anny sutitation. If you can afford an expanda then you can afford deacent road side assistance to get your vechile towed home on the back of a truck in these kinds of sutations. And not risk your own life and the lives of the other people on the road. Sorry about the rant But if something went wrong you would be in a lot of trouble. Or worse still dead or in jail. Please take your own advise and be safe.
Hmm yes a bit of a rant Gibbo but to answer. I had brakes when I left Dongara pretty straight road, no traffic and rear brakes only working apparently I didn't know until the vehicle was inspected that the calliper bolts had fallen out. I'm far from crazy but not mechanical , I pay so called professionals to do that. I drove safe I wasn't intoxicated or taking drugs the speed I drove was sensible. How many road users drive under the influence, how many have passed us thinking they are ok, I knew I had a problem didn't know the extent. I don't drink alcohol and have NEVER used drugs, I don't speed yes I'm Mr squeaky I live by by my mantra. How many overload their vans have in appropriate set ups I could go on. I guess I'm saying you weren't walking in my shoes you weren't there your are entitled to your opinion but before you call someone crazy look in the mirror and ask yourself the hard questions. I didn't share to be called crazy I shared to inform that even when you pay professionals you are sometimes left short . My reply is with respect and I have no intention of being rude to you. I had a set of circumstances presented to me and acted as I saw fit at the time. Hope you don't see this as a rant I hope you continue to bsafe x