17' Series Soon to be 17.56-2 OB owner

[dmaughan]

Soon to be 17.56-2 OB owner - Now arrived

I thought it was about time I introduced myself. I have been reading this site for about five months now and have found the information on here to be invaluable, and has been instrumental in my decision to purchase an Expanda. Unfortunately it has also been instrumental in my growing list of modifications I would like to do and I haven't even gotten the van yet :tongue:. There are far to many cleaver people with great idea on this site for my own good.

We (Myself, My Wife, and 2 kids aged 5 and 7) are upgrading from a soft floor 14' Cavalier camper trailer. This has been a great trailer over the years, but it has proven just too much effort to take out for short 2 day weekends and also the pack-up time is much longer then we would like, so the decision was made to upgrade. My wife originally want to go for a full caravan with internal island bed and bunks but after having a good look at the Expanda we found it to be the best compromise for our life style. We mostly free camp and go to reasonably out of the way places so a shower and outback model was essential.

We have ordered a 17.56-2 outback with:

• Roll out Awning
• Upgraded Fridge to RM2553 150 Ltr
• Roof Aircon - and microwave to be put into the aircon spot above the sink so we do not loose cupboard space.
• Privacy Screens for bed ends
• CD/Radio
• External Speakers
• External drop down Picnic table
• Inner spring mattress to front bed
• Gas bayonets to front and back
• Extra 240v power point under bunk dinette
• Extra 12v power point under bunk dinette and to kitchen
• Wind up TV antenna
• External TV antenna point
• Extended A frame
• External Shower
• Battery
• Anderson Plug to charge van from car

Items that were request but have been rejected:

• LED lights - apparently they do not offer as an option anymore.
• 3 arm TV bracket - they were going to supply this loose because they could not find a good place to put it, so I had them delete it as I was only getting them to put it in originally so they put is in the correct spot. I will purchase my own and have to work out some way to do it without damaging the van .
• Originally requested to have the external speakers put as high as possible, but looks like that might not happen. Not too concerned with this one though.

Modification I have on my list already (most ideas are from posts on this site. Thanks):

• Put slide out baskets into the robe
• Put slide out baskets into thin corner cupboard in kitchen
• Install LED replacement globes
• Move spare Tyre to under van
• Install box at front of van to hold gas bottles and generator
• Convert spare wheel holder to basket to hold wet gear and wood etc.
• Fix water drain outlets with non-return valves and single outlet - instead of having to use their supplied manifold.
• Install solar regulator and wire plug to draw bar - I have a 100w folding panel I will use.
• Install internal and external TV brackets.

We have ordered from Page Brothers as they are very close to us and have given us a very good price (had to work them for it though ).

The three month wait has not been too bad so far with only a week left to wait. We have had heaps to do to keep us busy. We have installed a second drive way to park the caravan on and have had to get the camper trailer ready for sale, and lots of wiring and maintenance on the tug to get it ready, so the time has gone quickly so far.

 

[kimlouise]

Sounds fantastic. What internal colours did you end up choosing??

 

[dmaughan]

Choosing the colours was very difficult. My wife had her heart set on some of last years colours and did not like any of the new ones. We ended up settling for the Gridlock and Cityside combination. I personally liked these colours as I think they will add some nice colour into the van.

 

[Turtle]

Good choise of van and extras, heres how i did my TV bracket.
http://www.expandasdownunder.com/showthread.php/869-Lcd-wall-mount-bracket

 

[dmaughan]

heres how i did my TV bracket.

Thanks for that Turtle, I like your idea.
My biggest problem I will have is figuring out the best place to put it, as there is not lots of available space on the walls from memory, and I would like it visible from the dinette, bunks and far end bed without effecting walking around the van or sitting at the dinette. I will have to have a really good sit and think inside the new van when I get it.

 

[chartrock]

Welcome to the forum, folks. There sure are lots of mod ideas here and you have a good list of them already planned. Good luck with them. :yo:

 

[Pace]

Thanks for that Turtle, I like your idea.
My biggest problem I will have is figuring out the best place to put it, as there is not lots of available space on the walls from memory, and I would like it visible from the dinette, bunks and far end bed without effecting walking around the van or sitting at the dinette. I will have to have a really good sit and think inside the new van when I get it.

welcome to the forum,good chioce of van. i am current working on a removable roof mount bracket for the lcd screen, which will atach to the frame work which hold the lid up. in protoype mode still.

 

[Jim and Tab]

hi dmaughan
thats a nice list of extras you have gone for.
and mods sound great to
well done on your choices
cheers jim/tab and diamond

 

[dmaughan]

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

pace9908 - Roof mount bracket sounds like a great idea, keep us posted on how it turns out.
Jim and Tab - thanks, the LED globe replacement kit that is on its way to me will fit in real nice thanks . Will let you know how it goes.

 

[Jim and Tab]

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

pace9908 - Roof mount bracket sounds like a great idea, keep us posted on how it turns out.
Jim and Tab - thanks, the LED globe replacement kit that is on its way to me will fit in real nice thanks . Will let you know how it goes.

any problems just let us know
cheers jim/tab and diamond

 

[dmaughan]

Had a very busy weekend.

Had the second driveway installed, currently looking a bit lonely.
I also wired up the car for the Brake Controller and Anderson Charging Plug.

Now just need the van to complete the picture. Not long now .

 

[busybusymum]

Sounds great! - hope you get lots of use out of it - I think the last week or two of waiting is the worst!

 

[MolongMick]

You will love it when it comes, all you will do is think about things to do to it and where you want to put things. I go out everynight, have a bit of look and fiddle around abit.

Hope everything goes smoothly for you.

 

[dmaughan]

Now very happy 17.56-2OB owners

Picked up our new Caravan last Thursday.

After a very thorough three and half hour handover we got to bring it home and squeeze it into the new driveway.

There were no major problems with handover just the Anderson plug was not connected properly, lucky I took my multi-meter to test it first after warnings I read on here. Easy fix though once spotted.
After our initial reservations over this years colour selection, I was really happy with how good they look in the flesh. We had all the tables done in the same laminate as the Bench-tops.

It was a nice surprise to find LED lights in almost all the light fittings. Looks like they have taken to using the standard lights but using LED globe replacements. The lights were not the brightest and a little yellow in colour. I have replaced most of the globes with Jim and Tabs LED kit globes they give a much brighter light.

Jayco have changed the position of the speakers from the back of the van to under the main dining table. The jury is out on there effectiveness here, but as we also have outdoor speakers they should be fine.


We could find very little to fault the Jayco at handover, other then the before mentioned Anderson plug, just a little crack in the toilet cartridge door frame and some minor scratches to the bed end lids.

We took the caravan on a quick trip this weekend to Geelong to see what we could rattle off, and are happy to say everything is still attached. It towed and performed magnificently. Cant wait for Easter now so we can try it out in free camping mode.

 

[cruza driver]

Looks great, I bet Easter cant come quick enough!!

Be sure to post up a trip report in the trips section and let us know how it went.