17' Series Time to say hello

brookes2622

brookes2622

Active Member
Jun 24, 2012
383
38
28
Bywong NSW
Dunno if you call it a mod but finished carpeting the floor today and replaced some of the lights with LEDs. I bought 20's because they were $3 each in a pack of 10 so I put them in two of the main lights with 48's in the light over the sink and in the bathroom. Also, put the 20's in the bed end lights and in the light at the front door. Yet to go is the annex light (need some 48's for that) and the range hood. Guess a picture is required:

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cruza driver

cruza driver

Hercules
Staff member
Nov 9, 2010
6,550
4,447
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Mighty Victoria
Is it just the boot thats split?

If so thats odd for a new car for that to happen. If the cv isn't noisy I'd just throw another boot on it as it looks like its pretty clean in there from dust and dirt.

Did something flick up and damage it?

Make sure you clean the grease off the brake hose with some solvent too.
 
brookes2622

brookes2622

Active Member
Jun 24, 2012
383
38
28
Bywong NSW
Phew ... all done under warranty and without an argument too which surprised me the most. Must have been an obvious flaw. Annoying part was that it hapened on the Friday of the long weekend and the "Technician" (not mechanic's any more) said it would be OK to take away I decided it was best not to. If it wasn't clicking yet I didn't want it to start. So we ended up throwing the van on the back of the Pathfinder and heading down to Jindabyne. The Pathfinder did well, albeit a little thirsty, and was comfortable to tow with. I drove the speed limit all the way and it was surprising how many time I got stuck behind slower cars. Now I don't really mean to lob a grenade here but here is my take on slower cars:

[rant] If the vehicle can manage the speed limit safely it should do it whether it is towing or not. The most annoying vehicle traveling to the snow was a HiAce decked out as a camper doing 80k in a 100 zone. Yeah and they did speed up to 90/100 on the hills to prevent me passing so the car could manage it. I think slower vehicles can encourage the less sensible to try and overtake unsafely. If the vehicle is unsafe to do the speed limit should it be on the road?[/rant]

So anyway the snow was disappearing but the kids had a ball sliding down the hill on their toboggans till they got soaked and cold and the only remedy was hot chocolate and marshmallows, which I enjoyed. The facility at the Jindabyne Big 4 are excellent with the best showers but the van spots are a bit tight. Got down to -4 at night and our little ceramic blow heater (10yo+) handled it brilliantly. All in all a good weekend.
 
brookes2622

brookes2622

Active Member
Jun 24, 2012
383
38
28
Bywong NSW
Just back from the coast (Canberra --> North Durras --> Canberra) down and up Clyde mountain and Smiths Gap. Going down I swung by the farm so I drove back through the bush during which I stopped to let two cars pass, one of which was a Magna. Did I mention it was raining? Well it was and Mrs Magna driver was following her husband and didn't like the water ahead so tried to turn around and got bogged. When I approached in the rain towing a caravan all I saw was the Magna off to the side and very stopped. I winched the Magna out and another impatient bugger drove around my truck, across my winch rope and away? Curious what some people are like. The car went very well and I stuck to the speed limit where possible. The chip made a significant difference and well worth it I reckon particularly up the mountain. It was 3rd gear all the way at the speed limit except for hairpins and having to slow down for the car in front. I suspect a re-map would be better but I'll live with just the chip. North Durras was good, more of a campground then a caravan park which I'm fine with but some of the spots are a tight fit. Family enjoyed it so I, naturally, did also.
 
cruza driver

cruza driver

Hercules
Staff member
Nov 9, 2010
6,550
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Mighty Victoria
Thanks for the report Brookes, have you got any pics of the area?

And yes some people are impatient lucky they didn't get hooked up in the cable.
 
brookes2622

brookes2622

Active Member
Jun 24, 2012
383
38
28
Bywong NSW
Right I am thinking of heading to Sturt National Park in Jan and I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations on everything from where to stay to driving tips and van prep? I'll be heading from The Entrance and think of taking two nights to get there Dubbo and Cobar. Getting there and staying at Olive Down for a couple of days then home to Canberra via Broken Hill and Mildura. What do you reckon? My list includes:

Extra water.
Dustproof the van.
Stone guard (are the roads stoney?)
Don't forget the geni (air con)
 
brookes2622

brookes2622

Active Member
Jun 24, 2012
383
38
28
Bywong NSW
brookes2622 said:
Right I am thinking of heading to Sturt National Park in Jan and I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations on everything from where to stay to driving tips and van prep? I'll be heading from The Entrance and think of taking two nights to get there Dubbo and Cobar. Getting there and staying at Olive Down for a couple of days then home to Canberra via Broken Hill and Mildura. What do you reckon? My list includes:

Extra water.
Dustproof the van.
Stone guard (are the roads stoney?)
Don't forget the geni (air con)
Click to expand...

:bump: Does anyone have any advice?
 
Antman

Antman

Well-Known Member
Jul 18, 2012
870
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Brisbane
almcrae.blogspot.com.au
Hey Brookes

I can’t give any advice on Sturt national park – sorry. I can tell you that we are driving through Bourke and Broken Hill onto Clare in December but will be all main roads through that stretch. We are then heading up through Flinders Rangers and Lake Eyre etc.

I know the roads through that part are dusty, rocky and slow etc. So we have Dust Proofed with silicon under the van – I still have to do the inside of the cupboards this weekend. We also have sealed up underneath the van where the Aircon inlets are with checker plate. I have also put some protection under my spare wheel to protect it from stones.

My father in law was talking a chap yesterday that had a stone guard on the front of his van and said he would prefer to have something like stone stompers guard as the back of his car is now peppered from the stone guard just reflecting the stones back towards the car. He also lost his back window… food for thought.

The other thing we did was repack the wheel bearings. Our van only has 1800km on it but we will do 8000 over our trip so thought it was good practice just to check. Jayco had certainly packed them well and the bearings are made in Japan also so happy days there. Just good to know that the grease on the bearings is in good nick and there is enough. It will be hot out there at that time of year.

Cheers
Ants
ber
 
brookes2622

brookes2622

Active Member
Jun 24, 2012
383
38
28
Bywong NSW
Got the Stone Stomper. Installed very easy and is of excellent quality. Thanks to Christian. Spoke to a bloke not long returned from Sturt NP and he had some rock damage to the back of his car so I feel justified in the expense. The quantity of keys was making me mad so I went the Camec "One Key" option and I turned 3 keys into 1 which was good. The repairs from the "hit shed" incident were completed and you'd never really know I did it. Can't decide on how to prep the underside of the van. Was thinking of a row of mudflaps just after the "A" frame, what do people think? Not too low?
 
brookes2622

brookes2622

Active Member
Jun 24, 2012
383
38
28
Bywong NSW
Thought I'd throw up a couple of pictures of the Stone Stomper on the Amarok. I also did the SS wire clothes line mod but I won't put the pictures up because they are available elsewhere. Only thing I did different was SS rivets rather than nut & bolt or Al rivets. I have also installed the Wineguard amplifier and scanner so will see how it goes.

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cruza driver

cruza driver

Hercules
Staff member
Nov 9, 2010
6,550
4,447
113
Mighty Victoria
Looking good Brooke's. I would maybe run the flaps closer to the axle to protect the plumbing under the van and to protect the brake wiring
 
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