Steve and Nat's 20.63.1 OB

[Steve Davis]

Hi all,

Well it's now a little less than 7 weeks before we take off on our 3 month half lap of the country so, as with our cruiser, we have been getting the van sorted. Nothing major, just a few things to hopefully make life in a small box with 9 people a bit more livable...if that's possible.

Our van is a 2013 20.63.1 OB and met our simple criteria of being able to sleep 9! The only other option on the market that came close was a New Age...see @Smergen (ours with 2 sets of triple bunks). At the time we were looking this was a new model in their line-up and an impressive unit. In the end though the slide out lounge in the expanda was the clincher as it gave significantly more 'living' space (not to mention being able to get one near new and leave 25k+ in my pocket cf. the New Age). Believe it or not we can all squeeze around that table if needed...we can't breathe, but we can fit!

Our pick-up day


First trip away - we didn't venture too far - 20 mins down the road to the beach. Never underestimate the value of a playground in close proximity to the camp to maintain sanity!


Will get some photos together of some of the things we have done and post here.

 

[Base23]

9 people sounds like fun.
How do you fit 9 in the cruiser, has it got a bench front seat?
Enjoy you trip and look forward to seeing more pics.

 

[Steve Davis]

How do you fit 9 in the cruiser, has it got a bench front seat?

No, unfortunately the cruiser is only 8 seats. Was quoted $6000 to engineer a 9th seat solution. Decided to invite the father-in-law along instead - we'll use the "you get to travel with Opa today!" as a reward or a punishment...haven't decided which yet?!

 

[Smergen]

Great stuff mate. Love a new van tale.

 

[bigcol]

we'll use the "you get to travel with Opa today!" as a reward or a punishment...haven't decided which yet?!

what a brilliant idea.........

thats thinking outside the box

 

[Steve Davis]

had a few hours away from work yesterday so managed to fit the spare wheel mount under then van - modeled on a few here @DaveR :whistle:


am carrying 2 spares

 

[Steve Davis]

and the 150mm tubes mounted infront and behind - anti-flap gear in one and thinking sullage hoses in other

 

[Steve Davis]

removed the glass shower panels and the bathroom concertina door and replaced with curtains...weight reduction part of the motivation and didn't know how well the shower screen would stand up to the Gibb, Oodnadatta, Mereenie Loop etc

 

[Steve Davis]

and a clothes line (3 in fact) - Nat's idea...and a good one - wet towels can stay there when the end gets folded. With nine of us there can never be too much hanging space!

 

[DaveR]

Hey, umm, I like the wheel mount.
I may be nicking the clothes line idea.

 

[Crusty181]

Be worth hanging some rubber in front of your PVC tubes. We spent a lot of time on the roads your looking at and we also have a 20.63.1OB. My rear water tank gal guard copped a real hiding from stone damage, which your rear tube is right in the firing line.

We also removed the shower doors and dividers, saved 30kg. The shower doors would be an early casualty. Secure your microwave and check the oven. Our micro came out early on, and the oven dislodged

 

[Steve Davis]

hey @DaveR nick away - great forum for that!

thanks @Crusty181 - good advice re the microwave & oven. I still have a bit to do under the van for protection; will add your suggestion to "The List"...which I thought would be getting shorter by now

 

[Steve Davis]

few more pics of some changes to the front end of the van - have been done for a while - just keep forgetting to take photos!

changed to mchitch - very happy with it...easy as to hitch/unhitch, doesn't stick, very quiet and I figure not so easy for anyone else to back up to and drive away with my van


relocated the jockey wheel to the centre of the A-frame - feels like a better place for it to be from a balance/symmetry point-of-view - maybe that's just my OCD talking...I have a BOS jockey wheel on order that I hope to be able to leave attached with a base plate fitted


had a mate knock up a cage in behind the stone defector. Good for wood, sullage pipes, wet gear, fire pit etc. Also fitted a couple of jerry can holders between the gas bottles.

 

[1DayIll]

few more pics of some changes to the front end of the van - have been done for a while - just keep forgetting to take photos!

had a mate knock up a cage in behind the stone defector. Good for wood, sullage pipes, wet gear, fire pit etc. Also fitted a couple of jerry can holders between the gas bottles.
View attachment 49824

Does the cage have any type of lid?

 

[Steve Davis]

no lid at this stage - easy enough to rig one up or I've previously just tied things directly onto the cage

 

[1DayIll]

ok Makes sense and would be easy to make and store things. Good idea really.

 

[Steve Davis]

We have a little over a week until we leave for our adventure. Madly trying to tick things off the to-do list at a faster rate than they are being added!

Here are a couple of things I've been working on over the last few weekends - alas it's pitch black and freezing cold by the time I get home after work in the depths of the Tassie winter so it seems to take a long time to get stuff done.

I have spent way too much time rolling around under the van

Have modified the waste plumbing...not telling any of you anything new who have played around with that but it's pretty ordinary. My modification is no Picasso either mind you but I think it's more practical. Clearly the plumbing department at Jayco were on glue rations the week mine was put together 'cause as soon as the hack saw came close it all fell to bits!

So from this weird double outlet thingy...


to this...


As you can see I've been a bit liberal with the glue - over compensating maybe! In hind-sight should have had the pipe pointing straight down - at the time I felt swept back might be less likely to be damaged?! Que Sera, Sera...

Took advice of @Crusty181 & hung some rubber stone guard both in front of the axle and another in front of the rear tube.



Lifted this cool BBQ slide from this forum. Tucks away nicely into the cross member



Only other notable addition is I had ALKO ESC fitted.

Packing to finalise now then onto the Spirit of Tas next Tuesday - happy days!

 

[Crusty181]

I notice you have Simplicity suspension on the van Steve. Second hand certainly paid off for you guys there; that was an awesome (and rare) find.

 

[Steve Davis]

Yep @Crusty181 - has performed well so far and I've only heard good things about it. Real test is to come! Thanks

 

[DaveR]

I managed to drag my expanda over some very deep ruts the other day thanks to the simplicity suspension, even had some admirers on how flexible it was.
I'm impressed with it.