OH, and my apprentiship, truck and boat mechanic, I got to play with many UK beauties such as the Tin Sheds. Very easy to work on, just remember the have lots of tie wire.
Dave's 2013 17.56-2 OB
- Thread starter DaveR
- Start date
Its been a busy week or so to get things sorted for our first proper big trip away.
I'm very much looking forward to it.
The van has had some repairs done, I found the silly rubber grommets in the drawer fascias were pulling out, so i have started to glue them in with some Kraggle.
Aside from that, Its ready.
The Car, 100 series, WOW, what a difference it is to drive, and tows the van very well, no need to turn the A/C off when seeing a hill approaching.
The car came with 2 sets of rear springs, fitted with 400kg, and spare 250 kg. I have swpped them over and fitted some Airbag Man Sleeved load assist bags. Has made it even more comfy to drive around.
The trip plans are in, booking made.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/dir/...1b0!2m2!1d146.8169483!2d-19.2589635!3e0?hl=en
I hope the link works. We're stopping at a road side rest for 1st night then.
Sat 16 Gil Weir - Charleville
Sun 17 Charleville - Eromanga
Mon 18 Eromanga - Windorah
Tue 19 Windorah - Longreach
Wed 20 Longreach
Thu 21 Longreach -
Stop off on way At age of dinosaurs
Winton
Fri 22 Winton - Outback festival.
Sat 23 Lark Quarry day trip, 230 k/m round trip
Sun 24 Winton - Richmond
Mon 25 Richmond
Tue 26 Richmond - Hughenden
Wed 27 Hughenden
Thu 28 Hughenden - Townsville
Fri 29 Townsville
Sat 30 Townsville
Sun 1 Family fly home I Drive on my own for some relaxation
Woohoo, come on Friday!
I'm very much looking forward to it.
The van has had some repairs done, I found the silly rubber grommets in the drawer fascias were pulling out, so i have started to glue them in with some Kraggle.
Aside from that, Its ready.
The Car, 100 series, WOW, what a difference it is to drive, and tows the van very well, no need to turn the A/C off when seeing a hill approaching.
The car came with 2 sets of rear springs, fitted with 400kg, and spare 250 kg. I have swpped them over and fitted some Airbag Man Sleeved load assist bags. Has made it even more comfy to drive around.
The trip plans are in, booking made.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/dir/...1b0!2m2!1d146.8169483!2d-19.2589635!3e0?hl=en
I hope the link works. We're stopping at a road side rest for 1st night then.
Sat 16 Gil Weir - Charleville
Sun 17 Charleville - Eromanga
Mon 18 Eromanga - Windorah
Tue 19 Windorah - Longreach
Wed 20 Longreach
Thu 21 Longreach -
Stop off on way At age of dinosaurs
Winton
Fri 22 Winton - Outback festival.
Sat 23 Lark Quarry day trip, 230 k/m round trip
Sun 24 Winton - Richmond
Mon 25 Richmond
Tue 26 Richmond - Hughenden
Wed 27 Hughenden
Thu 28 Hughenden - Townsville
Fri 29 Townsville
Sat 30 Townsville
Sun 1 Family fly home I Drive on my own for some relaxation
Woohoo, come on Friday!
Some of the toys added to the car are.
The HN7 and 7" screen for the camera on the van. Plus a flash Kenwood stereo, has something call Pandora which impressed princess 12, I still don't know what it is.
Fitted a pair of 10" everything screens, yep, they play everything and have game controllers.
I tried to fit a roof mounted 11" screen but it crapped itself and had to be sent back, i hope to get the replacement before Thursday arvo.....
Also the Supafit Denim seat covers a great
Had trouble fitting the fridge. But it will have to do.
Sadly the fridge doesn't open all the way. Later, I'll have to live with it now.
The HN7 and 7" screen for the camera on the van. Plus a flash Kenwood stereo, has something call Pandora which impressed princess 12, I still don't know what it is.
Fitted a pair of 10" everything screens, yep, they play everything and have game controllers.
I tried to fit a roof mounted 11" screen but it crapped itself and had to be sent back, i hope to get the replacement before Thursday arvo.....
Also the Supafit Denim seat covers a great
Had trouble fitting the fridge. But it will have to do.
Sadly the fridge doesn't open all the way. Later, I'll have to live with it now.
Now to load the van, back of the car, hook up and grab 270 liters of gogo juice and test how she goes.
Wow, impressive electronic gadgets you've got there sure will keep the kids entertained for hours Hope you have a safe trip How many days have you allowed to drive back home?
Cheers Eddii
sure will keep the kids entertained for hours Hope you have a safe trip How many days have you allowed to drive back home?Cheers Eddii
If a bloke had is act together I'd take a week, but I'll need to punch it out inside 2 days so wife can go back to work.
I managed to fit 4 x new speakers on the QT. So few day of crusing with some well wicked tunes cranked it shall be.
I managed to fit 4 x new speakers on the QT. So few day of crusing with some well wicked tunes cranked it shall be.
Hahahahaha:rofl:If I can buy time, I'd be broke. Looks like you'll have time to get acquainted with Pandora and Spotify
. Looks like you'll have time to get acquainted with Pandora and Spotify
Fun with springs it was today.
The 100 series came with a set of 400 kg constant load springs in the rear. I took the tug for a spin with the van and was very happy with it.
Around town empty I thought it may have been a bit firm.
The 100 series came with a spare set of 250 kg springs so I decided to swap them out and fit the airbags into them for a try.
What a failure that was, with the tug loaded for the trip and both fuel tanks full (270 liters) water tools etc in the back, plus the van on, i needed 40 psi to level it off.
No thanks
So out with the springs and the airbags for a swap over, I managed to get it done in time for school pick up chaos, and as I like pain I even took the van for a spin for the fun of it.
Now I am happy, I have about 10 psi in the bags just to settle them in, and the load is level.
I'll look at the leveling system tomorrow at the local van place.
The 100 series came with a set of 400 kg constant load springs in the rear. I took the tug for a spin with the van and was very happy with it.
Around town empty I thought it may have been a bit firm.
The 100 series came with a spare set of 250 kg springs so I decided to swap them out and fit the airbags into them for a try.
What a failure that was, with the tug loaded for the trip and both fuel tanks full (270 liters) water tools etc in the back, plus the van on, i needed 40 psi to level it off.
No thanks
So out with the springs and the airbags for a swap over, I managed to get it done in time for school pick up chaos, and as I like pain I even took the van for a spin for the fun of it.
Now I am happy, I have about 10 psi in the bags just to settle them in, and the load is level.
I'll look at the leveling system tomorrow at the local van place.
Attachments
We're in Winton, now just in time for its bi annual big weekend.
Lost the water pump switch on the drifter panel today on arrival, worked this morning, but not now. So I had to swap out the aux switch usage which was for the 3 x 12 volt power outlets and is now for the water pump.
Got that sorted in time for beer -O-clock.
But the kitchen bench top is grinding away to dust, at each stop along the way we're finding chip board shavings around the back of the sink on arrival at each stop.
Looks like I'm in for a kitchen reno..... x 2, (over due to sort the 1 in the house out)
Has anyone else had an issue such as this.
Lost the water pump switch on the drifter panel today on arrival, worked this morning, but not now. So I had to swap out the aux switch usage which was for the 3 x 12 volt power outlets and is now for the water pump.
Got that sorted in time for beer -O-clock.
But the kitchen bench top is grinding away to dust, at each stop along the way we're finding chip board shavings around the back of the sink on arrival at each stop.
Looks like I'm in for a kitchen reno..... x 2, (over due to sort the 1 in the house out)
Has anyone else had an issue such as this.
You might find the wood dust is from the build . Jayco don't clean their mess very well.
It is the benchtop grinding against the back of the seatback. Had just the 3 screws to hold the 2 together. I've added 12 more.
Sink now, it seems the sink has come Loose also and is causing some of the saw dust on the bench top. I'll be in Townsville tomorrow, I'll have to sort it out then before the solo trip home.
Last edited:
Home, in 1 piece after 4,450 k's of QLD, I just wish the van was.....
Only a short list to sort out.
* Drifter Panel has random faults
* Dust ingress
* Drifter Panel can't switch the pump on
* Lots of dust
* No power to the rangehood
* Dust in Cupboards
* 3 x drawer locks don't hold drawer closed
* Bathroom door is bent, I think the heat got to it, has a bow in it, also the forward wall where it closes is bowed as well so there is no seal now and shower water gets past
* Dust, did I mention the dust?
* Rain water leak, Driving home from Townsville inside 2 days, I drove through 6 hours worth of rain, about 2 had me down to 80 k's with wippers on full. Good bit is, the rain leaked inside under the left side of the roof seal and washed a lot of dust away, onto the top bunk.....
* Dust, got to clean it out of the top bunk
* New roof hatch seals all around.
In addition, the fridge.
It worked like a charm in very difficult conditions. Most other campers were struggling with theirs, the Engel Beer fridge in the car struggled, and that sat in the A/C a lot of the time.
However, there was one fault with it that was caused by us, although, the manufacturer could easily have done a little bit better.
The water drain from the evaporator plate is easily squashed in behind an adjustable shelf. Guess what we did...... This allowed a build up of water on the plate and in the tray which froze and reduced fridge cooling capacity. This only became evident following the 5th near 40 degree day, and feeding a family of 5 out if it. I had to borrow an esky and empty the fridge 1 day to fix the hose and dry it out. The fridge worked well for the next 7 days, as we moved to cooler climates, but now at home, i can see the hose is kinked again. I'll have to use some bent tubing to sort it out.
Not sure how I'm going to go with sorting this all out, as I'm due for surgery on my arms soon....
And we got more camping trips lined up.
Only a short list to sort out.
* Drifter Panel has random faults
* Dust ingress
* Drifter Panel can't switch the pump on
* Lots of dust
* No power to the rangehood
* Dust in Cupboards
* 3 x drawer locks don't hold drawer closed
* Bathroom door is bent, I think the heat got to it, has a bow in it, also the forward wall where it closes is bowed as well so there is no seal now and shower water gets past
* Dust, did I mention the dust?
* Rain water leak, Driving home from Townsville inside 2 days, I drove through 6 hours worth of rain, about 2 had me down to 80 k's with wippers on full. Good bit is, the rain leaked inside under the left side of the roof seal and washed a lot of dust away, onto the top bunk.....
* Dust, got to clean it out of the top bunk
* New roof hatch seals all around.
In addition, the fridge.
It worked like a charm in very difficult conditions. Most other campers were struggling with theirs, the Engel Beer fridge in the car struggled, and that sat in the A/C a lot of the time.
However, there was one fault with it that was caused by us, although, the manufacturer could easily have done a little bit better.
The water drain from the evaporator plate is easily squashed in behind an adjustable shelf. Guess what we did...... This allowed a build up of water on the plate and in the tray which froze and reduced fridge cooling capacity. This only became evident following the 5th near 40 degree day, and feeding a family of 5 out if it. I had to borrow an esky and empty the fridge 1 day to fix the hose and dry it out. The fridge worked well for the next 7 days, as we moved to cooler climates, but now at home, i can see the hose is kinked again. I'll have to use some bent tubing to sort it out.
Not sure how I'm going to go with sorting this all out, as I'm due for surgery on my arms soon....
And we got more camping trips lined up.
The 18 nights away left me with a long list of jobs about the house, now there done, I got a van to sort out.
There is a place here on the G/Coast called Ovesco, they sell seal of all sorts.
https://www.ovesco.com.au/
I have spoken with them about the vans need for seals. I'll be taking the van and parking out the front so we can play a game of finding some seals to sort out the top pop up roof seal, and the front and rear hatch seals. If you look at the front and rear hatches there is no seal across the hinge section. Apparently, I am not the 1st Jayco owner they have had parked out the front looking for seals, so it sounds like I am in good hands.
The reason for this trouble is due to the rain ingress and the locations where it came it through that I tracked down following the trip.
Admittedly it was a massive rain storm I drove through and a sensible bloke would not have done such a thing.
Anyway, here is a better looking pic , better due to the surrounds when compered to the above.
There is a place here on the G/Coast called Ovesco, they sell seal of all sorts.
https://www.ovesco.com.au/
I have spoken with them about the vans need for seals. I'll be taking the van and parking out the front so we can play a game of finding some seals to sort out the top pop up roof seal, and the front and rear hatch seals. If you look at the front and rear hatches there is no seal across the hinge section. Apparently, I am not the 1st Jayco owner they have had parked out the front looking for seals, so it sounds like I am in good hands.
The reason for this trouble is due to the rain ingress and the locations where it came it through that I tracked down following the trip.
Admittedly it was a massive rain storm I drove through and a sensible bloke would not have done such a thing.
Anyway, here is a better looking pic , better due to the surrounds when compered to the above.
Here is a mod I'd have liked fitted before the trip, but arrived at my place a few hours after departure.
The roof mounted screen.
All 3 kids can watch something different and we hear nothing up front. Or, they can all watch what we play from the car head unit and listen via the stero.
My repair list has grown again.
The gas struts for the rear hatch seized when I tried to close it outside following a clean up, it sheared the top mount screws off, no fibreglass damage thankfully.
The shaft is warn and the seals are dry.
There is a gas strut place in Nerang, I think I'll take all 8 there this week for a service, 1 is not assisting with the roof lift, and they all stick randomly when lowering.
Knock 1 item of the list, add another.......
The roof mounted screen.
All 3 kids can watch something different and we hear nothing up front. Or, they can all watch what we play from the car head unit and listen via the stero.
My repair list has grown again.
The gas struts for the rear hatch seized when I tried to close it outside following a clean up, it sheared the top mount screws off, no fibreglass damage thankfully.
The shaft is warn and the seals are dry.
There is a gas strut place in Nerang, I think I'll take all 8 there this week for a service, 1 is not assisting with the roof lift, and they all stick randomly when lowering.
Knock 1 item of the list, add another.......
Trip repairs and wash up is underway.
The outside light was a lucky if it worked affair we dealt with on the trip. I had a look at it today.
It seems to me that the quality of Electrical Workmanship at Caravan Repair Specialists is = to the Original Jayco work experience kid standard.
The folk I bought the van from had several extras fitted by the local van repairers, there quality wiring for the extra lighting failed. Its simple ya know, 2 wires, 2 joiners, = 4 x crimps, sadly, they had to save on the number of crimps made that day so 3 it was, and the bonus bit is the length of wire is the minimum required - 0.5% x length.
The roof was getting hard to close, gas struts binding up, the rear hatch did the same which meant the top mount sheared the screw heads off, must have been a bit ha ya going for a while on the trip which I didn't notice.
Had a visit from the mobile strut guy today and all 8 were sorted. All works a lot better now.
The outside light was a lucky if it worked affair we dealt with on the trip. I had a look at it today.
It seems to me that the quality of Electrical Workmanship at Caravan Repair Specialists is = to the Original Jayco work experience kid standard.
The folk I bought the van from had several extras fitted by the local van repairers, there quality wiring for the extra lighting failed. Its simple ya know, 2 wires, 2 joiners, = 4 x crimps, sadly, they had to save on the number of crimps made that day so 3 it was, and the bonus bit is the length of wire is the minimum required - 0.5% x length.
The roof was getting hard to close, gas struts binding up, the rear hatch did the same which meant the top mount sheared the screw heads off, must have been a bit ha ya going for a while on the trip which I didn't notice.
Had a visit from the mobile strut guy today and all 8 were sorted. All works a lot better now.
Next on the list was why there is no power for the range hood, outside 12 volt outlet and water pump.
My experience with this van has told me, when looking for such a fault that I don't look at the items, but rather look at the power box.
And sure enough, another failed crimp, one of the originals in the Steca box. I'm going to change how this is mounted, as the wiring must be squashed to re-fit. Shall take pics.
With the torrential rain I drove through, and the water ingress, I have tracked where it came through, the dust was very good for this, and now have added some seals.
Along the hinge of the front and rear hatch I have added.
From:
https://www.ovesco.com.au/products/...cts/trim-lok/trimlock-self-adhesive-rubber-4/
Also, I added some 19 x 10 flat seal across the front where the roof comes down, as a gap is there below the roof seal due to uneven alignment of the panels. The seal fills this gap.
I hope both of these seals will slow the water ingress down considerably, I must point out the water ingress was due to 4 hours driving in torrential rain, a Rain Storm I heard it called on the news later.
My experience with this van has told me, when looking for such a fault that I don't look at the items, but rather look at the power box.
And sure enough, another failed crimp, one of the originals in the Steca box. I'm going to change how this is mounted, as the wiring must be squashed to re-fit. Shall take pics.
With the torrential rain I drove through, and the water ingress, I have tracked where it came through, the dust was very good for this, and now have added some seals.
Along the hinge of the front and rear hatch I have added.
From:
https://www.ovesco.com.au/products/...cts/trim-lok/trimlock-self-adhesive-rubber-4/
Also, I added some 19 x 10 flat seal across the front where the roof comes down, as a gap is there below the roof seal due to uneven alignment of the panels. The seal fills this gap.
I hope both of these seals will slow the water ingress down considerably, I must point out the water ingress was due to 4 hours driving in torrential rain, a Rain Storm I heard it called on the news later.
Just for info purposes, here is what it looks like as the Steca unit is squeezed into place, the wiring can easily be damaged.
Now for how I fixed it.
The yellow wire shown above is the dodgy inline joiner Jayco like to use, you'd be excused for thinking it belongs o a terminal of the Steca Unit. This was the water pump supply that I had to deal with
Now for how I fixed it.
The yellow wire shown above is the dodgy inline joiner Jayco like to use, you'd be excused for thinking it belongs o a terminal of the Steca Unit. This was the water pump supply that I had to deal with