Drovers 14.44.3

[dagree]

Is that it ? Is that the only pic your going to post ? Come on @Drover you we love pics

Give him time

 

[dagree]

Give him time

Told ya @mfexpanda .... http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/drovers-new-rig-big-mal.8414/

 

[mfexpanda]

Told ya @mfexpanda .... http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/drovers-new-rig-big-mal.8414/

Yes I just saw that but there is only 1 extra pic eep:

 

[dagree]

Give him time

See above

 

[G Daddy]

Looks Good. how did " Big COL" handle " Big Mal" on the way home??? and yes more pics

 

[bigcol]

Looks Good. how did " Big COL" handle " Big Mal" on the way home??? and yes more pics

well, I wasn't even invited to go to the pickup @G Daddy

but I handled the change over quite well

 

[Boots in Action]

First post here, I aquired my 14ft Expanda last November, we were coming back from Warbirds at temora with our off road camper when we discovered this 2009 14ft expanda which had never been used, I kid you not it didn't have a mark on it, gear was still sealed in the bags, no scuff marks in draws and the toilet was still in the plastic bag so to speak, the stove had no marks, still with tape over some bits.
We bought it and towed it to QLD, 400km all went good but due to a problem with the Jeep we never got to go camping until Jan so I had plenty of time to sort things out, beside it was too damn hot.



The rear of the fridge wasn't finished off (as usual it seems) the bench top got bloody hot as and the fridge just didn't want to cool down until I added some more insulation on top and paneled the rear up so the heat was directed straight out the top vent, works damn fine now. It had never been used on gas, sure does stink for awhile.
Found my TV plugs worked sometimes, pulled them out, found they were not done up and the 12V connections were dodgy, I then decided to go over every electrical connection I could find 12V and 240V, tested them all 240 thankfully had no faults or potential shorts, 12V needed a few connectors replaced, fitted by a 12 yr old I think.
Extractor fan over stove, vented into an empty space then vented via a small hole to the cavity behind the clock which then vented to outside, crap idea, made a fitting to fit the vent on fan then used a pipe to run to the outside vent, far better for things.
The plumbing under the van looked like a dogs breakfast so tidied it up and fitted chaff pads where the hoses ran thru the body and clamps, wouldn't have been long before things would wear a hole. Some hoses just had zip ties holding them, in process of replacing them with better fastenings.
Since the arse end was dragged getting into my place, steep rural driveway, just a bit rugged have to use low range actually, I rolled the axle which gives it plenty of clearance and tows behind better than before, much easier to get underneath also. Nice workshop makes life easier.
Fitted a battery and wired up so I can plug my solar panels in via an anderson plug outside, checked the power output and all is good and shouldn't fry the van set up.
Big pain transfering rego from NSW to QLD but luckily in Toowoomba there is a fella who does the all the paperwork Gas, Compliance, roadworthy etc, so no stuffing around, just have to fit my Trigg hitch and thats should do it for awhile.
So it's a great little van, really brand new as I have all the new van problems but I get them fixed properly, by me instead of some apprentice. Folks at Temora had said to us " Jayco is the A Mart of the Van World " and I think I agree, look great but their attention to detail is wanting.

A great story of what can be done if you know what you are doing, and you know it is done right when you do it too. Sounds like you stumbled onto a great deal. How long did you keep it and did you have any other problems before you upgraded?? Very keen to pick up on the history.
I too have had the axle reversed on my Penguin. Gives much better body clearance even if the axle clearance is still not changed. Bigger step to get in though if you are short as my wife is. Tough!!!!!

 

[Drover]

The old Tardis was with us for a couple of years but after a 4 month trip needed something with a bit more leg room, though the 14 is pretty roomy.......other than the poor wiring and plumbing which gave me hours of fun it wasn't too bad really, went through a vicious hail storm and come out a winner compared to other vans in the park, plastic vent, roof hatch smashed and a had to get a new awning along the way, but continued our trip, others in the park had to go to the shop.
I redid the suspension and wheels but mostly just the usual mods..................it's all in the thread if you have the time, lots of banter to dig thru, a few laughs, actually a lot of laughs............................with Big Mal the theme continues........................
.http://expandasdownunder.com/threads/drovers-new-rig-big-mal.8414/

 

[Frog]

It's wet so dug out some old photo's to post on some other sites and found this one, Coloured Sands Rainbow Beach 1991 nothing to do with my van but it's such a great place. This old truck carted our family all over the place for many, many years just tenting it with a trailer to cart the gear as the truck was full of kids and the odd dog. Great memories.

View attachment 30084

I had one of these as a work car, picked it up brand new and when it was due to come up for auction was going to buy it. One of other blokes took it on patrol and bogged it on the beach, 4 ft of salt water over it for 2 tides. That was the end of that plan"

 

[Drover]

You must be an old coot @Frog to get a brand new one, I know when they came out they were more than I got paid for the year, great truck to have did many miles in ours until old age ( 28) and a slight fall saw it put down.

 

[Frog]

You must be an old coot @Frog to get a brand new one, i now when they came out they were more than I got paid for the year, great truck to have did many miles in ours until old age ( 28) and a slight fall saw it put down.

I'm that old when my granddaughters School had a session on fossils they took me along as an exhibit! I loved that cruiser, mind you the Qld Government supplied it along with a 21ft Savage Marlin with twin 135hp outboards. I was flasher than a "Rat With A Gold Tooth"!

 

[bigcol]

I will have to go searching for Piccies of my '55

it was an Ex Lands Dept. one, so had a fuel tank on drivers side in the back, and a water tank same same on passenger side
from the back seat to the tail gate, from floor to bottom of rear window and 250mm wide........
pain in the "You know what" when you wanted to change tanks, they had 2 taps under the bonnet - fuel in & fuel return
lasted about 2 months before that got changed to just 1 tap on floor just under front of drivers seat

 

[AusSteve]

Grey water tank all fitted, holds about 40 lts, was hoping for more but not hard to expand it. Should be good for a day or 2 at those stops that require it, when not needed just open the valve and it flows as normal. Remove end cap if cleaning needed.
Haven't fitted any S bends will see how things go but since this unit can be cleaned easily unlike using other tanks I probably won't need them and it has a breather vent fitted also.
The fitting on the valve will have to be changed when I find a less bulky unit but beggars can't be choosy.
Just used 150mm PVC pipe and various poly/pvc fittings.




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Hi @Drover, this seems like the goods, I'm thinking I could possibly get two in, side by side, & common them up. I can't see from your pics what you used to hold them up in place, van you advise please? Also did you end up putting an S bend or hepvo valve in? I see you get down close to my way (Coffs Harbour) from time to time. Red Rock & Corindi are both pretty special places hey?

 

[jeff]

Hello AusSteve, we did this on our 14.44.5 after reading Drovers post. We didn't put in an S bend, water not in there long enough to cause any problems. Wife has a very sensitive nose and never had any complaints. We also re-routed the drain pipes from the sink, shower and hand basin so there was a more direct flow to the tank, they all empty quickly.

 

[AusSteve]

View attachment 58465 View attachment 58466 View attachment 58467 Hello AusSteve, we did this on our 14.44.5 after reading Drovers post. We didn't put in an S bend, water not in there long enough to cause any problems. Wife has a very sensitive nose and never had any complaints. We also re-routed the drain pipes from the sink, shower and hand basin so there was a more direct flow to the tank, they all empty quickly.

Thanks for this Jeff, I'm hoping to put mine in further forward so it has minimal impact on ground clearance and departure angle. Have you found any problems with ground clearance or departure angle? We will be doing a lap starting next March that will include lots of off road stuff so I need to have the clearance. This could mean putting the(m), tanks, between the East/West chassis rails and possibly having to have the feed going into the bottom of the pipe.

 

[jeff]

Only place I could put it, there are 2x80 litre tanks in front of this tank, further forward there was the spare tyre which has now been relocated to the back of the van. Clearance between the bottom of the tank and ground is 270mm. It's never bottomed out, I suppose I drive to ensure it doesn't

 

[Drover]

That looks good @jeff......................... @AusSteve tucked in behind the rear wheel you shouldn't get hung up or hit anything, usually something else gets banged further away, on the 14 I had the inlet just on the side and with the sink drain having just a small dip in the pipe it sort of worked like an S bend but wasn't really needed as being able to flush these tanks means it stays clean of smelly goobers......The inlet must be at or near the top, it won't work if you try to plumb it from the bottom....I have fitted them flush with the chassis on one side and with a 10mm pad on the other so it would run to the right to drain well.................The Tardis had good ground clearance.

I think I made some brackets like pipe clamps that wrapped around the pipe and were Tek screwed to the body, never fell off so did the job over some horrible roads out western qld and Victoria.

 

[Troy Foz]

Another day of fun, fitted 2 fans to the fridge and what a change they make, after about 1.5hr the freezer was showing 0.5c, 17.5c inside, outside temp was 28c, 3hrs later I have -12 in freezer and 11c inside with 4c just below the fins, outside temp is 26c, got it set on 7.Using a temp probe that I used for work so it's calibrated, have left it running for the night to see how it goes. Put the thermo switch on the fins but using a 70c unit took ages before it kicked in so moved it to the pipe that runs across, it's damn hot and fans kick in and produced the goods.
View attachment 19846

Used a S/S spring clip to attach the switch that way I can move it if needed.

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Fans running just before I fixed them in place, if fans craps out can be replaced without dismantling everything, glad I thought of that, nearly stuffed it. Used a bit of conduit left over from an A/C fit out works a treat, did it the Jayco way, couple of screws and heaps of silastic and a couple of zip ties.

@Drover did you pull the fridge out to fit these fans as it seems my space might be a bit tight, Also the sealing around the fridge seems like its very poorly done.

 

[Drover]

No need to pull fridge out, you remove the upper outside vent, I use old fans from computer power supplies but you can buy kits, I now fit a fan or fans directly to the vent with some sikaflex instead of building a frame to mount them, you can pick up 12v power from a number of sources but you have to look for them as each model van and fridge is different, just put a connector near the fans so you can disconnect if removing vent, a thermo switch which cuts in at 50 deg mounted on a spring clip will turn it on/off so no need to bother once you turn the fan on......the fridge sides are mostly okay for gaps it can be the top thats the biggest problem, if you can see the top of the fridge them you stuff some pink batts insulation in there and fit a baffle to close it off and direct the hot air out the top vent...........I use foam in a can or silastic to seal small gaps and cable runs.......
I have had no luck finding the How To that I'm sure was done on this......

Might be some info on my Big Mal thread ..... https://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/drovers-new-rig-big-mal.8414/

I'm keep looking for that thread.

 

[Glen Bundesen]

You can often find a fan with thermostat on ebay -
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12v-The...=item23677c61ac:g:gY4AAOSwKfVXFZ13:rk:17:pf:0
But check at what temp the fan is switched on, as you don't want it to get too hot before it starts!