Drovers new Rig - "Big Mal"

[Drover]

Today was a trip to the big smoke, Maryborough and among the Docs visit, Dans and usual Aldi etc and lunch with old RAAFie mate for slingng off at each other, stopped at the caravan parts shop for a new door hinge, normal, I thought, Camec double door job, grab 2 off the rack, check them they look right, get home and go to fit one everything fine BUT one section is not quite lining up, closer look there's a lip and the rivet holes don't match, check old hinge, no lip, look at other hinge, its like the old one, okay fit that and all good, mismatch one goes in spares box, slight mod and it will be good.. in very small biro print on label there's a number, cross reference and bingo there are 2 hinges made, need magnifying glass to see the difference...... so if you have a dodgy one remove it and take to shop.

Info part numbers are Camec 039376 (the one that didn't fit my old door) and Camec 014407 which did.................

Camec 014407 if you look at the lower part of the hinge its flat no edge...... easy to see on outer door which one yours needs.


and in this one the Camec 039376 you will see a little ridge in the same hinge part and the holes won't line up, everything else is the same..

.................. pics from a Google of the part numbers....

 

[1DayIll]

I love the fact that you call Maryborough the big smoke!

 

[Drover]

I love the fact that you call Maryborough the big smoke!

Its got lots of traffic lights, 4 or 5 supermarkets, shopping centre, Dans, Bunnings and a host of shops and a few pubs, quite a few idiots as well and is 60km from us, our place has 2 supermarkets, 1 pub, 1 golf club, 1 bowlo, 1 RSL, 1 bottle shop, 1 hardware store, 1 butcher, 2 bakeries, 1 newspaper shop and a couple of other cafe's and stuff...................... just a small drinking town with a fishing problem .......................... not a bluddy traffic light for miles.

 

[mikerezny]

Hi,
I was a paper boy in Maryborough when the first set of traffic lights were installed. In those days most people cycled to work at the Walkers Engineering, Walkers Boat building, the huge train maintenance depot, the sugar mill, Hynes and Wilson Hart sawmills, the gas factory. The town had over 20 pubs and 10 minutes after 5pm when the stop work whistles blew, most of the pubs were three deep with chaps drinking a few beers before they cycled home to have dinner at around 6pm. If you were lucky you could double your wages in tips if you could beat as many other paper boys to be the first in the pub to sell the Telegraph.

The good old days.

Hervey bay was a sleepy beach place.
Maryborough was a big smoke. Not as big as Bundaberg, (although few who lived in Maryborough would acknowledge that) but certainly better than sleepy old little smoke Gympie.

cheers
Mike

 

[Drover]

Pretty sad to see that of all those places only the Train Shed is still going strong, Downer Rail have the sign up at the moment, I always hope they are moving rolliing stock around when we visit as they run along the road, I like loco's, timber yard has shrunk, boat/ship building has gone and Hervey Bay has turned into a Colorbond jungle so the city folk who moved there to get away from the city still feel at home I suppose...

 

[DRW]

I did the wiring install on the last steel trawler built on the old slipway opposite Walkers. I used to live on the sunny coast and moved there when there was only one set of traffic lights, I went there last week to see a doctor no way could I live there again even if I could afford it

 

[1DayIll]

My Stepfather had a place in Hervey Bay so I spent many Christmas, and other holidays there. Loved the place although a surf beach would have made it better. Was great though when my kids were young.
Been back once since and boy has it grown!

 

[mikerezny]

Maryborough even had three cinemas: The Wintegarden, The Bungalow, and The Embassy, as well as a drive-in theatre.
There were two cinemas and one drive-in theatre in Hervey Bay from memory.

 

[Drover]

One of the best things about MaryB other than Dans is the Mary Anne Steam Train ride, every Thursday morning, oh and the free camp at the Airport is pretty good as well.

 

[1DayIll]

One of the best things about MaryB other than Dans is the Mary Anne Steam Train ride, every Thursday morning, oh and the free camp at the Airport is pretty good as well.

Do they still use the airport? Would be fun sitting and watching the plane go in and out.

 

[Drover]

Do they still use the airport? Would be fun sitting and watching the plane go in and out.

Its only a local aerodrome but its good to watch the various light aircraft, the Maryborough Aviation Museum is eventually going to have a place there, they are restoring a Winjeel at the moment, lots of Military History in this town as well..... from a RAAF base in WWII and Walkers Shipyard building quite a few warships starting in the late 1800's till about 1975, Frigates,Corvettes, Patrol Boats and landing craft I think near 3 dozen anyway, HMAS Diamantina at the Maritime Museum in Brissie was built in Maryborough, not to mention Walkers building many trains ..... lots of history in the old town.... stay away when there's lots of rain though or you will find out why they were good at building boats..............

 

[Drover]

Well early this year or late last year I had a squiz at brakes all looked okay but needing attention soon, well today about 6 - 10K kms later, (limited travel this year) I was inspired to give them the yearly, well one wheel anyway its a 4 day job for me now, one wheel at a time........... magnets near stuffed, shoes about 25% left, bearings look and feel good, magnets and shoes are for the bin, bearings get a repack ............. the other big ticket item is the rubber fitted in 2017 they are now half way into year 6 so might get rpelaced middle of next year, the Geolanders have been good guessing about 65-70K kms on them and a little over half way but 265 75 16's aren't a cheap tyre so certainly have to save up for them..

............ The good one has the rubber band....

 

[Boots in Action]

Well early this year or late last year I had a squiz at brakes all looked okay but needing attention soon, well today about 6 - 10K kms later, (limited travel this year) I was inspired to give them the yearly, well one wheel anyway its a 4 day job for me now, one wheel at a time........... magnets near stuffed, shoes about 25% left, bearings look and feel good, magnets and shoes are for the bin, bearings get a repack ............. the other big ticket item is the rubber fitted in 2017 they are now half way into year 6 so might get rpelaced middle of next year, the Geolanders have been good guessing about 65-70K kms on them and a little over half way but 265 75 16's aren't a cheap tyre so certainly have to save up for them..

View attachment 68755............ The good one has the rubber band....

That will keep you busy for a while and lighten your wallet somewhat I expect. Maintenance is a constant thing and there is no getting around it. Much cheaper (and probably better!!) as you are doing it. Tyre replacement is another thing though and expensive. Tighten your belt for the latest prices!!!

 

[Drover]

I like, that nowadays I dont have to spend all day on things, just do one wheel each day, no swearing or rush, prices arent too bad for the brakes, wait for the free postage and buy then. Tyres will need some research and a cost/quality balance, a LT highway pattern be even better than an moderate AT like the Geolanders but they have a good few Kms left in them, age is catching up though so as I pull the wheels off they will get a good check, rotating after each trip seems to help so thats in the 6-8K kms area otherwise the back ones would be chewed a bit more I think.....
Its a constant stream of $$ each month for both Jeep and Van keeping the shelf stocked for servicing.... Still hundreds of $$ saved each service done by myself...otherwise couldnt afford it... Mid March I can see it on the road again, stuff the fuel price ....

 

[DRW]

Don’t forget to get them balanced @Drover you can then join the elite club lol

 

[Drover]

Well as mentioned on another thread Big Mal got a visit by the Sky Rocks again, bastard things, they were around the 30mm size but thankfully under 2 mins duration, a good look today showed about 10 dents/mt on the roof, this roof is dimpled 2mm stuff thicker than the original roof cladding the panels, vents and AC shroud okay with the odd hit on the side and back wall, I'm not going to bother putting in a claim, its doesn't leak, more trouble than its worth really, especially if they can't source the alloy skin ...........
I'm going to do the roof in that Thermoshield paint that I painted my mates motorhome roof with, his went through the same thing, no dents at all when we had a look this morning, most impressed with it actually we were impressed twice first that it padded out the rocks and secondly we applied it correctly, nothing like Sky rocks to show up faulty work...

The homestead came away with just the odd thump on a ridge cap, will give it a moonlight check tonight though but visual its all good, vents show no sign of hits so reckon all sweet ................... well thats this week, could be some more next week, really have to get that shed extension done........

One brake done on rig so far, once thats done hook up and go for a derb around the back of town then on jacks to check bearings and adjust brakes and hopefully I got it right first time so don't have to go around again but new bits will need to bed in a bit so a shorty trip to Goomeri and Wondai for a 2nd hand shop wander, a couple of days should about do it and check when we get home, then won't have to stuff around on a long trip..... ...............

No pics too peed off ..............

 

[mikerezny]

Just a thought.
Years ago we had a Hyandai Getz that went through a hail storm. No major damage: about 10 -20 very small dimples and in the end I didn't claim it on insurance, again because I couldn't be bothered. Roll the clock forward and we headed off overseas to work in the UK and wanted to sell the car before we left. Being an honest chap, I priced it a couple of thousand under market value and explained it had some very small dimples from hail that could hardly be seen. After six weeks and a price reduction not a single inquiry. We still have the car.
If I had claimed it on insurance, paid the $250 excess, it would have been sold at market value and we would have bought a new car when we came back from the UK.
Worst move ever: Pay insurance, don't claim, and suffer a loss of value that was never recovered.

take care
Mike

 

[Hitting the road]

Pain in the proverbial Drover...one takes all the care they can keeping their rig looking clean & tidy, then you get flippin' hail stones thrown at it from great heights!

 

[rags]

Just a thought.
Years ago we had a Hyandai Getz that went through a hail storm. No major damage: about 10 -20 very small dimples and in the end I didn't claim it on insurance, again because I couldn't be bothered. Roll the clock forward and we headed off overseas to work in the UK and wanted to sell the car before we left. Being an honest chap, I priced it a couple of thousand under market value and explained it had some very small dimples from hail that could hardly be seen. After six weeks and a price reduction not a single inquiry. We still have the car.
If I had claimed it on insurance, paid the $250 excess, it would have been sold at market value and we would have bought a new car when we came back from the UK.
Worst move ever: Pay insurance, don't claim, and suffer a loss of value that was never recovered.

take care
Mike

When my daughter got her licence, living in a rural area we decided we would buy her 1st car to make life easy. Around that time a hail storm went thru Sydney resulting in many cars being writing off by insurance companies as economic write offs.
My daughter as a kid had a model RAV4 and always wanted one. Moving forward there was an auction of the repairable write off cars, so I went to have a look at what was available. There I found a 3 door RAV4 in a cruiser pack, exactly like daughters model car. Damage was not to bad and otherwise the car looked ok.
So I bid at auction for the car, was successful in getting it for $2700. Towed it home, got a roadworthy and then surprised the daughter with the car.
We never worried about repairing the damage and she drove it for around 3 or 4 years before she sold it for a profit of $3500. Was a great car.

 

[BJM]

Have had two JOB poptops ,both fibreglass , both were in hailstorms ! Both came away without any damage at all though in one case the alluminium sided vans next to ours were severely dented .I decided few years ago fibreglass would fair much better in hailstorms. NRMA insurance used to give a discount if the van was fibreglass.Just on another note,new van owners now finding out if they live in a flood zone post code area insurance may not be available!