newby van owner!

[StevoPX]

Hi all, I have recently bought a 20.63-1 and are going to Victor harbour for first trip for a night this sat for a run and stay, to get some experience. And will be going up to Alice and Yulara for two weeks from the Barossa! Cant wait! But am a greenhorn with vans, am getting a lot of great tips and advice from this forum, but I need to know anything I need to do to it to be reliable on dirt roads, as its unfortunately only a tourer! I really had no idea most people seem to have OB's. Will be seriously looking at the stone stomper for a start, and was thinking of underslinging the axles. Thanks StevoPX.

 

[BUSH PALACE]

Welcome aboard there StevoPx , what is it you want to know about dirt roads ? apart from drive to the conditions , lower your tyre pressure and just take your time .

 

[relgate]

Sounds like your on the right track @StevoPX
There are threads on here about setting up your van for dirt, sealing up the fridge and door vents, sealing the rear bed (Dirt can get in there). Some have reinforced the gear under the van or protected it with shade cloth. Make sure you carry spare fuses, pipe connectors, glue and tape etc etc. Have a tool box with you also.
Do some reading no tyre pressure as well.
Good luck, I'm sure others will have some experience to share.

 

[17triton]

Welcome Stevo! As the others have said search through the forum and enjoy.

 

[macca]

Welcome Steve, underslung axles will give you good ground clearance, easy to get done and wont break the bank balance. Love the 20-63-1's. I suppose you could argue how outback can you go in a van that length (others will respond), as long as you go down sensible roads you will be right.

 

[Bmhdg76]

Welcome! Like you were are new to towing a caravan (upgraded from a soft floor). So much info on here.
Do as I did... Set aside a good chunk of time and just go through forum thread to forum thread. Found was a good way to get lots of info. Also a good way to spend money!

BJ

 

[Xpandafan]

Welcome @StevoPX . Going outback is not going off-road and you'll be fine.
Drive to the conditions and read up (on this forum) on van tire pressures. Highway you need to be about 40psi. Unsurfaced roads drop to 27-30psi. You need a decent 12v pump, quality pressure gauge/deflator.
Recommend going underslung axles (<$500).
BJ is right on the money...invest time in trawling thru this forum. I've learnt more here than from my 30 years of vanning.

 

[crackacoldie]

Welcome @StevoPX, great to see another Barossa local here. One tip above what he others have written above, remove the handles from the flick mixer taps and put some silicon on he thread before putting them back in, they fall out on corrugations. The. Other thing we found handy was to bubble wrap the shower hose to stop it from marking the shower walls during travel.

 

[Holden_man]

Welcome from the Holden lovin family as well @StevoPX look forward to hearing about your adventures. We went the stone stomper and am very happy, we protected underbody piping and wiring. Our trip report has a few of the things we did to prepare for the Oodnadatta Track http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/hms-central-australia-trip.3136/ Most dirt roads I think are no problem with a bit of prep, but just be realistic, and a bit of research before you go doesn't hurt. We gave the mareenie loop a miss out at kings canyon based on some research and am glad we did. Some vanners have damaged their vans on that one.

Bubble wrap....bloody good idea Cracka, I looked at ours on the June/July trip thinking " ahhh that looks like its rubbing the wall". There's always a tip to pick up in here
Thx
HM

 

[crackacoldie]

And be warned @StevoPX, back of the ranger doesn't seal so well, you can see from photos here http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/crackacoldie-heads-north.2970/

 

[relgate]

Welcome @StevoPX, great to see another Barossa local here. One tip above what he others have written above, remove the handles from the flick mixer taps and put some silicon on he thread before putting them back in, they fall out on corrugations. The. Other thing we found handy was to bubble wrap the shower hose to stop it from marking the shower walls during travel.

Good idea about the bubble wrap. We usually take the hose and head off the bracket, wrap it in the bath mat and leave it on the floor

 

[StevoPX]

Thank a lot for the tips guys! Will do the axles prob just need to ring jayco and get a price, and stomper it if the funds allow!

 

[crackacoldie]

When you get a price from Jayco, also get one from Electric Brake Specialists and Gawler Caravans, both of these are authorised to do the job without voiding your warranty.

 

[StevoPX]

Well the locals wont do the axle's crackacoldie! They said if anything happens people look at the last people to touch it ? But the dealer who we bought the van through want $720. And I rang alice info about the roads and he said that it would be a bad idea to take a normal van on the corregations as some people have done many thousands of $ damage!? So we may just have to stick to the blacktop! So DO rivets rattle loose etc?

 

[crackacoldie]

We had one lot of rivets, in the under couch strange cupboard come loose. I have long term temporarily fixed them with gaffe tape, not sure why they riveted into ply wood. Also not sure on a permanent repair. We also Lost some wood screws from the cabinetry on the cape.

 

[Xpandafan]

@StevoPX you might need to forget locals and plan a trip to Victoria.
I paid $450 at Prestige Jayco in Geelong, they've done lots of Expandas and no issues. Jayco OB's are underslung at the factory so don't hesitate on that front but $700+ sounds like a rip off. Drive to the conditions and you'll get most everywhere, not a lot of rivets in the Expandas just take a screw driver and some sikaflex. They're really glued together.

BTW, I toured the factory for two hours this week and was quite impressed with production lines and the manufacturing process. 850 staff producing over 10,000 Jayco's per annum. Big emphasis on QC on the lines. Warranty issues are now running at about 2% and all remedied without fuss. Jayco Inc people visiting from USA are apparently very impressed with Australian build quality and styling. Only have more respect for Gerry Ryan after seeing this operation at first hand.

 

[Brad]

Welcome @StevoPX . Our first van was a tourer. You will still get to most places in that van that you would go to when you have a van in tow. Enjoy the forum.

 

[StevoPX]

ok thanks, agood idea about geelong! I think ill just take it up and see what life and luck throws at me!