Soaring's 17.56-2OB mods

[Soaring]

So I've got stuck into the stone protection.
I went with a full width insertion rubber flap mounted just in from of the front water tank.
Not really to protect the tank, as it has a shield, but to try to keep the whole underside from looking like a sandblast cabinet.

And the standard Clark rubber tubing around the water pipes

I've got a couple of decent sized pieces of the insertion rubber, so I'll mount them near the rear water tank.

 

[Journey]

Looks great. Where did you get the rubber from? We are still waiting for our Journey. Due mid July. Sold the 1984 Dove in 3 days.

 

[Soaring]

Looks great. Where did you get the rubber from? We are still waiting for our Journey. Due mid July. Sold the 1984 Dove in 3 days.

Good old Clark rubber. Amazing what they have.

 

[Soaring]

Another couple of little mods this weekend.
This time it's all power.
I added a 12v plug to the TV bench, and am using a generic USB double adapter. I seem to have an unending number of gadgets that need charging.

Next up, a 240v inverter.
I worked out with the few items that I need 240v for, it was cheaper to buy a small inverter, than all the 12v adapters. (Mac Air, Bose mini, Mikita drill, SLR battery etc.)
I grabbed a powertech 360w from Jaycar. Not as cheap as the eBay specials, but I do still like the instant gratification you get from going to a shop, buying something and using it straigh away

I'll run a power board through the desk grommet under the dinette seat until I get around to fitting a nice silver power point.

 

[cruza driver]

Neat install with the invertor @Soaring

I'm the same I'm a fan of going into the shops too. :thumb:

 

[dagree]

Nice job @Soaring ... just one thing? Don't forget to disconnect power to the inverter or add a kill switch as they draw power even when switched off! As I found when Mrs Dagree left it switched on the first time we used ours ... 9PM at night and we get a low battery warning (Just lucky it was a cold night and others had genies running so fired ours up for a quick battery topup)

 

[Soaring]

Nice job @Soaring ... just one thing? Don't forget to disconnect power to the inverter or add a kill switch as they draw power even when switched off! As I found when Mrs Dagree left it switched on the first time we used ours ... 9PM at night and we get a low battery warning (Just lucky it was a cold night and others had genies running so fired ours up for a quick battery topup)

Cheers @dagree. While I would love to say I'll try to remember that, without a doubt I will forget at some point.....a flat battery would certainly make the kids morning toilet flush interesting...

 

[dagree]

If you have more battery power than the standard 120W solar and 100AH battery @Soaring you might be OK with it though!

 

[Soaring]

Got the drop down spare wheel bracket knocked up over the weekend. Just got to grab a hitch pin to lock it in place.

I'll do testing of this during our half lap, make any improvements necessary, then knock up a batch to sell. EDU discount will apply

 

[Smirke]

Got the drop down spare wheel bracket knocked up over the weekend. Just got to grab a hitch pin to lock it in place.
View attachment 33358
I'll do testing of this during our half lap, make any improvements necessary, then knock up a batch to sell. EDU discount will apply

Out of curiosity, is the distance between the bumper and the bed (the height bit) the same length on your van as it is on the 21-64?? Asking, as our spare will be mounted on the back too, and our guy said it could be a rigid one as there's room. I'd go and check the height I've got, but the van is still at the "van warrantee shop".

 

[Soaring]

Out of curiosity, is the distance between the bumper and the bed (the height bit) the same length on your van as it is on the 21-64?? Asking, as our spare will be mounted on the back too, and our guy said it could be a rigid one as there's room. I'd go and check the height I've got, but the van is still at the "van warrantee shop".

Not sure, but I would surprised if a non swing down would work, unless the wheel hangs down below the level of the rear bar. This pic might provide a little more perspective.

This my second spare. The original one will be on the roof cage. I'd rather lose this one if the bracket fails.

 

[Soaring]

So one of the reasons I haven't done a trip update for a few days, is I'm doing some mods on the road.
This is one I had planned on doing before we left, but ran out of time.
The fridge fan.
So wile in Mataranka, the fridge temp hit 10 deg. Admittedly, this was after a day's travel, and after putting a few warm beers into it, but it was enough to have me concerned. Given this is our only fridge, and we will shortly be doing the Gibb, I wanted to make sure we would'nt find myself without a plentiful supply of cold cans.
So the very first thing I did when I got phone service coming out of Kakadu, was to find a Jaycar store in Darwin. Fortunately enough, there is one about 10km from where we are staying. A quick trip there and I was equiped with two 12v computer fans, and an illuminated switch. I already had a length of twin core wire left over from the Anderson install.
Anyway, pics tell the story.

Twin fans zip tied to the vent cover. You will notice my Matarsnka bush mechanic, beer can shroud behind the cooling fins too. Very proud of that one!

And the illuminated switch.
I know many have used a thermocouple switch, but that was a little above my "on the road Mod" capability
Actually, that might be a good thread topic on its own, "what mods have you done on the road?"

 

[Tricky]

Can't live without cold beer! But don't work to hard on the trip. Let's see some pics!!!

 

[Smergen]

Nicely done! Importantly though, do you notice the difference? (i.e. are the beers cold?)

Only ask because I know ours struggled over summer at times...

 

[Shane Norwell]

Was the best thing I did to the fridge in our last van, even noticed we had to run the fridge on a lower setting as it was obviously running more efficiently.