The Crusty's 20.63.1OB
- Thread starter Crusty181
- Start date
It may be possible to temporarily remove the seal and put the BEF track on the inside as some have done and then reattach the seal. Not sure who described how to do this others may remember.
Our handover is re-booked for this Thursday. It was scheduled for delivery a couple of weeks ago, but there were some issues that required attention before we would take delivery.
I had an inspection today and ran through the issues and rectifications .... so we are pretty much set for Thusday.
Confident enough to book the maiden voyage for the following weekend
I had an inspection today and ran through the issues and rectifications .... so we are pretty much set for Thusday.
Confident enough to book the maiden voyage for the following weekend
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The ext drawbar on inspection isnt as long as my previous pic would suggest. Or maybe they shoterned it since the last visit
Ha.i was trying for less huge. Ill try another angle. It has to look normal at some point
Ill see it again today and Ill photoshop the next pic if I have to.
Anyway, they told me 13ft drawbar extensions were very popular this year, and all the better caravaners get them. They said the ideal length of the drawbar was at least the length of the van, so Im a little short in that regard. They also warned me that jealous onlookers might say mine looks to big ... a problem Ive never had before (Apparently it referred to as Drawbar Envy)
Anyway, they told me 13ft drawbar extensions were very popular this year, and all the better caravaners get them. They said the ideal length of the drawbar was at least the length of the van, so Im a little short in that regard. They also warned me that jealous onlookers might say mine looks to big ... a problem Ive never had before (Apparently it referred to as Drawbar Envy)
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I collected the Crustinator late this morning and took it for a blast on the fwy to get a feel. Towed ok, not quite as smooth as i expected. Handover was last Thursday at 1pm ..... or 9am apparently, after they rang at 10am to find out where i was ..... Quick trip and a lightning handover.
I discovered this afternoon all the stuff in the handover that happens btw 9 - 10.30am ... in the first session, just before i arrived.
Got it home; on the way decided to skirt around the roundabout down the street ... just in case. Its a bit longer than the 16.49.1. Missed the skirt turn off and ended up with 4 roundabouts which was unfortunate; but I did miss the one i was trying to avoid. So i rated that a successful trip.
Parked it on the nature strip and the huge thing block the sun to my house. Couldnt reach the awning; obviously one of the pre 10.30am handover topics. That was a laugh, jumping up to grab the strap. Found a piece of wire in the front boot that seems friendly enough the hook the strap.
Set about loading all the stuff from the 16.49. How come the stuff from a 16ft van struggles to find a place in a 21ft van? I said to the lovely, jesus you have accumulated some crap, that we cart around. She hit me.
Tested the aircon on the 2kw generator, and was a roaring success, and a economic relief. (Didnt want to buy a 3rd increasingly larger generator)
We opted for the Fusion stereo and had that pumping inside and out as we loaded the van. That was pretty cool. I was originally non committal about a stereo, but after i used it today and discovered i can run the outdoor tv through the outdoor speakers ... i was sold on that.
We didnt realise that the Fusion stereo is remote control, and that was a fantastic discovery. Only problem with that, is it was the aircon remote that was controlling the stereo. Drop the temp, get another station at the same time ..... interesting
Added a second 120amp DC battery, and tried to calibrate the Drifter .... managed to just completely f&*k it up. Now i have Google Drifter manual to get it back to normal.
A couple of things that did pop up in the second session of the handover (which is the one i got to) The "non valve" on the gas bottles is a non valve, just a thing that points this way, or that way, just for fun. The other thing was the water pump draws from both tanks equally. So if one tank is full, and the other has 5 ltrs ...... after 10ltrs your getting nothing but air. Brilliant.
Im going to have a shower in it tomorrow on the nature strip .... and wash some socks
I discovered this afternoon all the stuff in the handover that happens btw 9 - 10.30am ... in the first session, just before i arrived.
Got it home; on the way decided to skirt around the roundabout down the street ... just in case. Its a bit longer than the 16.49.1. Missed the skirt turn off and ended up with 4 roundabouts which was unfortunate; but I did miss the one i was trying to avoid. So i rated that a successful trip.
Parked it on the nature strip and the huge thing block the sun to my house. Couldnt reach the awning; obviously one of the pre 10.30am handover topics. That was a laugh, jumping up to grab the strap. Found a piece of wire in the front boot that seems friendly enough the hook the strap.
Set about loading all the stuff from the 16.49. How come the stuff from a 16ft van struggles to find a place in a 21ft van? I said to the lovely, jesus you have accumulated some crap, that we cart around. She hit me.
Tested the aircon on the 2kw generator, and was a roaring success, and a economic relief. (Didnt want to buy a 3rd increasingly larger generator)
We opted for the Fusion stereo and had that pumping inside and out as we loaded the van. That was pretty cool. I was originally non committal about a stereo, but after i used it today and discovered i can run the outdoor tv through the outdoor speakers ... i was sold on that.
We didnt realise that the Fusion stereo is remote control, and that was a fantastic discovery. Only problem with that, is it was the aircon remote that was controlling the stereo. Drop the temp, get another station at the same time ..... interesting
Added a second 120amp DC battery, and tried to calibrate the Drifter .... managed to just completely f&*k it up. Now i have Google Drifter manual to get it back to normal.
A couple of things that did pop up in the second session of the handover (which is the one i got to) The "non valve" on the gas bottles is a non valve, just a thing that points this way, or that way, just for fun. The other thing was the water pump draws from both tanks equally. So if one tank is full, and the other has 5 ltrs ...... after 10ltrs your getting nothing but air. Brilliant.
Im going to have a shower in it tomorrow on the nature strip .... and wash some socks
After careful consideration, and detailed inspection from many angles ..... the giant extended drawbar has been signed off as a fantastic addition. To all the "ney say'ers", after the alum tool box goes on the front it will come into its own ... transformed like the ugly duckling.
What started out as, in my opinion, a much to light ball weight of 145kg; the alum box full of goodies should bring it up to a more comfortable weight. I can only assume the van is setup for the slide out lounge, and deleting it has impacted on lightening the ball weight.
What started out as, in my opinion, a much to light ball weight of 145kg; the alum box full of goodies should bring it up to a more comfortable weight. I can only assume the van is setup for the slide out lounge, and deleting it has impacted on lightening the ball weight.
Our list of extras and adjustments
The van arrived with the new hard lid, but at my request was exchanged for the old hard lid
Slide out lounge deleted, to reduce the weight.
(Couch returns are marginally shorter, but window seat and table are significantly bigger
Had the Tare weight reduction added back to the ATM, which gives us almost 600kg capacity)
Extended drawbar
Full Oven
Bed cover supplied only, so I can install under the lid edge
150w solar panel upgrade
Extra power points to couch and kitchen bench
Power points deleted from next to kids head in the bunk, and relocated to the foot end wall, along with 12v and TV point
Kept the 150ltr fridge. I have an Engel, and its cheaper and better for us to add another Engel if necessary ... doubt it tho.
Outside Entertainment Unit behind the sink. Knuckle heads fitted it slightly behind the open van door, and the door catch is rendered useless, but with some dealer input we think the Silverline magnetic catch will solve that.
Rear mounted 3 bike rack
900mm rear under bunk storage hatch .... ordered in black, so they thought it a good idea to paint it.
Winegard snowflake.
External shower was deleted because they were going to put it in the front boot. Ill add it later if we find we might use it
Drifter control panel ..... although I managed to bugger it up. Ha
Fold down outside table
Ibis air condtioner
Fusion stereo ..... (we opted for the Ibis AirCon/Fusion single f&*k up remote control option)
Washing machine
Full annex
TV provision
The van antenna coax (against all efforts to get it wrong) was, with a few adjustments and tinkering a success
We use a portable satellite dish, the receiver will sit in the overhead over the TV where it gets its signal via the outside road side coax input. A second indépendant coax runs from the TV area to both the Entertainment Unit, and bunk outlets. Once set up, we can switch the Ent Unit and bunks to either terrestrial or Satellite TV. The main Tv remains independent and can switch btw terrestrial or Sat
Now the fun stuff begins with setting it up and starting the long list of mods
The van arrived with the new hard lid, but at my request was exchanged for the old hard lid
Slide out lounge deleted, to reduce the weight.
(Couch returns are marginally shorter, but window seat and table are significantly bigger
Had the Tare weight reduction added back to the ATM, which gives us almost 600kg capacity)
Extended drawbar
Full Oven
Bed cover supplied only, so I can install under the lid edge
150w solar panel upgrade
Extra power points to couch and kitchen bench
Power points deleted from next to kids head in the bunk, and relocated to the foot end wall, along with 12v and TV point
Kept the 150ltr fridge. I have an Engel, and its cheaper and better for us to add another Engel if necessary ... doubt it tho.
Outside Entertainment Unit behind the sink. Knuckle heads fitted it slightly behind the open van door, and the door catch is rendered useless, but with some dealer input we think the Silverline magnetic catch will solve that.
Rear mounted 3 bike rack
900mm rear under bunk storage hatch .... ordered in black, so they thought it a good idea to paint it.
Winegard snowflake.
External shower was deleted because they were going to put it in the front boot. Ill add it later if we find we might use it
Drifter control panel ..... although I managed to bugger it up. Ha
Fold down outside table
Ibis air condtioner
Fusion stereo ..... (we opted for the Ibis AirCon/Fusion single f&*k up remote control option)
Washing machine
Full annex
TV provision
The van antenna coax (against all efforts to get it wrong) was, with a few adjustments and tinkering a success
We use a portable satellite dish, the receiver will sit in the overhead over the TV where it gets its signal via the outside road side coax input. A second indépendant coax runs from the TV area to both the Entertainment Unit, and bunk outlets. Once set up, we can switch the Ent Unit and bunks to either terrestrial or Satellite TV. The main Tv remains independent and can switch btw terrestrial or Sat
Now the fun stuff begins with setting it up and starting the long list of mods
Sounds very noice El Crusto, the remote for our radio/stereo/DVD player thingy needed a new battery, something like $13 for a new one, didn't really want a remote for the damn thing anyway. TV has a DVD player and the batteries for it's remote are about 20cents .
It's a wonderfull feeling when your Genny powers up the AC, I ran mine again the other day to make sure after some had said there's wouldn't .
So you can't select which water tank to draw from ??? What DH decided that?? Off to the Big Green Shed and the irrigation section.
It's a wonderfull feeling when your Genny powers up the AC, I ran mine again the other day to make sure after some had said there's wouldn't .
So you can't select which water tank to draw from ??? What DH decided that?? Off to the Big Green Shed and the irrigation section.
You bet it is. Id read that the Ibis was a bit hit/miss on a 2kw gen. I ran it yesterday for half an hour, and didnt seem to push the gen too much. The heater seemed to give the gen more of a workout.
I thought that was a pretty stupid way to run 2 tanks. We tend to carry one full tank of beautiful Melb water for drinking water use only (topping up when the local water is good) ... the second tank would generally be left empty unless we head off the grid and we'll fill it b4 we head into the scrub, and dump it when we leave.
You right about the caravanners buddy, Bunnings. Better have a look to work out the current setup first.
Had a shower in the van today .... aint that a little piece of special'ness. A shower in my caravan!!!!!!, who would have thought. It doesnt seem that long ago when a swag and an eski was my full camping kit.
Didnt have time to wash some socks ... maybe tomorrow
Didnt have time to wash some socks ... maybe tomorrow
Hows the camera going? Pics
. And I don`t mean you in the shower either!
. And I don`t mean you in the shower either!