The camper trailers upgraded power system

After a couple of months on the road we have had few queries and a fair bit of interest in the 12v power system that the camper runs, so we though it would be a good idea to give an overview of what we have installed and our impression so far. So Mat is back on the keyboard today. 

When we purchased the trailer the 12v system was pretty much non existent, there was an old 100a/h deep cycle battery and 2 Merritt plugs on the side of the camper, there was no way to get charge into the battery except by using a stand alone charger and crocodile clamps. 

Knowing that we prefer to camp away from caravan parks as often as we can and that we would be running 2 Engel Fridges; one of which would be a dedicated freezer, we decided that the system would need a major upgrade and some thinking on how to make it work best for us. 

The first thing we did was work out our worst case total power draw (using the maximum a/h draw figures for all of the electrical stuff we have (the two fridges, some LED lights, and all of the gadgets and gizmos we have that need charging) and then worked backwards from there. However the more we looked into it, it became obvious that we were going to need someone with more 12v knowledge than we had, to design a system that would both meet our needs and be robust enough to handle life in the bush.

When looking for someone to help us design the system we got in contact with Jamie and Shane from JTS on the Sunshine Coast, these guys have been building 12v systems for years and specialise in the type of fit out that we wanted to do.  

Many phone calls and emails later (Sorry Shane!!) we landed on a system that we felt would cover all of our bases.

The system. It is located in the box on the drawbar at the front of the trailer. 

 The back bone of the system is 2x 120a/h AGM batteries from FullRiver these came very well recommended as reliable durable power storage options that would stand up to life as a full time power supply, they cost a little more than some other brands but, so far they have proved to be worth every cent. These were installed in Parallel configuration, basically meaning they operate as one big 240a/h storage.

Next we installed a Radarc BCDC 1225 battery manager, this system is capable of managing charge from both the vehicle (from the alternator) and from solar panels (more on this shortly). Having had Redarc products in our last two utes, and a Redarc dual battery isolator in Ruby currently we were happy to use this Australian made product.  Having taken care of 12v charging, we also wanted to add a 240v charging alternative to the system for times when we were in town.  

The Redarc is the black box beside the battery. 

Shane and Jamie recommended a ProCharge Ultra Charger, this is a 30A charger that can be used for bulk charging as well as maintenance charging of batteries in storage.  This system has proven to be perfect for topping up the batteries in town when we have been at a Caravan Park for a few days. 

240v power charger. 

Having taken care of charging we installed a BM1 compact battery monitor to keep an eye on both battery voltages and charge/discharge rates, this has proven to be the most handy piece of the entire set up, allowing us to get a firm understanding of both our power usage, but also to better understand how the charging a system works in various scenarios so we can adjust our use accordingly. 

Battery monitor & inverter

With a number of gadgets and gizmos to charge we knew we needed an inverter, in the end we settled for a Cotek 300w inverter, this is a pure sine wave inverter allowing us to safely charge delicate equipment such as tablet computers and mobile phones, the 300w inverter isn't big enough to run appliances such as kettles and toasters, but so far this isn't proving to be much of a problem for us. 

As the camper was a few years old the plugs and sockets used throughout the trailer were also in need of replacing. We chose to replace all of the existing Merritt Sockets with standard 12v cigar sockets, and also added an additional outlet inside the camper body for use inside the tent.  All of the charging and external connector plugs were changed over to Anderson Plugs, and the cabling    used was upgraded to accommodate for the size of the current to and from each plug. 

Lastly we needed a power source for the batteries when the car wasn't hooked up and we were away from mains power for more than a couple of days. We considered and quickly discarded the idea of using a generator, as that would mean carrying unleaded fuel.  Also we camp in National Parks a lot and some of these have strict rules about generator use. As a result we started looking at Solar panels.  The efficiently and affordability of portable solar panels has improved dramatically over the last few years, with a lot of cheap panels now available on the market.  Talking to the team from JTS it was clear that up to a point with solar you get what you pay for, with the budget end of the market often coming with inflated power figures and poor quality fittings.  However the same was clear from the top end of the market, with the most expensive panels, while they might be more efficient and durable over an extended (years and decades) period, that they didn't seem to offer value for money for us. 

In the end we ended up with  2x 120w panels from the Chinese manufacturer Blue Sun.  These were a mid range panel, to improve the durability of these panels the team from JTS has upgraded all of the clips, plugs and cabling on them to meet our needs, this included bypassing the solar regulators that came with the panels (our Redarc does this job in our system) and replacing the crocodile clamps with Anderson Plugs to match the permanently fitted inlet sockets on the trailer.  

Anderson plugs on the trailer that connect to the car. 

Anderson plugs that the solar panels connect directly to. This then charges the batteries. 

After several trial runs on shorter trips and after 6 weeks on the road it is fair to say that we are more than happy with how the system has worked.  On a sunny day our solar system makes around 15 amps of charge, meaning our system is usually fully charged by lunchtime.  On an overcast day the system is still making enough charge to keep up with our fridge draw (4-5 amps) meaning that even under poor conditions we can last several days without needing to look for an alternative power source. 

The longest period we have been away from mains power continuously now is 16 days, and the system was fully charged the evening before we packed up when we put the solar panels away. This self sufficiency is allowing us to plan longer periods away from mains power, and is also saving us money as we can bush camp more and don't need to pay for powered sites if we choose not to when we do have to use a caravan park. 

The long term durability of  the Anderson Plugs used in most of the systems connection will be interesting, so far they are going ok, but the most used of them are occasionally stiff and hard to use. We have plenty of spares in the event of one failing.

We can't thank the team at JTS enough for their help in designing and building the system, these guys were a pleasure to deal with and their workmanship was first class. See link to their website https://www.jtsonline.com.au.

The long term durability of the system will be interesting, but given the quality of the workmanship and components used, were confident that we will be fine.

Ruby and the Camper get new Tyres

Tyres were one of the bigger decisions when we were setting up both Ruby and the Camper. Early on we decided that we would run out the factory fitted Dunlop Grandtreks on Ruby (while I complained about them every time we drove Ruby in the Bush) and the camper had 2 pretty good Bridgestone A/T's on it and a very average spare that would have to do in pinch.

The original tyres on Ruby the photo above just before we replaced them at 40000km & the below photo the original unused spare. 

The original tyres on the camper trailer. 

This gave us some time to do some research on price and performance and also to make the biggest decision of all; whether or not to step up a size.  In the end that proved to be a relatively easy decision because we could not legally fit 285/75/16 tyres on Ruby's genuine Toyota 16" rims, and with no desire to buy another set of alloys we were forced to stay with 265/75/16 tyres.  This has the benefit of meaning the tyres were slightly cheaper, lighter and should make slight overall difference in fuel economy, however we have traded off some diff clearance and off-road ability with the smaller tyres.

Next choice was what tread pattern. We have owned both Mud terrain and All terrain tyres in the past and have had good and bad experiences with both.  This time it was decided that we would try and find a compromise solution, with one of the more aggressive A/T tyres that have recently come onto the market.

Having worked in open cut mining and having owned a few four wheel drives for a number of years, I already had firm opinions on what brands of tyres I would and wouldn't consider.  Overall I prefer American made brands, and have owned Goodyear, Cooper and BF Goodrich tyres in the past, and also driven on a number of others in a variety of circumstances.

When Cooper first released their ST Maxx tyres as a replacement for the Cooper ST there was a lot of interest to see if they could improve previous issues with chipping, and a few other common issues that many owners experienced.  When these tyres were first released a medium sized mining contractor at the mine I was working at put them onto all of their supervisors utes.  These utes were being driven 2-300km a day both on bitumen and on mine dirt roads and tracks, a perfect comparison for the type of driving we are planning on doing.  After 12 months and 50,000km the tyres were still going, which in a mining environment is a noteworthy outcome.  It is not uncommon for mine vehicles to get new tyres every 20,000km due to the harsh operating conditions and less than sympathetic operators.

So having made our decision we started to shop around for the best deal.  We were looking within  300km radius of Rockhampton, and given that we run 2 spares on Ruby and one for the camper as well we were looking for 9 tyres overall.  The tyre dealers we approached were either not interested in doing a deal at all (apparently Cooper set a pretty small price band for re-sale) or told us that they couldn't do us much of a deal.  We eventually approached a new dealer in Emerald at a small trade show and were happy to hear that they would do us a good deal for 9 tyres and 3 new steel wheels for the camper.  The overall cost per tyre was nearly $60 cheaper each tyre, than the most expensive quote and their steel wheels were also cheaper, Bargin!

The new Cooper tyres on Ruby. 

  

Having driven almost 5000km on the ST Maxx's now were happy to report that so far we are happy, they were a little unpredictable at first on bitumen at high speed, however with some pressure adjustments and after adding some more weight to Ruby this has improved considerably.  So far we are very impressed with these tyres on the dirt, they have heaps of grip, and overall would be the best tyres we have ever used on the dirt.  Only time will tell if they will deliver good mileage and continue to perform as they wear.  I will give an update on the Coopers sometime later in the journey.

Ruby & the Camper Trailer on Fraser Island

Last year we went to Fraser Island for a week, to fully test out all of our gear and set-up before our big trip.  We had heard various things about if you should take a camper trailer to Fraser or not, but we decided to give it a go.  The trailer performed perfectly the whole way and we were very happy with how it went.  The only problem we encountered was when we were driving up the beach looking for a campsite and there was a large group of fishermen on one of the corners of the beach, we had to slow right down to avoid them and veer up into the soft sand up towards the dunes.  As we had lost momentum, we ended up getting bogged.  Luckily we didn't dig down too far, so we grabbed the two pairs of Max Trax off the roof and placed them under each wheel on Ruby.  After a couple of false starts, the Max Trax did exactly what they were supposed to and we were free.

See the video below.

 

It was definitely worth taking the trailer.  Below was our campsite.

 

And you just have to have a Dingo photo from Fraser Island.  This cheeky bugger was only about 10 meters from us, when the photo was taken.

 

Posted by Jess

The Making of Ruby - Part 3

The Making of Ruby- Part 3

A lot of thought and planning went into the outside of Ruby to make her fit our needs, but just as important for a touring setup was the interior of the car. These are the modifications that make the most difference to a cars usability, when it is going to be lived out of for a year or more.   

As Ruby is a 76 series Landcruiser the interior is already fairly simple and functional, however there were a few key things that we decided to do in order to improve storage functionality and space.  Top of the list was a set of roller storage draws in the back.  When looking into this we had a couple of key requirements.  We wanted a drawer set that sat flush across the entire cargo area of the car, this meant that as well as a set of draws, the storage system would also need to incorporate inserts on the sides to fill the odd shaped spaces left by square sided draws.  Secondly we would need the draws to incorporate some type of fridge slide, to enable easy access to our Engel fridges, and finally we wanted to include a cargo barrier at the back of the draws to separate the luggage area of the car from the rest of the cabin.

Outback drawers

 

There were several brands of draws that would have met all of these requirements; however there were a couple of things that led us to choose Outback brand draws in the end.  Firstly the latches and handles on the draws were the best quality we saw.  The handles are large and strong, and after 2 years in the back of the car we have not had any issues with dirt and dust making them stick or hard to use.

Fridge slide built into the drawers on the right and the MSA fridge slide on the left

 Secondly we could include a roller top on the draws, this meant that we could have a fridge slide but still keep the top of the draws flat as a storage area when we don’t have the fridge in the back.  However as we started to plan for this trip it soon because apparent that one 40L fridge would not be enough cold space.  Unfortunately when we asked Outback if we could simply install a second roller top in place of the original fixed draw top, we were informed that we could not without buying a whole new draw unit (which would have cost over $1000 all up).  As a result we installed a MSA fridge slide for the second fridge.  This unit has worked well so far, but we have noticed that it is prone to becoming hard to slide when it gets a bit of dirt and dust in it and requires constant cleaning to keep it working.  

The outback until also incorporates an easy to install half height cargo barrier that has made both the rear and central storage areas easier to use.

Outback cargo barrier

 

In the rear passengers area of the car it soon became obvious that the rear seats were taking up valuable space and were unwanted weight.  After confirming QLD Transports rules on the removal or rear seats (you can temporarily remove seats from a vehicle in QLD as long as the change is not permanent.  We were also advised to keep the seat belts mounted and to carry the relevant QLD transport guideline with us in case we were questions by Transport Authorities or Police) it was a simple matter of removing 2 bolts and un-clipping the seats to take it out in one piece.  This has given us heaps more space and removed approximately 40kg of unwanted weight from the rear of the vehicle.   We also added a piece of rubber matting cut to shape to protect the carpet in the rear passenger area.

Rubber matting on the back floor

Closer up of rubber matting - the seat belts are still installed

 

In the front of the car there were also a couple of things we decided to do to make the car more user friendly.  Firstly we installed a top shelf from Outback interiors.  This has been one of the best modifications we have made to Ruby.  It makes use of otherwise useless space in the car, and allows for items such as mobile phones and wallets to be put up out of the way, where they wont accidentally fall out of the car.  The shelf also incorporates 2 very good LED map lights that have proved handy when trying to find items in the car at night. 

Front seat interior



Outback roof shelf

Lastly we added a set of Genuine Toyota canvas seat covers and Sandgrabba floor mats.  We have had these in our vehicles previously and have been impressed with their durability.  The seat covers give a snug fit on the seats and look good. There are other more heavy duty canvas seat covers available, but we have found that the Toyota ones have a softer material and are not as slippery, making them better for long days sitting in the seats.

The Sandgrabba mats have been great for protecting the carpets in Ruby and making cleaning the footwells out a breeze.  Sandgrabba make floor mats to fit specific vehicle modes as snugly as possible. Ours have withstood many camping trips and days out 4X4ing and still come up looking like new after they have been vacuumed and wiped over.  Our only issue with these is that they would be better if they had a deeper dish in them to catch a little more dirt and mud, but as long as you empty them regularly they will last for years and keep your carpet's looking like new underneath!

Sandgrabba Floor Mats and Toyota canvas seat covers

 

Other than a few electronic additions and gadgets (which we will cover in a later post) this concludes our alterations to Ruby’s interior. 

 

Posted by Mat

The Making of Ruby - Part 2

Part 2

Following a couple of weekends away (we will also get some posts up about this soon!) it was clear that we were a little light on for extra storage. The 76 is a relatively small vehicle inside and bulky or awkward items such as swags, shovels, fishing rods and spare tyres were taking up too much room, or risking damage to the gear, us, or car itself by having them inside the cabin. As a result we needed to make a decision on how to carry this equipment. With a second spare tyre a mandatory inclusion for us, this became a key issue, with a couple of solutions being considered.

We looked into mounting a rear bar with dual wheel carriers onto the back of the car, this would sort the spare tyre issue out and also remove some weight from the rear door while providing better rear panel protection. However; we found that to secure a quality unit that these are VERY expensive (more than the cost of all of our other bar work combined!) We also considered modifying the camper to carry a second spare, but decided against this as it would have meant a custom fabrication of a carrier and had the potential to make it inconvenient to get into and out of the trailers storage compartment.

Rear awning on roof rack

 

All of this made a roof rack a pretty compelling decision; the next problem is which one! Almost every major 4x4 accessory supplier makes a roof rack, with cost, materials and quality varying greatly between models and brands. The first decision was Alloy vs Steel, Alloy is lighter, but in most cases has a lower carrying capacity for the rack itself. Whereas steel is heavy (meaning you take up more of your roof rated weight limit with the rack before you have added any extra equipment). We settled on a Rhino Rack unit, which is made of aluminum, but built to be heavy duty. We also decided against the traditional roof bars and basket configuration of Rhino Rack, opting instead for their new (at the time) Pioneer units, which are similar to other steel unit available on the markets in being permanently mounted complete units with the supports being contained in the tray of the rack rather than in separate roof bars. All roof racks for the 76 series are mounted in the gutters of the vehicles roof. One concern we had with many of the racks we looked at was that when there were not enough mounting points to spread the load evenly across the roof that the gutters can be damaged and lead to long term issues for the vehicle. The Rhino unit has well designed mounting clamps which spread the weight over a large area, and fix to the gutters in a way, where point loading is minimised. We have since added shovel holders, and side and rear awnings to the rack, further adding to its versatility for our needs.

 

Side awning on the roof rack

Rhino roof rack with shovel holder attached

 

 As mentioned in our earlier post, it was always part of the plan to fit a winch to the car at some stage. However as we are not using the vehicle for extreme 4x4 and don’t intend on actively putting ourselves in situations where we know multiple recoveries will be required (which is very hard work with a trailer on!) we didn’t feel that we needed a top of the range winch. However with Ruby and the trailer weighting in at a combined 4.5 tonnes and Murphy’s Law meaning that we will need the winch when we least expect it, the unit had to be reliable and rated sufficiently to easily recover car and trailer when needed. We spoke to a number of people and read a lot of articles before deciding to fit a Tigerz11 12,000Lb Grande winch. Tigerz11 had a good deal at the time which made the cost of supply and fitting the winch the same as supplying one alone would have normally cost. We opted for synthetic winch rope over steel wire. This was both for safety reasons (synthetic rope is a lot less dangerous if it breaks in a recovery situation) and for ease of handling. As with all items on the market there are a lot of mixed reviews available on these winches. We are happy to report that after multiple uses that ours is still going strong! We have also found that the winch is very handy for moving trees off the track and can be used for an number of other bush mechanic fixes in an emergency.

 

Winch in the ARB winch bull bar

Winch

 

  Posted by Mat

The Making of Ruby - Part 1

Part 1

 

After we finally got Ruby home the real fun began! We had pre-ordered a lot of the accessories that we wanted to install, with a lot of the initial fit-out coming from the team at ARB in Rockhampton. We have used these guys on numerous occasions in the past, and have always been happy with the price, workmanship and attention to detail. This post concentrates on the external accessories we added first up. There will be another post shortly detailing the internal and electrical modifications!

In the lead-up to Rubys arrival Jess and I had many conversations about the colour of the vehicle, and then the bar work and other accessories . In the end we decided that we would colour-match the bullbar and side rails to Ruby’s factory paint job. We opted for the Deluxe ARB winch bar, as it was always the intention to fit Ruby with a winch, as when we are travelling solo we have to be able to be self-sufficient when we get stuck. We did opt to delay fitting a winch for a few months however to spread the cost of the fit out over a longer period.

 

Ruby's colour matched bullbar

 

 With the bar work settled on the next decision was what extra lighting to suit; LED light bars and HID lights have become very popular over recent years, and provide excellent lighting. However, for our circumstances, where the vast majority of our travel will be done in the day, and with no intention of using the vehicle for night time off road work we decided that a high quality set of halogen lights would meet our needs. We chose a set of IPF Extreme Sports Lights. I have used these extensively on work vehicles and have been impressed with both the quality of the lights and the durability of the units. The lights have been exactly as we expected and have more than met out needs.

 

Spot lights and winch

 

Given the long distances we are planning on covering and remote locations that we wanted to see we decided to add a long range fuel tank. Longranger fuel tanks have had an excellent reputation in Australia for many years for proving additional fuel storage capacity without compromising underbody clearance or reliability. The unit available for 76 series Landcruisers holds 176L of fuel, replacing the factory 90L unit; doubling our touring range! One advantage of these systems is that the factory fuel sender pump is retained, with only a small modification to the pick-up being required to complete the installation. This means that the reliability of the original unit is maintained and no further downstream modifications are required in the fuel system.

 

 Long Ranger fuel tank

 

All 70 series landcruisers come with a factory fitted “raised air intake” basically a snorkel that is designed to let the engine breath air from higher up but is not sealed to prevent water coming into the air box. Safari make a fully sealed replacement for the Toyota unit, which we decided was a sound investment in protecting the engine when undertaking water crossings. There is also the added bonus of getting rid of the ugly Toyota unit! When this modification was completed a small drainage flap in the bottom of the vehicles Air box is also sealed to prevent water entering though this hole. We also extended our diff breathers up into the top of the engine bay to prevent water contaminating our diff oils as the Toyota units end inside the chassis rails.

 

Safari Snorkel

 

 With the majority of the permanent additional weight now added to the vehicle the team at ARB fitted a set of their Old Man Emu 50mm raised suspension, using their Nitrocharger Sport shock absorbers. We had used this suspension in our Hilux previously (where it replaced another “yellow” brand of suspension that had failed repeatedly, sometimes in very remote locations) and had been very impressed with its performance. We found that while the OME suspension was a little more expensive than some competitors that we knew what we were getting would meet our needs. At the time of fitting a heavy duty (400KG rear 200kg front) spring rate was chosen to ensure that we could carry all of our equipment safely and comfortably. We have subsequently added an extra leaf into the rear spring packs to stop the vehicle sagging when it is fully loaded with the trailer hitched up. When we made the decision to add the extra leaf a lot of research and planning went into choosing this alternative. We considered both air bags and foam helper springs as alternatives, but with both of these alternatives costing around $1000 each (as opposed to $300 to re-pack our existing springs) and with the realisation that our planned load would compensate for the firmer ride from a stiffer spring rate in any case this was a relatively easy decision.

 

Shock absorber and extra leaf spring

 

 Following this work we decided to spend a couple of months getting to know the vehicle better before we did anymore. This let us get a good feel for what did and didn’t work and decide if further additions were justified.

Posted by Mat

Introduction to Ruby

“Ruby” (named for obvious reasons!) is a 2012 VDJ76R Landcruiser Wagon. Ruby was purchased brand new with the intention of turning her into a vehicle capable of taking us safely and reliably on our adventure. For those of you that are familiar with the Toyota 70 series of vehicles (which also includes the Troop Carrier, Single and Dual Cab Ute variants) you will know that they are usually associated with the worksites, farms and mines of Australia.  All 70 Series Landcruisers come with the same 4.5L V8 engine (also shared in twin turbo configuration with the 200 series) and a 5 speed manual gearbox. Anyone who has ridden in one usually describes them as basic and no frills. This was perfect for us when we were looking for a platform to build into a vehicle for long range remote touring.

Ruby is a GXL grade 76 Series meaning she came standard with “luxuries” like power windows, carpeted floors and central locking (all of which are either not available or options on the lower spec 70 series family!). Air conditioning one the other hand remains an “option” for all 70 series Landcruisers (a box which both Jess and I were very quick to tick on the order form!). On the options list (though now standard for all GXL 70’s) were electrically actuated diff locks, which we included to improve the off-road performance (more about our thoughts on this in a later post). We also ordered the vehicle with a genuine Toyota tow bar and stone guards. We chose not to include other genuine Toyota Accessories as they did not suit our needs as closely as many of the aftermarket options available.

After ordering Ruby we settled in for the long wait. From the time of placing the order to picking the vehicle up, there was nearly a 6 month wait. It was almost 4 months after the car was ordered until the build commenced. This gave us the time to privately sell our existing vehicle (a 2008 SR Hilux) privately, which substantially increased the price we got for the car over trading it in with Toyota.

When the time came to finally pick Ruby up, it must be said that the experience was less than fun. The exact date for collection changed several times, due to the tow bar no being available (they had 6 months to get that bit right!) and other minor issues. The dealer we used was 250km from where we live meaning it was an effort to get there and pick it up, my Mum kindly volunteered to drive me to the dealer to collect the car. Once we arrived, there was yet more minor delays while last minute details were arranged, but finally the keys were handed over and it was time to take Ruby home.

Unfortunately this was not to be. 2km out of town and accelerating up past 80km/hr for the first time, a loud whistling noise started coming from the front end of the car. Pulling over to investigate, nothing obvious was wrong, but something clearly wasn’t right. So we turned around and took the vehicle back to the dealer. After 4 hours of searching (and some initial disbelief from the head of the maintenance department that there was anything wrong at all) it was finally discovered that the windscreen was not sealed properly, and that when the car was accelerated past 80kmph that a small amount of air was being forced in though the seals, creating the whistling sound! As it was late in the day the car had to stay overnight to let the sealant/glue cure before it could be driven!

 

Eventually the next day, we did manage to get Ruby home, and then the real fun of building her up as we wanted began!

 

 

 

 

 

Ruby when she was picked up from Toyota

  

Posted by Mat