Rod's Rig - Round 2

[rodw]

Dave,

My rig is an SR, so it had no rear bumber bar and I did not ever get a Toyota Towbar 'cos I wanted the ARB towbar. Just had to wait patiently for a lloooonnnnggg time to get it!

Don't know about the weight, just that it was only about $200 more than a standard or factory tow bar and I wanted a rear bumper!

[david allan]

Rod

They do offer great protection & also can use a high lift jack on it

[Alby]

Rod

That is a great setup you've got going there,
you mentioned about your jerry cans and a small in line pump you are setting up. Were you planning on linking the cans and hard plumbing them in or feeding pump through a house in the nozzle?

Cheers Alby

[rodw]

Sounds like your trying to talk yourself into it Dave!

I know Hi lift jacks are handy things, but really, are they worth the extra weight and storage? I'd only pack one if i had the gear to use it as a hand winch as well.

You can still lift a car with a standard jack anytime but you might need to do a bit more preparation and get muddier yourself!

Can't you get a high lift onto tthe factory towbar near the towball anyway?

Rod

[Hilux Max]

rod, Im thinking about getting a hi lift hack aswell, and am thinking of getting the mounts from ARB to mount it onto my front bullbar.

only for when I go offroading ofcourse.

last weekend went camping with relo's, and had a small tiny rock stuck behind the disc rotor and the disc backing plate......squealing it arse off.

so I pulled over and decided to jack the hilux up.

Mind you, my jack isnt the standard one, its a bigger one off the 70series cruiser.

under the crossmember it barely raised it an inch, so I was forced to park somewhere pretty flat and level and put it under the lowest point under the lower control arm.

did the job...just, but made me realise that I do need a hilift to lift up from the bullbar on the front or the the towbar on the back in these kind of situations.

was the first time, I had to use the jack offroad.

[rodw]

alby, Was planning on running a hose between the 2 jerry cans with a T to the pump. Probably hard plumbed in becasue it will all come out together when I take out the Storage rack as the pump and jerries will be sitting on the base board you can see in the pic of the fire extinguisher. I might add that to make a similar rack to mine for the Hilux would be dead easy compared with cramming in the stuff into the back of a Suzukii which my rack was originally designed for! Tthere would be a lot less corners!)

Mmaaxx, I have seen a few pics on TTORA in the US of high lift jacks mounted along the side of the tray as an alternative option. If I do put one in, I'd probably mount one along the front of the tub as the canopy lip intrudes a fair way so that if I put two tubs/space cases on top of each other, there is probably room under the lip for the high lift. You got to have a base plate for any jack and a few sticks/logs/boards for packing... Get yourself a 3000x300mm square piece of marine ply for a base plate (or use your frying pan)... and maybe a few 200mm long pieces of 70x35 pine (eg. buy one stud from Bunnings and cut it up) to pack the top of the jack. And I carry a 4 t aftermarket hydraulic jack as well as the standard one.

Rod

[10K]

MMAAXX,

Get an exhaust jack.
One of the best bits of kit I have bought.
I've not used a high -lift, so I'm sure they have their advantages, but the exhaust jack is just so easy... and if used properly very stable and safe.

I paid about $125 delivered from memory, from a graysonline auction. I'll PM you next time I see them on there.

Cheers
Matt

[Richard]

Rod, how's the GME TX3440 working out?

Richard

[bj343]

Rod like the tie down tracks, did the bolts come with them

[rodw]

Richard, Happy with the TX3440, no need for an external speaker as plenty loud enough! In my last car, I had noticed that people with the GME radio had better range than my old Uniden, so hopefully, that will apply to this unit too!

bj343, yes the 1200mm tiedown tracks come complete with 5 bolts, 50mm washers (so ithey won't pull through) and nyloc nuts. This is enough for a bolt every second hole which I think will be heaps. Once I cut up a track to run the track full length, I had one spare bolt as only used 2 bolts on the short length.

There is also a single tiedown mount option with a short length of track just long enough for one ring and it comes with two bolts, washers and nuts.

Rod

[rodw]

Have not been doing too much to my rig but finally go to go out for a drive with a few guys down to Crystalvale 4WD Park near Murwillumbah today. Bit hard to get a photo of your truck wen you are driving it, but here is one in bit of a better setting than just the driveway. GreenHilux Guy will be happy to know that I bent both side steps. Darn, was hoping to get Brooksy's sliders on before it came to this! You can see the factory ones are not much good off road.



Cheers

Rod

[Glenn k]

good to see you finally getting it dirty mate...
those side steps dont last very long at all once you start getting it dirty, trust me ive been there...
Glenn

[Hilux Max]

yeah those sidesteps are crap, dont know why toyota bothers with them....what wrong with factory sliders? the FJ in the states has 'em.....

[matske]

my left side step looks like a boomerang and my right looks like a banana.. i straightened them by jumping up and down on them and a hit with rubber mallet few clamps and piece of timber good as new hehe

[rodw]

Cheers Guys,

Thats why I want a set of these:



Not really worried about bending the factory ones, might have been nice to keep them straight with all the rivets in place, but noone would buy them anyway, so now I got an excuse to toss em out when I replace them.

Bet the FJ ones are not as strong as Brookys!

Rod

[rodw]

Got off for a quick escape to Cania Gorge up near Monto. Bit of a drive, 520 km, but wel worth the effort. So here are some pics of the rig in camping mode.

First, the long hanlde shovel mounted under the Rhino rack.


The Oz Tent.




The Canopy rear window fits nicely under the Oz tent Awning:



The kitchen on board. Added a hose so the tap clears the tailgate which worked really well.

Getting ready for a fishing Friday with my son on Cania Dam in the tinnie we hired from the caravan park we stayed at.

[Alby]

Thats a nice setup Rod, just in the process of buying/deciding on a new tent myself, thinking Blackwolf Turbo Plus in favour of Oz tent purely on size, need to fit four mattresses in.
Can you tell me a bit more about your kitchen setup, am nutting out the best way to go with that at the moment.

Did you catch any fish?

Cheers Alby

[rodw]

I have the RV4. I didn't think I needed the RV5 because I usually only have two campers and use the awning area as living and eating. I bought the floor saver which gives a groundsheet under the main awning but need to get some shadecloth for the open section. I will be getting the fly as there is some condensation inside, but it never leaks.

The kitchen in the car is what I made for my Vitara held down with tiedowns. There are photos on this thread earlier. It is made from Capral Aluminium Cubleock which has different plastic connectors to join 25mm Ally square section. Also used some Plywood, and marine carpet. The fridge slide is a 100kg drawer runner from Hafele kitchen supplies but there are other cheaper options to do this.

Here is a pic of the kitchen/storage rack in use under theOz tent:



You can see the power lead to the flouro in the tent n the right and the tap on a hose on the right to clear the tailgate. Note the black tap at the Jerry can to isolate the hose for no leaks.

Rod

[Skog07]

Rod.
Nicely setup truck, you are making me green with envy. Not long until I get the Caddy canopy now.
Well Done.
Cheers
Mark

[Alby]

Looks good, thats a simple cost effective way of setting up, I have used that cubleck stuff before to make bird avairies and plan to do a similar thing to what you have done, just working out what I want to fit and how before I start to make it.

I use shade cloth for under my tent as well as awning area as it doesn't trap moisture under the tent like a tarp does but still protects the bottom of my tent.

Alby