Wombat's "mine truck to camping/touring weapon" build

[wombat81]

A lot of people ask about buying mine trucks and either "don't do it" or how do you find a good one. I posted this on another forum recently and thought it might be of interest here.

I bought an ex UGL hilux last year at auction. Its a 2010 dual cab 4x4 diesel SR 120k kms. Got it for a tick under $18k after fees, rego etc. We gets heaps of ex miners through the auctions here in Townsville every week.

I was very picky. I had been looking at them for about 6 months before i found one i was prepred to bid on and $20k on road was my limit. If there was any spec of rust on the body, chassis or underneath, i would walk away. Above the windscreen and above the rear window, where drops of water sit, is a common place for rust to develop. If there wasn't a full service history from a reputable mechanic, i would walk away. I even rang the mechanic of the vehicle i ended up purchasing and got the detailed servicing records from them before i purchased. If the interior wasnt clean and dust free and in good condition i would walk away, too. Not because i wanted a nice interior, but the condition of the interior is a pretty good indicator of how hard the vehicle has worked. I had other conditions too.

I knew i would need to replace suspension and tyres straight away. Did that. I spent hours underneath it with the water blaster cleaning off mud, dust etc and, i suspect, some of the tar stuff referred to above. I pulled the bash plates off from underneath, not just the engine ones but on the transfer case and the fuel line heat sink too, knocked out any dents, stripped them back, reprimed and painted them. I went all over the body and touched up every paint chip. I plugged up the chassis and washed the dust and dirt out, a number of times.

Having said all that, we are only planning to keep it for 5 years max. It's a stepping stone to a dual cab cruiser, for us.

If you put time and effort in and stick to your standards, you can get decent vehicles and great value from ex miners. You can't be in a hurry, though.

The other thing to keep in mind is that plenty of dealers buy the straight ones, rip all the signs of mine use off them and sell them for $30k plus. So, it can be a case of better the devil you know.

[TOYZX]

Nice one mate!

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[Spitfia]

Good work mate...

I have also done what you have done I had a very much loved 80 series that I had poured so much blood sweat and beer into (not to mention the $$$) but like you it started to cost too much to keep and I wanted something a bit more comfortable for the future so I picked up an ex mine lease 2011 SR with only 34,000km on the clock and was actually very straight I am very happy with it and now I get to start from scratch and build my touring 4WD my own way...

Keep up the work mate cant wait to see how it all comes together

[wombat81]

Not really related to the build, but I replaced the alternator over the weekend. My stock alternator had only been outputting about 12.4v and was making the whining sound typical of a failing rectifier. So I got an upgraded stock unit sent up from Bansheebuzz at Mudgeeraba Auto Electrics and now I'm getting output of >14v for the first time ever.

I also did a bit of work on the reversing camera. I originally had it wired up so that it would turn on with the parking lights. I hooked it up to the reversing lights instead. I've got a small problem with the tablet that I need to sort out. I need to work out how to get the tablet screen to turn on automatically when the camera feed starts. It should be doable, but might be tricky.

My 150k timing belt replacement is coming up. Will be doing that in September along with the water pump.

As far as the build itself goes, The next two additions will be solar panels and shelving on the drivers side of the canopy to fit storage tubs for clothes, linen, shoes etc. Gotta wait for some cash flow before I do the panels.

[wombat81]

I've got some items arriving soon, so hopefully I'll have some build updates in the next few weeks.

I've got under tray tool boxes arriving today. Got these ones: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/291799402000 Definitely not the pinnacle of engineering, but I figure they'll cop a fair bit of abuse under there, so I don't won't to spend too much. Even though 750mm long boxes would have fit behind the wheel arches, I went for the shorter ones to keep the departure angle reasonable.

I've also ordered a water bladder that hangs behind the rear seat. I'll put up some info about the bladder and the install when I do it. I've ordered this one http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/221328234510 but I've asked for it to be shortened and the inlets/outlets to be slightly re-positioned. They were happy to do both of those things at no extra cost. Hopefully it fits well.

I'm also going to re position the rear light bar to make it more compact, and I've ordered some LED flood lights to replace the massive halogen work light that's on there at the moment. It's too big and gets in the way.

Finally, I'll also be working on the last set of shelves for the canopy in the next few weeks. It's going to be primarily for clothes, linen etc.

Stay tuned.

[wombat81]

I've done a little bot of work. I've added the last cabinet to the canopy that takes plastic drawers for clothes/linen etc. I'll chuck up a photo soon. The boss is pretty happy I think.

I've installed the Fleximake water bladder behind the rear seat. Holds around 50 litres. Very happy with it so far.





I've got under tray toolboxes here to add over xmas along with LED work/flood lights to replace the enormous halogen one that's on there at the moment. I'm also going to reposition the rear light bar and reversing camera. I'll try hard to remember to take photos as I go.

Merry Christmas all.

[wombat81]

Getting ready for a trip to the tip of Cape York at the end of June. I've been working on the canopy mainly. Added some brackets to the rear so I can put two dirty gear bags on for travelling. I've added an awning that I can attach the Oztent to for extra covered area. We're not taking the trailer to the cape. I've also bolted on my under tray tool boxes. I've done a few other bits and pieces inside the canopy but nothing super interesting.

I'm also in the process of re-wiring the rear light bar. I've removed the enormous 100W spot/work light and replaced it with two 18w LED flood lights. Much more useful light for camping and working and they suck less power. I've taken the bar off the rear roof rack and I'm going to mount it to the actual roof of the canopy instead to make it more streamlined, look better and get it out of the way.

As I've mentioned before I've got an Ironman suspension kit under my Hilux. Specifically it's the foam cell constant load kit. Now that the canopy fit out is pretty much complete the springs are flexing a little more than I'd like when it's fully loaded. My steel mining spec tray weighs in the vicinity of 250-300kg. Then i've got 60kg+ of deep cycle batteries, 2 fridges, 50L of water, an RV5 Oztent on the roof, and extra spare tyre plus a heap of other stuff. So I reckon I'm clearing the 400kg the springs can handle pretty easily when it's loaded. So rather than going to the GVM springs which are apparently extremely firm and not nice when unloaded I've put in a set of Ironman Load Plus. They lift the back end nicely, again. Will see how they go when loaded.

I'll put some more pics up when we're ready for the cape.

[The.Durry]

Added some brackets to the rear so I can put two dirty gear bags on for travelling.

Can you throw up some picks of this when you get a chance please mate, trying to work out something similar myself as the bag is now immaculate with carpet etc everywhere, it's too bloody nice to throw a rubbish bag in! Hoping to work out some way of attaching them to the tailgate without compromising the seal on the rear canopy window.

[wombat81]

Added some brackets to the rear so I can put two dirty gear bags on for travelling.

Can you throw up some picks of this when you get a chance please mate, trying to work out something similar myself as the bag is now immaculate with carpet etc everywhere, it's too bloody nice to throw a rubbish bag in! Hoping to work out some way of attaching them to the tailgate without compromising the seal on the rear canopy window.

Yeah mate, here you go. But it looks like you have a tub and a fibreglass canopy, so I don't think it will be helpful for you.

[wombat81]

Sorry I haven't updated for a while. Been crazy busy at work and away on some trips. Did Cape York in the middle of 2017 and Fraser Island In December. I haven't done a whole lot on the truck. I've redone the rear light bar, removed the enormous work light and installed two smaller LED work lights. I've also put aluminium undertray toolboxes on.


Waiting at the Jardine Ferry.


This shows the new rear light bar location and the two LED work lights. I made up custom brackets for the work lights which rotate up and down and swivel left and right. I still need to relocate the wire for the drivers side light. I'm really happy with the final product. They don't get used that much, but oh well.

I've also installed rigid LED strip lights on the two side door of the canopy. I'm really happy with them. They use minimal power but are bright enough to light up the camp site pretty well.


This was at the Laura camping area.

Some Fraser photos because, why not?

This one shows our full camping setup. The awning connects to the Oztent to create a good undercover space. There's also a swag at the back.


Dundubara camping area.


Waddy Point.


The obligatory Eli Creek shot.

So I'm taking long service leave starting in September and the family and I are heading west. We'll be on the road from mid September until mid January with the bulk of that time in WA. I got some work to do to the truck before we go. I'm finding power is a problem with the fridge and freezer running. It's fine on a touring trip like the Cape because you're driving enough to keep the batteries charged, but, even though we were driving every day at Fraser, it wasn't enough to keep the batteries topped up and by our 7th day the power was getting very low.

So the plan is to install a 250w solar panel, and also a decent 240v charger that is connected to the deep cycle batteries. That way, when we do have power (which won't be that often as we prefer to free camp) we can take advantage of it, charge the batteries and run the fridges from it. But I think the 250w panel should make us close to self sufficient anyway.The issue with the panel is where to install it. I'll need to get a roof rack/cage for the cab, but I'm not sure which brand/type yet. The Rhino Rack track system seems to be the way to go, though. I'm thinking I'll keep it simple with just two roof bars and the solar panel fixed to them, at the moment.

I'll also need some new tyres before we go. The BFG A/T KO2s are wearing faster than I had hoped. I think I'll try to go for a slightly less aggressive A/T next time and maybe slightly wider.

Finally, I've bought a new tablet since my old Nexus 7 finally died. It's slightly larger at 8" so I'll have to redo my mounting bracket.

I'll do my best to keep the thread updated before we leave.

[Sam Gribley]

Awesome thread mate, thanks for all the updates. Looking forward to more.

What's your plan for WA? Wet season will be a pretty rough time to be up in the Kimberley, plenty of roads and crossings will be shut off from time to time so be aware of that. But it's a while off yet so I'm sure you'll suss out a plan. Just make sure you do get up there! Maybe as early in the trip as possible before the weather gets too shitty. It's a bloody amazing part of the world and not to be missed!

[wombat81]

Awesome thread mate, thanks for all the updates. Looking forward to more.

What's your plan for WA? Wet season will be a pretty rough time to be up in the Kimberley, plenty of roads and crossings will be shut off from time to time so be aware of that. But it's a while off yet so I'm sure you'll suss out a plan. Just make sure you do get up there! Maybe as early in the trip as possible before the weather gets too shitty. It's a bloody amazing part of the world and not to be missed!

Thanks mate. Yeah, the timing isn't perfect but we were a bit limited with when we could take leave. We are heading straight to the Kimberley from Townsville and will be there in the last week of September and the first couple of weeks of October. We've locked in El Questro but we'll play the rest of the GRR by ear. Obviously the Mitchell Plateau etc probably won't be accessible and it's possible the who road will be closed. If need be we'll back track from El Questro and go via the Bungle Bungles and then check out Windjana and Tunnel creek from the South.

Then we're planning a week or so on the Dampier Peninsula and work our way down the coast from there. A week or so in Karijini and Millstream. We're aiming to be in the Esperance area by Christmas and then work our way back home via Port Lincoln and Port Augusta.

[Sam Gribley]

Ah mate, perfect! That early in the season you should be right, not too much rain yet hopefully but you never know. I totally forgot about Tunnel Creek! I have to get up that way again, amazing.

[wombat81]

A quick update. My 250w solar panel arrived the other day, so that will be going on soon. That should finalise our power requirements and make us self-sufficient power-wise (hopefully). I might clean up the AGM battery wiring a bit while I'm at it. Also need to change the Waeco fridge plugs to anderson plugs. The cig sockets rattle loose too easily.

I'm interested if anyone has any thoughts on adding a 240v/12v power supply, like a Mean Well MW 12V 50A 600W AC/DC Switching Power Supply, to act as a battery charger? It would be wired into the Ctek D250S and would supply it 13.7v from a 240v feed to charge the batteries at a caravan park or friends house when we stop at such a place for a few days. It's cheaper than buying a 10-15amp smart charger and utilises the Ctek which I've already invested in, so it makes sense to me. Any thoughts or tips on that? It seems like wiring it up to the alternator terminal on the D250S would be the way to go. Then the D250S can choose between the power supply input or the solar input.

I'm also interested in how people monitor how much power the solar panel is pumping into the batteries. I just like to know that the panel is working correctly, and I'd also like to get an idea of how different weather conditions affect it's output. I'm thinking I might get one of these https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/VOLTAGE-CURRENT-METER-12v-electrical-solar-battery-test-0-60V-0-100A-Analyzer/221733237003, but I'm not sure if I should put it between the panel and the D250S or between the D250S and the batteries... Thoughts?

I just realised I've never posted photos of the clothes drawers on the drivers side of the canopy. So here's a couple.



It works well. The big shelf holds the drawers in place when travelling and when folded down it's great for folding clothes or other jobs. There's also space under the plastic drawers for tools and spares that don't need to be accessed often. I'll throw some photos of that up at some stage. I'm happy with how it turned out. Nice and functional.

[jabiru18]

Nice setup there Wombat.

Looks like you have utilized all the space nicely with the plastic tubs, think I might need to borrow that idea

[wombat81]

So I just finished two weeks of school holidays an got a few jobs done ready for our WA trip in September. I installed the Redarc TowPro Elite so that the camper trailer will actually stop. No major headaches. Everything I read said the blue brake wire terminates under the drivers seat. I pulled the seat out and pulled all the wiring apart, but I couldn't find a terminating blue wire to save my life. So I ended up running a new 2 core wire back to the trailer plug and picking up the blue and red wires from there. I installed the main unit behind the passenger kick panel. If anyone wants a photo of where I mounted it, let me know. Here's the knob. Sorry about the dust. It's dry season in Townsville.....



I also installed my 250w solar panel on top of the canopy. I haven't taken a photo yet, but I'll chuck one up when I get a chance. I ended up going for a simple install by just u-bolting the panel to the canopy bars. I've still got space for the swag or the oztent beside it and the second spare tyre behind it. It's wired into my Ctek D250S DC-DC charger and it wasn't working initially. I ended up finding a blown fuse inside the Ctek. I replaced it and all is good. If you want the details you can read about the problem here: http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=54919.0. It's just a cheap 12v ebay panel but it pumps out good current. I love how the Ctek starts charging the cranking battery from the solar once the aux batteries are full.

The third thing I did was to change my fridge plugs from cig to anderson style. I found that the cig plugs were rattling loose when we went to Cape York last year. The anderson plugs should be a lot better.

I don't have too much left to do before we go. I just need to do a service and get new tyres. I'm still debating whether I stick with the stock rims and get another set of 225s, or if I get some 7" wide rims and get 245s or 255s. I'm not sure the extra expense will be worth it... Thoughts? I definitely don't want to put flares on. I'm looking at a new set of 225/75/16s which will be around $1000 for 4 (I already have two decent spares in this size). If I want to upgrade to 16x7 rims with 245/70/16s it will cost me around $100 per rim (so $500) plus about $1400 for 5 tyres. So double the price. I'm not convinced it's worth it for 20mm of extra width per tyre and 5mm of extra height.......

[Critter350]

Great setup Wombat. I’ve got those same plastic drawers for my kitchen, can’t beat em for maximising space.
How many of you travelling? You had a tent and swag, now your talking about a camper trailer - what sort?
Heard from someone recently that swapped out AGM for similar sized lithium, both 100ah but you can take the lithium down to 80% DOD. That and he says it charges up much faster, don’t need to drive for hours and hours.
Maybe consider a lift up bracket for the solar, so so can tilt toward the sun.
Pumping 13.7V at your battery will charge it but you’d risk boiling it dry without some sort of charge management, or is that what the ctek is doing?


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[wombat81]

Great setup Wombat. I’ve got those same plastic drawers for my kitchen, can’t beat em for maximising space.
How many of you travelling? You had a tent and swag, now your talking about a camper trailer - what sort?

Cheers mate. 4 of us. Yeah we have an Austrack forward fold but we take the tent or swag when we want to go places that are too rough for the trailer eg Cape York, Mitchell Falls, Bungle Bungles, Fraser Island etc. The trailer would probably be ok in some of those places, but it's less stressful without it.

Heard from someone recently that swapped out AGM for similar sized lithium, both 100ah but you can take the lithium down to 80% DOD. That and he says it charges up much faster, don’t need to drive for hours and hours.

Yeah I've heard lithium is good. Bloody expensive, though and I think you need a different battery management system. Once the AGMs die I'll look at my options.

Maybe consider a lift up bracket for the solar, so so can tilt toward the sun.

Yeah I though about such things or making it removable but in the end simplicity won out. I decided it's not something I want to muck around with every day. It pumps out plenty of charge how it is so I'm happy. The main down side is that it limits what I can carry on the canopy roof. I had originally intended to install a roof rack on the cab and put the panel there. But I've since decided that we don't need the extra carrying capacity. Then I thought about putting the panel on a slide under the roof bars on the canopy so that gear could still be carried on the bars. But that means I'd be sliding the panel in and out every time we stop and the panels power output would be limited while driving. So i decided on a permanent install instead. Apart from wiping the panel down every few days, I don't want to have to worry about it. Like I said, even with it up there I still have space to strap down the tent or swag beside it and the 2nd spare behind it.

Pumping 13.7V at your battery will charge it but you’d risk boiling it dry without some sort of charge management, or is that what the ctek is doing?

Yeah mate. The ctek regulates the input current and voltage from the alternator and/or solar panel (the ctek has a built-in MPPT) and charges the batteries accordingly over 5 stages. When the car isn't running and it's charging from solar, and the two AGMs in the canopy are fully charged, the ctek automatically starts sending charge back to the cranking battery. This influx of power also causes the Redarc SBI12 to connect the 4th battery to the cranking battery, so they both get charged. So when I leave my car in the sun, all 4 batteries get maintained by the solar panel, which is awesome for one little unit. Love it. It should also take some load off the alternator, which was another motivation for installing the panel. I'm now onto my 3rd alternator in 3 years. The first one was the original, so it probably had limited life left when I bought the car. Then a bought an upgraded/rebuilt OEM unit from Mudgeeraba Auto Electrics. It died earlier this year. Now I've got an aftermarket unit on recommendation from my auto electrician. But I suspect my power demands have been killing them. The solar panel should hopefully alleviate a lot of the stress from the alternator. The AGM batteries will be fully charged most of the time, so the ctek won't need to draw much power from the alternator, and when it does it will be supplemented by power from the solar panel anyway. The cranking and aux batteries under the bonnet should also be in better states of charge, so the alternator shouldn't have as much work to do there either.

[wombat81]

A couple of photos of the solar panel. Nothing too interesting. Just used 40mm square u-bolts from Bunnings. Some strips of 5mm thick rubber matting between the bars and the panel frame to prevent rubbing, add a tiny bit of shock resistance, and as something to keep the nuts tight.

[wombat81]

Gday all. It's been a while since I posted. We spent September 2018 to Jan 2019 doing the lap, which was awesome. So this weekend I whacked a new set of rear springs into the lux, so I thought I'd do a post about that. I also replaced the rear brake shoes and pistons. I've put Bendix shoes and Bosch pistons in. The new brake shoes have made a difference. I reckon I could actually lock the wheels up now, if I tried.



So not long after we bought the Hilux we replaced the suspension. The stock suspension was rooted and sagging badly. I didn't know too much about leaf springs, so I got my tyre and suspension place to recommend me a set. I ended up with 2" Ironman gear all round and Foamcell shocks. The rear springs were 200-400kg. I really liked it, the ride was really good, but the rear always sagged a bit when it was fully loaded with camping gear, and especially with the camper trailer attached. My steel tray is mine spec and pretty heavy. Apparently 200kg+. Considering I have two 30kg batteries in the canopy, fridge, solar panel etc and a water bladder behind the back seat, it doesn't take much to reach 400kg.

So I decided to get rid of the Ironman leaf springs and I've put in a set of OME 600kg springs. I've kept the foam cell shocks, because I like them, and I haven't touched the front because I'm happy with that. I had a few headaches trying to line the springs up until I finally worked out I had to physically shift the axle to get the position right, and that meant loosening the u bolts on the opposite side. Once I sorted that out, installing the new springs was pretty easy. I have also discovered that I need an extended brake hose down to the rear axle. I'm not sure how the tyre place got the Ironman springs in with the standard brake hose attached. I had to disconnect it. Luckily I was replacing the brake shoes and pistons anyway, so I already had to bleed the brake lines. Otherwise it would have been annoying.

I only got the springs in yesterday, but it sits a lot higher with the standard load, which I'm happy about. We'll have it fully loaded this weekend with the camper attached, so fingers crossed it still sits good. I'll try to get a before/after shot when I get a chance.

Not much else to report. My 250w Ebay solar panel died recently, so I've gone for an array of 3 80w panels from RTM/Jaycar. They have a 5 year warranty, which is the main reason I didn't go to ebay again. Still in the process of working out how to attach them, but will post some piccies once I've worked it out.