Rooftop Tent

Reader you may recall we have a clamshell rooftop tent on top of the camper trailer.  It's water resistant and with a 70mm thick foam mattress; is comfortable. I like it!  During my latest outback trip I noticed the lid carpet lining and insulation was starting to separate from the underside of the aluminium roof panel.  Also; in the lower right corner the canvas side had parted from the lid leaving a gap to the outside.  This wasn't likely to allow rain to enter but biting bugs probably could.

I visited the 4WDSupaCentre where I purchased the tent and asked if they had any repair instructions for these two faults.  I was informed they didn't do repairs.  However if I brought the tent to their premises they would inspect it.

Taking the trailer to their store was going to be a slight hassle, but as I like the tent it was worth the effort.  After inspecting the tent and tanking photos of the faults the sales rep looked on their computer system and informed me I'd purchased the tent 25 months ago and it had a 24 month warranty.  I just wanted to know how to repair it rather than making a warranty claim. 

The sales rep went to see the branch manager about the matter and returned to advise the manager had agreed to replace the tent for a full store credit on the original purchase price.  That surprised me!  Moreover the sales rep informed me their new version was better and I could use the store credit to purchase one. 

I accepted their offer and exchanged my old Mk2 rooftop tent for their new Mk3.  Someone was looking down on me because on that day the Mk3 tent was being sold at a heavily discounted price.  I didn't have to pay any additional charge on top of the store credit.  Instead my residual credit balance was $699.

New Mk3 Rooftop Tent

Unfortunately the mounting rails on the underside of the Mk3 tent are further apart than the Mk2.  This resulted in me having to seal the old series of mounting holes and drill a new set in the top of the camper trailer.

My plan was to insert 9mm rubber grommets into the 12 original holes.  Finding a supply of 9mm grommets was harder than finding rocking horse droppings.  In the end the holes would have to be enlarged to 10mm and I could purchase the blind rubber grommets from Clark Rubber at $1.75ea.  That seemed like highway robbery, but they were the cheapest seller; unless I wanted to order from China.

After inserting the rubber grommets I sealed each grommet and surrounding area with Sikaflex.  I know…Belt & Braces!  I don't want any leaks.

With the original holes sealed I carefully measured and drilled a new set of holes before giving all the bare metal and original holes a coat of primer and topcoat.

Of course none of this will be seen as the rooftop tent will be on top.

I've placed two lengths of 4x2 which will act as a cantilever for placing the tent on top of the trailer.

 

My brother-in-law has been co-oped into assisting with the future move of the tent onto the trailer.  As part of the planning process I checked clearances identifying the two trailer high level tail lights were going to be too high and would foul on the base of the new tent.  That resulted in me having to lower their height.  More work! 

My attention has now turned the the trailer solar power system.

The 'Batwing' Awning

The camper trailer has a 'Batwing' awning attached to the left side of the rooftop tent case.  When extended it provides shade to the left side of the trailer and the rear.  There are two basic designs for Batwing awnings.  They are either free standing or non free standing.  The latter requires vertical tent poles at the end of each horizontal pole to support the weight of the open awning.  Without the vertical poles the awning hinge would likely break under the load.  These awning also come in two price ranges.  Very expensive and cheap.  Of course the one on our trailer is both non free standing and cheap!  If I was going to live in the camper trailer I'd probably have purchased a free standing expensive model.  As that isn't the case I've done the opposite.

This is the awning structure with it partially opened and upside down.

This next photo shows the hinge.  It isn't designed to support the open awning

When extending the awning a vertical tent pole needs to be inserted into the end of each of the four horizontal support poles.  This next photo shows one of the pole inserted into a horizontal support pole.  Of course it's upside down.

What is the problem with this awning that precludes me from using it more frequently?

When extending the awning I need to use my left arm to support the weight of the poles and fabric.  My right hand carries the vertical poles and my third arm is then used to insert each of the vertical poles into the end of each horizontal pole.  The problem is…. I don't have a third arm!

The plan is to modify the awning by having the vertical poles hinged to the ends of the horizontal poles.  Something like in the photo below.  A clip will be attached to the folded vertical pole securing it to the horizontal pole when stored for travel.

 

The ends of the horizontal poles don't have the required fitting to achieve this.

The awning came with four spreader poles that fit between the ends of the horizontal poles.  The make the outer edge of the awning rigid.  As far as I'm concerned these pole are useless as they allow rain to pond in the middle of the awning. 

However each of these spreader poles has a male and female fitting at either end.

By removing these fittings from the spreader poles I have four pair of male and female fittings.

I made four links from some aluminium angle left over from the DIY swimming pool heater. 

The plan is to remove the existing ends from the horizontal and vertical poles replacing them with my new folding elbow connectors 

Open position

Closed position

Tomorrow I'll go to the hardware store and buys suitable nut's, bolts and washers along with some Sikaflex.

All going well the existing three handed awning will be converted to a two handed task and 'hopefully' get more frequent use!

Modifying the Camper Trailer

The exterior of the 4WD was washed four times in an effort to remove all the red earth and it still isn't clean.  Moreover I've yet to start on the interior!

Meanwhile the wiring in the camper trailer has been stripped out along with the original small power distribution board at the rear and the more comprehensive one I made which fitted in the side locker.

Small power board above the tailgate

I want to make the new electrical system modular which will allow me to remove the 120Ah lithium battery and DC to DC charger as a 'plug and play' module that can go directly into the 4WD should I decide to travel without the trailer. 

Additionally, two new components have been purchased.  A 1500W pure sine wave inverter with remote and a Junctek Battery Monitoring System.  I plan on using the original location of the smaller power distribution board at the rear for the inverter remote switch, a 240V 3 pin outlet socket and the Junctek LCD display.  I have some 2mm galvanised sheet from which I'll make the board.

The original small distribution board will be cut down in size and become the new board in the rear side locker.

Usually a lead-acid DC to DC charger can't be used to charge lithium batteries.  This is due to the charger voltage being too high and it having an 'Equalization' phase which raised the voltage to 15.2V.  At 15.2V the Lithium battery will be damaged. 

However my existing Projecta IDC25 charger produces 14.4V when using the AGM mode and this mode doesn't have an equalization phase.  Therefore the Projecta should recharge the lithium battery without damaging it.

As mention in an earlier post; I've mounted the charger on to of the battery to keep it modular. 

The inverter has been mounted on an internal bulkhead with the Junctek 400A shunt an d controller module above.

The tailgate board now looks like this…..

With everything installed I tried turning on the inverter using the remote switch.  Damned switch went ballistic with flashing lights and the inverter always being turned on when the switch was connected to it.  I did some research on the inverter and discovered I have the latest model which is incompatible with the switch.  Everything had to be pulled apart to remove the remote switch

With the new power distribution box completed I turned my attention to rewiring the trailer.  That took several days as I slowly traced existing wiring and then re-routed it.  After completing that it was time to configure the Junctek Battery Monitoring System.

The display is a little "busy" but I can see the voltage is 13.5V and the Amps are 0.70A.  The Amps figure is displayed in Green when power is going into the battery and Blue when being taken out.  The amount of power left in the battery is also shown along with other useful information.  I like that the Junctek also has Bluetooth and a phone App.

 

I haven't tested it yet, but I am hoping I'll be able to Bluetooth connect from the 4WD to the trailer.

The power box is in the left rear corner of the trailer which leaves the right rear empty.

I decided to fit the 12V oven here.  It's mounted on a hinged platform which created a small storage compartment underneath.  I've used this area for spare parts such as filters, nuts & bolts, puncture repair kit, etc

All this has taken me a week.

Outback Trip - Day 7

The planned route involved travelling to Kitchener, a crossing loop on the Trans-Australian Railway Line and then follow the line reaching Zanthus, another crossing loop.  From there a track led south to Balladonia on the Eyre Highway.  After refuelling at Balladonia the group would head to the Great Australian Bight before going west along the beach. 

I made a decision not to take the trailer down onto the beach.  I was somewhat 'risk averse' about towing the trailer on a very remote beach where; if I got bogged; I might lose the trailer to an incoming tide.  Three driver had already decided they would follow the railway from Kitchener back to Kalgoorlie.  All three of them had lost their spare tyres when they were either staked or hit a sharp rock.  I decided to join them.

Walking around the campsite in the morning I noticed the dog fence on the eastern side of the Connie Sue Track.

 

Australia has some of the longest dog fences in the world.  This one runs north-south and protects the western boundary of Rawlinna Sheep Station.  The station is 400km east of Kalgoorlie and is the largest sheep station in Australia.  It's approximately the same size as greater Sydney.

These fences need to be continually repaired and maintained to prevent wild dogs (Dingos) from attacking the sheep.

Time to pack up and fill in the firepit.  But not before I toasted a couple of cheese sandwiches on the embers.

Back onto the Connie Sue with 150km to Kitchener.

I commented on the good condition of the road and was informed it was only in this condition between where we turned onto it at the Lake Rason Track junction and the junction to The Cut Road further south.  The northern and southern sections of the Connie Sue are in very poor condition.  Why is this portion so good?  There is an Aboriginal community just north of the Lake Rason Track junction and the government maintains the road from the community to Kitchener.

The other thing I noticed were the large number of burned out vehicles beside the road.  Was this where vehicles go to die?  Apparently not!  I was informed it's likely most of them were stolen from Kalgoorlie and driven until they ran out of fuel.  At that point the vehicle was set on fire to destroy evidence and prevent recovery.  I stopped counting after seeing 50 vehicles.

 

Eventually we reached the Trans-Australian railway crossing it and stopping at the junction with the railway access road

Forty kilometres west we reached Zanthus and started to pass vehicles going in the opposite direction.  That's when I remembered the Rawlinna Muster was scheduled to occur in a few days.   Actually the correct name is The Nullabor Muster. 

At Zanthus the four vehicles heading to Kalgoorlie parted from the main group.  We headed west whilst they would go south.  The road was quite busy for an unsealed outback location.  No doubt due to the muster.  The four vehicles gradually spread out to reduce our ingestion of dust.  I then realised my small windscreen mounted UHF antenna was having difficulty receiving the transmissions from the vehicle in front.  However the vehicle behind my was having no issues with his larger bullbar mounted antenna.  In open, flat country I had a range of less than a kilometre.  something for me to think about if I go solo on a remote trip.

Kalgoorlie was reached at 2pm.  The other three vehicles all needed replacement tyres which would be delivered overnight from Perth.  Rather than camp on the outskirts of Kalgoorlie I decided to press on and perhaps camp at Yellowdine where the group spent it's first night. 

There was still daylight when I reached Yellowdine and I decided to keep going eventually reaching home at 8.50pm.  I must have driven close to 1000km on the last day.  Certainly not the longest journey I've travelled in a day.  However I was pleased to be home.

Tomorrow will be a big cleaning day.

Outback Trip - Day 6

A lazy dinner last night.  I used the 12V oven to reheat six of Jan's home made sausage rolls. 

This morning the convoy continued southeast and for several kilometres we travelled through open desert

Eventually we reached the junction of Lake Rason Track and the Connie Sue Track.  The latter runs north-south between Warburton, on the Great Central Road and the Trans-Australian Railway Access Road.  Legendary outback surveyor Len Beadell named the track after his daughter.

I was quite surprised with the condition of the Connie Sue having anticipated another overgrown goat track that would be heavily corrugated and twisting.  It was quite the reverse.  A wide and almost straight unsealed road albeit with some corrugations and bulldust.  We managed speeds of 90km/h before finding a decent campsite at 4pm.

Later that afternoon one of the group gave other interested drivers a lesson on how to break the bead on a tyre using the vehicle jack before removing and replacing the tyre. 

It appears I might have been the only person in the group travelling with a proper bead breaker tool and tyre levers.

That evening I attempted to take some night photos around the campfire.

Outback Trip - Day 5

This would be a long day as we endeavour to make up some time.  I went for an early walk out onto Lake Rason; a dry salt lake.  Well not totally dry as the lake bed became softer and moisture appeared the further you walked towards the middle. 

Our convoy continued southeast ducking and weaving around the trees adjacent to the track.  I wasn't always successful in avoiding the branches which resulted in me occasionally gritting my teeth.

There was a detour to visit Plumridge Lakes.  

The it was back onto the main track and another staked tyre.  This one was more serious.  The front left tyre of the Ford Ranger had been staked and immediately deflated.  Fortunately the vehicle was fitted with a TPMS (Tyre Pressure Management System) and the audible alarm warned the occupants. 

The vehicle was jacked up and the damaged tyre and rim removed.  When the spare was removed from under the vehicle two things were obvious.  The tyre was a different pattern (a road tyre) and unlike the four alloy wheels on the Ute; the spare was a steel rim.  Greg had purchased the used Ranger from a dealer last December and had assumed all five rims and tyres were the same.  Then it was discovered that whilst the spare rim would fit onto the vehicle the six wheel nuts wouldn't fit the rim.  The nuts were specific to the alloy rims.

That led to the group attempting to find suitable alternative wheel nuts from the other 13 vehicles.  Eventually five nuts were sourced from the group.  The Ranger would be missing the 6th nut for the remainder of the trip.

After this excitement the ground became slightly more open.    

We pressed on eventually reaching a track junction signposted by metal plates nailed to a tree.  The decision was made to camp here for the night

The sign reads 'Laverton   Lake Rason   Lake Minagawa

Plumridge Lakes    Connie Sue