John and Ann

Hi Gary, Cruisers (that is you are talking about Landcruiers) don't have a plated GCM, at least my 2008 Sahara doesn't anyway. So in my own situation and having had a Lovels GVM upgrade I believe I have 3.9t (vehicle GVM ) plus 3.5t towing capacity therefore GCM of 7.4t (theoretically anyway because it is not plated). To take it one step further and assuming a 350kg ball weight then the weight on the combined caravan axle group should not be more than 3.15t fully loaded (vehicle tow capacity 3.5t less 350kg ball weight transferred to the tow vehicle). Just my thoughts based on my setup. I hear the worms stirring by the way....... Regards John

Hi Chris & Lynn, We did it over a three week period two years ago and that was without doing ELQ which we'd done the year before. ELQ is a good week on its own. Ditto, no dump points that I can recall. Take your time there is sooo much to see, by far the very best of the country up that way. We also went to Kalumburu, but, only in our cruiser with roof top penthouse. The road from the Mitchell Falls turn off to Kalumburu has been the undisputed king of shocking roads for us and we've travelled on some bad ones when we did the Cape and Gulf country last year. Enjoy the Kimberley, it's a special place. John

Hi Chris & Lynn We've recently done about 7000km of dirt roads. Taped up the boot vents internally, used some builders membrane and gaffer tape to cover the fridge vent, door vent and 4 seasons hatch (covered the hatch externally on the roof) I also ran a line of tape over the hinged side of all external hatches boot covers, this still allowed them to open and close as normal. It was our best effort yet in keeping the dirt out but like others I've seen you still get dirt in at the HWS below the fridge and the edges and holes in the vinyl in cupboards. One unrated tip is to tie off your shackle pins to prevent them unscrewing. Cheers John

Hi Neville, Our microwave too is retained by the powder coated brackets from the side rather than through the bottom as you described earlier versions. The side brackets don't provide any support to the power pack as this is by design some 12mm clear of the shelf or recess floor the microwave sits on to provide additional ventatilation. In a normal domestic situation this wouldn't be a problem, however, in a caravan it far from ideal. In talking to other travelers of late this seems a very common problem. Regards John

Hi all, After some 45,000km of which about 7,000km were on mostly average to bad dirt roads our microwave fell apart. Not that you could tell from the front or by opening the door, it even still worked! The tell tale for me were the fragments of metal we found in the sink, they had me puzzled the first day or so, that is until I removed the vent below, what a revelation. The bottom chassis made of very thin pressed metal had serious metal fatigue, the heavy power pack had seriously done a job wrecking the chassis and gouging the floor of the recess. Easy enough fix, went down the street in Atherton and did a deal to buy the later model for $135 and whacked it in, but, I did fit some feet under the power pack this time as it sits about 12mm above the recess floor. Hopefully we won't have the same problem in the future. So, if you've done some rough off-sealed road travel and have a Sharp Carousel microwave, might be worth taking a look and take some precautionary steps. Regards John

Hi Rob, I did remove one of my spares on the rear, it weighed about 34kg. All our tyres and rims, van and car are the same so am happy to run with two not three spares. I do carry a spare tyre, less rim on the top of the Landcruiser though. Like Chris I also changed the batteries and shifted them more to the centre of the van. Cheers,John

Hi Chris and Danny, Well I spoke with Andrew at length today and for the 200 Series as I have it upgraded with the Lovells GVM kit and airbags is already upgraded to the max, nothing further to be done, more specifically there is no chance of upgrading the tow capacity, no surprise but worth the conversation none the less. Interestingly more can be done with the LC ute and some other lower rated utes. Seems to me that the benefit that Danny may have derived from the exercise comes down to where the weight is rather than the gross weight of the combination which seems not to have changed. More can be loaded in the van provided less is loaded in the tow vehicle. CheersJohn

Thanks for the information Danny, I will give Andrew a call. John

Hi Danny and Sue, Can you share some additional information, who, where and how much, sounds like you might be onto something. Although the GCM seems it may still be close to OEM. I've read that many things can be done by engineering certification, everything except GCM changes. We'll be in Darwin in a week or so so would be interested in following this up. RegardsJohn

Same thing happened to us last year after the GRR, the hinge between the two doors fell apart when we went to store the groceries in Port Hedland. Camec sent a replacement but we managed to get a local metal shop to repair it, very neat job and much stronger than the couple of token tacks of the original version, cost of repair was a donation so I gave him $20. Might be a backup option for you? RegardsJohn

Hi John, Thanks for sharing that. We head off tomorrow Thursday and it does not sound like much fun, we're planning the Mereenie Loop Road as well to add some extra punishment. Just had a browse around and looks like we need to be making some hard decisions in the next couple of days as the run from the WA border to Kata Tjuta is presently closed due to flooding , we'll have to decide during the morning Friday. For NT Road Closures look at http://www.ntlis.nt....tions-today.jsp Regards John

Maybe the Todd will flow, that would be a bonus , I'm sure it's still the spectacle it was when we lived there, although there are now bridges so you can still get about, weren't back then, used to cut town into 3, couldn't even pass through the gap on a big flow, wow those were the days, a long, long time ago....... 1975-78

Thanks for sharing that Colin, The weather outlook for the next 10 days that I saw looked pretty good for travel from our side of the country. A bit of drizzle to keep the dust down is always welcome, not keen to get my feet too wet though, our travel party quickly become deserters when the call for elbow grease goes out. I think when it comes to NT roads, perhaps tracks is a better term, I've always found it a bit of a lottery. One persons rough road is another's expressway, all ratuve relative to our personal driving style and expectations, can't change it so we'll just go with the flow. Regards John

Hi John, You hit the nail(s) on the head so to speak, couldn't agree more. We'd never spent any time in the Kimberley until two years ago, we spent the last two winters up there and there is still so much to see Thought we would venture further east this year to see what other parts of this travelers paradise has to offer. Cheers, enjoy the journey across the OW, lucky buggers. It's a little damp at our end, been raining the whole WA leg, not too much though, we'll see whether we arrive in the Alice covered in mud, I think not, but, you never know.

Didn't think of laying the hanger on it's back, there you go, another perspective, more usable slots as well, I like it. Sounds like we are on the same page Julie, I like using baskets myself to keep all our stuff secured. Enjoy your travels when you head off, we go Thursday for about 4 months, Perth to Alice Springs via the GCR then up to Darwin, the Gulf and probably the Cape, who knows where to from there. Safe Travels John

Not as ridiculous as one might first think, we've come across some travelers that did exactly that, ouch. The reason "wanted to experience bush walking like the first Australians", well OK get that, but, retire after a big days walking to your 20'++ off-road towed by a shiny big US tow vehicle, I missed something there

For the past coupe of years my shoes have migrated through various storage spaces in our van. Here's the latest and hopefully last test solution. I'm sure it must have been done before, if so I apologise in advance for stealing someone else's ideas BedsideShoeStorage.pdf Cheers John BedsideShoeStorage.pdf

Hi Colin, I'm in awe of the work you've put into planning the journey across the Outback Way. Thanks for allowing us non-participants to be a part of the lead-up, it's made for interesting and inspiring reading. We both hope you all have a safe and enjoyable journey. We'll probably see you all somewhere about the Alice. Regards John & Ann

Hi Richard, The base unit with 8 sensors is $600, each additional sensor is $50. The sensors are similar to that which were used with my Toyota TPMS fitted to my car (which I removed because it could not be expanded), the significance of this is that they are fitted from the inside of the rim so they need to be installed by a tyre fitter this cost me an additional $30 per tyre including balancing (a good deal from a mate). Therefore I can tell you that provided they perform as the Toyota version they are impervious to dust as my previously fitted set served me well for the last 5 years in dust, water, mud and anything else that I've driven through. Some don't like fitting them to the rim but IMO it's the only way to go as the others can be unscrewed by anyone keen on getting a spare. I tried the Tyredog kit but without a range extender, they wouldn't pick up the van tyres so I tried them on the cruiser as I'd swapped some tyres with spares from the van before tackling the GRR last year, they did perform quite well and had no problem with either the road conditions or dust, just couldn't be used for what I intended, the van. This new Inawise kit is best hard wired, it's what they suggest in the paperwork, but, it does come with a suction cup mounting kit and cigarette lighter plug as well as hard wire kit, so you have options. I was fortunate in that the power was already there from the removed Toyota TPMS so I used that, I would have hard wired it anyway. I mounted the display in front of the ash tray of the centre console, made a bracket by modifying a angle bracket from Bunnings and it's all held in place with stick on Velcro, it's quite tidy, secure and in good view. The unit comes with an external antenna fitted with a very strong magnet. I decided that to give it the best chance of a good signal I'd stick it to the chassis rail, tucked up under the right rear 1/4. I ran the wire through the chassis rail using existing open holes as far as the drivers door where it comes out and enters the cabin through an existing rubber grommet under the drivers seat, then under the carpet, through the centre console to the display. I'm not sure that I needed to worry too much about getting the antenna that far back as the sensors have a great range, I haven't measured exactly but I would say at least 30m without line of sight. Let me know if you want any more info or a pic. John

Finally got a TPMS that really does work for tyres on the cruiser and the van, even the spares. Had all the sensors fitted Tuesday and was happy to see them come online one by one. The system I bought is TMPS203 with extra sensors for the spares from Inawise (Melbourne), they've even got a shot from the Gall Boys on the product page Click Here Disclaimer: No association with the company or the product. John

Hi Alan, I know of at least one person that relocated the tank and pump to the rear of the van with great success. Seems to me quite a simple job. John

Hi Bryan, I've fitted the vents mentioned by Laurie because of the fuel in the generator box, spare plus what's in the generator. The tip Laurie mentioned about sealing the compartment with silastic is the best first step as without doing this the fuel smell in the van after installing the hatch door vents will only get worse, particularly if the breeze happens to be to that side of the van or if you use Fantastic vent fans set to out rather than in. Cheers John

Hi Chris, Yes I agree with the RFDS donation approach. A very worthwhile cause indeed To save the e-book for offline viewing try this: Internet Explorer - Right click on the download icon and select "Save target as..." then browse to where you want to save the PDF file, or if you have it open already click "File" on the Menu Bar and chose "Save As" then browse to where you want to save the PDF file.Google Chrome - Right click on the download icon and select "Save link as..." then browse to where you want to save the PDF file, or if you have it open already hover the mouse over the bottom right corner of the browser window and click on the disk icon (you can print from here as well using the printer icon) then browse to where you want to save the PDF file.Apple Safari - Right click in the download icon and select "Download Linked File As" then browse to where you want to save the PDF file, or if you have it open already click "File" on the Menu Bar and chose "Save As" then browse to where you want to save the PDF file.Mozilla Firefox - Right click on the download icon and select "Save Link As..." then browse to where you want to save the PDF file, or if you have it open already click "File" on the Menu Bar and chose "Save Page As" then browse to where you want to save the PDF file.On iPad/iPhone - Tap on the download icon and then tap near the top tight corner (top left for iPhone) of the document, then select "Open in..." then chose where you want to save the file, "Open in iBooks" is most common, but I use Dropbox myself and store almost everything there as I can get to it from all of my devices without having to find the link and download it again from there. Tip: If you're using Dropbox all your files are automatically available when Online/Offline on all PC's and Notebooks connected to Dropbox, but, on iPad, iPhone and Android devices Dropbox content is only available when Online unless the content is "Stared", that is marked as Favorites. Sorry if this is not what you meant and I'm selling coal to Newcastle Cheers John

Hi all, Came across this e-book whilst trawling about in another forum and thought it might be of interest to some of our readers. The free e-book "Staying In Touch On The Road" can be found Here Cheers John

Wow, they are impressive stats, congrats Colin, I'm sure your are all well into countdown mode and getting more than a little excited. Cheers John