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Big Mike

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Everything posted by Big Mike

  1. Yep. As above. Stay longer if at all possible. Tassie is our favourite place on the planet. Couple of small suggestions: If you're thinking of the west coast, which is beautiful, check your rig dimensions and the size limits on the Corinna Ferry - see their website: https://www.corinna.com.au/barge-access-and-times. We can't fit on the ferry with our 18'6" ATV. Secondly, if you're taking the Lyell Highway towards Queenstown, take your time over the steep, windy narrow hill at, I think it's Gormanston. If you've got a UHF, I'd call up and check if there's any heavy vehicles coming over the hill before you proceed. Have a great trip!
  2. Big Mike

    32 KEV

    Hi Grahame and Tony We've had a 2004 ATV (our first caravan) for two years now so we're still novices. Do you mind if I ask a related question? I only occasionally switch my van to 240V, even when we're connected to 240V. The fridge detects and uses 240V when it's connected and, as far as I can tell, there's nothing else running on 12V that causes any significant battery drain/voltage drop that the solar panels don't replenish (unless we're in shade). If we're in a shade, I'll switch the van to 240V to switch on the battery charger and keep everything topped up. Am I doing something wrong? Should I always switch the van to 240V when we're connected to 240V? In regard to charger fan noise, I think our charger is a CTEC unit but I'll check that for you tomorrow. Our charger is very quiet and I can only hear fan noise when I open and stick my head in the the drivers side wardrobe and listen very carefully. Cheers Mike
  3. Tony and Bas Thanks heaps for taking time out to reply. I was thinking a thick sheet of ply might be the go, so thanks very much for confirming I was on the right track. Thanks, especially to you Tony. I'm 6'5", and almost a member of the over-100kg club also! :o) Safe travels Mike
  4. Hi everyone Just a simple little query. I'd like to do some work on the roof of my ATV (taking the hood of my air conditioner and giving it a clean out) and was wondering if anyone has worked out a way of working on the roof of their Kedron without denting or damaging the roof. I've got three solar panels on the roof so don't have space to run a plank from one edge of the roof to the other. Any simple solutions? Cheers Mike
  5. Hi all, Just a quick note. We had problems with a cloudy rear vision picture from a Polaris 'Type C' Rear Vision Camera. Problem was caused by moisture getting in to the camera, clouding the lens and corroding the internal printed circuit boards. Contacted the supplier, Poron Aust Pty Ltd at Rydalmere. The Poron rep, Naomi, understood the problem I was having immediately and sent me a warranty replacement camera very promptly and without hesitation. Fantastic service and new camera working great!
  6. Hi Den Sorry, for some reason the picture and schematic didn't stay pasted in to the words when I submitted my reply. I've attached the schematic and picture instead as files. Cheers Mike Hayman Reese Bar.pdf
  7. Hi Den Firstly, thanks very much for sharing the very helpful pictures. I’ll keep an eye on those joins between the cross member and chassis rail. Mine are all good. I was also thinking of reinstalling these 6mm plate corner brackets. They’re not needed with the Hayman Reese bar, but I thought they might just strengthen where the cross member joins the chassis rail. I’ll just have to cut a section out of them to fit around the 32 x 12 x 40 plate nuts inside the rear of the chassis rails. Here’s a schematic of the Hayman Reese bar if you’re curious about it. Thanks again Den. For a novice, once again, the assistance I’ve got on this Forum has been fantastic! Cheers Mike
  8. Hi all, I couldn't find any previous posts on this topic, so I hope I'm not telling members something they already know all too well. We pull an 18'6" ATV behind our 78 series Landcruiser ute. While our van and ute are getting on in age, they are both still low k's and very well serviced. We don't tow our van in very rough conditions. Recently, when hitching up, I found some movement in our Toyota towbar. This Toyota towbar is mounted with 8 bolts, 2 bolts on each chassis rail and four bolts on the rear cross-member. The four bolts on the rear cross member screw in to four nuts welded on the inside of the rear cross member. These welds had sheered off and the bolts couldn't be tightened because they were free-spinning on the nuts inside the cross member. Without making a special tool, it's virtually impossible to get a grip on those nuts. If you download and read the Toyota towing guide, you'll find this instruction: "Frequent towing or towing of heavy loads, towing off-road or in rough conditions or any other operating conditions that require the vehicle to undergo severe servicing will mean that your tow bar also needs servicing. Check all mounting bolts" Our ATV is our first caravan and we've only had it for just under two years. So we're still novices and still learning. We're just glad we discovered this looseness in our towbar before the bolts sheered clean through and a catastrophe was avoided. Rather than repair the Toyota towbar (which by the way, our local Toyota Dealer had absolutely no interest in doing), I replaced the Toyota towbar with a Hayman Reece towbar. The Hayman Reece bar is mounted with 12 instead of only 8 mounting bolts. So I'm hoping it will prove more reliable. But I'll still be checking those 12 bolts are correctly torqued at regular intervals! Hope this helps another novice. Best regards Mike
  9. Hi We've got a 2005 ATV. We're the second owners and only bought it a short time ago so we're novice caravanners also. When our van is parked at home and not in use, we switch to 240 to ensure there's no battery drain from any 12V circuits. For example, when the van's not in use and switched to 240V, we can leave the fridge door open so the fridge can air. If we left the van switched to 12V, the fridge light would be on all the time when the door is open. Hope this helps. Best regards Mike
  10. Hi Ian Was wondering if you found a bike rack with a long enough reach to mount the bikes behind your spares? I'd like to do the same on my ATV but I haven't found anything suitable so far. Might have to get something custom made. Also, thought you might like to look at this Youtube of a rear bumper (not on a Kedron) overloaded by a poorly mounted bike rack. >https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIwtglKiBwk Cheers Mike
  11. Hi Ted and Brian Thanks very much. We don't have a bra on our van so no issues there. The water is pooling on top of the shelf inside the wardrobe so it must be coming from a higher point. I'll get up on the roof, have a shot at removing the front solar panel and resealing around that area. Noticed you use sika rather than silicon. I'll try that too. Thanks again. Much appreciated. Cheers Mike
  12. Hi Firstly, as novices, thanks very much for the previous, very helpful advice we've got on this forum. My wife and I have been touring in our 2005 ATV for about four months and we're having a great time. In heavy rain though, we're getting a leak in the front driver's side wardrobe beside the double bed. So far, I've put fresh silicon around: the front clearance light, the side clearance light, the external shower cabinet, and, the external night light. I've also pulled up the plastic cover strip on the front driver side corner of the van, checked for loose screws and put silicon over all the screw heads, but we're still getting the leak in heavy weather. Just wondering if anyone's had a leak in the same location and can suggest where I might find the source??? Thanks again, especially for the advice on our load-sharing suspension. Our van is tracking really, really well and I think our Landcruiser is running better than ever since it's been doing some real work pulling the Kedron! Cheers Mike
  13. Sorry. After looking at the Vitrifrigo manual, I was looking for the condenser expecting to find something the size of a small car radiator. I didn't realize the condenser was the small 5" x 5" panel beside the compressor until my wife pointed inside the side vent and asked, very gently so as not to damage my ego, "What's that thing there?" ... I can be a knucklehead! I'll see how the fridge runs now that I've given the little condenser a good clean. Cheers Mike
  14. Hi We're doing some maintenance on a 2005 model ATV which we recently purchased, getting it ready for an extended trip. I'm not confident the Vitrifrigo is working as well as it should and, based on the forum listings I've already read on these fridges, it looks like many others have had some challenges getting their fridges to work well. Would appreciate if an experienced owner, could help me with answers to these questions: We can hear the fan running on the fridge constantly. It doesn't stop as the fridge cycles (if it's cycling). Is that the way it's supposed to work? The operations manual advises to vacuum dust off the condenser at least every twelve months. Do I have to remove the fridge from the front of the cabinet to do that? When I open the external vent on the van, I only seem to have access to the compressor. The fridge seems to be getting down to a good operating temperature. On a setting of 4, it's getting down to about 2 degrees, but the freezer is frosting up after about three days with very little door opening. Thanks very much for your help. Cheers Mike
  15. Hi Peter Thanks very much. Really value your experience and advice. I'll be under the van again on Friday arvo and will check those parts of the chassis really carefully. Cheers Mike
  16. John, Thanks very much for your advice. I've also been advised to take the load off the suspension (jack the van) when greasing to help the grease into the suspension points. The springs look good, no flattening. The wheel bearings were pretty dry but OK. The grease on the suspension points also looked pretty stale, but the van had been sitting for a while. As the van is just on ten years old, I'll take your advice and check the pins. Thanks again Cheers Mike
  17. My wife and I are purchasing our first caravan, a well looked after 2005 Kedron 20' ATV, with the solid axle load-sharing suspension. We only intend to use the van as a cruiser and don't want to knock it around on extreme off-road conditions. We're pulling the van with a 78 series Landcruiser. We've got access to lots of general caravanning advice and help, but were wondering if you have any specific advice with regard to this suspension set-up - things to look out for, parts that wear out quickly, etc. Thanks very much in anticipation.
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