Dust in van

[Hermit]

G'day all, I am a newly registered member to KOG. Although we don't have a Kedron van yet, my wife and I are heading down to the Kedron showroom in April to check out their merchandise, so to speak.

I have been reading the forum for a number of months, but, have been unable to find any information regarding dust getting into Kedron vans.

Can anyone tell me of your experiences regarding travelling on dirt roads and how much dust gets into your Kedron. :helpsmilie:

We currently have a Jayco Hawk camper that literally vacuums up the dirt road. Every time we have travelled on dirt, we need to have a good spring clean inside the camper. The floor is usually covered in dust to the extent you cannot see the vinyl, and our bedding needs a good wash.

I always try to speak to other caravaners in parks regarding this problem, but to date have not been able to speak to a Kedron owner face to face.

We are very keen to bushcamp for short periods and are considering an ATV or Top Ender at around 20' to 21' length and a Toyota 200 TD.

Your advice and/or experiences are much appreciated. :biggrin:

[Adam S]

Hi Hermit

We have a 2009 topender we have recently travelled the Oodnadatta track as well as lots of dirt through the NT and SA our van took in minimal dust. We took in a little around plumbing penetrations through the floor and really not anywhere else. We have had made external covers fr all the external vents etc though found that we really have not needed to use them very much.

We used to tow a Goldstream camper trailor which used to be like yours with much swearing and washing of sheets etc. We find the Kedron is just amazing in comparison.

You won't be disappointed if you decide to buy one. :thumbsup:

Regards Adam

[TonyH]

Hi Hermit, :thumbsup:

We have had an ATV2 now for a couple of years & on the whole we are very very happy with the overall product, service & support.

If there was one thing I could fault it would be the dust that comes in through the 'four seasons' hatch. Our hatch is mounted towards the front of the van & with the air swirling off the back of the Toyota it seems to direct a lot of dust up around the hatch, with some entering. I'm currently over in the west & when I return to the east coast I will be going back to the factory to have another 'fantastic hatch' or one of those perspex pop up jobs fitted in its place.

Ive had a set of covers made to cover the external side vents when travelling on dirt & these are successful, also cover the vent panel on the entrance door.

Going back to something I mentioned earlier my first 'tug' with this van was a 100 series, now we have a 200 series....I'm coming to the conclusion the the body design of the tow vehicle DOES have a bearing on the amount of dust that is created by the tow vehicle. We have travelled similar roads with both the 100 & 200 series & the dust ingress is far greater with the 200 series (would appreciate comment on this from other readers on this)

You are looking at a great product...& you will be joining a great group of people who have bought a Kedron.

CU down the road

[Zolle]

Hi Hermit

PM me with your Email address and we can chat about the saga with my 2007 XC2 that I have now dust proofed following detailed exchanges of photos and telephone calls with the Gall boys who I kept fully informed from leaving the factory and after several long trips on dirt roads in WA.

All problems were resolved very amicably.

Many of the problems can be put firmly in the Camec ball court and they were not interested in achieving any resolution.

Regarding Tony H comments my van has a front kitchen and rear mounted 4 seasons that has not given any dust problems, we always drive with it closed.

One of my own mods is a bar carrying 2 Kedron mudflaps hanging down below each side of the stone guard that makes a big difference to dust flow and saves a lot of stone damage under the van.

The XC2 is a dream to tow on all road conditions.

Cheers

[RickA]

Hi Hermit

Our problem is the same as Tonys, that is the 4 seasons hatch (mongrel thing) It leaked loads of dust.Problem overcome by purchessing a piece of sponge rubber about 2inches thick and same size as internal hatch square. We shove it up there when travelling on dirt roads.It doesn`t look to smick but it does the job.Our hatch is also in front of van.As regards dust through door hatch I took off both grills and wacked a piece of A.C filter between them, and screwed back on. Works brilliantly.Just remember to hose it occasionally.Good Luck,You will not be disappointed with Kedron Vans or service and support from all the Gall Boys.

Cheers Rick & Lea :thumbsup: :smile:

[Webby]

We are in the middle of planning our big trip over to the west including (I hope) lots of dirt roads !

Last weekend we purchased a 40 mm thick piece of foam cut to fit the four season hatch space as a precautionary measure. And yes, it's not the best look, but I am told it works well.

We have done a few dirt roads in the past and never had any problem with dust as the first thing we did when we brought the new baby home was to squirt lots of sealant around the holes in the floor where the hoses etc. enter. (Thanks Dazmit for helping with this).

We also cover all external vents (incl the door) before hitting the dirt.

[TonyH]

Hi Sue, Rick & Lea,

Re this foam....what do you do, remove the flyscreens & then fit the foam.....please enlighten me

CU you down the road

Just re read your posts (I'm a dummy) (Sue dont agree so quickly) so you have 1 piece of foam that fits into the 'big square' openning & when you get to your destination you carefully remove it take it outside & shake....is that the idea?

I'm not that silly its just the way Wendy dresses me

TH

[Webby]

LOL Tony, you spoil all my fun :shutup:

I've taken a quick photo of the foam. The bar across is just one of three curtain rods we normally put up there to hang towels and things on to air out and the small black piece is a RAM mount for a 12V fan.

The piece of foam needs to be just a fraction bigger than the hole so it squeezes in nice and snug. From memory we had ours cut 670 mm x 670 mm, but then I had to cut some more off the sides and particularly one side as it's not quite square. As they say - measure twice, cut once.

We bought the foam from Clarke Rubber here in Brissie and it was around the $35 mark.

PS The actual size of the foam is now 660 x 665

While we're on the subject of dust - you might also be interested in a couple of pics we took of the back of our 100 Series (with a dust deflector) and another one travelling the same roads (without the dust deflector). These were taken at The Cape last year. The vehicles were washed on exactly the same day prior to that particular dusty road and this was the result. Interesting difference.

[Gordon and Chris Carter]

Hi Hermit

Gordon & I did the cape last year took the van as far as Bramwell Junction as too many places to see that you could not get our van into. Our 4 seasons hatch is at the rear of the van and we had no dust come in. We have ATV2 just 12 months old. We put a piece of foam over the vent between the door and the screen door and it worked well.

Regards

Gordon & Chris Carter

[RickA]

G`day Hermit, Sue & Everybody

Photos (I hope) of hi tech. dust blocker lol.As you can see it looks pretty ordinary,but does the job.

Sue, Lea wants to know how you attached towel rails. Are they screwed on? It`s a bit hard to see in photo.

Cheers Rick & Lea :thumbsup: :helpsmilie:

[Webby]

Hi Rick & Lea

They are just curtain rails. The plastic cup shaped supports at either end are just screwed into the wall of the 4 season hatch. We have had some pretty serious weights on them (ie items of clothing on coat hangers) and they haven't given way yet.

If you need a better close-up, just let me know.

[RickA]

Yes thanks Webby ,a close up would be good.

[dazmit]

A bit late after all the other replies but we owned a 2004 XC and in 2007 traveled on the Tanami (900 odd km of dirt) and the plenty highway and had no dust problems. Our 4 seasons hatch was at the rear of the van - seems to be the front ones have more problems - I believe even with the 4 seasons closed they allow a small percentage of ventilation as stated in a brochure I once read - I took this as a better way of saying the things are thin rubbish and don't seal !!.

The only other thing I did was have a small piece of foam between the camec doors where the gas vent is.

Ours was also a front door model and I suspect the rear door vans may leak more due to the dust from the van wheels and the fact the camec doors once again have rubbish seals.

In my opinion Camec stuff is overpriced and made for bitumen tourers where there is no dust.

A big thumbs up from me for the Kedron van :thumbsup:

Cheers

Darryl

[cvtripper]

I can't believe you guys don't have any dust problems.

How come our van got so dirty?

This is after being on 500kms of dirt from Carrawine Gorge to Newman.

At least it was all on the outside! :shades:

[dazmit]

Try driving faster and it might blow off David :laugh:

Cheers

Darryl

[TonyH]

Hi Sue,

Thx for that & I can see you flash new interior light

[Gordon and Chris Carter]

Hi Everybody, Just to let you know we have the rear door and did not have any dust problems doing the cape

Gordon & Chris Carter

[Webby]

Rick & Lea,

Close-ups of the curtain rail brackets.

[RickA]

Thanks Webby we might give that a go:)

[Pete and Tracey]

Hi Hermit,

We did the Birdsville developmental track from Windorah to Birdsville a couple of months ago. A good days driving on dusty gibber road.

The main ingestion of dust came from the rangehood extractor van. We have the kitchen at the back of the van and the tube that came from the rangehood is exhausted from the rear of the van through the wall and a vent on the outside.

The tube needed to be modified to create a gapless fitt to the wall of the van as this is how dust got in. Easy fix with a bit of foam and tape. Otherwise there was no other problems as we had blocked the door vent etc.

On the door vent topic, what do most people do to cover it? We undid the 4 screws that holds the vent together placed a piece of newspaper between and refitted. Seemed to work alright, and other easier thoughts?

[RickA]

Pete & Tracey

Replace newspaper with A/C filter,that way you can hose it out occasionally. Works for us.

Cheers

Rick & Lea :thumbsup:

[Tolley]

Hello Peter ands Tracey,

At the concludion of the first half day on dirt roads I fixed the door vent with a piece of VB carton taked over the inside of the door vent. Worked wonders and is still there despite the van being hosed down a good number of times.

Being an old digger I intend to try a trick we used in Vietnam to keep the muck our of our armoured vehicle weapons. We used condoms to seal the muzzels and they were a perfect fix. I reckon they will stretch over the external vents on the van. Should attract some comments as well! When you arrive at your destination just pull them off, fill with water and throw at your neighbour!

Only joking.....maybe.

Regards to all

Colin

[Laurie and Helen]

I do hope you colour coordinate :laugh:

[Hermit]

Many thanks to everyone who replied to my thread. My wife and I are pleased to hear that very little dust gets into Kedron vans. After travelling with the Jayco camper for many years and it's dust problems we are now confident that a Kedron van will not have the same fault.

Again, thanks for the replies.

Looking forward to visiting the Kedron showroom in April.

Rob and Doris

(Hermit)

[Rod Priestley]

We have a 21 ft XC 2002 vintage which we have taken to the big island for the last 3 winters doing a fair bit of dirt, including Birdsville in 2006. Our way of keeping the dust out, as well as taping the bottom of the door, is to raise the front opening 4 seasons hatch to the storm setting.

This builds up air pressure in the van and won't allow dust to enter, either through the 4 seasons vent or be sucked in through any of the other vents. Of course there should be no vents etc where air can escape which stuffs it all up.

On our last trip all this came to no avail near Top Springs NT as a window on the passenger side worked undone and was flapping in the breeze. Had to buy a new winder when we got home as one of the rods (no pun) which pushes the window out broke away from the winder. We had plenty of dust that day. Taped the window shut for the rest of the trip.

We have a 94 Patrol which does not seem to get much dust on the back windows - no deflectors or anything like that - could be a more efficient design that the current ones - got to say that.

Cheers

Rod

tassie devils