John and Ann

Hi John, Making an Assumption here in that you are talking about WDH bars rather than Sway Bars, my apologies in advance if you really meant Sway Bars. Sounds to me like your WDH needs to be angled back a little further, this is a real simple job that I have done recently to give me a little capacity to tension the bars. How many chain links are there between the bar and the snap up hook? I suspect that you have too few, this creates two problems, first bars could rub on chassis rail when turning, second there is insufficient slack when tensioned to allow for cornering and thus the tensioning hook will slide back and forth on the A frame. I used 5 links (min recommended by Reece) as the target between tension bar and snap up hook, but am currently at 7 I think, this means the bars hang a little low but for the most part this will be OK for me. Before you start anything load up the rear of your car with everything you would normally carry when traveling including fuel and measure from the ground to the wheel arch at the centre of each rear wheel, make a note of the measurement. To adjust the angle undo the top bolt (28mm sockets/spanners needed), once loose move the sawtooth washer one set of teeth so that the hitch tilts back a little, re-tighten and test by hooking up your van, remember though to jack up your van little while hooked onto your car (lift the vehicle rear and the van front) before tensioning your bars, use the link that is closest to the hook with the yoke of the snap up hook parallel to the ground. Now release the jack and remeasure at the rear wheels of your vehicle, if the sag is close to 15mm or so, then you are pretty well done, if not, you need to angle the hitch back a little more or if you have more than 5 links between the bar and the snap up bracket go one link more and re-measure (you might need to jack the car and van a little higher to go another link). It is important to remember, NEVER, try to tension or release the tension bars unless you have taken up the tension by jacking up the van while hooked up to the car. Good luck, hope this helps. I have attached what Hayman Reece sent me when I asked for setup information, it provides more detail but is essentially along the same lines as I have posted here. 1000lb WDH.pdf, thanks to Hayman Reece for supplying me with this document and although you might not have a 1000lb WDH John, I believe the principals for setup will still apply.

Hi Rick, Sorry, was Phil and I having laugh about how the new van came about, we both left off the WD from hitch comment, we were both refering to a 1000lb WDH

Well done Phil and Darlene We hope you will be very happy with the new van. Anyone else want to come round and check out my 1000lb hitch? No wonder Tom and David were so helpful when I spoke to Tom about upgrading my van ATM.

Yeah I like it, lots of new functionality. Tried to vote positive on Phils comment but seems I have used my positive vote quota for the day

Hi Trish and Carl, We have an Inmarsat iSatPhone Pro. Their subscription plans suited us best, opting for a prepaid plan that allows you to keep credits for 24 months, call rates are a bit higher but you are not locked into monthly cost. If you travel remotely for enough time each year you may be able to get Sat Phone Subsidy from Fed. Govt. As a backup we have a couple of FindMeSpot devices, not quite PLB or EPIRB's but have the advantage of being able to be programmed to send a fixed message via satellite to someone of your choosing. It can also allow others to track your progress and does provide emergency response (subscribed services required for some features). We have tested both of these options and are very happy. Enjoy the trip, it's on our long list.... John

Hi Ian and Jill, We have the TEAC 22 in our van and its' great, has DVD plus provision to record to a USB stick if you don't want to miss something while you are out seeing the sights, yes we have used it. :thumbsup:

Phil, That's interesting not being told, I was not given an option, once they actually figured out they could not use the 3.5t hitches, 1000lb hitch seemed mandatory. Your welcome, when ever it suits you to come and look I'll probably be here.

Hi Phil, Send me a email if you want to try a 1000lb unit out (can also send you any pic's you might want), I'm surprised you don't have one already as I was told that I had no option but to have 1000lb with the 6t hitch. You,will need to make sure you get the adaptor plate from McHitch, apologies if you already knew that or you have another hitch. Cheers John

Sorry Bryan, the comment related to the 3.5t McHitch. Neville I understand now your concern, I would ask the guys doing your car the details of what your ratings will be. I have looked online myself and don't see they say anything about tow capacity, they only mention GVM, I would be intereste in the details myself.John

Neville & Kaye, The maximum that your vehicle can tow is stipulated by the vehicle manufacturer, in your case if you have a Toyota Landcruiser Sahara that rating is 3,500kgs and can only be increased by modification and engineering certification I believe. Interestingly the US specification for this same vehicle is a tow capacity of 8,200lbs (3,720kg), 220kg extra would be handy for me.

Hi Neville, The answer to the 6t question is the 3.5t hitch is actually only rated at 3.0t offroad. I'm guessing Inventor has not understood your post regarding your plans for the tow setup. John

Hi All, Can't really offer an opinion about hitches other than the McHitch which is the first off-road hitch that we have used. For my part I find the hitch extremely easy to use and echo all the positive comment that has already been made by others. I must admit though that I was curious as to the motivation for the thread when I first saw it last night. I am even more convinced now that there is an agenda afoot which is not being shared, call me a cynic if you like, but I think we are being manipulated. Chris and HAVAGO make a good point. Remember that all the popular search engines have their bots crawl sites such as ours to obtain data that they provide to you when you enter your search question about a particular subject. Do a search on some of the names in this thread and see what comes back. If I were one of the brands mentioned here I would be very happy with the way this thread is trucking along. My question, a big call, should admin delete the thread? Cynical John :confused1:

Hi All, We have similar plans Phil. Sounds like there will be a few Kedrons' crossing the channel around that time.

Hi All, Well bit the bullet and ditched the Honda EU20i. No matter what I did and whom ever I spoke with none of their suggestions kept it running with the Cormorant on line. Debated the Yamaha EF2400i vs EF2800i but concluded that although 2800 was considerably cheaper and had quite a bit more power, I and my fellow travellers would be unhappy with the additional noise. So out with the EU20i, generator slide and thanks to Danny & Sue's tip earlier in this thread in went the divider, EF2400i, tie downs, and 2 x 10l of fuel with space left over for the water pumping kit (notice the two vents I have cut into the door to provide some cross ventilation to keep it safe in there), job done, a happy camper again. :thumbsup: Oh and yes I did a test for about 4hrs with the Cormorant cooling down a hot van and charging batteries, never missed a beat. Here are some pics for those interested in the detail:

That's interesting Russ. When our van was built last December I asked for the PSU to be omitted as I could not see the point because we had upgraded charge capacity as a result of the charger/inverter we had chosen to have fitted. I was told that the PSU should be fitted "just in case" the charger/inverter failed I would at least be able to run the lights and 12v outlets from the mains. I think the changes to the wiring to remove the PSU were all too hard to contemplate. John

Hi Phil, Am thinking about a Nosecone myself... The most obvious advantage would be fuel economy, but I suspect it would also assist in reducing dust inside the van. John

Hi all, I opted to leave the engine bay alone, way too hot in there. My solution a self install was to take advantage of the space both sides of my Black Widow drawer set. Under the hood I installed a circuit breaker then ran the full size battery cable to the rear of the vehicle.In the rear I installed another circuit breaker and connected that to a starter solenoid then to each of the two AGM 100AH batteries installed either side of the drawer set.The solenoid is controlled by a switch on the dash and is there just in case I need to jump start myself (or as backup charge circuit). To charge these I installed a DC/DC charger which gets it's supply from the engine bay side of the solenoid protected by a circuit breaker.The charger is controlled by a switch on the dash and will only charge when it senses that a charge is being applied to the engine batteries.I decided on a DC/DC charger because of different battery chemistry and optimising charge on both systems which cannot be achieved when you interconnect 4 batteries. I installed another circuit breaker in the rear which takes it's feed from the solenoid input for a couple of Anderson plug at the rear of the vehicle.All accessory outlets and an inverter in the rear are connected to the new rear batteries, with the inverter controlled through a relay and switch on the dash. My auxiliary batteries now reside in a nice cool air-conditioned space that I had little use for rather than the very hot engine bay.

Hi Rus, Ditto from me!! The quality of the product and experience of the person applying it is the key, more is never better. It's scary up there, on the ruf that is. But then I am told it is par for the course within the industry. Good luck with the next repair.

Thanks Rus for the tips! Sounds like a project to add to the list of many. :-)

Hi all, The following link(s) may be of interest to many of you. As TV moves to the digital platform many more remote areas that currently have analogue will not be upgraded to digital. Rather those impacted will be able to get TV with VAST. There is an option for a 6 month Travellers access which can be continuously renewed. http://www.mysattv.com.au/ Check the flat sat dish out can even be left operational when travelling to record your favourite show :thumbsup: http://www.campersat.com.au/index.shtml Cheers, happy travels. John

Hi All, Be sure to vent the Generator box if you are going to store fuel in there :thumbsup:

Looks great Danny, Thanks for sharing. Have you vented the box now that you are storing fuel in there? If not you should put it on your list of things to do sooner rather than later for safety sake. Oh and don't be tempted to install a light in there for those late night setups and refuels. John

Hi Pete & Tracey, We met in the Isa, Kedron newbies you spoke to. I believe the caravan repairer in Alice was at the Heritage Caravan Park but is no longer there. I suggest you get is looked at before you leave as you would have more options I would think. :thumbsup: Safe travels...

Hi all,Hmm nail on head about wiring diagram or should I say lack of it, I specifically asked for it prior to the build and got a definite "nope". I have an electrical background so will probably be OK, but I consider not having one a considerable shortcoming. I would be interested in knowing the answer to the question at hand also if anyone has managed to secure a diagram.

Hi Richard,I have a 200 series twin turbo diesel wagon. With our van in tow which is the full 3.5t and good load of gear in the vehicle 160l of fuel I have, averaged around 21L/100km at a cruise speed of 100kmh, had better with a tail wind around 19 and worse with a strong headwind or lots of hills, max has been around 26L/100km.The utes are certainly capable of towing a 3.5t van.Good luck with the change.