Col and Debbie

Hi all, Attached some pictures of the mods I made to the kitchen drawers. I have had no problem with other drawers. My van already had the wood inside the drawers as shown by Rick & Lea from new, however, I still had a number of broken catches. We used to take the drawers out and put them on the floor wrapped in blankets to prevent damage when they fell out. I have had no broken catches since this mod. Regards Colin

Hi All, I will take some pics tomorrow and post. Regards Colin

I had the same problem on the Gibb River Road and David told me I had too much weight in the drawers. I halved the contents of the drawer and still had the same problem. I realised that the drawer slides fitted by Kedron allow the drawers to move excessively and the constant movement on rough roads eventually breaks the catch. I have modified the drawers and fitted roller ball drawer slides that also have a rubber stopper that holds the drawer closed when it is fully closed. I have had no problem since. The roller ball drawer slides are readily available. I bought mine from Galvins Hardware in Perth. Regards Colin

Thanks John, I'll keep an eye out for the details. Cheers

Hi John, Where did you buy the components to modify the Fanstatic to a van pressurisation fan and what was the cost?

Lea and Rick, I just tried the link I pasted into the previous post and it did not work. You may have to enter it in manually. It worked for me when I entered manually. www.dreampod.net/boroma/dometic_windows.html Regards Colin

Hi Lea and Rick, Have a look at the link http://www.dreampod.net/boroma/dometic_windows.html. I have just checked the site to make sure it still works and all seems OK. This is a detailed description of how to replace the standard screen with the midge screen with lots of photos etc. The intro to the article says; "Over time the original Dometic-Seitz© white nylon roller screens get very grubby and shrink away from the edges allowing insects to bypass the screens and invade your space. I have replaced the originals with black midge screening giving a better look and they shouldn't have the same shrinking problems as they are made from fibreglass. This is an economical upgrade as replacement screens from Dometic© are around 10 times the cost of DIY. I did try the Dometic© modification with adhesive fur sealing tape but it made the screens sluggish and interfered with their operation so much that I have concluded that it is a waste of time and removed it, the real problem is the poor fitting nylon screens. You need to make your own mind up on this but if you are going to do that modification you need to do it at the same time and you may need to increase the tension on the rollers because of the extra drag." I hope this is useful for you. Regards Colin

Thanks to everyone for their comments. I think I will go with the D045 as it is much less expensive than the Hitch Easy. I have looked at the McHitch but had the same feedback about needing to be spot on when connecting. Also there are problems when using the Hayman Reese WDH which I would like to keep using. Thanks again for your input. Regards Colin

Hi All, I am looking to upgrade the original Hyland hitch on my ATV2. I am looking at the Vehicle Components D045 and the Hitch Easy. Does anyone have an opinion on either or can any one give me an idea of the pros and cons of each? Colin

Hi Bryan, We recently installed the Autosat S2 from Intellisat 1300 551616 They are located in Melbourne but arranged for shipment and installation in Perth. The installer came to my house and did a very good job on the installation. We went for the Autosat because it has all metal gears and drive which I think will be more robust for off tar travelling. It is very simple to operate (push 1 button to set up and to park). We are very pleased with the system. Colin

We have had the same problem. I have a 1.5 metre length of about 12mm ID aluminium tube that I slip over the top of the rubber aerial. It makes a huge improvement on the am reception and at least allows us to tune in to ABC news etc. Because the rubber aerial on our van is quite high on the wall, I have a 13mm gaff clip on a bracket attached to the solar panel frame above. The tube clips into the gaff clip which supports it.

jk, We took our ATV on the Gibb River Road and all places between Derby and Kununurra last year and accumulated lots of red dust staining. When we got back to Perth we had the major task of cleaning the outside of the van back to new. I used Diggers Stain and Rust Remover, which is Oxalic Acid. This product is often used for removing bore water stains. I bought it from Bunnings at about $16:00 for two kilos. It worked a treat. It cleaned the galvanised chassis parts to like new, the chequer plate is back to shiny and I also used it to clean red dust stains off the awning. I made around a 10% solution (100 grammes in 1 litre of water. I put the solution into a spray bottle, sprayed on small sections at a time and left for about 5 minutes before washing off with water. In areas that were badly stained and around areas where there were rock chips, I scrubbed lightly with a small brush before hosing off. Hope this is of use to you. Regards Col & Debbie

Pete n Margie, The following link may be of some use to you. http://www.rpc.com.au/catalog/johnson-accu...ank-p-2659.html

Hi Beejay, We have connected all four outlets into one discharge point and have had no problem with water backing up. I have joined the hoses from the kitchen and washing machine and laid them in an aluminium channel fixed to the chassis with a slight fall to the rear. I have then connected this hose with a fabricated "Y" piece (not "T" piece) to the hose from the basin and shower. The Y piece takes all outlets out to the right rear of the van.

Pete & Tracey, The fitting inside the van is a TNC plug. I had a lead made up with a TNC on one end and SMA on the other. I then connect the Telstra patch lead for my phone & modem to the SMA fitting. I had the cable made by Terlin Outbacker Communications here in Perth. The fittings are fairly common and should be available from most radio/communications suppliers. I have (today) fitted a two way splitter to my set up to allow me to have phone & modem outside the van. I had all the cables made up and had no problem accessing the TNC fittings. Hope this helps.

Hi Webby, I am glad you could make enough sense of my photos to be able to reproduce the hitch lock. I am very security conscious (Debbie says I'm paranoid about security), so necessity was the mother of invention in this case. I think it would take a determined effort to overcome the Hyland Helmut. Regards

Hi Hermit, I have had a GVM upgrade to my 200, mainly to overcome insurance concerns with the weight of the vehicle loaded with boat loader, tinnie, longrange tank, bull bar, drawers etc, being over the standard GVM. I fitted a Dobinson Spring upgrade and at the same time had a GVM upgrade to increase GVM by 330kg. This cost me about $2.5k. The GVM upgrade does not change the ball weight limit of 350kg, so loading of the van is still very important. If you search GVM on the 200s site on the Landcruisers On Line Forum, www.lcool.org, you will find a large amount of comment and information on this subject. I hope this helps.

Bill, How many windows can you fix for $250:00? Hopefully not just one.

Hi Rick & Lea, Attached are some photos of a hitch lock that I have designed and fabricated myself (the Hyland Helmet). The hitch cannot be rotated and the hitch release mechanism cannot be accessed with the lock in place. I have extended a normal tow ball lock pin as the locking device and it has the same key as my tow ball lock. Regards

David and Jane, Yes it is a very nice spot. We stayed there for two weeks in August. We camped behind the sand hill to get some protection from the wind, but it was still only a 50 metre walk to the beach. We were even lucky enough to catch some fish.

Hi All, Our rig at 14 mile Warroora Station WA

Helen & Graeme, We took delivery of our 19'6 ATV2 in November 2008 and had it trucked over. We are located in Leeming and you are welcome to look at our van. Send us a private email and we can arrange a time.

I had the same problem with mine. Used the heater once and it failed. I tracked it down to the pump and advised Dometic. They posted a new pump to Perth and had their local warranty agent fit it, no problem. I also had problems with the stays on the Dometic windows and they didn't want to know about it. After a phone call for help to Ashley at Kedron their attitude changed for the better and the stays were repaired/replaced.

This week we flew across to Brisbane to take delivery of our new 21' ATV KC00972. :thumbsup: It was delivered 1 year and 10 days from the original order date. Although the process was lengthy, it was essentially pain free and we are very pleased with the finished product. Stan and the crew at Kedron were fantastic and we thank them for their great customer service. Unfortunately we are not yet retired and couldn't get the time needed to tow the van back to Perth, so we will be sending it by truck. We hope to have in home in a couple of weeks. We are planning some short shakedown cruises close to home then later next year up to the Kimberly and beyond. Perhaps we will catch up with other members along the way.