cvtripper

Pete & Tracey, Patrol should be fine - if it's not you can always do what Shane did ;-) Have to concur with the others though - the KOG is a bit of a Toyota club but we don't discriminate (much). Kimbo summed it up pretty well though - a man of few words! :biggrin:

Hi Chris, As the Robbo's have said, the CGear is a 2 layer mat that prevents dirt and sand from coming through. They have a demo in a sand box. If you pour sand on it, it falls through and doesn't come back through. I don't think Sue & Ann's or Peter's is the same mat, but I might be wrong. What made me choose this one? I'd seen the the ad for a long time (the helicopter ad) and realised that it could double as a landing pad - the 200 kicks up a bit of dust as it flys in - if you had a Nissan, you wouldn't need one. (See Nissan thread) Seriously, I'd been waiting to have a look at one after seeing the ads, and spotted Laurie and Helen's and Kenilworth and noticed at the end of the weekend, despite the rain, the mat was still pretty clean. Laurie and Helen seemed pretty pleased with it and didn't hesitate to recommend it. It comes with it's own carry bag and despite being a double mat doesn't weigh twice as much as a single mat - it's quite light actually and I'd say lighter than the shade cloth we used in our last van. We bought the 6 x 2.4m version and it's folded size is pretty compact. We haven't used it yet, but I did open it up and it went back in the bag easily. It has 24 D rings sewn into it, so only problem is all the damn pegs that I'll have to hammer in now! Will let you know how good/bad it is next week after we start using it. Feel free to ask Laurie and Helen, or the Robbo's, any questions as they're the experts - our's is still shiny ;-) There are cheaper mats around and shade cloth is cheaper but we found it slippery. The camec mat is more expensive, so price seemed OK to us.

Picked up one of the CGear annexe mats this week after seeing Laurie and Helen's at Kenilworth - quite impressed. http://www.cgear.com/default.htm All we need now is the helicopter. Just thought I'd let anyone considering purchasing one know that there will be a price increase of 10% at the end of July, so now's the time to get in.

Looks too shiny - better tell Eric to take it for a run on a dirt road! Nice bullbar :biggrin:

We've posted pics from Kenilworth Xmas night here

Eric & Jody, You won't need the duct tape any more now, so you can take the line out of your sig. ;-) I love my ECB bar. Where's the pics? David

Hi Ian & Robyn, You'll love it! :thumbsup: Just don't listen to those Nissan drivers - one said something about needing a character reference.... :shutup: Cheers

Hi Wayne & Cheryl, Tell me they're not automotive crimp lugs. :sad: It's a little hard to tell from the pics.

We had a great time too and would like to thank Bob & Di for organising a great weekend. It was good to catch up with everyone and also meet some new friends - hope to see you all at future gatherings. As many of you know, we're off in a couple of weeks, so our next gathering won't be until Millmeran. We'll try to get a blog up before we go to keep in touch. Cheers

The Thetford manual says not to use brushes or anything abrasive as it'll scratch the plastic. What we have found works really well is a $1-2 spray bottle filled with water. No scratches and no messy brush laying around in the van. What's the question, Roger?

:laugh: Don't worry, I hadn't forgotten about you, Roscoe! Not sure if you count towing the thing that starts with B? :biggrin: Don't worry, it has been considered before the 200, but that handles it with ease - more than happy and no need. Is there anyone, in the group. towing a Kedron with an F250?

Fantastic! Now I think there is only one left? We'll have a total Toyota club soon. Eric, how do you like the new vehicle?

Just thought I'd post an update on the trailer. Rob has done a great job of the trailer and the installation/mounts. I've posted some pics here: http://www.kedronownersgroup.com/photos/th...ls.php?album=59 Rob's a nice guy and went well out of his way to make sure we were happy. We'd be pleased to recommend him to anyone else considering a trailer.

Rosco, If you bought the 1000L model, you'd be able to make a killing out on the road ;-) That's a little gem - I love the bowser filler!

Chris, you missed us by 10 days - weren't you lucky! ;-) Sue, little gems they are - looks like it might be back on the agenda this year - and now I have an extra one I don't think I had listed. Thank you very much :-)

Hi Mark & Deb, We also recommend the Chinchilla Weir campground. Just watch out for the roos on the road just before you turn in - cost me last July but that will teach me to drive at night! I'll be looking for them this year now I have the bull bar ;-) We go there late at night and didn't bother with the power but my preferences is these over caravan parks. http://photos.bellette.net/pic.asp?D=photo...;F=P1010007.jpg http://photos.bellette.net/pic.asp?D=photo...;F=P1010008.jpg Chris, interesting you were there last July? We stayed on the 6th July, do you recall your dates? Mark & Deb,have a fantastic trip! And we'll have to catch up when you get back. We've run out of the Egglant and Plum/Tomato Chilli sauces from the Bramble Patch already so another trip is in order!

Hi Wayne & Cheryl, I noticed you said you only had 4 weeks. I'd be interested to know how far you got in that time. Do you have an itinerary or travel diary?

Webby, Boondoomba Dam is just down the road from Imbil.

Hi Ian & Robyn, If Mr Bushtracker says you need a special hitch, he must be right - just ask him! I'm with Kimbo. No need for the special hitch with the TopEnder. Have a look how level this is http://photos.bellette.net/pic.asp?D=photo...;F=q1010021.jpg That has the standard hitch adjusted to suit the 200. The only suspension update we have done is the airbags - there is 20psi in them in that photo. The HR WDH is not fitted either. We do fit them on the road for saftey reasons but not needed to level the van. We have KDSS and the airbags don't interfere. I've been told there are no problems with the spring upgrades but I don't have a need and won't be going down that path.

Ouch! I'm sure they're very nice, Maca, but my Netcomm unit was only about $150....

Lea & Rick I'll refer you to this thread. http://www.kedronownersgroup.com/forum/ind...amp;hl=internet The Netcomm router we have is the N3G001W http://www.netcomm.com.au/administrator/products/n3g001w It accepts the Turbo 7 Express Card. There are wireless routers out there that accept the USB modems. Try these guys. http://www.draytek.com.au/events/mobile_broadband.php

We're the same as Yoshy - prodigy installed in the ashtray slot. It's very neat and doesn't get knocked with your knees :thumbsup:

Thanks for the reply Kimbo, and the vote of confidence. I'm thinking for a little more I could have a nice checkerplate box that would lock the outboard up nicely and protect it a lot better than a vinyl(?) cover. I'll think about this one a bit more and if push comes to shove, I'll carry it in the car. Jody and Eric, yes, I could take a pic, but I haven't mounted it one the A frame yet. I have the brackets from when the van was built. I think there are plenty of others with photos already. Shane had a good mount coming from Roy @ RealEzy but I'm not sure if he has that yet.

Hi Arthur & Adriana, As you have seen from the others there are many ways you could go about this - it all depends on how you want it setup and how much you're prepared to spend. We bought a Telstra Turbo 7 Express card as we wanted the fasted download and upload speed, and we wanted to be able to use the modem at other times also when not travelling in the van, without externally cabling. We also installed an external 2.5m aerial to give the longest range possible over flat ground. We haven't had a chance to really test this out to it's limits yet, but that will come in July. Finally, we didn't like the idea of cables everywhere hanging down on the table or being ristricted to sitting in the van to use the aerial, and at times, we'll want more than one computer connected at the same time to the internet, so we bought a Netcomm modem that accepts the Express card and we have a local private wireless network. Can sit inside or out and don't have to drag cables around or even bother plugging any in. The only plug is the laptop charger plug at the table (we have a 12V DC converter for this too, which saves having to turn the inverter on). All one to their own on how you want to set it up, how much you'll use it and how much hard earned you're prepared to hand over. They all work.