DIY Hidden Glovebox

[dapope]

Nice job.
I have a dead space in the dash of the swagman. Your completed project has me thinking about how I can utilise it. Would be a great spot to store stuff, or even open it up to use to stop stuff sliding around

[Craig]

It's amazing how much room you can find in the dash board once you get rid of those pesky air bags

[dapope]

Air bags?
Oh, those things people put under the springs!!

[Cuppa]

Just for clarification - I believe removing air bags (the interior, 'save you in an accident' type ....dapope ) is illegal.

Well done Cuppa, it does look good. I haven't seen to much of the finished Patrol /camper since the demise of a forum or 2, how about an update

Thanks..... I prefer to say the 'almost finished' ...... it's now in the process of 'refinement'.

Ex Telstra Patrol from Alice Springs. '06 4.2 TDi

Accommodation is:
Shippshape rooftop tent & awning, recently upgraded to a new single sided, low profile inner spring mattress. Haven't slept on it yet.
Oztent RV3 tent for daytime living room in bad weather/mozzies etc. Haven't needed to use it yet.

425w solar (125w fixed/300w portable) + 360ah AGM batteries + Redarc BCDC1240 DC to DC 40amp charger/solar reg. Nasa 'BM1 compact' battery monitor. Blueseas cb/distribution panel. Only expect to use the portable panels if setting up camp for more than 2 or 3 nights, but to be self sufficient for power indefinitely for long term camps.

Manual connection (via Blueseas high amperage switches & 70mm2 cable) between crank battery (under bonnet) & aux batteries (in canopy) so aux batteries can be utilised for winching/jump starting if needed. Telltale voltmeter in cab.

240v input & power points

350w Victron Phoenix inverter

ARB 60 litre fridge & ARB 35 litre freezer on slides.

180 litres water (150 +30) with pressure pump - external connections (via carbon silver filter for drinking) for hoses. Garden trigger sprayers for taps.

22 litre calorifier 'Surecal' hot water service with extra insulation +expansion tank.

Permanent 'Kitchen', with 2 burner & grill gas stove on slide out. Quickly removable for use in elsewhere if weather/mozzies dictate. To use slide out & plug in bayonet fitting.

2 x 3kg LP gas bottles

3/4hp Boss 12v air compressor with 9 litre tank.

Under tray storage for second tent, tools, spares & recovery gear

In canopy structured storage (slide in slide out lidded plastic boxes) plus a variety of other nooks & crannies, & a full width shelf at top for lighter stuff - chairs, fishing rods etc. Rods can travel 'made up' - more likely to stop somewhere & have a go.

Front winch (Warn) with synthetic rope

Dual spare wheels on swing down carriers

Two fuel tanks with a range of around 1000kms

Rear vision monitor

Low coolant alarm

Probably other stuff I've forgotten!

By now you are no doubt thinking "Gee Cuppa's camper is going to be weighing a bit" & you'd be right it does. When we were just about done I filled it with everything as we would when setting off on a trip & took it over a weighbridge. GVM was 3400kg & it came in at 3700Kg. Most distressing. I was left with the dilemma of whether to tow an off road camper or not, something I didn't want to do, let alone undo much of the work I had already put in to planning & building inside the canopy. The solution, whilst expensive, but cheaper than buying something to tow, was a GVM upgrade. This involved complete new heavy duty suspension all (A GVM upgrade 'kit' from Lovells suspension) round plus some smoke & mirrors with the brake bias proportioning. All signed off by an engineer (because the kit is intended for the 3 litre models - same chassis et but different motor ) & increased the GVM to 3900Kg.

Later this week the camper gets new wheels & tyres. Basically I decided I wanted to ch)ange from the current narrow split rims to wider tubeless rims.
The current tyres ar 235/85R16 & need 68 to 70psi in the rear when fully loaded. I am hoping that the new wider tyres 265/75R16 (on ROH steel 16x8 rims) will allow me to run slightly lower pressures & I'll feel a lot more at ease airing down in off road situations with tubeless, whilst MrsTea will worry a lot less about me taking my head off with an explosive split rim when a puncture repair is needed.

Hope I haven't bored you!

Here is a somewhat poor quality video of the camper I took when we first set it up at home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsRR0z6 ... r_embedded#! Fingers crossed, I'm not 100% sure it will play (plays for me but I'm not sure if it will for others - if not I'll dig out some other pics).

Everything is a compromise, & the biggest compromise with this camper is that the kitchen must be shut to access the rooftop bedroom, but in practice, on the few weekends away that we've now had in it, this hasn't proven to be a hassle. What is a hassle is the final part of packing up. Because the rooftop tent is set onto the canopy top & not on a roof rack there is minimal space underneath it to hook the securing shock cords to. This becomes very fiddly & drives me nuts, but I still have to find an acceptable solution to this. The rest of the packing/unpacking is pretty quick, just that last couple of minute which becomes 20!

Cuppa

[Wilbor]

Bored, not in the slightest

Vid works fine. It does look good; you have done a marvellous job with it and done it properly and legally.

How will the lower profile tyres affect the whole rig, height, speed etc? Personally I would prefer split rims for remote use, easy to get tyres on and off and change tubes. We went remote for 3 months in a Hi-lux twin cab and carried 2 spare wheels + a spare tyre (without a rim) and a couple of tubes, rim liners and patches just in case. My father was in the tyre business and I went to a mate of his at a tyre shop and was given a crash course in changing split rims in the bush. 25,000 klm and not one flat tyre

[dapope]

Hi Cuppa,
I wasn't suggesting removing airbags!
We have a hard-top tent, just winds up on top of the pajero, have posted a photo on here somewhere. It really is a 2 minute job to put up and down. We think its a better option than a roof top tent, no fiddly bits!
Just a thought.

[Cuppa]

How will the lower profile tyres affect the whole rig, height, speed etc?

Only a bees dick in it. Diameter of the 235/85's is 806mm & diameter of the 265/75's is 804mm. New tyres are rated to a higher speed (170kph) than the vehicle is capable of & have a '123' load rating (1550kg). Not sure yet if the extra wheel/tyre weight will affect braking much, but should be ok as this is the recommended size on the updated tyre placard which came with the GVM upgrade.

Cuppa

[T1 Terry]

Video worked fine for me too Cuppa, what is the background sound track?
Do you plan to fit stabilser leags to the 4 corners to stop swaying in the wind and when you climb in and out of bed?
Looks like there is a place for every thing and if it doesn't go in exactly the right place, it doesn't all fit, the kombi travelling is a bit like that
You certainly have done a great job on it, very neat and tidy.

[Cuppa]

Hi Cuppa,
I wasn't suggesting removing airbags!
We have a hard-top tent, just winds up on top of the pajero, have posted a photo on here somewhere. It really is a 2 minute job to put up and down. We think its a better option than a roof top tent, no fiddly bits!
Just a thought.

No I know you weren't! I just thought I should mention it as on another forum some did propose removing their passenger side airbag with the view that 'the missus' would prefer somewhere to stow her handbag that a safety airbag that she'd probably never use!
We'll see how we go with the tent, practice & routine may improve things, but it's good to know there is an alternative. If you find your pic here, please could you post a link to it.

Cuppa

[Cuppa]

Video worked fine for me too Cuppa, what is the background sound track?
Do you plan to fit stabilser leags to the 4 corners to stop swaying in the wind and when you climb in and out of bed?
Looks like there is a place for every thing and if it doesn't go in exactly the right place, it doesn't all fit, the kombi travelling is a bit like that
You certainly have done a great job on it, very neat and tidy.

Hi Terry,
I can't recall what the music is, it's provided by youtube, I used it to block out the wind noise & my heavy breathing!
Don't need stabiliser legs, the whole shebang doesn't rock around much (unlike the Troopy we had).
Yep everything does have it's place, the challenge each time we've been away in it so far is remembering where the heck each of those places is!
There is some leeway with stowing most things, but we could be in trouble if we damage the solar panels, they slide in/out & the chances of getting replacement panels of exactly the same dimensions might be a little slim.

Cuppa