The car is a 2014 Nissan Navara V6 twin can ute. 7 speed auto, turbo charged 3ltr diesel engine producing 170kW power and 550 NM torque. Jus shy of a one tonne carrying capacity.   It pulls the 3tonne van without any fuss.   The car has a US made Snugtop fibreglass canopy with 3 double locking awning windows, Safari snorkel and ARB winch bar.   A 9500lb winch missed out before xmas due to time constraints, but is on the list for early next year.  Poly bag suspension and a V5 WDH.   The usual LSD is replaced with a [ ... ]

We made some sunscreens from standard shade mesh and wedding ribbon/rope for the rope track.   We found on the long trip that the awning is near useless for sun protection unless the sun is directly over or behind the camper.   With the sun directly behind you dont need an awning at all, and overhead sun is actully not so common nor long lasting.   The Outback height doesn’t help either, and we found that at a minimum, a long wall sunscreen would have been invaluable. When tested both screens at Ballarat a couple of weeks ago and found them [ ... ]

We just spent 5 weeks camping along the east coast which is a good test for the Expanda before the warranty runs out. We got to Ben Boyd National Park without incident. The 60km of relatively corrugated and potted track and the Expanda was all but dust free and nothing had fell off on the trip or out. Had a few of the privacy screen hooks give way over the course of trip, but was operator error when I didn’t prepare the surface properly before applying the adhesive. Each one reapplied properly has stayed attached to date. Too many [ ... ]

After much deliberation the Patrol has been sold.  She’s been an absolutely terrific vehicle, and confidently taken us and our campers and tents far and wide over the years. She’s never ‘complained’ and never balked at any task asked of her; some of those tasks were pretty challenging as well. It was a little sad to see her go, but she’d had a couple of failures that severely dented Ross’s confidence in her. The failures weren’t fatal, but enough to put her off the road and into intensive care.   The repairs weren’t a huge challenge at the [ ... ]

When we purchased the Expanda we didn’t particularly like the black privacy screens on offer. They were outrageously over priced, not well fitted and black?. The price was prohibitive, but the press stud fittings hanging off display units was enough for me to look at other options. For privacy screens it would seem idiotic to use a high contrast color like black; the high contrast would highlight rather then obscure as would a lighter lower contrast color such as the blue we went with. We even stenciled a Jayco logo onto the screens to make [ ... ]

With all the issues I’ve had in the past with dodgy TV reception, I took the plunge into a satellite unit. When Daniel goes to bed at around 7.30, TV reception is a primary consideration especially when the weather isn’t great and we’re stuck indoors. I like to see the broadcast news at least every other day, and terrestrial TV cant always guarantee reception. The setup process is a little fiddly with satellite finding and tuning, but we would try to use terrestrial reception where possible. Knowing we will always get something whether satellite or [ ... ]

After the installation of a 120 AH AGM Lead Acid battery, we installed a National Luna battery monitor that both displays charging and discharge capacity. I has a built in audible over-charge and discharge alarm, along with visual display of both charging and discharge level. Although the monitor draws little power, we chose to install a isolating switch. We also installed a 24 CuFt computer fan to the rear of the fridge for air circulation on hot days. We chose a LED lit fan which should help with a visual indication of function. All this [ ... ]

The fillers and outlets to the sub floor water tank are exposed and in line for any major strike from anything run over in transit. The connectors are very flimsy plastic and are in a prime spot to be broken sooner rather then later. By sliding the existing tank guard and tank slightly, I was able to insert a small section of galvanized sheet to fulling protect the tank and connectors for minimal work and cost.

The entire wiring junctions (or scrunched up fist of wires) for the camper electrics was simply scrunched up into a balled mess and forced onto the pathetic piece of Coke can thin alum and left. Exposed to all road debris and moisture. A $15 junction box, tube of sealer and some heavy alum plate …. and it’s now just as it should have been supplied in the first place.

Dish alignment with Dishpointer

Back from Bendigo with a few more issues. When we arrived in Bendigo and I opened the rear hard lid and the catch the holds the bed fell out on the ground. We also noticed the rear curb side roof catch is rubbing the awning material when the roof is closed. I think we may have identified the problem just in time to stop a hole wearing through. The fact the awning has to be pulled away from the van js\ust to open and close the roof is a major design over sight that could only be described as idiotic.

A few major additions, changes and modifications are being done to edge closer to the perfect Panda. Half of the hanging wardrobe is being converted to a pantry, and the other half to shelving. Wire kitchen baskets will be the pantry, and we’re picking up a sheet of matching decorative ply from Jayco to make the shelves. We have the shade mesh for the construction of the privacy screens around the beds, and the awning wind breaks. But probably wont have time to finish that before Easter. We picked a mid blue color which is much nicer than the horrid cheap [ ... ]

We havent had the Panda a month yet and the issues are still ongoing. The leak was fixed along with the slash in the rear canvas tent section. The leak repair surprised me; I was expecting a blob of silicone, but they flattened and filled the hole with some compound which made it very difficult to locate. The tent section was pulled apart and the slashed vinyl section replaced along with a repair to the metal bow bracket that fell off. the bow bracket holds the tent section up and out. when the camper is setup The Panda returned to us with [ ... ]

The screw was the leakage culprit and the tape temporarily remedied the problem. Another storm came through last night with torrential rain and hurricane winds (almost). Daniel and I went for a nice warm, long hot shower. Just as we were finishing up we could hear the wind and rain springing up. We headed back and rolled in the awning Then it blow like all buggery and the rain dropped. The neighbours were out somewhere and there awning was buffeting and billowing around like a old ladies dress in the wind and looked like it was about to rip the side [ ... ]

It turns out the the knuckleheads at the Jayco factory have driven a screw straight up through the roof above the aircon. The screw has come out of the roof section and is most likely the source of the leak. Although we have yet the have another down pour to test the theory, the hole has been taped up and the forecast further storms should give the theory ample testing.

The Panda has arrived and with a few ‘repairs’ and modifications, was packed up for its maiden voyage to Inverloch for a forecast wet weekend shake down cruise and leak test. The trip down was un-eventful and the Panda towed pretty well. Nothing really moved around inside and more importantly nothing fell off. The camp setup was equally un-eventfull; the Panda was setup in a matter of minutes. A storm rolled in across the ocean and into the inlet. We ahd to make a dash back to camp to check the Panda, and lucky we did because eceyone in the park was [ ... ]