Big trip - roof platform - what do you put on it?

[iantz Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close iantz]

I think running the freezer is your biggest issue regarding power draw. I'm curious as to why you would run one at all? I know you're going for 5 weeks, but surely you would stop to re-stock on things. If I were you, I'd be vacuum sealing all my meat before hand. Beef steaks go two weeks without issue (even longer). Chicken is a bit different and I would use it up first. The point is though, I'd forget the freezer and take the vac machine with me. When you re-stock, just vac seal all the new meat. Alternatively, most butchers will do it for a few dollars. I've never done 5 weeks, but have gone almost three with me + wife + two boys and I've never needed a freezer when using the vac sealer. It should run off your inverter easily. Getting into a caravan park powered site at some point will allow you to put some mains power back into your camper system, and will let the kids have a decent shower and toilet for a few nights

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

I run a freezer on all our extended trips, and starting with the last trip also vacuum sealed all the meat. We took all our meat for the entire 6 week trip with us from home. If your touring in populated areas, then shops are everywhere, choice is good, prices are OK, but go outback and it's totally different.

Apart from the convenience, we go on holidays to relax and see the country, not the inside of a supermarket.

So it's horses for courses and I like having a freezer, but still never needed a genset, our Eutectic freezer and our traveling style help a lot in that regards though.

Cheers Andrew

[iantz Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close iantz]

Definitely, those Eutectic fridge freezers save a lot of power. I think running anything else as a freezer results in a major increase in power draw though (but this can be minimized by pre-freezing and keeping it full etc). You also run your freezer in the car I believe and that's quite different to running one off a camper power supply (which doesn't receive the regular charge that the vehicle batteries would on a touring holiday). The point I was making is that if power use is a concern, then there are alternative ways to deal with it as opposed to something like a generator. And like you, I don't go away to visit supermarkets, but I'm quite happy to stop in at one for supplies if we've planned ahead, and I fully expect to pay more. It doesn't come as a surprise.

Back to the original question though - I like to put camping chairs, shade tent etc on the roof. They're easy to strap down etc, and generally light. I tend to use the rear half of my platform only, and to access it, I just open the boot and stand on the rear step. I do position the maxtrax further forward if necessary, because I hope I don't need them too often, and if I do, it's for a reason and getting dirty is the least of my worries at that point...

[MadJak Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close MadJak]

Thanks for you input guys...

A freezer is very useful for lots of things. Frozen pre-made baby food, steaks, sausages and a small amount of bait. Hey even some frozen icecreams... I plan on running a 40L engel as freezer for the first part of the trip. This will mostly be the driving stage anyway so it will be running and charging off my car. Once we get through a lot of the frozen items, we'll switch to the camper's fridge / freezer and convert the 40L to groceries and drinks and day trip lunches etc.

I have no issues with purchasing stuff, as the price is nothing compared to the fuel bill anyway, but it's more the convenience. I also find one fridge just isn't enough especially if your going through the tinnies a bit so if you have two may as well make the most of them.

Also in terms of generator usage, I figured it was just there for insurance. I'd try and run without it, but a few trips ago I had issues with my solar regulator cooking, and batteries can collapse etc. I'd hate to ruin a trip cause I didn't bring it. Looks like if I get a roof tray I'd have the room to put one on.

A couple of questions for those more experienced than me... can you put canned food and softdrinks/beer up on the roof? Parking in the sun could make it all cook.

I haven't seen the Eutectic fridges... I assume your talking the autofridge brand?

[rwo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close rwo]

We use our rack mainly for tent, chairs and sleeping mats (in a roof bag).

As for getting up there, I open the back door, step up into the back, stand on the end of the fridge then pull myself up onto the rack. Getting down is pretty much the reverse and it's not too difficult to get up there without getting filthy. I find it quicker and easier to get on the rack to tie things down than trying to reach over everything.

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

I haven't seen the Eutectic fridges... I assume your talking the autofridge brand?

Yes Autofridge, truth is the probably don't use any more or less power than other fridge / freezers, but they do give more flexibility in when you use that power. As the case is filled with brine (liquid) and that's what keeps it cold, you can run it flat out for a period of time and then turn it off for extended periods. As a Freezer we will normally turn it on in the morning and run it until and hour or 2 after we stop for the day.

I also have the option to plug both fridges into either battery, so if we've had a couple of light driving days and the axillary is a bit low I will swap both fridges onto the crank battery when we start driving, which I reckon means the axillary will charge a lot faster with no draw on it, the alternator has plenty of capacity to still run the fridges and keep the crank battery topped up as well.

One of the arts of travelling is to work out what you need to take and what not to take, and that's a very individual thing as everyone has different needs and priorities, but its really easy to take too much!

We carry soft drinks in the front box of the camper which can get pretty hot, not had a problem in the 10 or so years that we have been doing that, but they are heavy so probably better to stow lighter items up top.

Cheers Andrew

[iantz Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close iantz]

AJ - how do you switch between battery feeds? Is it a manual isolation switch in the engine bay, or do you have two full length feeds to the rear?

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

AJ - how do you switch between battery feeds? Is it a manual isolation switch in the engine bay, or do you have two full length feeds to the rear?

One feed from the crank battery in the front, second battery is in the rear, I have 2 plugs on each setup, so 4 plugs total. So switching is just unplugging from one and into another, nothing fancy at all.

Cheers Andrew

[Steevo Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steevo]

On our last trip (8500km) on the roofrack I had a long handle Shovel and high lift jack on the side of rack, awning on other side, on top, a long fold up plastic table, card table, fold up wash up stand, gas cooker fold up stand and a gazebo shade thingy. All things that don't matter about getting wet but :lol:had to regularly clean the tables "squashed bugs".
I find the rack handy for hanging towels or wet clothes too

[shodown Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shodown]

I too have a rhino platform.

I changed my CB aerial on the bullbar so it's a fraction higher than my roof set up, it works as an early warning system for me when I try to park.

By chance, my aerial is the perfect height to warn of clearance issues. It's been already well used by my wife!

Hey Guys,

Can you tell me what aerials you're running? I need to replace mine anyway and If I can match it to the height of the racks to warn the wife that would be great....

Kevin

[MadJak Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close MadJak]

Hey Guys,

Can you tell me what aerials you're running? I need to replace mine anyway and If I can match it to the height of the racks to warn the wife that would be great....

Kevin

I have the rfi cdq5000 I think... its in my signature. http://www.prestigecom.net.au/RFI-CD...UHF-CB-Antenna

The spring is very strong so even on corrugations it doesn't shake much. You can also take off the aerial with a spanner and leave the spring only. You can also get a little whip for city driving though then it wont work as an early warning device.

I went shopping on the weekend. Getaway camping had 25% off over the weekend so I ended up ordering a pioneer platform and HD rail legs along with a whole stack of other stuff to store!

Thanks for everyones input.

[MidLifeCrisis Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close MidLifeCrisis]

We carry soft drinks in the front box of the camper which can get pretty hot, not had a problem in the 10 or so years that we have been doing that, but they are heavy so probably better to stow lighter items up top.

Cheers Andrew

Huh? just put them in the "freeze ya bits off container" just behind the handbrake, oh wait, you don't have one of those ;p

God bless Grandes

[Rainman Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rainman]

A couple of questions for those more experienced than me... can you put canned food and softdrinks/beer up on the roof? Parking in the sun could make it all cook.

One tip I have is don't put your cartons of UHT milk in with your canned food. This is what happened to us on the old Ghan track.


It was a lucky dip for the rest of the trip as all the labels came of the tins. Mind you, Ricecream for breakfast was a bonus. :lol:

[120D4D Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close 120D4D]

Also in terms of generator usage, I figured it was just there for insurance. I'd try and run without it, but a few trips ago I had issues with my solar regulator cooking, and batteries can collapse etc. I'd hate to ruin a trip cause I didn't bring it. Looks like if I get a roof tray I'd have the room to put one on.

You can always use the genny like the All 4 Adventure guys when their 200 series had an alternator failure. They used the battery charger on the passenger floor and genny on the roof rack to keep charge up to the cranking battery while they kept on trucking.
Nothing like sponsorship filled outback repair job... What would they have done without the waeco charger and (insert sponsor name here) generator!

[MadJak Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close MadJak]

You can always use the genny like the All 4 Adventure guys when their 200 series had an alternator failure. They used the battery charger on the passenger floor and genny on the roof rack to keep charge up to the cranking battery while they kept on trucking.
Nothing like sponsorship filled outback repair job... What would they have done without the waeco charger and (insert sponsor name here) generator!

So basically they turned the 200 series into a hybrid! sort of... Without the sponsorship guff, you do have to admire the concept of it all.

I remember once driving back from Busselton with a broken fuel pump. We had a 2l container full of fuel gaffataped to the bonnet using gravity to feed it down to the engine. Worked great, with the only issue of having to stop every 20 kms or so to fill it back up. It's amazing what you can do if safety isn't a concern.