Getting the last few things organised for our usual camping trip before Christmas I had to come up with a new location for the axe and shovel or relocate the reversing camera and reuse the bracket I made up years ago. Well it was easier to drill some holes in the roofrack!
As the D handled shovel will now live in the Rodeo and it seems our awning is lost forever to the Rodeo as well it was an opportunity to get another awning and shovel. I bought a longer straight (ish) handled shovel so that gives us a better shovel too. I was going to get a Supa-Peg awning as recommended by Craig but the cost is a bit much for the occasional use we get. As the awning is on the roof rack which isn't usually on the Prado it was a waste. I then had a look at the usual cheaper suspects. We have an OzTrail awning that is now on the Rodeo and while it is ok the cam locks aren't that impressive and it is on the lighter side of things. I think the TJM awning is just a rebranded OzTrail, could be wrong but it looks the same. ARB told me that theirs is a rebranded Rhino awning but I didn't check it out in person. I managed to pick up a Rhino Sunseeker II for a pretty reasonable price and while I was there bought the proprietary brackets made up for the Tracklander. The brackets aren't anything special but did save me a few hours and they fit straight on. I have the advantage too of being able to shift the awning in and out depending what else is in the roofrack. I left a big enough gap for a couple of ropes and clove hitches without catching hands or the rope. If I can fit the awning to the lower bracket holes I will be able to fit some more fishing rods or kayak paddles above. I will see when I get around to fitting the roofrack on the Prado next weekend.
The shovel and axe are mounted with proprietary quick fist style holders. I put rivnuts in the tray for the axe and drilled and tapped the top rail for the shovel. The axe will be secured with a chain and lock and I will probably throw a couple of cable ties on both just to stop any rattles.
I bought a second Rhino bag and both fit neatly in the roofrack. So the plan is to carry the solar panel in the Prado. Axe will sit on the trailer until we get to camp where it will then transfer to the roof. The shovel will sit on the roofrack for the duration as will the awning.
Pretty happy with how it all fits even if it was a lousy photo just before the storm hit yesterday.
All I need to do today is check trailer wheel bearings and make sure I haven't lost the bolts and nuts that hold my home made kayak rack on the trailer. Oh and charge the auxiliary auxiliary batteries that are now mandatory in the camp to keep all those iThings charged.
I finished running the solar in feed cable but the sticky stuff I used to hold the cable in place up the back isn't holding so I will resort to gorilla tape for the interim undtil I find a better quality silicone stuff. Works fine though. The cable is fixed to the Toyota rails and it is a simple matter of plugging in the Anderson plug from the solar panels once the panels are up on the roofrack.
I didn't get around to running an LED light bar on the rack this time so that is a job for the future.
As the D handled shovel will now live in the Rodeo and it seems our awning is lost forever to the Rodeo as well it was an opportunity to get another awning and shovel. I bought a longer straight (ish) handled shovel so that gives us a better shovel too. I was going to get a Supa-Peg awning as recommended by Craig but the cost is a bit much for the occasional use we get. As the awning is on the roof rack which isn't usually on the Prado it was a waste. I then had a look at the usual cheaper suspects. We have an OzTrail awning that is now on the Rodeo and while it is ok the cam locks aren't that impressive and it is on the lighter side of things. I think the TJM awning is just a rebranded OzTrail, could be wrong but it looks the same. ARB told me that theirs is a rebranded Rhino awning but I didn't check it out in person. I managed to pick up a Rhino Sunseeker II for a pretty reasonable price and while I was there bought the proprietary brackets made up for the Tracklander. The brackets aren't anything special but did save me a few hours and they fit straight on. I have the advantage too of being able to shift the awning in and out depending what else is in the roofrack. I left a big enough gap for a couple of ropes and clove hitches without catching hands or the rope. If I can fit the awning to the lower bracket holes I will be able to fit some more fishing rods or kayak paddles above. I will see when I get around to fitting the roofrack on the Prado next weekend.
The shovel and axe are mounted with proprietary quick fist style holders. I put rivnuts in the tray for the axe and drilled and tapped the top rail for the shovel. The axe will be secured with a chain and lock and I will probably throw a couple of cable ties on both just to stop any rattles.
I bought a second Rhino bag and both fit neatly in the roofrack. So the plan is to carry the solar panel in the Prado. Axe will sit on the trailer until we get to camp where it will then transfer to the roof. The shovel will sit on the roofrack for the duration as will the awning.
Pretty happy with how it all fits even if it was a lousy photo just before the storm hit yesterday.
All I need to do today is check trailer wheel bearings and make sure I haven't lost the bolts and nuts that hold my home made kayak rack on the trailer. Oh and charge the auxiliary auxiliary batteries that are now mandatory in the camp to keep all those iThings charged.
I finished running the solar in feed cable but the sticky stuff I used to hold the cable in place up the back isn't holding so I will resort to gorilla tape for the interim undtil I find a better quality silicone stuff. Works fine though. The cable is fixed to the Toyota rails and it is a simple matter of plugging in the Anderson plug from the solar panels once the panels are up on the roofrack.
I didn't get around to running an LED light bar on the rack this time so that is a job for the future.
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