Percy - 2003 GX Love

[rumble11 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rumble11]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

High five for the descriptive battery install.

Is there anything that your would do differently in hindsight? Is there a source of information that helps you match up cables and lugs.

4 AWG is a _very_ tight fit into a 50A anderson plug - Nadine tells me this is a sign I have over-engineered the cables.

In order to avoid the aforementioned tightness.

The photos are awesome.

In fact you can have a second high five!

[mcgonical Member Find all posts View Profile Close mcgonical]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

Thanks,

I'd reconsider using an Optima AGM battery rather than the deep cycle because I think they charge faster and I don't think the heat would be an issue for them at the front of the engine bay. I'm very happy with the set-up in general though and it has kept the fridge, lights and pump working well since the install.

I would get a crimper at the very beginning of the process, these just make the whole job sane when you're learning as you go. I also recommend fitting a meter to disconnect the battery to prevent the fridge and other things from draining the battery too far, you can get these bits and pieces from ARB and other suppliers. I dropped by the ARB show at one of the 4X4 and camping shows, there was a bloke there happy to share advice on set-ups and the bits and pieces that ARB sell.

In terms of planning for cable connectors and such, I was learning heaps as I went but the penalty for not planning the whole thing out at the beginning was waiting for the next delivery from sidewinder.com.au (to be fair this was only one day). Finding a local specialist auto-parts supplier would be a good idea, mine is called Ashdowns in Fyshwick. The benefit of a local supplier is that you can get the parts straight away and talk to someone who knows their stuff.

Now that our camper has arrived my next job is to fit a second battery to it and upgrade the camper charger to a 12-12V unit with solar inverter to make the most of the car charge and supplement it with solar as needed. I'm looking at either the new CTEC unit or the Redarc 12-12V item.

[mcgonical Member Find all posts View Profile Close mcgonical]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

Oh yeah, one other thing I would change is that I wouldn't use the hella sockets. Most things you want to plug in are normal cigarette socket style plugs so I should have just used more of the marine sockets (I'll be changing these over in the next month or so). The Engel fridge has its own specialised plug to hold together on rough roads and that seems to be the strength of the hella sockets, a good alternative for a fridge plug.

[rumble11 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rumble11]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

I've ordered all the things I need to do the dual battery from www.sidewinder.com.au

Derek from ABR-SIDEWINDER has been fantastic. He has helped me to chose the right gear to do the job right. I am just checking the mail everyday to see if it has arrived so I can get cracking.

Thanks for your write-up and advice.

Another high five is called for.

[mcgonical Member Find all posts View Profile Close mcgonical]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

Splashed out and purchased the ARB alloy roof rack and the Rhino foxwing awning. They're good gear, the roof rack is very strong and the awning looks well made. Looking forward to getting away and trying them out soon.

[mcgonical Member Find all posts View Profile Close mcgonical]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

Dropped by Newcastle ARB today for an air hose and got to speaking to the guys about the Bush Ranger unit I'm fixing in the back of the car. The guys there had some great advice on fitting a pressure switch to the unit, a cheap upgrade and takes care of controlling when the unit is running by using the air hose as a tank. This way when I activate the unit in the back of the car it runs briefly and then cuts-out when at pressure. Once you start filling the tyres it runs the compressor motor again. I like this solution because it means the unit isn't running constantly while I move between the tyres.

Mounted Bush Ranger compressor to third row seat fixtures.



Bits and pieces from ARB - t-piece and pressure gauge, new 30A switch and air hose. I later found another t-piece in the air-hose box so could have saved a few bucks there.



Removed the original Bush Ranger outlet and replaced it with the t-piece (it screws out easily if you loosen the handle bracket).



Pressure gauge and new connector fitted (connector also came with the air hose).



Power connected and run through the fascia then across the floor to my power distribution box.



Power distribution.



Air hose connected and (new) filler gauge.



The set-up works great, I'll air down the tyres tomorrow morning and see how it all goes getting all the tyres back up to 40 PSI from 15. Give me a change to try out the new ARB tyre deflator - I have spent too much on a couple of recent unsupervised visits to ARB

[ozwapet2 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close ozwapet2]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

Excellent and quility work on all your projects- I wish I was as fastidious.

You won't regret running both positive and negative power cables from your second battery to all your accessories. Reyling on the body earth for the negative return path is the cause of many electrical problems.

[mcgonical Member Find all posts View Profile Close mcgonical]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

Thanks for the feedback ozwapet2. Nadine has let me know that she expects the timber to be covered and made presentable I have also turned the pressure sensor downwards to prevent any damage should something knock the unit (cables are know covered by the t-piece).

I was doing a check of the ARB deflator and inflator gauges and found the deflator reading 34 PSI and the inflator reading 40 PSI. Not really happy about that much variation, since they're both new I will dropped them back to be checked.

The ARB deflator is a bit fiddly to fit but is very quick to get the tyres down from 40 PSI to 15.

[mcgonical Member Find all posts View Profile Close mcgonical]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

Finished product looks good, the compressor is out of my drawers freeing up space and is very accessible - I can just reach my arm in to turn the compressor on (avoided installing another switch). All of the hose coils up beside the drawers.



You can see the water containers are now installed too. One to the side of the drawers and one behind the fridge. Since the rear jerry is lower than the side unit I have installed a valve between them. Once the lower jerry is empty I open the valve and refill it again from the side tank (water is only pumped from the lower jerry). I also have a gravity tap in-case the pump is out of action. In retrospect the pressure activated pump (fitted above and at the rear of the fridge) is not necessary but it was a fun project.

[weasal4x4 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close weasal4x4]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

Everything looks great!

Splashed out and purchased the ARB alloy roof rack and the Rhino foxwing awning. They're good gear, the roof rack is very strong and the awning looks well made. Looking forward to getting away and trying them out soon.

Have you pulled the foxwing out yet and it as easy as they reckon on the video's? I'm looking at getting one for my trip up to Alice in july.

Mick

[mcgonical Member Find all posts View Profile Close mcgonical]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

We have used the Foxwing a lot on our current trip around Australia, it is really easy and fast to put out. There is a bit of a problem with wind though - it does want to take off. We've solved the lift problem with a few $1 canvas bags that we fill with rocks or sand (what ever is handy) and hold the foxwing down.

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

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

G'day Percy,
Could you tell me the model number of the stumpy GME antenna. I'm in need of one myself, for the same reasons.
Bazza.

[mcgonical Member Find all posts View Profile Close mcgonical]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

Howdy Bazza, sorry it took so long to get back to you - been travelling. The model number is GME AE4701

Hope that helps.

[LittleMack Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close LittleMack]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

Great thread...thanks for taking the time to post your pics and share your experiences.

Can I ask what type (brand name) of snorkel you have and where did you get it? Also where did you get the toyota rims for $120 each from? are they steelies?

Thanks again for all the information you have supplied. You have inspired me to start some mods on my 2004 GX TD.

Cheers

[mcgonical Member Find all posts View Profile Close mcgonical]

Re: Percy - 2003 GX Love

G'Day LittleMac,

The snorkel is the TJM airtec - the only unit authorised for fitment by my wife The steel rims are from Toyota, they look tonnes better than the original rims. Good luck with the modifications, we've just returned from a trip around Australia in our 03 GX and it performed flawlessly though it could do with a bit more grunt and we have cracked inner guards On balance though we did some pretty tough roads in comfort and had no problems with reliability. None of the bits and pieces I added fell off on the corrugations!