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El Freddo's Journal.

G'day all,

I got this yesterday:

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^ That's how it stood this morning.

This is what I did to it today:

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I thought I'd share that for a start as I'm pretty excited about it. As for my subi that I cherish (not as much as you though Kez if you're reading...) the largest contribution to the forum about it was the EJ conversion that it underwent last september.

Here's a pic of Ruby Scoo in the Little Dip NP, Robe, SA:

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I'll leave it at that but will share more in the coming weeks as a few projects come to fruitation :) Can't wait but need some parts, hence why I'm not working on them now...

Cheers

Bennie
 
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Last year's Vic Desert trip to the Murray Sunset NP, Big Desert Wilderness Park and the Wyperfeld NP with Venom:


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We backed this trip up by heading to Radelaide for a few days where we managed to catch up with some old mates.


Our latest trip was last Easter to the Pyrenees Ranges and Mt Cole. We need more time in the Pyrenees to explore what's on offer as we kept hitting dead ends so headed over to Mt Cole.


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We're now gearing up for the next Vic Deserts trip later this month. A new awning was added to the kit last week and I'm working on redesigning our rear cargo storage setup to incorporate a fridge slide... more on that later once it's done (with pics of course!).


Cheers


Bennie
 
Great pics, makes me want to be there. Although I'm not sure I could go back to a normal tent, there certainly are benefits in volume. :)
 
great places there. do those all places are just so safe that you dont have to worry about do your stuff are safe on car or if you sleep in tent are you and other safe ?
[MENTION=15623]Ben Up North[/MENTION] whats wrong with normal tent ? too small
 
great places there. do those all places are just so safe that you dont have to worry about do your stuff are safe on car or if you sleep in tent are you and other safe ?
In Australia the people are mostly pretty harmless. It's the animals & plants that will do you harm :)

[MENTION=15623]Ben Up North[/MENTION] whats wrong with normal tent ? too small

Too low to the ground and therefore closer to all those animals and plants. :)

Our camper trailer doesn't take that much longer to put up than a large tent, and has a lot more creature comforts.

The main problem with the camper trailer tent is that it weighs about 250kg. I want to get it down below 70KG, as that will then give me the ability to carry more fuel and water.
 
so why hes sleeping on ground if animals are dangerous then ? camper trailers are pretty cool or then roof tent. i choose just sleep in car most times even if tent is larger . australia or US areas can be very large and remote so thats different thing there, you need different gear and water food.
i was thinking even if would have lots bags and boxes in car in night i could keep those on roof rack and still make space inside car to sleep for 2 people is enough.
 
Only pulling your leg scalman, very few places in Australia are that dangerous, just need to stay away from the creeks up here in the north because of the big lizards.
I just prefer being more off the ground. Back of car is good, Camper trailer is great for longer stays, you can carry a lot of stuff in a trailer.
 
Great pics, makes me want to be there.


Thanks mate, I enjoy sharing pics/trip reports etc... this is just a very very short version as a catch up on the main highlights ;)


Although I'm not sure I could go back to a normal tent, there certainly are benefits in volume. :)


By volume do you mean a camper trailer? If so, that's not suitable for my needs - too much drag/dead weight and becomes difficult to maneuver in tight spots.
It's funny as we've moved away from the tent to swags. In really cold weather the tent comes and the swag is put inside the tent. With that large tent it was awesome for the space it provided, but in really cold weather (near sub zero) a couple of bodies can't create the necessary micro climate to keep warm. I've had my best snow sleeping bag and blankets to keep me warm and these haven't worked either!
Swags have been great so far - plus with the pack up of the swag our sleeping gear is packaged up in a weather resistant bundle, much easier than what we used to do with the tent and bedding!



great places there. do those all places are just so safe that you dont have to worry about do your stuff are safe on car or if you sleep in tent are you and other safe ?


Yeah mate in general where we head our gear is safe. Even in state capital cities I'll usually leave my gear like that on the roof with a tarp thrown over and tied down covering everything. People are usually pretty respectful and I'm either not far from the vehicle or someone stays with it while the other ducks into a store etc.
But out bush it's with us all the time and you generally find people of the same mindset as us ;)


Cheers


Bennie
 
By volume do you mean a camper trailer? If so, that's not suitable for my needs - too much drag/dead weight and becomes difficult to maneuver in tight spots.

Your volume is much better than mine. :)
And I know what you are talking about re drag etc., that's why I'm trying to reduce the loaded weight of the trailer down to 500KG when touring.
Not sure if I'll get it that low once I start adding fuel & water, but should be close.
Replacing the camper tent with a hardshell roof tent should save me about 200Kg.
 
Awesome pics mate !!!
Your L’s seen a lot more than most and good job sorting your gearbox out too!!! Something I wouldn’t have the guts to do lol

The main problem with the camper trailer tent is that it weighs about 250kg. I want to get it down below 70KG, as that will then give me the ability to carry more fuel and water.


My trailer weighs 70-75kgs empty [emoji6]
But it’s super small, like super small lol


1WD
 
Awesome pics mate !!!
My trailer weighs 70-75kgs empty [emoji6]
But it’s super small, like super small lol
1WD

Yeah, mines a 7x4 high sided box trailer. Wieghs about 250-300kg on its own.
I'm surprised yours weighs that much!
 
@Ben_Up_North - I loved our roof top camper. It was a cheapie hard top clam shell unit, way better than the coffin style IMO. The James Broud (from memory) unit would've been good but waaaaay too expensive!
We moved back to a ground dwelling due to us developing a crawler... Seems they're generally infectious once one is married :/

@1wd_Foz - thanks mate. She's been around a bit that's for sure! Still plenty of life left in her yet, that's for sure!

I'm looking forward to the next trip. I've redesigned the rear cargo space to be more user friendly and reduce weight. A "special order" from bunnings is the current hold up on this build - and with a week and a half befor the trip I'm starting to sweat :/

I've also got a rear strut swap to do do now that I have the prado shocks :D

More on all of this later - probably after the trip!

Cheers

Bennie
 
prado shocks. wow. do they fit just your year model ? iv heard about some tacoma , 4runner shocks that could be fitted on subaru. but they must be more harder as made for heavier car no ?
 
prado shocks. wow. do they fit just your year model ? iv heard about some tacoma , 4runner shocks that could be fitted on subaru. but they must be more harder as made for heavier car no ?

Yeah the prado shock should control bounce more when off-road. Looks like I'll be using the same Honda front springs in the rear on this shock. The prado springs are far too stiff looking for the weight of my rear end!

This shock/spring setup should be able to be fitted to your outback since you've got that funky multi link rear end - which I reckon gives the same amount of wheel travel as the L's swing arm arrangement.

To fit these I think I'll drop the 3 inch strut lift and will most likely need to make a bush for the lower mount to fit the L series shock bolt in snugly. I may need to shave the metal tube on the lower mount to fit into the swing arm 's mount. Time will tell on this one.

I might have to look into whether or not king springs have a listing for raised Honda springs ;)

Cheers

Bennie
 
Any update on the Prado shocks El_Freddo? I had no idea this was even a thing until just now, really keen to hear how they are!

I have King springs and KYB shocks all around but the rear still sucks to be honest, especially once you put any camping gear in the back she rides down low and I ripped a good chunk off a brand new rear A/T tyre once when I hit a decent bump on the beach with a loaded wagon and 4 people in it. The tyre touched the guard and sliced about 6" of tread off like a knife. Thankfully it didn't burst and is still going strong down to about 50% tread now.
 
Hehehe... The prado shocks are still not in - I've had other priorities, plus summer would bake you if you spent more than 5 minutes outside! I'll get around to it some day!!

As for the king springs - I removed my rear ones for a set of standard front honda civic/prelude springs - from a late '80's model. They work well on the standard shock. I'm hoping the prado shocks add a bit more control over the rough stuff compared to the standard shock replacements (KYB gas).

I should add in here the rear cargo frame that I made for the last trip works a treat! It took some time and a lot of effort but the payoff was well worth it!

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^ Once again, still got to finish off a few bits - add in some mesh section between the fridge and the kitchen cabinet section for the times I don't have the kitchen fitted. Even with that needed for daily use, this setup works awesome in ways we've only been able to imagine until now, and even then it's better than we ever expected!

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I also added a shovel holder, lockable too and loads better than the ring steel with screw in holder setup!

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I updated my bashplate and have already had to fix it up. I reckon it's better now after a small session on my new mig welder :twisted:

The next mod I want to do is either make my own or source a "tradies roof rack" and make sure I can fit my spare and a jerry can face down side by side and fit between the two uprights. Then mount the awning off one side and the shovel holders from the other. My current one is just that little bit short in the width department and I don't want to cut it up either.

We'll see how long it takes me to do this mod too ;)

And the latest action shot of Ruby Scoo :D

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^ In the trip report but meh, I'm not tired of this image!!

Cheers

Bennie
 
We won't get tired of that image, [MENTION=145]El_Freddo[/MENTION]. It's amazing how such a photo shot with a relatively high shutter speed can tell a lot about the car and the culture. Cheers.
 
And there’s Matt and myself jaw dropped at your casual stroll up such a heavily rutted out and technical hill climb lol

I had so much fun, it was a great day out indeed

Cheers

1WD


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks guys (and gals)!
[MENTION=15881]ABFoz[/MENTION] - glad you like them, I’m hoping to have more to share ;)
[MENTION=15735]1WD Foz[/MENTION] - I’d be keen to do it again with the same sort of load I carry when touring. I reckon it’d be a different story.

Now I’ve got to change the rear strut lower bushes as it’s metal on metal. She sounds like a clapped out patrol in the suspension department. I don’t know when this will get done :s

Cheers

Bennie
 
My own video creation from my climb on the above trip:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUvVfKnML8U"]Ruby Scoo - Firebreak Tk No2 - Lerderderg State Park - YouTube[/ame]

Cheers

Bennie
 
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