Travelling Set-up

Vehicle:

1994 Nissan GQ RX 4.2litre diesel

Bought 2nd-hand in August 2004 for $13,000 with 265,000km on the speedometer.

Accessories fitted after purchase

Snorkel, ARB Bull bar, Electric winch, Battery Tray, Roof Rack $3250 at 270,000km. Less $350 for roof rack sold later =$2900

Work done to date:

Normal 5000km Oil changes, Coolant, Brakefluid, Fuel and Oil Filter changes, Belts and Tyres.

Batteries: 2 x N70ZZ Century Overlander bought 2004 for $308

Build storage compartments $50

Replaced Suspension $1220 OME with 50mm lift at 282,400km

Replaced Flywheel, Clutch and bearings $1500

Replaced Water Pump $190 at 287,300km

Replaced Aircon torsion pulley $30 at 293,300km

Replaced Alternator belt $20

Replaced Starter Motor $260

Replaced 4 door inserts $100 at 303,000km

Replaced Headlight stalk $50

Replaced 2 bumper tail lights $250

Replaced bushes in panhard rod and rear of radius arm $freebie at 303,000km

Replaced rear Brake Calipers, Brake Pads, Machine Rotors, Flush Brake Fluid $347 at 304,500km

Replace Coolant $30 at 305,000km

Fitted VDO water temp guage $40 at 305,000km

Fitted Polyairs to rear $480

Fitted Low Water Alarm $140 at 313900km

Replaced windscreen $285 at 324,900km

Replaced Radiator $500 at 325,000km

Removed Roof Rack at 329,00km

Replaced Windscreen Water Reservoir pumps $72 at 331,800km

Replaced Steering Damper $110 at 337,600km

Replace storage compartments $50

Replaced Engine Mounts $254 at 345,000

Replaced Front Brake Pads, Rotors and wheel bearings $678 at 345,700km

Replaced Ignition Keys $12 at 345,782km

Removed Steering Lock and Ignition all together as tumbler failed
(Installed new starting mechanism)

Replaced Alternator $500

Replaced front shockabsorbers OME Nitrochargers $280

Replaced 2 batteries Century Overlander 4x4 $280

Replaced Radiator(again!) $525

Rebuild storage $0

Removable Roofbars $240

Replaced Radius Arm bushes $320 at 393,000km(March 2010)

Replace front draglink $165

Replace both Century N70ZZ batteries under warranty

Replace startermotor brushes and general cleanup $125

Replace engine pipe on exhaust $433+(travelling costs)$50=$483

Total on Accessories and Repairs $12,486

Previous storage

Updated storage shown below


Stripped	Stage one storage

Rear lid on	The tools

The Bed Frame	Front access to storage

Front access to thermos and snacks

Rear storage reworked beginning 2010 to include 8 jerry-cans in rear for trips away without the trailer.

Rear storage reworked again! in August 2010 to refit rear seats and space for 6 jerrycans behind seats.

THE NISSAN

Fuel: 95lt main tank.

160lt in 8 jerrycans under bed in back

Home-made Tanami Pump for fuel transfers.

50lts water and electric pump.

Tyres for 4X4:

5 Maxxis Bravo 753 265x75x16 on Sunraiser rims

(5 x MRF Super Lug Crossplies 16ply 7.50x16 on split rims for rough bush work)

3 x tubes and 2 x rust covers

Polyair bags on rear suspension

THE TRAILER

New trailer canopy with awnings on all four sides.

Front awning extends over Nissan to back doors.

Trailer manufactured by Modern Trailers. It is a 7x4 HD Chequerplated Trailer. Coupled with Treg Multiswivel hitch. Converted to Nissan hubs and Split Rims. Spring-over suspension conversion. Home made canopy frame and Dacron Canopy with awnings and tent poles. 40 litres water in plastic containers.

Tyres for Trailer:

3 x MRF Super Traction 12ply 7.50x16 on split rims

Accessories and gear for remote Outback Trips

2 x batteries in parallel with Solenoid and Dashboard switch
Gauze for bullbar and gauze for radiator. Dune Pole and flag
Gauze for airvents
Low Water Alarm
Engine Temp Alarm
Digital Engine temp Gauge
Blue tongue 3 air compressor
KMart aircompressor backup
2x Air gauge
4x Staun tyre deflators
Nissan bottle jack
Jacking plate
1.8T Trolley Jack
Box of nuts, bolts, screws, cold chisel
Box electrical stuff
Multimeter
Spare wheel studs
Spare wheel nuts
Welding clamp and cable
Welding rods
Welder's mask
Jumper Leads
Spare fuel filter
12 volt drill and grinder
Gas Soldering iron
Tyre repair
Handful of gaters
Handful of tyre plugs
Handful of tyre patches
Tyre Pliers bead breaker
Tyre levers
9500lb Brawn electric winch
Snatch block,
2x bow shackles
Tree protector
10m spare winch cable
Rear window protector
Spare hoses & belts,
Wheel bearing grease,
5lt engine oil
1lt gear oil
Power steer fluid
Brake fluid
Locktite
Coolant
Silicon
Duct Tape
100mph tape
Flash Lube engine lubricant
Handwash gel
Rugged Tool Roll(shovel etc)
Long handled shovel
HP PDA with ingrated GPS
Acer One mini laptop
Natmap Raster 250k digital maps,
Hema Desert Trek digital maps
UBD digital maps
Mapsend Aust all states
Hema Road Atlas
RAA State maps
Oziexplorer software
Magellan 330 GPS
150 watt inverter
DC Charger
Uniden 100 UHF and aerial
Motorola 9500 Satellite phone
NextG Samsung 411 Mobile phone
Coleman Toilet Tent
2 x pillows
2 x sleeping bags
12 volt shower
12 volt fluoro light 11watt
Camera gear
Bush jacket
Bush slippers
Beanies
Bush hats
Binoculars
Medical kit
Reference books
2x umbrellas
Beach umbrella
32 litre Engel fridge
Twozone fridge topper
Roll up table
2 x fold up chairs
Porta Potti & chemical
Toilet paper
Plastic tucker boxes(tucker and packaged fluids)
Freestanding BBQ plate
2 dutch ovens
Trivet
Saucepan
Billy
Billy lifter
Fire lighters
Gas stove
9kg gas bottle
2 fold up buckets
Thermos
140 litres water
2 x electric pump
3 x small tarps
8 x rubber interlocking mats
2 x 3kg dry fire extinguisher
Ratchet straps
Ocky Straps
Tie down straps
MP3 FM Player with 4 gig music.

Plus doggy paraphenalia

Well.......the time has come to change everything around again. Life is but a compromise
and I suppose I agree that sleeping on the ground in a tent has its downside as one gets older.

The compromise was to buy a small van which we could make 'bush-ready' so that it can
be taken on some offroad adventures. (The trailer has been retired and will be sold soon)

THE CARAVAN

Picked the 1979 Millard XP 4 14ft Pop-top up for $5K in April 2010. It had been stored undercover for most of it's life and is in extremely good condition. (It has an annexe but that is stored in the shed and will not be used)

Makeover done to the van:
New curtains and bedding
New U-bolts with springover
Upgrade from 13" to 14" rims and new LT tyres fitted
Swing-away Jockey wheel fitted
New gas bottle
TREG Hitch fitted
Upgraded safety chains
Remco 100ah Deep Cycle Battery fitted
ABR Caravan Charge Kit fitted
Sponge type material fitted to front to deflect stones
Sparewheel cover(found on side of road in WA)
Artwork on front window cover