Troopy build-up details

[cweight]

No offense taken on the battery welding question at all. Your point is fair and may well have led to my battery dying early. (Until your post, I hadn't even thought about that. duh.) I'd also like to know the details on stick welding and batteries - how bad is the battery damage, for example, does using 3 batteries reduce it, etc.

How did you plan to add that second rear door seal? I'd like to see pictures. Yes, I sealed off those rear side vents during initial build-up - I'll try to get a photo. What's the theory behind closing the space between bumper and body? I assume it is just a total dust storm back there no matter what you do. After a dusty drive, before I even open the back doors, I brush off the entire backside.

I'd have to look through my receipts to sort out the springs - the name disappeared long ago.

 

[cweight]

a few more photos...

I added storage to the back of the driver's seat:



I carry lots of spare canvas and thick thread to rig up this kind of stuff on the road. One reason this troopy has a bit of a hacked together feel is that I bought the minimal set of tools in Sydney and then added stuff while on the road.

On the front dash...

The voltage meter is rigged to a 3-position switch. Left for secondary battery, center off, right for starting battery. I keep it off most of the time. When parked for long periods, I use it to monitor the secondary battery. Maybe once a week, I use it to see the voltage drop when starting - this gives me a much better feel for starting battery health than just the sound/hesitation of engine turnover.

The Rotronics box is the winch switch - the engine must be on and the switch flipped to use the winch. The light on the left comes on when the secondary battery start getting charged - about 30 seconds after starting, once the starting battery has been confirmed good.

The far right hand switch (just above the Engel sunglass holder is for the stereo - I prefer to turn the stereo on and off independently of the ignition switch:



The ARB air locker switches are up underneath the dash, where I can reach them but they don't get bumped accidentally:

 

[goodwoodweirdo]

How did you plan to add that second rear door seal? I'd like to see pictures. Yes, I sealed off those rear side vents during initial build-up - I'll try to get a photo. What's the theory behind closing the space between bumper and body? I assume it is just a total dust storm back there no matter what you do. After a dusty drive, before I even open the back doors, I brush off the entire backside.
.

Hi CWeight
I noticed how crappy how the seal was when I managed to close a rope in the door without problems. (Not to mention all the dust !!) The seals are on the door rather than frame, so I fitted a automotive 4m door seal to the body frame as well; double seals ... just need to test it... I also plan on doing it to the front doors, I hope to head north next year and want to make it water tight as possible. With very heavy rain it does come in...

As for the rear dust storm at the rear, there must be a way to minimize the rear vacume hence the idea of closing the bottom area …. Needs more reading up and testing…

Cheers
Matt
:ylsmoke:

 

[cweight]

Hey Matt, here's a photo of the springs for ya. The rears are from the same company. 1 rear leaf broke, but otherwise they have been great. They are beefy, though, more intended for slow heavy travel than 'better road manners'.



Cheers,
Chris.

 

[goodwoodweirdo]

Thanks Chris,

Currently OME suspension is on the shopping list ... however still open to other brands !!!

Cheers

Matt

 

[cweight]

The back of the Troopy

All right, finally we get to the back of the Troopy...

The entire back, behind the cargo barrier, is shelving:





The fridge, an Engel 45, was placed as far to the left as possible (left limit determined by wheel well). There are two 55 liter aluminum water tanks on the floor between the two wheel wells, and the lower shelf is right on top of the water tanks. The lower shelf and the middle shelf wrap around the fridge box.

I bought lotsa plastic boxes, all the same size (green and clear boxes in the middle shelf of the photo above) and then set the height of the shelf to be just slightly taller than the boxes. The 'depth' of the shelves (from back door to cargo barrier) is two boxes, and three boxes can fit side-by-side:



I had the water tanks custom made. The fill from the top, and are purely gravity feed:





I like the simplicity of the system. It is easy to fill and no pumps to worry about. I do wish I had added some slosh barriers inside the tank, though, as the water can be quite loud when crawling along angling side-to-side. I also wish I had a one-way air valve to let air in when water is going out. As it is, we have to open the fill-cap, so you have to remember to close it again, which of course we forget occasionally.

The fridge is on a slider, and the fridge box has large holes cut into it for circulation. I also added springs to keep the cords up and out of the way when sliding the fridge in.





Our first Engel died on the way up to Cape York, after being used for only a few months. They quickly replaced it and the second one has been going strong for 8 years now. And that is despite being in storage for long periods of time (which fridges don't like).

We have an Engel Transit Bag, but the zippers on it are pretty much trashed. I suspect changing the zipper heads will get me another few years - I hope so as swapping zippers would either be costly or many nights with a sewing machine.

Above the fridge is a silverware drawer and a place to stash the propane coleman stove.





Chairs and table live to the left of the fridge. Attached to the bottom of the upper shelf, and above the table/chairs is an inverter. Again, the interior panels have been removed for storage.

 

[cweight]

The back, continued...

Here's are some shots that show how the shelving is attached, and how even the very sides have some nice storage spots - for this side storage, I added some carpet-covered wood panels that to hold stuff in place. They can be quickly unscrewed, which gives you a good place to stash cash.









The "pantry":



The very top shelf is normally empty, except for the dish pan, and the fruit basket. It is great to have this as an 'overflow' area. When cooking, you need space to spread out. Or when you hit a grocery, you can just throw the bags up there until you get to camp and can then take the time to pack properly.

Note the rear panel system with 6x9 speakers and a center stash place, where I store extension cords and water hoses.



Both rear doors have shelves on them. The right hand shelf is large enough for the two burner Coleman stove. The left shelf is much smaller, but is great for chopping. The corner of the left shelf is cut to allow the fridge to open up when the shelf is down. I have always planned to replace the strings that hold them, with something fancier, but they just keep working, so I can't be bothered. I have also thought about some sort of surface that is easier to clean than plain wood, but wood is much less likely to harbor germs than plastic (something about the absorbency of wood desiccating the germs), so again I haven't bothered.









We have the roof-top tent setup so that it opens to the back, which gives the kitchen protection from the sun and rain. It also gives us a convenient place to attach a propane lantern, so it lights the stove from above and the nearby eating area.



Well, that covers the details. Next up will be some thoughts on why I made some of these choices, what worked, what hasn't, etc.

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[bobDog]

Well i hopes of this thread not stopping to soon....how about showing the bak door inside and outside and spare tire storage....roof-rack or rear gate. just a little more...please.....you have me thinking about a Troopy....but 4 banger gasoline powered bothers me.:smiley_drive:

 

[labbe66]

Your Troopie has a very nice simple, functional lived in look that only the experienced lived in vehicle can attain. I love the methodology of the quick inexpensive modifications that you can change if they don't work. It is surprising how many of those modifications stick. Keep up the good work!

 

[goodwoodweirdo]

Keep it going - More info please...

:ylsmoke:

 

[2manycruisers]

I'm jealous of your troopy, that's awesome. I wonder if using a different dual-battery system might extend the life of your secondary battery?

Just curious, are you keeping that in the states on Vic rego? Just wondering since it's not old enough to be exempt. I have an HJ45 troopy for that reason.
cheers,
David

 

[cweight]

Hi David,

There are no indications that the dual-battery system is involved with my bad luck with secondary batteries. If you have any theories, I'd be interested in hearing them. The only thing I can think of is on the charging side... perhaps, for example, the system over-charges the secondary, because it is only using the state of the primary in order to determine how much juice to send. Of course, this is a totally wild-***-guess, one which clearly shows that I have no clue how (or if) the battery charging system modify their charge rate.

FWIW, a battery guy in Australia told me that in his opinion most deep cycle batteries were simply not designed to handle rough roads. Add to that month after month of charge/deplete cycles every few days and perhaps my experience is pretty much normal?

Anyway, our troopy is indeed still registered in Victoria and will be leaving the US by the end of next summer.

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Very nice build! What kind of fuel economy to you find yourself getting around the US in that? Or how many KMS on a single tank 90L?

Do you have any pictures of the dual gas tank arrangement?

Also how are you finding traveling with a little one with the troopy? Does the front seat fold right out of the way to get access to the back? Do you find yourself wishing for 4 doors?

Thanks,

 

[2manycruisers]

Chris, I really don't know a lot about dual battery systems myself. It makes sense to me that if the two batteries are different but both always getting charged you could have problems--perhaps just like you said, from reading only the primary battery, I don't know. If that is the case, is it possible that it may be undercharging the secondary battery and thus it gets excessively discharged? I didn't see what you are using for a dual battery system, the troopies I imported had old solid state isolators, is that what you have (my troopies were all old 45/47 series)? I wonder if some of the high-tech systems that let you select one or the other or both batteries might help?

Good luck with it!

Hi David,

There are no indications that the dual-battery system is involved with my bad luck with secondary batteries. If you have any theories, I'd be interested in hearing them. The only thing I can think of is on the charging side... perhaps, for example, the system over-charges the secondary, because it is only using the state of the primary in order to determine how much juice to send. Of course, this is a totally wild-***-guess, one which clearly shows that I have no clue how (or if) the battery charging system modify their charge rate.

FWIW, a battery guy in Australia told me that in his opinion most deep cycle batteries were simply not designed to handle rough roads. Add to that month after month of charge/deplete cycles every few days and perhaps my experience is pretty much normal?

Anyway, our troopy is indeed still registered in Victoria and will be leaving the US by the end of next summer.

Cheers,
Chris.