0017 Solar Power, Suspension, and other things

This week saw another major expenditure in the preparation of Troopie - The suspension !  Hopefully that is the last of the big bills, apart from the rear tent / awning which is currently under construction (Not by me, I hasten to add !)

Even though it is only 5 years old, all the original suspension (shock absorbers, springs (coil and leaf), plus various other bits and pieces) had done 260,000 kms, so in the interests of minimising any potential problems next year when I am on the road, I decided to have all the suspension parts replaced now.  So having agreed with Dean Futcher at Australian 4WD on the optimal parts and manufacturers, he ordered the parts, and this week they arrived, so Troopie went in to get them fitted.  Due to my limited knowledge and experience with 4WD's, Dean has become my resident guru, and I am totally dependent on his advice in terms of how to proceed in many of the upgrades and improvements.  So far he has proved spot-on in all the recommendations he has given me, and hopefully this state of affairs will continue !!!

While elder son Damien was over here last month, he persuaded me that having a "2 inch lift" in the suspension was a "good idea", and wouldn't cost me any more, so why not ?  I didn't feel I need a "2 inch lift" because I am not planning on doing any extreme 4 WD'ing or bush bashing, but D eventually managed to get through my thick skull that actually it would make the truck much more comfortable over rough roads, especially on a long drive, and would generally be a "good thing".  Dean agreed, so a 2 inch lift was included !  Given also that the old suspension was sagging a bit, I am probably about 3-4 inches higher than I was previously ! The result is that although I don't quite need a step ladder to get in and out yet, I am VERY glad I put extra grab handles on the A pillar so I can haul myself in and out !  Talk about chalk and cheese from the low slung Lotus !!

The original shock absorbers were still working, but a couple of them were leaking quite badly, so it was time for them to be replaced before they failed. 

On the advice of several friends with 4WD's, I decided to fit Bilstein shocks, which are slightly more expensive, but supposed to be excellent. Other parts fitted were new leaf springs on the rear (11 leaf instead of 7 leaf), new front coil springs, new steering damper and Panhard rod, and various shackles, U bolts, bushes etc.  And, thank goodness, Troopie now feels SO much better - She is a joy to drive.


I have also been wanting a bug and stone deflector on the front - Driving in remote areas on dirt roads, the last thing you need is a broken windscreen.  I made something for Elsie last year that worked really well (ie I never broke my windscreen !), so I looked around on the internet but they are usually somewhere near $200 - So I decided to make my own. 

I had some clear acrylic sheet left over from last year, and some alloy strips lying around I could make the supports out of, so all I needed to buy were 3 U bolts (I had one of them in the cupboard already as well !!)  A couple of hours later I had it all done - And am quite pleased with the result - Total cost about $25.00 !   Will have to see if it works when I next go on a long trip !

Something that REALLY had been annoying me was that when you slept in the back of Troopie, with the doors shut, in order to get out in the morning it is incredibly difficulty to open the rear doors because the door opening lever is down on the side of the door, in a place where it works well when you are outside, but from the inside is almost impossible to reach - Especially when half asleep and with a stiff back !!

So I have made up a ring pull that is on top of the inside ledge of the door, and by taking off the trim panel was able to attach the wire to the lever inside. Now you can easily pull up on the red ring to open the door from the inside, while the original lever on the outside still works just as well.   Problem solved !!!





Another issue was that the storage lockers under the bunk in the rear, the tops of which are held in place by little toggle catches, couldn't be locked.  This all clothes and many other odds and ends were vulnerable to potential light fingered attack when on the road.  I had been puzzling over this problem in my head for a while, and when in a Nut& Bolt shop last week I spied some lockable toggle catches !! 

They are identical to the original ones except they have a provision to put a padlock on them !  Hey presto, it is now possible to lock all the lockers in the back, so when the vehicle is shipped from Panama to Cartagena, or even if it is just parked on the street, almost everything now can be locked up.  Sure, people can always steal the whole vehicle, but at least it is a deterrent. 



Now the suspension has been finished, and I now know the height of the vehicle, I can get the new awning and tent made for the back, making it much more liveable and usable.  I had to do the suspension first otherwise the sides of the tent might have been too short (read "cold air blasts blowing underneath" !!).  So I have contacted the awning man today and he will start work shortly, and then I can go for a "fitting" !!

Lastly, I had been planning to get a 120 W Solar Panel fitted to the roof so I could keep my auxiliary battery charged when on the road, and I was going to also fit a 600 W inverter (to turn 12 V into 240 V) so I could run 240V appliances. Various other "controllers" and meters would also have been required to make it all work properly.  This would not only have been quite expensive, but also would have needed considerable labour to dismantle the pop top in order to bolt the solar panel to the roof, and then all the wiring inside as well. I estimate about $1500 - 2000 all up.  Then the other day I was thinking, and asked myself "What other 240V appliances am I going to run ?"  The fridge is 12 V, all the internal lights are 12 V, and then I just have various cameras, kindles, razor, iPhone, electric toothbrush, and lap tops to charge, and they are only occasional and don't take much power at all !! I won't need my hot rollers or curling tongs, and I don't have a microwave or electric toaster - So why do I really need solar panels etc ??  I will be driving most days, so the auxiliary battery will be charged by the engine.  All I need to know is whether my batteries are fully charged or not.   So today I went down to my local electrical place and had a long chat with them, and they agreed.  So I bought a small 150 W invertor for $19.99 that plugs in the cigarette lighter and can be used to charge anything small that is 240 V, and for about $35 I bought some rechargeable batteries and a charger for them that works off the cigarette lighter. Lastly, for $30 I bought a tiny little digital voltmeter that, when I wire it up to the batteries will tell me whether they are charging / charged or not, and a switch for $3.00 that will enable me to switch the readings between the two batteries, so I can check both.  I will install the voltmeter and switch somewhere in the dash.  So maybe I have saved quite a lot of money by not going with the solar panel ?  Will find out if it all works when I go on my trial trip up to Darwin (or somewhere) in July.

Anyway, all good !  All I need to finish now is the rear tent - I will report on that later !!

We are off to Perth this Thursday for a week.  Nick and Tanja just got back from Europe last week, and they are having a housewarming party on Saturday 18th. As I haven't been back to Perth or seen Nick and Tanja for some time, Nick kindly called me a few days ago and invited us to his party !!  How can we not go ?  So all work on Troopie will be suspended until I get back, and the next post on here will be our adventures from Perth !!

Some more pics of the bits and pieces done to Troopie this week !!  https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0017FinalBitsToTroopie?authkey=Gv1sRgCN7G8uHn3euJXg#