Wow Vic! that looks great! Agree with your choice of fridge, we have one of those, and its excellent.

I love your new avatar, check out the chimps expression as hes groping her!!

Looks great Vic.  Are you going to get Solar too ?  Thanks for the peek.

Cheers,

Sheba.

No I don't want to load it up with too much stuff Sheba, I don't intend doing a lot of bush camping, I think it was Gerty that said before you can get about 3 days fridge power camped in one spot off the battery before recharging (either with 240V or when driving) that will be enough for me, most of the time will be spent in caravan parks or rest stops with plenty of driving distance between them to recharge the auxillary battery.

Although they are dam expensive, I decided to add a nudge bar which I am waiting to put on, wasn't too keen on doing it (dam heavy, so more weight on the front tyres to scrub out and added weight on the steering joints etc) but decided for country travel it may be best for radiator protection, also can fit some mesh with reasonable ventilation for going through those pesky locust swarms I struck last year over east, better than being stuck in the radiator etc, almost impossible to get out without damaging the core etc.

Anyway, that's more or less the plans at the moment, add some indoor/outdoor carpet or mats to protect the vinyl, a couple of weathershields (one each side of the cab) new rubber floor mats and dash & steering wheel cover and still haven't sorted out the bedding yet. Have lots of bits and pieces from my previous caravan I can use, but really want to restrict what I carry so some I won't .

Does anyone have any good hints for seat covers for the High Ace please, types, material (eg; lambswool/synthetic etc)? I will only do the driver and passenger seat, not the dicky seat in the middle.

Thanks for the compliments all, just hope it fullfills the purpose, time will tell, have had two campers before but a long time ago! 

 

-- Edited by Vic on Wednesday 15th of June 2011 10:32:59 PM

nice work!

Looking good Vic!!

Thanks All, i've had an A'liner before too Helena, they are great, had mine for 7 years and did an around Oz trip in it.

Hi Sheba, good pics of your sisters van and handy hint with the mesh, those Iveco's have a very good engine in them too. I have exactly the same type and colour mesh as a privacy screen on our front see through fence panel (villa unit).

When I told the mechanic about having an insect screen he advised about not having too tight a mesh as the vehicle radiator/transmission cooler needs all the ventilation it can get. Last year I used a similar mesh tied to the nudge bar of my X'Trail, but a prior vehicle I got some bird wire (smaller than chicken wire) and had that over the front, gave a bit more ventilation although let some of the smaller insects through, but stopped the locusts. I have also gone through a swarm of bees, and once up north a large swarm of all things dragon flies, never seen a swarm of them before or since.....

Any suggestions for seat cover types etc? Are sheep skin covers worth the cost? Synthetic? Thanks.

As I said I have the same shade cloth on my front fence and when the wind is blowing it doesn't let the wind through, it's like a sail on a boat, even with a few holes in it.  There are some cheaper shade cloth with looser knit (bigger holes) in it too. 

My mechanic said the same thing as you Gubby....

Wow Vic, thats beautiful mate. A lot of sensible thought gone into it to give you maximum space by the looks.

I would go for lambswool for all the reasons Jim stated and they wash up a treat too. Warm in winter, cool in summer, can't ask for more than that. They may cost a bit more but if you have seatcovers, thats the ultimate comfort isn't it.

Vic we do the shade cloth as well and for the same reasons. One thing we didn't count on was hitting an eagle, big wedgie in fact. If it wasn't for the shade cloth at the time, the radiator would have been compromised big time. I will see if I can find a picture and put it up later.

Looking bloody good there Vic !!!

Love your van Vic. Well set out, a lot of thought has gone into it I can see. Love the newness and freshness of it after poor old Myrtle.
Re: seat covers. In the heat I can't stand the sheepwool covers. I find them far too hot, but thats just me. So I have the velour ones, you will have seen the purple ones with the swarm of dragonflies all over them!!

Thanks Dunco and Marg, Jen and Barry. Hmmm......not sure about the seat covers, the sheep skin ones certainly look comfortable for long trips, but hot to sit on I do not want, although I think most are even then if you sit on them long enough....hmmmmm.......

Hi Jenny and Barry, did go to Heron Point for a day picnic with the group in January 2010, I think Jayco Gypsy may be changing it to Dwellingup in July as some want showers etc, not too sure how we will be situated then but will see either location. Here is a pic of our last meet there;

Thanks Chi Chi will bear that in mind too, good to hear from someone who sold them.

Marg, Myrtle will serve you well once you get the bugs sorted out, it cost me heaps to get what I wanted but I won't go into that here, selling my caravan and tug paid for the better part of it.  I am also using mine like you for my shopping cart too, can't afford two vehicles.

Toyota's are pretty reliable and easy to fix and parts there are so many around, yours will be fine and give you lots of pleasure, bling is not everything. Only five more days now and you will know the outcome of your checks etc, we are all keeping our fingers crossed for you

 

 

We have sheepskin covers in the Prado, no shedding, warm if its cold, and NOT hot or sweaty if the cars hot. The only downside I can see is that they are a bit of a fuss to wash, or expensive to dryclean.

In my little car (which I havent seen for ages, its at home in the garage all alone) I put a sheepskin on the drivers seat, and a cheaper synthetic one on the passenger seat. My passenger complained about that seat cover, said its sweaty, so I asked him to provide another sheepskin... maybe next year?

gubby wrote:

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Just a word of warning, that green shadecloth is too thick to allow enough air through. Down here in Vic when the locust plague was at it's worst a lot of people made their own screens with the green shade cloth and had big problems, the one's recommended were a tan coloured cloth, it wasn't as dense as the green. Also a lot of vehicles these days the main air intake is not through the grill but from below the bumper, people were protecting the grill but still getting a radiator full of rubbish.

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I installed fly screen between the radiator and the grill, behind the grill. It's been there since I bought the car in 04 and I have no problems with over-heating.
It was very handy in the grasshopper plague in the Barossa a few months ago.
The screen was from a van which did a new one when I was in Broome. Very simple, non-obtrusive and can stay there forever, or as long as it lasts. Fly screen is available at Bunnings by the metre.