TECHNICAL TWADDLE

THE RIG

THE BLOKE AT LITCHFIELD

Hi there again. This is just a little special episode, so to speak, mainly for the fellas. I have noticed that when in caravan parks there are several subjects which seem to crop up again and again between the blokes. I thought that I would put in a special entry just for these subjects.
To refresh your minds, we are driving a 2006 Toyota Land Cruiser, 100 series, V8, petrol. Now I sense that most blokes have just reared back in horror – yes, petrol and boy is she thirsty!! TBBITW, who is sitting next to me at the moment and is my consultant for this edition, has just quoted “As any bloke knows, blokes just love to see their car take a good long drink”. This seems to be especially true of service station owners!! In answer to your next question, the consumption is roughly 4 ks to the litre. It might interest you to know that as he said that, the bloke seemed to be having trouble enunciating and was turning a rather alarming hue of purple! Yes, our beloved cruiser is a thirsty fella. Doug generally now drives by the rev counter, staying as much as possible on 2000rpm and not using Cruise Control. He finds that Cruise Control is not really good for towing and does not give the best fuel consumption. There have been many suggestions regarding having a gas tank/conversion done but the drama there is losing space as the spare tyre sits under the car and would have to then be put somewhere else. As we are on the road for the long term and carry so much ‘stuff’, space is at a premium.
The additions to the car since we left home are a pair of “Rock Tamers” which pretty much keep the stones off the van. They were purchased in WA and cost $430 – we have seen them much more expensive elsewhere. They are big brutish looking characters and have evoked quite a few enquiries. The other addition is air-bags – purpose being to more evenly distribute the weight and level the car while towing. Doug is very pleased with the result on that one. We have also added an auxiliary battery from which to run the fridges. This also works well. Apart from being a bit of a ‘guzzler’ we have had no problems at all with the car (apart from bogging it once – not the fault of the car!)
One of the most frequently discussed areas is air pressure, both in the vehicle and the van – after considerable reading and research, Doug has settled on 36 in the front and 38 at the back in the car and in the van 50. We have a slow leak in one of the van tyres and we were fortunate enough to have a wonderful young fella ‘plug’ it for us. That was a couple of months ago and it has held up well since then. The tyre still leaks but super slowly – we will have it fixed in Darwin and ‘we’ will be looking to buy one of those them there ‘repair plug kits’.
The van has a couple of maintenance problems now – the first one was the ‘Smart Charger’ which charges up the 12 volt in the van – Doug discovered one morning that this was ‘smoking’ and we quickly removed it and replaced it with a different model. We were alarmed that it appeared the charger could have caught fire (it had not had a lot of use) and that would have been a disaster with the flammable stuff in the boot of the van, not to mention the gas bottle near-by.
One of the main topics of conversation in the van parks is the weight of the van (dry and full) and the certification on the van. Most are certified to carry 400ks and it is generally agreed that this is not enough, especially if you are carrying water. The chasse on our van is very strong and would easily carry more. We have heard of some people convincing their manufacturers to increase the load stated on the specification plate on the van – we have not been so fortunate.
As stated in my last blog, one of our hatches blew off this week and we now have to have that replaced. We had the sound system blow up in an electrical storm in WA. The loo leaks water sometimes, (caused by excessive water pressure). We have bent the radio aerial, but it seems still to be functional. The washing machine is non operational, we think due to a crack in the lid. On a lighter note, we have blown up two kettles (sort of) due largely to the high calcium content in the water in SA and NT. We now soak them with white vinegar frequently to avoid this happening. I tried to kill the microwave by turning it on for some 15 mins without anything in it.. The decorative covers on the hinge for the TV have been removed due to severe annoyance. I have almost given up trying to keep the floor in the van clean due to the very large and dirty feet of a certain person. Doug, due to his height and some sort of brain fade, has now a very bumpy and lumpy head indeed, due to the incalculably numerous times he has hit his head on the air-con and the cupboards. The toilet roll holder has fallen off one too many times and now remains in the cupboard where it will probably see out it’s less than useful life. We now use our own home made stuff in the loo canister – we probably will not continue to do this, as I think the home made stuff smells worse that the urine – so probably back to the drawing board on that one. The car has been emptied and re-stacked 3 times now and it is still pretty much impossible to find anything. Read ditto for the boot and tunnel in the van. The golf clubs have not seen the light of day since we left home. I am not any fitter, but definitely much fatter for going up and down the steps into the caravan. The inside of the van has also been ‘gone thru’ at least half a dozen times and we still have no space left and everything is still jam packed. We have two modems for our laptops – one Telstra and one Optus. Doug’s mobile is Telstra while mine is Optus. Optus has been next to useless as the places where we have service are too few to mention. Telstra on the other hand, despite being just about the most annoying company in the world to deal with, has service almost everywhere. We have been very impressed with number of places where we have had TV reception and the number of channels available – no doubt about to change now with the launch of wide-spread digital. We have learnt to live together in very small quarters indeed without actually throttling each other (not that we both haven’t felt the need once or twice!).
Oh, we have cameras. One on the back of the Cruiser and one on the back of the van. Both are invaluable. The one on the car is brilliant when we are hitching up. We have a Treg (I think that is right) hitch – sorry if I blunder here, my consultant, despite my dire warnings not to, is now pushing up snores from the bed – much to the astonishment of our 4 footed guests!. Yours truly backs the car onto the hitch and as you may appreciate due to the size of the van and the type of hitch, I have to have it precisely right. The camera is a huge boon in this area. The reason I do it incidentally, is not that I am so good, but rather that Doug is far more patient than me. Also, he has to adjust the height of the van as I back towards the hitch – much easier for him to do than me. The only problem is that the camera, whilst giving a really good view of just where I need to be, does distort distance and I always seem much further away than I actually am. Pretty much the same as the caravan mirrors we all attach to our vehicles when towing – aren’t they a bugger for distance? Looks like that road train is a million miles away when in fact, he is actually trying to have sex with the van!!
The same applies to the camera on the back of the van – it does warn you about the road-train approaching, but it belies the distance somewhat. We also use walkie-talkies. Just short range hand held jobs. We have our main one on Ch 18 and also carry one on Ch 40 – this covers us pretty well and we find them quite handy. They are also a help when manoeuvring the van into caravan bays. Even tho’ him indoors has a bit of trouble hearing me on the 2-way, it is better than shouting. We seem to have the manoeuvring thing down pretty well now and we haven’t had a DA about this yet.
What else to you want to know? Beer and wine consumption has fluctuated, market has gone down, amazement at political affairs has gone up, weight has gone up, fitness levels are down, food consumption has fluctuated dependant on the mood of the cook, petrol prices have fluctuated but generally have been on the increase, wind expulsion has decreased thanks to a course of pills purchased by the ‘girl’, moods have fluctuated dependant on all the above.
Well as the snores are continuing to emanate from the bed and thus my ‘consultant’ has left me to it, I cannot think of anything else you blokes might find interesting – so I will leave it at that, with a Good –day from me and a Good-night from him.