Hedgehog - LC100 build thread

[SteveS]

Installed the CB today. Mounted discretely down the side of the freezer centre console. The unit is demountable as some countries (like Morocco) don't like CBs and thus a good idea to remove at borders and the like. Also mounted up a pair of speakers above the front passenger seats so I can hear the CB above the sound of music, road noise the sat nag etc



Also shown are the 12v tails from the relay switched permanent 12v. All the 12v sockets in the car are switched so that they can remain live at all times or all completely isolated. The 100A relay and bluesea fuse board feeds two 20A circuits to the area behind the front seats (1 for the fridge and 1 for high power hand tools (12v hair dryer ) plus a heavy gauge circuit to the rear of the truck (long run so wanted to reduce voltage drop) for general camp power, powering the lap-top etc. The front 2x console sockets are fed from same.

The 12v tails will be finished with Anderson connectors and mounted under the extended load deck where the middle row seats used to be

 

[WomblingFree]

The tank is in and fully commissioned. Buying over 200 litres of diesel gave the bank manager a bit of a shock

hahaha... yes a bit of a shock. Especially when in some of the remoter outback areas of Oz where fuel prices can quadruple over city prices.

The tank is installed with dual change-over solenoids controlling the flow from either tank, operated from a carling switch on the centre console. The reserve tank fuel sender level needs a bit more fettling as it reads too high at 0 end.....

Thats good. The factory idea often sees fuel from one tank pumping through into the other tank effectively making one large tank. Rather stupid idea in my thinking as you lose all if you hole one. However my 2002 model keeps the separate. Its good to able to reduce rear axle weight by burning off 130Kg of fuel first.

I found that the Toyo fuel sender could not be bent into a shape to read properly from Hi to Lo in this tank.
I wound up putting 20L of fuel in and bent the sender so that the empty tank light just came on. That should mean there is a good 100Km of range left. Set this way, full reads about 3-4mm from the top of the gauge which is still some 30 or so liters short of true full due to the sender not being able to read past the base of the built in water tank.
I figured that knowing when its about to turn to pooh was better than knowing its somewhere near full.


Steve
Whats the cabled item on the fuel lid?


View attachment 16221

 

[SteveS]

hahaha... yes a bit of a shock. Especially when in some of the remoter outback areas of Oz where fuel prices can quadruple over city prices.



Thats good. The factory idea often sees fuel from one tank pumping through into the other tank effectively making one large tank. Rather stupid idea in my thinking as you lose all if you hole one. However my 2002 model keeps the separate. Its good to able to reduce rear axle weight by burning off 130Kg of fuel first.

I found that the Toyo fuel sender could not be bent into a shape to read properly from Hi to Lo in this tank.
I wound up putting 20L of fuel in and bent the sender so that the empty tank light just came on. That should mean there is a good 100Km of range left. Set this way, full reads about 3-4mm from the top of the gauge which is still some 30 or so liters short of true full due to the sender not being able to read past the base of the built in water tank.
I figured that knowing when its about to turn to pooh was better than knowing its somewhere near full.


Steve
Whats the cabled item on the fuel lid?


View attachment 16221

That's a rubber retaining strap holding the fuel cap.....it is a bit of a pain as they didn't design it quite long enough.

Re the extra tank......normally I'll run it fairly empty - perhaps 20 litres or so so I do have a bit of reserve. I agree with the need to know when it is nearly empty rather than nearly full. Did you do anything to baffle the unit....the gauge is only really useful when on the flat or stationary as it moves around a lot particularly off road

 

[WomblingFree]

Re the extra tank......normally I'll run it fairly empty - perhaps 20 litres or so so I do have a bit of reserve. I agree with the need to know when it is nearly empty rather than nearly full. Did you do anything to baffle the unit....the gauge is only really useful when on the flat or stationary as it moves around a lot particularly off road

Interesting. My tank utilises the main tank fuel gauge for both tanks and has a changeover switch to switch everything between tanks and gauge. I think the Toyo gauges are fairly padded to reduce needle jumping so I wouldn't know. Its like their temperature gauges and just slowly creeps down with no perceived jerks at all.
However I have driven up one rather steep dirt hill whilst towing a camper trailer and had the engine cut out from fuel starvation. At the time it was running on the LR tank which was over 1/2 full. That implies there is possibly no baffling in the tank.
I sent LR an email about this but never received a reply. I've since bought a small bore camera to poke in through the sender hole and see whats inside but haven't got around to it yet.
I gather you don't think there's any baffling inside?

One thing to watch. Pump failure is fairly common if you don't use the tank as the pump relies on the fuel as a lubricant. Not sure if that pump is in the tank or outside it but anyway, you need to run fuel through it every now and then to keep the seals etc happy.
Thats common here with Prados and LC's

 

[SteveS]

One thing to watch. Pump failure is fairly common if you don't use the tank as the pump relies on the fuel as a lubricant. Not sure if that pump is in the tank or outside it but anyway, you need to run fuel through it every now and then to keep the seals etc happy.
Thats common here with Prados and LC's

That's a good suggestion. Sort of thing I would do anyway. Bit like using the a/c and also occasionally the rear locker - just to keep everything in working order.....or spot a failure before you need it. However, uses single OE pump, solenoid switched source of tank via valve - so external and also permanently in use (on one tank or the other)

I can confirm there is no/little baffling. I did wonder about switching the sender signal into the OE gauge/circuits to get the (electrical) smoothing. At the end of the day it is a reserve tank, it is better than lugging Jerry cans about, and if I really want to see what I have then I can stop on the level for 30 secs and/or dip the tank. Surprised your engine cut out uphill.....you could always reverse up for an extra bit of spice . You could also syphon from reserve to main if you got really desperate

 

[WomblingFree]

The cut out wasn't a huge issue, just switched tanks and re-primed the injector pump however it is of concern when on a steep muddy dirt rack with a ton of trailer on the back...
Interesting that there is no baffling. As the bottom of the tank is basically flat that means there's nothing to prevent the fuel from flowing away from the pickup.

When do you start your trip Steve?

 

[SteveS]

When do you start your trip Steve?

July through October for European leg/shake-down, over-winter in the Alps somewhere, then ship to Canada in spring 2016. Becoming very real now....soon will be jacking in the job....quite a big step

 

[SteveS]

It is always good to reflect at this time of year.....so here goes on a few of the mods done on the truck....

Super-pro poly bushes: so far so good. The ride is still superb, the articulation does not seem to be affected. I can't detect any incremental road noise but it is difficult to be precise. The old bushes were in various states from hardly touched through to knackered (rack mounts). Only time will tell whether the concerns over additional stresses come true. Steering is sharper.

The rear step: crude and a bit ugly, true, but does its job well. Will buy something a bit smarter when we get to the US/Canada. Somewhat surprisingly we have yet to bang our legs on it


ARB Reversing Light: very effective and bright light. Uses a 55W headlight bulb. Good job the OEM bulbs are LED as the standard loom may be compromised.


Black Widow drawers: so far so good. Worked well on camping trips this summer fully loaded. Nothing rattled or has broken. Realistically it will need a few 1000 miles of washboard to really check these out. The carpet covering will probably not stand up to hard use so in due course I plan to replace with rubber tread grip pattern and add some aero tracking for tie downs. The only flex I can induce when hanging off the out-stretched drawers is the slight flex of the boot floor on which they are bolted. Might need bigger plates on the bolts to spread the load.....time will tell. The rollers/slides have no backlash/tolerance and are consequently stiff to push in/out (particularly winter unloaded). I've kept away from greasing the slide tracks as this will attract dust/grit.....may be some graphite.

ARB front locker: works a dream, but haven't used too often so still early days yet. The 80Series locker switch works nicely

Hannibal rack: fits nicely, not too heavy. Seems to have knocked 2-3 mpg off at motorway speeds. Can't be sure at moment as the Long Range tank was added (and filled) around the same time. I suspect that this may partly be due to air rushing over the bonnet and windscreen contacting with the rack, but importantly for my configuration, there is an integral table mount/runners running across the car, which could be getting the full flow. I will investigate with some flat ally plate to act as a wind deflector. Need to fiddle with tyre pressures too. The table wasn't installed at the time so the flat surface may well improve things too. No choice but to have a rack so that I can fit the RTT

Long Range tank: still early days, and apart from the shock of the cost of a full fill, the switch over mechanism works faultlessly and when on the move. The gauge is a bit useless to be honest and the tank has little baffling. Haven't commissioned the water tank yet

 

[SteveS]

Below is an early draft of the bed base unit that will go where the second row (60%) seat was. It bolts to the existing seat mounting points at the front and the rear is held in place by the drawer system. The final version will have various minor improvements to this design, but you get the idea. Top surface will be 18mm MDF and will form a continuous surface with the top of the drawers. The under side will be used for storage. The side brackets will be drilled to hold various things. This side will also bear the weight of the fridge which is being mounted behind the driver's seat (not on a slide).

View is from below

 

[SteveS]

Photos below show the roof tent mounting plates in transit and open position. These allow the tent to be bolted to the roof simply without opening the roof tent first. Hopefully this will make un-stuffing the ISO container and re-fixing the tent a bit easier. Also rigged up a block and pulley from a tree in the drive to lower the tent onto the rack as it makes it easier to man handle nearly 50kg onto the roof with only two people



Also shown is a rough lash-up of the clothing/storage rail mounted behind the front seats. The plan is to use canvas 'wardrobes' that you can get for student accommodation or bed-sits to store things in pockets. This is a bit of an experiment - if it works well through the summer then I'll design a more permanent solution. This one has too many sharp edges so I will need to do something about those in any case

 

[WomblingFree]

Hi Steve

A common downunder solution to removal/install of the roof top tent is to buy a cheap engine hoist and extend its hoist arm so that it can become a crane and lift the tent on/off the roof.

Couple of thoughts with your future equipment choices. Light bars are great but some countries (Aus for one, not that anyone here cares) require two units symmetrically arranged around the vehicles center line. Wonder how you will go in other countries?
FWIW LED bars on the roofrack can reflect badly from your bonnet paintwork and can restrict visibility if mounted on top of the bullbars. I'm just fitting a couple of 185watt LED spots to replace my HID's. Having two lights gives you some redundancy.

Are you sure a 9500lb winch will do the job? You are going to have a rather heavy truck there. 3.5 tonne = around 7700 pounds. 9500 is only 4.3 tonne. Subtract some for de-rating, mud suction value, heat etc. I have a 12000 on my 100 for paranoid reasons.
There's a lot of forum comments on Warn down here with their not being waterproof in any way whatsoever and not warranted if wet. They seem to rust solid quite easily.
Common idea here is a cheaper (affordable) winch siliconed up but with breathers added to the motor and gearbox. Basically treat it as another diff.

just my 5 cents worth.

cheers
Malcom

 

[SteveS]

Hi Steve

A common downunder solution to removal/install of the roof top tent is to buy a cheap engine hoist and extend its hoist arm so that it can become a crane and lift the tent on/off the roof.

Couple of thoughts with your future equipment choices. Light bars are great but some countries (Aus for one, not that anyone here cares) require two units symmetrically arranged around the vehicles center line. Wonder how you will go in other countries?
FWIW LED bars on the roofrack can reflect badly from your bonnet paintwork and can restrict visibility if mounted on top of the bullbars. I'm just fitting a couple of 185watt LED spots to replace my HID's. Having two lights gives you some redundancy.

Are you sure a 9500lb winch will do the job? You are going to have a rather heavy truck there. 3.5 tonne = around 7700 pounds. 9500 is only 4.3 tonne. Subtract some for de-rating, mud suction value, heat etc. I have a 12000 on my 100 for paranoid reasons.
There's a lot of forum comments on Warn down here with their not being waterproof in any way whatsoever and not warranted if wet. They seem to rust solid quite easily.
Common idea here is a cheaper (affordable) winch siliconed up but with breathers added to the motor and gearbox. Basically treat it as another diff.

just my 5 cents worth.

cheers
Malcom

Some good thoughts there. Re the light bar I probably will not mount this when in expedition mode.....mainly as I don't plan to do much night driving. I knew about the Australian rules/restrictions on roof top lights and when I get there I had planned to remove them in any case. I may compromise and go for a shorter unit mounted to the bull bar between the uprights, but I don't like to block the radiator airflow as a principle. I used the bar on my black 110 so recognise the point of bonnet reflection, the other problem with roof top lights is you get more white-out in snow/rain etc by back scatter. BUT - they are a fantastic light with serious illumination.

I agree the winch is a bit marginal particularly when you add up the effects of not being the first turn etc, stiction and all the other things. On the other side of the equation there is the multiplication effect of 1 or 2 snatch blocks, which of course allow a pull in odd angles too. Even the so called water-proofed winches seem to be rubbish, all seem to rust whatever, or the reliability is rubbish or parts hard to get.....none of them seem to be any good which constantly surprises me.....it can't be beyond the wit of man to waterproof something properly and to stop it from rusting too: probably made by Land Rover. I'm still not committed to the Warn although plenty of people rate them.....but the the alternatives all have horror stories....I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. In terms of 11,000 vs 9000 it is merely about weight on the truck. I won't be doing any challenge events with the winch but do want it to work that one time when I need it....

 

[WomblingFree]

Some good thoughts there. Re the light bar I probably will not mount this when in expedition mode.....mainly as I don't plan to do much night driving. I knew about the Australian rules/restrictions on roof top lights and when I get there I had planned to remove them in any case. I may compromise and go for a shorter unit mounted to the bull bar between the uprights, but I don't like to block the radiator airflow as a principle. I used the bar on my black 110 so recognise the point of bonnet reflection, the other problem with roof top lights is you get more white-out in snow/rain etc by back scatter. BUT - they are a fantastic light with serious illumination.

I wouldn't worry about removing the lights when you get to Oz unless told to do so. The bar lights are very common here and the cops turn a blind eye to their use. Also several states are currently updating their legislation to recognise the concept of a strip light.

Re the airflow, thats why I'm ditching my HIDs. The 9" LED units are some 100mm shorter so the airflow wraps around them nicely before hitting the radiator. Also gibes me some 30,000 lumens which is good for showing up wombats before hitting them.

I agree the winch is a bit marginal particularly when you add up the effects of not being the first turn etc, stiction and all the other things. On the other side of the equation there is the multiplication effect of 1 or 2 snatch blocks, which of course allow a pull in odd angles too. Even the so called water-proofed winches seem to be rubbish, all seem to rust whatever, or the reliability is rubbish or parts hard to get.....none of them seem to be any good which constantly surprises me.....it can't be beyond the wit of man to waterproof something properly and to stop it from rusting too: probably made by Land Rover. I'm still not committed to the Warn although plenty of people rate them.....but the the alternatives all have horror stories....I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. In terms of 11,000 vs 9000 it is merely about weight on the truck. I won't be doing any challenge events with the winch but do want it to work that one time when I need it....

Yeah, I hear you, winches are a problem area. This is why I like the idea of totally sealing the thing and fitting breathers to let the expanding air in/out.
Seems to be control boxes which usually fail so might be worth taking a spare solenoid with you.
I've two trucks with a cheap Chinese 12000lb winch fitted. These replaced a Premier 9500lb which costs more than 4 times the cheapy and is less capable. The weights are near identical.
The Chinese unit is used extensively by the competition guys down here and does not have a huge return rate. A 'once a year' tear down and reseal keeps it happy.
Not sure what I'd do in your place as international parts availability may be an issue but then if its rusted up, you are in the pooh anyway. A cheapy can be tossed out without the financial pain.



I've got some ideas for your LongRanger water tank. Most of our trips are weekenders so we don't fully fill the water tank so its always a hassle figuring out whats left in it. I use an inline flow meter on the garden hose to fill the tank as required and I'm fitting another meter to the pump inlet so I can measure cumulative consumption. Subtract the two numbers and I know whats left in the tank.
I'm sure you have the same products up there somewhere but these are what I use, nice and cheap.

For the garden hose filler: https://www.hoselink.com.au/buy/digital-flow-meter-gauge/5815


For outflow: http://www.futurlec.com.au/Flow_Sensor.jsp look for "Flow Meter with Flow Sensor for 1/2" Pipe" about half way down the page.

 

[SteveS]

I've got some ideas for your LongRanger water tank. Most of our trips are weekenders so we don't fully fill the water tank so its always a hassle figuring out whats left in it. I use an inline flow meter on the garden hose to fill the tank as required and I'm fitting another meter to the pump inlet so I can measure cumulative consumption. Subtract the two numbers and I know whats left in the tank.
I'm sure you have the same products up there somewhere but these are what I use, nice and cheap.

For the garden hose filler: https://www.hoselink.com.au/buy/digital-flow-meter-gauge/5815
View attachment 17010

For outflow: http://www.futurlec.com.au/Flow_Sensor.jsp look for "Flow Meter with Flow Sensor for 1/2" Pipe" about half way down the page.
View attachment 17011

Yes- I like that idea. I'll look into it. Even if I just use one on the water output side and reset each time I fill to brim.....knowing the volume of the tank gives me how much to go. If I could get one that counts down from a reset value (of 55litres) then it would save me the calculation (lazy)

 

[WomblingFree]

I also looked at this one which is only good if you always fill to the brim, which I don't. It should suit your requirements nicely.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Topargee...Caravan_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20f370c0cc

 

[SteveS]

I took a look at drinking water quality version of these, rather than garden hose types. They are much more expensive. In reality they will all work and probably will be ok to drink from but just to be ultra safe I'll put the metering unit before the Seagull IV filtration unit. I think I'll fix the unit using some pipe clips to the underside of the floor and have the unit display & buttons show through a cut out. Local example:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardena-8188-20-Water-Meter/dp/B006MWDQZQ

 

[SteveS]

Focus this weekend has been on fitting the side pieces/wing kit for the drawer system and getting the RTT in place

For the side pieces I used some cardboard to cut up and use as the pattern to mark the 18mm ply supplied with the drawers. The side pieces are pre-drilled to fit the side wing brackets but needed to be profiled to fit the side of the car. I used a Stanley knife to pare back the carpet material: this will be stuck back down now the ply has been re-profiled. Hopefully it will look like a factory fit when complete.

Rigged up the block and pulley system to a handy tree to lift the RTT. This is a bit of an experiment. The pulley has a 180kg lift capability (apparently) but I wouldn't use it for that....but it is surprisingly robust. The RTT is just under 50kg and the block and pulley has a 6x gain so it is pretty easy to lift. Lift the RTT, drive the truck underneath - simples.


Then locate the RTT mounting brackets over the s/s bolts mounted in the roof rack channels and bolt down. Think I'll move the tent back 2" to make most use of the space on the rack and also maybe shorten the bolts and make them slightly differnet lengths to make it easier to get the bolts through the plate

 

[WomblingFree]

Hi Steve, something else to remember with LR tanks. be very careful attempting a river crossing with empty LR tanks. They make wonderful floatation aids and the trucks back end heads off downstream. Very pretty spot you live in mate.

 

[SteveS]

Hi Steve, something else to remember with LR tanks. be very careful attempting a river crossing with empty LR tanks. They make wonderful floatation aids and the trucks back end heads off downstream. Very pretty spot you live in mate.

I've seen people bob to the surface a few times with empty tanks. So a 122 litre tank displaces at least that amount of water and thus up to 122kg of negative mass. The tank itself weighs 54kg and therefore an empty tank will give -68Kg over a car without a LR tank. In overland mode I don't think that should pose too much of a problem. A car itself displaces a lot of water and usually has little density at the rear. For neutral buoyancy the tank will need to have 68/0.92 (relative density of diesel) litres = 74 litres of diesel in it

Thanks for the comments on the house - we're very fortunate to live in a lovely part of Dartmoor in Devon

 

[SteveS]

I have raised a question on EFS HD spring rating in the suspension sub-forum...would welcome comments there