Project 80: Codename Grey Ghost

[Chris]

Mogg, I had this made to a custom size. Pretty much all of their work is to order so there is nothing on the shelf. But they do advertise their standard patterns on e-bay and Rich told me that he'd be offering this size too now. All depends on the size of your rack. Ooer.

This will give you a pretty good idea. I struck a bit of a deal surrounding delivery and such, but this is what you could expect. It's a bit larger than mine and as ally is quite expensive at the second, smaller is certainly cheaper

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-Alu...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item336ed45a25

 

[AndyCook]

forgot to add it looks great!
you can fit a solar panel on top of it now to charge your leisure battery when in spain, france and morocco

 

[Chris]

Cheers Andy, yes I thought the same.

Last night I raised the rack up to the next level and now the waffles will slide underneath so that is more space saved. I need to order the DC-DC and Smartpass units and whatnot. I don't want to lose my engine bay aux battery set up as that is coupled for boost starting through a split charger. Some systems will run from that still, but all the high demand items are going to now have to go through a third battery in the back which I was hoping to avoid but at least I don't need to run massive cables with the DC-DC set up.

I have relocated the inverter to underneath the passenger seat where it sits very happily and is nicely accessible. Just not quite sure where to put all the CTEK stuff at the second.

The roof box doesn't look massive but it is a great size and I am surprised at what fits in there, including the camping table. You could get two King Goanna beds in. Folding chairs, maybe even the hot water unit. Not sure yet. Once it's bolted down I can have a play. I thought about trying to make it easy release and put handles on it so that it could be lifted down to be part of the camp set up in some way.

 

[AndyCook]

ive ended up using 25mm2 cable to run from batteries in engine bay to my 3rd battery in back cab of Hilux, probably way thicker than i need, but i have the cable already and ring terminals fitted (which i took off Wugg) so just re-used it
this was originally used to connect to the inverter & aircompressor in the back of the LC
i think i used 50mm2 to link the batteries before with split charger for start-boosting and winching

getting a smartpass too, mainly because it adds another shiney box to my electrics board!
but it will also mean my CTEK mains charger that is connected to 3rd battery, can also charge the starter batteries via the smartpass. youi cannot seem to be able to do this with just the D250S DC-DC box

 

[Chris]

Andy, I came to the same conclusions after research and chatting to JW. It ramps up the charge current to the battery from 20 max to 100 amps. I think that the cable spec was 16mm but I have 25mm sitting here already to go. The starting battery to aux boost battery is proper man stuff under the bonnet. On my off roader, it's 5omm with a 120 amp alternator. With a big battery in the boot for the winch.

This is a very different set up though. I do like the SP's ability to push charge back to the main battery at 14.5 volts too so that gets proper conditioning. It does mean that I have to by pass the aux boost battery under the bonnet. With the split charger running that, it seems the DC and SP would get very confused. So this new set up will run directly from the starter battery. Which, so I understand, is fine. Yes I could pull the split charge out but I have made such a nice job of it, I can't bring myself to rip it out.

 

[warrenpfo]

Chris if you can try getting your Ctek gear from the USA. Its far cheaper having had a look online.

Getting it here is the problem unless you have a mate who travels over frequently or are not in a rush.

 

[Chris]

Cheers Warren. I'll have a look. Bit of an unplanned expense really.

 

[moggy1968]

Mogg, I had this made to a custom size. Pretty much all of their work is to order so there is nothing on the shelf. But they do advertise their standard patterns on e-bay and Rich told me that he'd be offering this size too now. All depends on the size of your rack. Ooer.

This will give you a pretty good idea. I struck a bit of a deal surrounding delivery and such, but this is what you could expect. It's a bit larger than mine and as ally is quite expensive at the second, smaller is certainly cheaper

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-Alu...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item336ed45a25

awesome, thanks for that, got some nice stuff there!!

their website seems to offer better prices, presumably 'cos they save fees
http://www.metallicsuk.com/aluminium-boxes/aluminium-wedge-boxes/land-rover-aluminium-roof-wedge-box


Andy

 

[Chris]

Yes I went directly to them. As it was a custom size, I couldn't actually buy it through e-bay as it didn't exist. Got it bolted on last night. Went for a spin. OK at 70 there was some wind noise but come on, it's a 3t brick punching a massive hole in the atmosphere. Not going to be whisper quiet is it.

 

[cmcmill01]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1kva-800w...?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item4ad1fd8d4a

I have just taken delivery on 1 of these hopefully to combine all the charging/solar and inverter into 1.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[moggy1968]

be interesting to have one of these, mount your panel on the top, put batteries and ancills like charge regulators and small inverter inside. mount a couple of IP rated sockets and away you go, electrics for camping!
The that would then allow you to remove the lot for everyday use

maybe a bit heavy for the roof though!

 

[Chris]

Uhh Ohh, brackets? Brackets? Now what's coming?




Oh and fitted my KC Daylighters back on. They seem to work now I have swapped the rotten relay. No, really.

 

[Chris]

Well that has made things much tidier. Waffle boards are great when you need them but a PITA when you don't. So now they are slung under the rack. Take seconds to retrieve. Might think of a way to padlock them but for now they are sorted.

Brackets are lined with rubber sheet to prevent chafing.

 

[SpinDrift]

Looks good Chris, and simple. I am actually in the process of measuring up to make something similar, but was looking at sliding them in from the side rather than the rear - similar to what Jon had on his hundred. But I must say, my approach is a little more complicated than yours, with an under-slung rack. Are those aluminum or steel brackets? I am planning to use aluminum. Is the rubber sheeting to protect the boards?

 

[Chris]

No the brackets are mild steel Reinhard but I have discovered this galv spray stuff which is better than paint. So everything gets coated in that now but consequently it all looks like aluminium. I looked at side sliding but the design of the rack made longitudinal mounted brackets the most viable option really. They are slotted and have regular entry points so that you can slide a bolt head in to the cavity. The rubber is to stop them rattling. I don't think the boards need much protecting. The spacing just wasn't right either for side entry - the legs were in the way. And the contour of the roof didn't help with the height I had to play with.

 

[AndyCook]

Nice brackets
Paint sounds interesting too.

I used angle section steel to make some side entry waffle board shelves under the RTT on Wugg.
Need to figure out where they will go on the hilux

Sent from my GT-P1010 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Chris]

I'll post details. I was in my local welding emporium and saw these cans. I asked Roger how much they were and he had to go and look them up. £2.75 he says. I just ran my arm down the shelf and had the whole row. It sprays really well and dries very fast. But it doesn't rub off. I did a bracket for my High Lift and it's been out in all weathers and still looks new.

I thought about some channel that I had in the workshop and thought I could slide the boards down it, but it was just over engineering. Two brackets with end stops and two cut down canoe straps. Job jobbed.

 

[Andrew Brierley]

And the contour of the roof didn't help with the height I had to play with.

Application of a 2lb lump hammer to the roof should fix that little problem...

 

[Gary820]

Nicely done. They can be a pain to store, I cut mine down a little bit so will fit in the boot, have the option of strapping to the roof rack (usually end up there when get dirty)

 

[Chris]

Forgot to mention the most important reason why I went lengthways - I have a tilt and slide sunroof. If I had gone in sideways there would have been a truly upsetting sound of disintegrating glass at some point.