So when we go away we dont tow any caravan or trailer. Everything is carried on vehicle. On the roof we have a aluminium rack, we chose aluminium to keep the weight down. Up there we carry our tent, sleeping bags, mattresses, camp chairs & table. All that is carried in a waterproof canvas bag that zips up. Also the rack houses a gas bottle if we choose to bring it, shovel & a roll out 2.5metre awning for some shade. We have upgraded the suspension with a 2" lift & some heavy duty shocks. Also beefed up the drag link & a few other things.
Up the rear of the truck we have a steel rear bar with twin swingout carriers. We can either house 2 spare wheels on the back or a wheel & 2 jerrycans. Also added a rear led light.
inside the rear we have a twin drawer system. These are made out of aluminium with plywood on top, this setup is ultra strong & light. I looked at making the drawers myself but after I priced it up with quality drawer runners etc it wasn't much more to buy this setup as it was priced right. I liked how light yet strong this setup is.
On top of the drawer setup we have a fridge & a 2nd battery. The 2nd battery is 130AH & is charged via a DC to DC charger so while Im driving it charges up. This system is great, I tried a different system prior to this & always had a flat battery. The 2nd battery powers the fridge, camp lights, air compressor, kids dvd player, charge batteries(phones, lights, iPad, camera etc). If Im in the one place for a long time I have a roll out solar panel to charge the battery. So inside the drawers, 1 drawer we fill with food. The other drawer we keep our cooking pot, pans, plates, cutlery etc & also all our recovery gear incase we get stuck we can self recover ourselves. This pic is inside one of the drawers. We leave this drawer full all the time. So we are set to go anytime.
When cooking we put some wood ontop of the drawers & this becomes our cooking surface.
So onto the fridge, we needed a slide to slide the fridge out. You cant open the fridge as it hits the roof of the car. Problem was as the cars so high & the top of the fridge is even higher, you needed a step ladder to see inside it. After much deliberation we went with a drop slide. My wife really wanted it. It was only an extra $150 for the drop slide. I was worried about the extra weight. Its freakin heavy but its awesome though & the wifes happy!
Tucked in the corner gap of the drawers is a air compressor, we constantly change air pressures in the tires on different terrains. You can also see our small grill (the green thing) that lives in the back for cooking if there is no wood of if there is a fire ban. The blue thing is a popup shower cubicle.
Not pictured is a 60litre stainlesss water tank which fills the gap between the back of the drawers & the back of the rear seat. Its just gravity drained & works well. The tanks great as its a useless space that it fills. Just didnt take a pic as I had to remove the kids seats in the back to get a photo of it.
The biggest issue I had with these upgrades was the suspension. Stuff like drawers, water tank empty, rear bar etc is in the truck 24/7. But when we go away we load everything else in it like, clothes, food, camping gear, water in the tank etc, Its the not day to day stuff which was the issue. I spoke to my 4x4 shop & we sat down & weighed everything up. I needed some heavy duty springs to carry the load for when we are away. The springs needed to carry this load were going to be far to stiff for just day to day running around without the extra weight. Originally I was going to have 2 sets of springs but I didnt like that idea. So we came up with an airbag system in the rear. We upgraded the coils to a heavy duty spring that could carry the weight for the day to day running. When we are fully loaded for the trip we pump up the airbags. I didnt like the idea at first but I cant fault them. Unloaded the bags have 4psi, & loaded I have them at about 18psi. Its been great so far. The airbag is the blue thing inside the coil.
Up front there is a steel bar, warn winch, upgraded recovery points. The ariels are UHF & mobile phone.
Next up Ill be upgrading the tires to a more aggressive mud terrain tire. Just waiting for these tires to wear down. Ill be changing the wheels to a steel wheel also in 16" instead of the factory 17". Also on the list of wants is some F & R lockers. Other than that Im just enjoying it. Sorry if its all a bit long winded but tried to cover everything. Thanks for looking.
Here we are fully loaded at the start of the year, we are a few thousand metres above sea level here -
