Looks awesome! Are you going with a tub or flat tray?

 

Flat tray because of the camper as here:



I've got some changes planned for it.

Shortened by 300mm (two aluminium sections), dual spare wheel carrier at the head board that fold down to ground level (or almost), water tank under the front between the rails, sealed rear opening draw between the rails, tool boxes either side at front underneath, auxiliary battery(ies) between the dual spares on the tray, air compressor with aux battery, air tank under the front, maxtrax storage and solar panel(s) above the spares, rework the drop sides so that I can use them when no camper.

It's currently 3m (10ft) which is too long for this chassis, original chassis was extended by 600mm (2ft). By shortening the tray the camper will sit evenly over the rear axle and only overhang the rear by 50mm which is all it needs to not the 100mm it currently does.

Don't need the 300l lpg tank anymore which is why I needed a 3m tray in the first place.

It's all alloy and I've already removed all the rusty fittings to sandblast and paint. I'll replace the rusted bolts with stainless when I reassemble it.

I've then got some mods to do to the camper so I can disconnect the foldout section from the rest and use the truck. Currently if I want to leave the camper setup and use the truck I've got to take the whole thing off.

Full details of the camper here:

Tray top camper

 

Nice work Ross, that will be a great rig for going and seeing Australia once you are done


Was the tray originally made for the Effie, or did you get it off something else?
Your plans for the tray will make it very similar to the trays they build for the XP Camper over in the states (not sure if that was your intention or not), and they also do a tire carrier for their trays similar to what you have planned.

 

Tray was on it when we bought it, so don't really know if it was made for it originally.

Thanks for the link, neat looking tray and gives me some other ideas for the wheel carriers. Mine will be behind the head board basically sitting on the tray.

I'm only going for tool boxes in front of the axle nothing below the chassis line behind the axle.

 

still watching with interest. Coming along well m8.

 

Finished painting the left side.



Painted the grill and surrounds with satin black and installed.



Need to source a stone deflector/rocker panel for below the grill. Original was damaged by when I hit a roo. I'll see how it goes once the bullbar is installed.


Started on the bonnett.

 

Happy new year.

Finished painting the bonnet, not putting it on just yet still have a few things to tidy up in the engine bay.

 

Modified the power steering reservoir to have two returns. One for the steering and one for the hyrdo boost. Front brakes felt like they were dragging when I turned the steering wheel so having two separate returns will solve this.

Engine bay finished, ready for the bonnett.



Installed the windows (new tint as well) and all the rest of the door hardware.



Wired up a new trailer socket.

 

Looks good. Did you do the tint yourself, was it easy?

 

Yes.

With the windows (quarter vent and rolling) out of the vehicle it was easy. I'd expect it to be more difficult to do in place however the fitting instructions are basically the same.

I bought a roll of tint (760mm x 6M) $28.50, 35% black, much more than I needed but that's about the shortest length and a proper tint squeegy.

Laid out on a table and cut to approximate size then trimmed with a very sharp knife when dry for the rolling windows.

Made a template for the quarter vent windows and cut the tint to shape then applied.

Bought the tint from pro tinting and the full instructions are on their website. Main thing I found was the need to work from the centre out and don't run all the way along the edge. Work from the centre of each edge to the corners otherwise you'll definitely end up with fingers if you go from one corner to the other.

Major thing is to make sure the glass is really clean. I had to remove old tint and get the adhesive from it off. Took a day for vents and rolling windows just to get the old tint and adhesive off. First cleaned of most with acetone as this was the only thing that would lift the adhesive after pulling of the old tint. Seemed to break down the adhesive . Then metho to remove the residue as the acetone just kept moving it around. Then a good window cleaner (Crystal Clear similar to the armoural wipes but concentrated). Then a dilute solution of baby shampoo (teaspoon in 500ml) and the squeegy. Then the baby shampoo solution again with a lint free cloth. Then apply the tint.

If I was doing it on windows that were not tinted I'd do from the metho on.

There's still a few small bubbles (<2mm) but they are shrinking with exposure to sunlight (heat).

 

Looks a good job. Not sure if I want to tackle my crew cab on my own, but it has the groovy 80's pupleish tint on it at the moment.

 

Finished the last couple of jobs in the engine bay. Horn, windscreen washers, vacuum to heater.

Installed the bonnett.

 

Fabrication time.

New tray mounts welded and installed.



Rebuilt and fitted the towbar. As it was from an extended chassis it did not have the mounting holes for a normal chassis and had an extra side mount which would not fit with the spring mounts.

New rear recover hooks installed.

Rear mount for the trailer socket, number plate and reversing camera.

 

Put the bullbar on.



Started installing the rest of the interior.



Then problems.

As it's been raining for about 4 weeks the ground in front of the shed is really sodden, almost a mud pit. I need 4wd to get out of the shed as it just slips in 2wd. I went to turn effii around in the shed to make it easier to work on the left hand side.

So select 4hi and go to drive out of the shed. Rear wheels off the concrete and about 3m out of the shed where the ground starts to rise up again and it starts to slip. No weight over the rear wheels does not help but 4wd should still move forward unless the front is slipping too. So put it in 4lo to see what happens. Rear slipping at idle and looking out through the side windows I can see the front is doing nothing.

Any way manage to get it back into the shed and start investigating.

Check hubs are locked, transfer case engaged, all the usual things and can't see a problem.

So drain the transfer case to check if any metal damage, nothing.

Disconnect the rear driveshaft and with 4hi selected try to move, nothing. 4lo, nothing.

So get the video camera out and point it at the front drive shaft. Again 4hi and try to move, nothing. 4lo, nothing. Checking the video the front driveshaft is turning so must be a problem in the front axle.

Check hubs are engaged etc, axles turn with hub locked when rotating the wheels, all ok.

Rig an airline to the locker and try again. Movement 4hi and 4lo.

Disconnect the air and no movement.

So obviously there is a problem with the diff.

Any ideas why an airlocker would work when locked but not work when open?

This is the same diff that was in there before the rebuild and I had not noticed any problems, not to say that there were not as I had not used 4wd in the weeks leading up to starting the rebuild.

I'll pull the front diff centre out later this week and put one of the other diff centres that I have in so at least I've got some 4wd but I'd still like a locker in the front.

 

That sucks. The only thing I can think of is if the spider gears are busted.