JAYCO JOURNEY OUTBACK | Off Road Modifications + Additions | Australian Outback Touring | 17.58-3
Vložit
- čas přidán 20. 08. 2024
- In this video I do a walk around of all the off-road modifications and additions I’ve made to our 2018 JJ Outback 17.58-3 pop top.
Please note; these vans are not advertised nor designed for full off-road use and these modifications do not change this. These modifications are designed to assist with preventing damage typically caused from use off-road use and preventing dust ingress into the van.
I have taken and try to take our van wherever I can, whenever I can and so far, these modifications are helping us out greatly.
As discussed in the video, I have purchased many of these products used online and most one them can be found in the links below.
Thanks for watching and I hope these ideas help you take your van on your next off-road adventure.
Follow us on:
Facebook: / xploroz
Instagram: www.instagram....
K-Flex (32mm for larger main water pipes):
ebay.us/zBYOlJ
Split Conduit:
ebay.us/WFAtcM
Air-con filter material:
ebay.us/IoMHUm
Weather seal for hatches:
ebay.us/my8rD2
30mm rubber grommets:
ebay.us/owooCh
Here is some of the camera and audio gear used to film and produce our videos:
GoPro Hero 8: ebay.us/RolXxy
GoPro Mic Adapter: ebay.us/tsomax
Rode Videomicro: ebay.us/ZIagAa
Rode Videomic Pro: ebay.us/T8jep7
Rode Videomic Pro Deadcat: ebay.us/WUeLy6
Rode Wireless Go: ebay.us/ptDtzi
Canon EOS 70D: ebay.us/7tb0pR
DJI Mavic 2 Pro: ebay.us/OWPBQK
Follow us on:
Facebook: / xploroz
Instagram: www.instagram....
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting XploringOz.
Mate! My wife and I are currently researching a van for us and the 2 kids and am looking at this one which is how we found this video. After initially scaring us, we are so very impressed by your mods and the pitfalls of the van. Initially it was turning us off it but honestly this information is absolute gold into fixing things up PROPERLY. We are kind of shocked that is is sold from factory as an 'Outback' vans which frankly easy to fix issues. Thank you for taking the time to put this together!
Thanks for the feedback mate, it's great to hear you got some idea's from this video.
It is a little disappointing that Toyota don't sort this from factory, however, I guess this comes with the price tag. We had a good experience with our van and these modifications.
Good luck with your adventures!
Cheers, Nathan.
Can’t thank you enough for the great advice. Love your channel. The time and effort you put into helping others is a credit to you. A rare commodity these days unfortunately. Will continue to watch your channel and highly recommend to others.
Thanks Ross, this is much appreciate. I'm glad you enjoyed it and hopefully I can continue to make videos that can people out.
Cheers, Nathan.
For the first time I have just seen a couple of your videos. I especially loved the sealing of your van. A couple I have done previously. I will be doing the mud flaps, draw runners, microwave and the seals around the outside storage flaps. Great work. Hope the new van is all you need. I'm presently having an engineer look at upgrading the suspension to increase the ATM as well.
Yr a bloody champion mate.
I've learnt so much from yr vids
Keep up the great work
Thanks mate, appreciate it! I'll keep them coming as long as I can.
Good job! You have gone the extra yards to try and minimise problems BEFORE they happen. Dirt roads and corrugations are just a disaster waiting to happen for caravaners who don't take the necessary pre travel checks and precautions.
Thanks mate. For sure, prevention is better in the first instance. I personally never had any dramas with my travels so these idea's held up well.
Cheers, Nathan.
Super video ! And useful tips. You know what you bought for a van und do not expect how a Kedron or Brueder van is built for triple the price. Good on you! Some days homework makes that van go the distance also on gravel roads. So off we go to the truckie and hardware shop to get the stuff to fix our vans. Cheers and safe trip after C-19.
Thanks mate, appreciate the comments. There is always a compromise when buying vans and when get a good price, you have to expect what you pay for. So many people complain about the Jayco's build quality, yet they dominate 47% of the Australia RV market.
Again, thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed the video.
Great pre-emptive strikes there. This video is exactly what i was looking for! Getting ready for my swan outback to arrive, and will be sure to perform a bunch of these modifications. (whilst learning from others mishaps) Will give the caravan that extra bit of love that Jayco couldnt. Thank you!
Good to hear Jason. I'm glad this video has given you a couple of ideas.
Good luck with your new van and your adventures.
Cheers, Nathan.
Really enjoyed watching your videos on your caravan modifications which gives me some ideas of additional things to do to mine before the next outback dirt road trip. I have a Jayco expanda with a pop top roof and one thing we did to ours was to replace the screen mesh in the pop top section with thick(ish) clear plastic we had made at a local canvas place so we can unzip these sections and use them for extra light and still use the heating/cooling. Will enjoy watching any more mods you do. Cheers.
Thanks Craig, appreciate the comments 👍 I’m glad the video has been helpful!
That’s a great idea mate, the van does feel soo much brighter and spacious with those windows open. I like the idea of having the ability to efficiently heat/cook the space and keep that feeling. Thanks for sharing 👍
thanks Nathan, we just picked up our Jayco all-terrain, certainly be using most of your tips.
Awesome, glad to hear that these are still proving to be helpful to new van owners.
All the best with your new van and the adventures it will be able to take you on!
Cheers.
Great info for a first time Jayco owner. Especially after coming from a camper trailer where I didn’t care so much about a bit of dust.
What gets me about those gaps under the wheel arches is not the dust getting in, but the water. Maybe Jayco should just spend that extra 5 mins on their builds and do your mods in the factory.
Great video mate.
👍 Thanks mate, glad it helped. Yeah, I’ve come from the same background as well.
Yeah, I agree mate, Jayco could very easily address these issues from factory, but I guess not all of their clients use the vans in these types of environments.
Right ! Jayco Vans are very poorly sealed. It seems they have nobody in the whole factory who can proper use a sealant airgun or the get only 1 cartridge for each van ! Just seen my van first trip in the last big rain Sydney to Melbourne both wheel arches leaked water. The best was then in the jayco dandenong factory the service guy I complained to. All the gear no idea ! No answer given to my question was correct, 100% fail ! But therefor arrogant and absolut not customer service minded. Luckywise my dealer is taken care for it with kilos of Sikaflex!!
Mate, you are full of great ideas! These tips should be in a caravan magazine to help other owners.
Thanks mate! 👍 Appreciate that, glad it’s helping others.
Well done mate the shade cloth&flaps save damage some of those hoses and pipes are fairly exposed.
Pressurize the inside would help and a compressor fridge. I have an AOR Matrix caravan with these features no dust. Cheers Ian.
Thanks mate, no doubt these minor and relatively simple modifications would have saved the underside of the van a few times over.
Pressurising the van would 100% assist in dust reduction, just something I haven't done on this van.
The AOR range are an awesome product with some of the best off-road and dust sealing capabilities on the Aus market. Nice trailer.
Cheers, Nathan.
Top information thank you cheers 👍👍👍😃
Thanks mate, glad it was helpful 👍
Great mod ideas, in regards to the dust ingress on your windows, try a thin smear of some rubber grease along both surfaces of both the seal, this may help
Cheers mate, sounds like a good idea 👍
Great video I’ve been slowly modifying our journey 17.58-3 O/B for gravel roads also ,but this gives me some great ideas.
Good to hear mate 👍 appreciate the feedback
Than ks for the tips - doing the same to my Coromal PEX 632 now. Will definitely be doing the multi row mud flaps. Just pisses me off that they don't do a lot of the simple stuff when it is being built - sealing properly, decent fasteners to hold the cabinetry together etc. I guess that is the difference between mass produced vans and custom/small volume manufactures like Explorex, Kedron and Bushtracker.
Thanks Peter, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I agree, it is disappointing that these simple things aren't done from factory, but I guess you get what you pay for. If you spend the time, you end up getting a great value van
Some awesome ideas. Some things I didn’t think about. Good stuff thanks.
Awesome mate, glad to hear it helped out.
Cheers, Nathan.
Huge effort to share all this info. Very much appreciated
Thanks David 👍 I’m glad people are enjoying the content.
Cheers, Nathan.
Nice one mate!!
I'm currently information gathering for our upcoming caravan purchase and adventures with the kids around Oz. These tips in the video are a great help, and much appreciated.
Keep them coming!!
Cheers
Thanks Dave.
I'm glad to hear that they are helping people out which is exactly what I designed them for.
I'll keep trying to produce them as consistently as I can.
Cheers for the support.
Nathan.
Great video! I’ve got a few extra jobs on my list now!!
Thanks mate, glad it helped 👍
Excellent some good ideas and now i have applied some of em
Excellent tips, thank you 🙏 isn't it possible to sl"Stop it at the start" in regards to all the off road underside damage by using oversized vehicle flaps?
Great video. We love our base station outback. But we also discovered dust sealing was non existent. Hadn't considered the Wheel arches or reglueing the furniture. But both are excellent ideas. Thanks
Awesome van, those Basestations give great ability to tow all the toys.
Glad this video could give you a few ideas. Cheers, Nathan.
@@XploringOz We bought ours new 7 years ago and she has done a few laps. But it's also a bit shorter and 300kg lighter than current ones with a tare of 2400kg. Outback in sand it's okay with lower tyre pressures but you have to be very careful with sidewalls. I absolutely would not want anything heavier. But great with motorcycle or kids or grandparents. Will follow up your suggestions. Some great nuggets.
@@rosewood1 Awesome mate. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully we'll see you out there someday. Cheers.
Another fantastic vid' Nathan. Those John Guest water pipe and fittings really do need as much protection as you can possibly give them as you mentioned. We have used HV style flexible conduit where possible eg easily removed hoses as it's a lot thicker / stronger than the automotive split tubing. Hydraulic spiral wrap has been used wherever necessary again due to it's resilience to stone damage. M&M electrical for the conduit and stainless zip ties or hydraulic spiral wrap from any one of our local hydraulic shops in Kal :) Have been looking at better dust proofing ideas for ours. Might give that filter media idea a go as well. Cheers mate. All the best.
Cheers mate! Yeah, giving all these exposed connections sure are helpful if you plan on taking the vans off-road or even extended period of gravel roads.
I'll have to check out the HV styled flexible conduit and spiral wrap for future projects.
The filter material worked really well, obviously not going to stop anything, but not having to apply and remove a complete solid panel every time you use the van is definitely a great advantage.
Nice job! We have the 17.58-1 triple bunk version without the ensuite and did the Gibb River road and Great Central Roads with it last year. I did similar dust mods to you but found it hard to seal the wheel arch on the kitchen side. I pulled the woodwork off around the wheel arch under the table so I got that completely sealed. The windows are an issue.
Thanks 👍 they sr every capable vans if you want them to be. I like your dedication, I didn’t go that far this time round, but it would definitely help keep the dust out. 🤙
Wow, excellent informative video!
I have a 2010 17.55 pop top Discovery Outback. Even taking the fact that Jayco are building mass produced vans to a price ours could only have been built on a Friday and finished on a Monday. We too took ours through the Central Road without the benefits of doing any of your mods. In hindsight somewhat foolish given what happened. Literally had to shovel the dust out, lost all water from one tank, all the waste water piping ripped off and came out the other side with one operational brake. All because of badly placed fittings no sealing etc.
After a lot of complaining Jayco sealed the van, rerouted pipework fitted appropriate protection and put right many other issues that I won't bore you with.
I now have a van that is fit for purpose ie. gravel roads and is trouble free. I don't believe they made a profit on the van but preferred to do the work to keep out of court. One thing I would recommend is make your van mudflaps bigger.
Cheers,
Steve
For sure, the quality isn't perfect with Jayco, but saying this they are fairly priced when considering some of the other manufactures that produce full 'off-road' vans.
Without sealing modifications, it appears these vans are made like Swiss cheese, but I'm glad you managed to get your van suited to your type of driving.
I hear you with the mudflaps, the only thing that concerns me with oversized panels is the weight, I already added about 40kg of weight just with the mudflaps shown here. Just another thing to consider I guess.
Cheers, Nathan.
@@XploringOz t
Totally agree on the pricing and yes I would buy another. However we never see anything that suits our needs better than what we've got within the towing weight constraints of the tug. After I posted I saw you've sold yours, hope you find a suitable replacement for the big one next year (and can get it delivered in time)!
Cheers,
Steve
@@stephentate4749 That's all that matters. As long as you are happy and the van does everything you need, then what else could you possible ask for.
Cheers, we have ordered well and truly in advance, although theres a long wait, we will have enough time (even with unplanned delays). I'll definitely be producing some content on the new rig once it arrives.
Cheers, Nathan.
Great informative video!
Thanks Ben, appreciate it 👍
What a video!!! Well done Sir.
Thanks, appreciate the support.
Cheers, Nathan.
Really good video. I love this model...Prado owner.
Thanks mate, appreciate it. Nice choice of vehicle!
Awesome video mate 👍
Cheers mate, glad you enjoyed it 👍
Excellent video and great ideas. I've just bought a Jayco Swan which has all the same issues.
Thanks mate 👍 hopefully some of these ideas can help you out.
Cheers, Nathan.
Great vid. thanks
Cheers Michael, glad you enjoyed it 👍
@@XploringOz just bought one so I will definitely be doing some of the mods that's for sure. thanks
@@michaelswan5228 Even better! Enjoy the new 'journey's' you will have haha.... sorry 😆
Great video again mate! Super useful!
Thanks mate, appreciate it. Glad it could be useful.
Cheers, Nathan.
Good work and thanks very much for the insight 👍
Cheers, thanks for the feedback, appreciate it!
very helpful & informative..... good stuff
Cheers mate 👍 glad it was helpful.
Genius. 👍🏻✅
Cheers mate 👍
Very helpful thank you great video 😃👍
You're welcome.
Thanks, Nathan.
Really helpful. Thanks for that!
You're welcome!
Great video mate. I've got a very similar van and planning a trip through the center to WA once from vic after this covid is all done. But I've got a few things I need to do now.
Thanks mate! It's a little disappointing that Jayco couldn't spend a few more minutes per van and get this done before leaving the factory, but I guess there's a compromise when comparing similar models/costs etc.
Thanks for watching, Nathan.
Very good video mate, safe travels
Thanks mate!
Mmmmm looks like a lot of your mods should have been done in the factory!
That sure would be nice, however I guess this is why the Jayco's are significantly cheaper that some of the competitors on the market. Although these mods look simple and easy, completing them all definitely took some time.
I guess it just depends on how each customer plans on using their own van in the end.
Cheers, Nathan.
Another great video Nathan. I did some similar mods underneath our previous Starcraft with condult and around the bigger water hoses used pool noodles. We did the Gibb River Rd in the Starcraft and the underneath was reasonably unscathed, even with a stonestomper directing all the rocks under the van. We did get a bit of dust in via the wheel arches etc, so on our Journey I will use heaps of silicone. BTW, did you use any special type silicone or just the 'run of the mill' type?
Thanks mate. It doesn't take too much to protect these vans, but the benefits are well and truely worth it! Coming home to a fully operational van after roads like the Gibb is a satisfying feeling.
So I used a Parfix All Purpose Highly Flexible Silicone Sealant from Bunnings. Seemed to do the job well. However, I think it's almost impossible to eliminate all of the dust. Every bit helps though.
Cheers.
Amazing on so called outback caravans in this day and age jayco still use cheap crappy connectors for the brake wiring from the backing plate to the axle.
These connections should be soldered and covered in conduit or alike as you have done
I guess this is all part of the puzzle that makes up for the value for money. There simply isn't the vans on the market that can even compare to the features and price of these vans.
It's all a compromise in the end and something that each individual needs to consider before purchase.
Cheers, Nathan.
I am very surprised that Jayco didn`t think about the vulnerability of the under van water lines and taps considering this is designed as an "off road" van? It wouldn`t take much at the point of manufacturing to include some protection for these critical components.
For sure. It really wouldn't take much at all to improve the protection a whole lot underneath at time of manufacture. Unfortunately Jayco don't advertise this van as 'off-road' only 'all-road'. They are quite specific when labelling this van's ability, however I've proven that with a few extra mods and some labour, these vans are a whole lot more capable than most people think.
Cheers, Nathan.
Great video ! I’m in the market for a very similar van.👍
Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it and all the best with your up coming purchase.
Cheers, Nathan.
Awesome ideas and thanks for the links. What size 'D" rubber did you use? 10 or 14mm?
enjoying your videos - very helpful and full of easy understanding knowledge. Just a question regarding your thoughts on pressurising the van cabin for keeping the dust out......obviously all your adaptions work as well.....donny
Thanks mate, glad you are enjoying the content.
Yes, definitely something that I would look at doing. I don't have this van anymore, but a dust suppressions system is something that we have organised for our new setup.
Cheers, Nathan.
Would you post a link to where you bought the under body stone flaps please. Thanks for the amazingly informative video.
For sure mate. So I used a brand called Truckmate. They have a huge amount of sizes to choose from - truckmate.com.au/product/universal-mudflaps/
Hi Nathan, thanks again for another great video. You put a lot of effort into them. We have brought our first full van and will be doing some of your mods before heading off road. Where did you get the mud flaps from for under the van. Its a great idea to help protect underneath. Cheers Trevor
Thanks Trevor, appreciate the feedback, its nice to hear someone who can appreciate the work to create these videos, thanks.
So the mud flaps, I bought them online, however have had dramas trying to find them again. I can tell you though they are made by a company called 'Truckmate'. They make a huge variety of sizes and thickness (weights).
I hope you are able to find somewhere local that might supply these brands.
Cheers, Nathan.
Great video and well done with all the mods. So basically these Jaycos are built cheap and shoddy, not suitable to Aussie conditions.
Thanks mate, appreciate that.
So yes, they are built on a budget and built in a fast moving assembly line, however their price matches. There aren't many other vans with these basic features for these cost. And those other vans that are competitively priced have many of the same issues.
All a compromise in the end I guess.
Like any make they are built to a competitive price in the market. A BruderX may well be superior in many ways off road but you pay for that as well!
Great video. Thanks for these and all your other tips!
Just curious about the choice of shade cloth running front to back, as opposed to say another (perhaps thin) gauge of rubber sections, which would also protect the variety of exposed pipes.
If these were there, as well as the mud-flaps, would that work?
Or...is it too heavy?
Thanks again! 👍🏼
Thanks Brad.
So this was the first time I had put shade cloth underneath the van and I reckon it did alright. Next time, I'll probably use a heavier duty shade cloth, just to give it a little more life. I've come to accept that it is a bit of a disposable item and requires regular changes.
I guess there would be no problem in changing it out for rubber or adding some very heavy duty shade cloth for a more permanent fix, but your right, it would be much heavy (weight wise) and cost a fair bit more. A combination of both shade cloth and rubber would likely work really well.
Just my opinion anyway.
Glad you enjoy to videos, thanks, Nathan.
Amazing video. We are looking at a Journey Outback to tow with our 2014 prado. Do you know what the weight of your caravan has become with all of your mods? Interested to see how we can deck out our outfit. Thank you
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video. So I didn't weight it empty after the mod's were done, but we often found we were around the 2.5t mark when loaded up. Mostly just a little over that rating... doesn't take long to add up...
Cheers, Nathan.
I have been looking a lot at vans and this video proves how bad Jayco vans are produced. Great mods tho however they shouldn’t need to have been done
Thanks mate. Yes, they could be better, however I guess this is the trade off when comparing the price to other like vans on the market.
Awesome video mate thank you. We are looking at a 1/2 lap over 6 months and looking at the same van. We want something not too heavy but able to go on the dirt ok not costing an arm and a leg. How was it over a long trip and how did it tow behind the Prado
Cheers mate, glad your enjoyed the video 👍 we found this van did really well over long distance, definitely no complaints. The Prado did well towing it considering it maxed out the towing capacity. You felt it was there, but it did well and could of easily pulled it around Aus 👍
Good luck with your adventures, hopefully we’ll see you out there one day.
Cheers, Nathan.
I like what you’ve done but I would have used sika instead of silicone and liquid nails.
Yeah sure, this would have worked well too. Saying that, I had no dramas in the long run with this method 👍
Cheers.
What size were the mud flaps you used on your van as I have a journey outback as well
Great video. Have you thought of using body deadener for under the van.
Thanks mate, not something that I have considered. Although may be helpful, the cost, time and weight of the material might not be worth the benefit achieved. Is this something you have had experience with?
@@XploringOz I was looking from the point of reducing damage.
Good vid........ but come on Jayco this is meant to be an off road vehicle, maybe they should do these mods???
Thanks mate. TO be honest, they only advertise these vans as 'semi-offroad' but I get where you are coming from, would be good if they did these things from factory.
Cheers, Nathan.
What size screws did you use mounting the microwave internally and externally? TIA
Hey mate, sorry I won't be able to answer that. I can't remember exactly what size they were and I've since sold this van.
Apologies, Nathan.
Hey Nathan, do you recall where you got those extra mudflaps you fitted to the underside of the van? Or even the brand?
Hey mate, so the brand was Truckmate. I remember that they had a good range of different sizes, but I also remember struggling to find the correct size available for shipping. I eventually found a supply near my old town, however it wasn't as easy as other products.
Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
Cheers.
Brilliant work and well thought out but, it’s more a testament on how bad Jayco are at building caravans.
Cheap and nasty! 😣
Thanks mate. Yeah, they definitely could do with better quality assurance checks, however, I guess it is why they are cheaper than there competitors in most cases.
Thanks for the content. How did you find the suspension setup? Any failures? Did you experience shock fade, or did the shocks need travel breaks to cool? I’m getting a few salesmen telling me I can only go 30min on corrugations before having to stop to let the shocks cool, but I suspect they might be just upselling me to a more expensive setup. I busted the suspension on my camper out near Birdsville, so I’m somewhat hesitant to buy single. Seems like everyone is using it tho. Interested to hear your experience.
Hey mate, I found the suspension adequate on my van. Whether this was just lucky I'm not sure, but definitely didn't have any issues or failures with the shocks. Its always good to monitor the shocks and make sure they are not overheating, but I wouldn't be spending more money unless you're going to be spending significant amount of time on the hard tracks.
Personally, I'd have the same suspension setup again for the value for money on this van.
Cheers, Nathan.
How did you attach the shade cloth under the front of the van.
I wrapped the end of the shade cloth around 10mm wide aluminium strips and then SS cable tied it to the front cross member. Does that make sense? Cheers, Nathan.
Hi Nath, just found the channel and it’s what I’d been looking for!
With the wheel carrier on the back of the van, where did you get it from?
And the Jerry can holders?
Cheers
G'day Adam, welcome to the channel! Hopefully you'll get some good value from some of the videos.
So on this van, I had the wheel carrier custom made by a local metal works. I removed the rear bar from the van, took it into his workshop and got it back a couple of days later. Probably a little over-engineered, but I wasn't complaining.
With the Jerry Can Holders, I purchased them online. I'm not going to lie, I can't remember which store I got them from, however I do believe they are a generic item. When I got them, I just drilled holes in the base to suit the U-bolts that I bought from Bunnings to fit them onto the bar.
Hope that helps a bit mate, don't hesitate to let us know if we can help further.
Cheers, Nathan.
@@XploringOz thanks Nath. Again great info. Looking forward to the next instalment!!
I'll add some of these to the list..... - Great Video. Quick Question - the link to the extra sealing rubber for the hatches - Did you order the "Small" (10mm x 7mm) or "Large" (144mm x 13mm) Rubber? I don't have access to my van to measure at the moment but we use the same hatches on the Expanda. Thanks again for the video.
Thanks mate. In relation to the seal, I ordered the small size 👍
@@XploringOz cheers - ordering now.
"These vans weren't designed to go long distances off-road"
-
-
-"outback model with independent suspension"
Jayco, in my opinion, are like Toyota, they built an amazing name for themselves in the past and are currently just riding on the winds of the same old sail whilst not actually improving their product.
Fantastic resale value but value for money and bang for your buck they suck. all of the mods you showed in this video are such a bloody good idea and fantastic job to you for doing them, honestly it is impressive!! But 99% of these are just standard, normal, everyday practice caravan making for other makes.
Not paying you out at all here, just Jayco, in general, need to up their game!
For sure mate. I completely understand where your coming from. I agree that these vans were never designed to do what I have taken it through, however in saying that, I’m still here with a van in awesome condition. I’ve never had any major issues or structural faults.
I 100% agree that Jayco have to lift their game in terms of quality assurance and ‘off-road’ suitability, however if this effects their prices, their sales are guaranteed to drop. It’s definitely a compromise with Jayco, I’m happy, considering I can’t afford a Kedron or Zone!
all of these mods should have been really factory fitted if Jayco selling it as outback van, it's shame
For sure, they would definitely have a better reputation if they did do this, however it would also probably increase the production costs somewhat.
Although these mods look simple and small, the time they take definitely adds up quickly.
Cheers.
How do you rate the swivel coupling? Thinking about adding one to our Swan. Does it improve the ride?
Hey mate, we had no drama's with it at all. I wouldn't say it improves the ride per say, but definitely an advantage if you are taking your trailer off-road.
Well it's a no brainer then. Although may take a bit to get her ready before she goes off road. Thanks mate.
Hey mate, not sure if you did the gibb river road in this van? If so, how did the van hold up?
Hey mate, so personally I did not take this particular van down the Gibb, however I did take it down the Great Central Road. Having done the Gibb previously, this road is comparable. I would be comfortable taking the van along the Gibb with these modifications complete. Obviously a gentle driving approach with correct tyre pressure will also play a big part.
(not sure if I would take it up to Kalumburu or Mitchell Falls though, they were exceptionally rough.
Cheers.
@@XploringOz ok, thanks for your reply and we got a lot from your reviews 👍
@@kylieanderson1165 I'm glad to hear some of my ideas have provided some considerations. Cheers, Nathan.
Great video. Just curious on your tow vehicle and weights.
For sure. All over it mate. Have a video dedicated to this topic 🤙
czcams.com/video/WmeKQ0N-DJw/video.html
Would be nice if they gave you what you pay for instead of having to do all the premium upgrades your self.
Yeah, true, however I guess this is one of the reasons Jayco is a lot cheaper than others on the market. All a compromise in the end...
@@XploringOz it's still expensive to buy jayco. I've been researching into cargo trailers and doing one up from scratch. They are alot more durable and you can make it as premium as you like for a fraction of the cost. Sealing and insulation are first then maybe a window and some electrical work. Anyone with general knowledge and hands on savvy can do it. :)
For sure, definitely a viable option. All the best with your build, hopefully we’ll see you out on the tracks someday 🤙
Alternate title: I finish building a Jayco Journey
Haha, for sure. These are some much needed modifications if you plan on taking these vans off-road.
Cheers, Nathan.
rock tamers prob better
Pro's and Con's for each method of protection. I have very few complaints for the Stone Stomper. Yes there is a little more involved, however the protection is awesome.
Personally, I'll be buying another Stone Stomper again with my new trailer.
Cheers, Nathan.
@@XploringOz i wld think that the rocks with tamers stop at the end of the tug, then any damage is only from the van wheel to rear of van, .thus eliminating half the van from damage
@@RusstyNails111 I can see your theory for this, however in my experience, this doesn't work like this. The rocks that are thrown up and back towards the van act like a shotgun pellet. They are consistent and have a huge spread. Keeping in mind, that some (or a lot) of these rocks, big and small are also bouncing up off the road surface, multiple times. These rocks will bounce under the RockTamers and still meet the trajectory of the front panel of the van. Now, Rock Tamers are going to significantly reduce these chances, however if your driving 1000km of gravel road, this will happen multiple times. It inly take 1 rock to cause significant damage and many small rocks to cause minor damage. I have personally tried options like this and was also personally surprised, however these rocks get everywhere.
Further, as you may have seen from some of my videos, I like the tough tracks from time to time. I have personally seen these Rock Tamers receive major damage, rendering them non-operable from the departure angles of 4WD'ing obstacles.
They may provide some benefit to this who stay on the black top, however they just aren't a viable option, or an effective option for my setup.
When I have purchased my new van, I'll be doing a thorough explanation and demonstration video on the Stone Stomper and other protection options.
Cheers, Nathan.
People and there so called modifications.
Adding mudflaps is a addition not a modification
Adding sealant and extra seals is no a modification, it's a addition
🤷♂️
what about putting those rubber protectors behind rear wheels of your toyota?