It has been quite a bitsa week – bits of this and bits of that with a few major things as well. Sometimes we reflect on the week just gone and think we don’t seem to have achieved much but then I begin to list it and realise that things just keep moving forward at a steady pace.
We had a big arrival this week, our CTI system arrived from New Zealand. This is one of our big ticket items and right up there with our levellers. With the places we hope to be trekking we made the decision very early to invest in a decent Central Tyre Inflation system. Apart from having a sticky beak in the box, we haven’t done anything with it as yet. This is another thing that deserves a blog all to itself…..coming soon!
While we are talking tyres, we ordered 6 new tyres and 2 new rims this week as well. We currently have duals on the back and were hoping to be able to replace them with a super single. After much research and discussion with the powers of B, this dream is not to be realised. Some law about if the truck was not imported with them, no-one will guarantee that if fitted we could get a compliance for them. That’s a costly potential mistake we decided not to risk. So we will settle having super singles on the front and new meaty tyres on the back. We have a 2 week wait on the new rims but the other tyres are in stock so we took 2 of the back wheels down this week to have the new tyres fitted. Man these are big buggers and not something that you just pick up and toss into the back of the ute. With the use of an old lifter we managed to get them to the shop and back.
Another problem that stemmed from not being able to switch the back duals to super singles is our fabricated mudguards now don’t fit. They are too narrow to house the duals tyres. No problem, Fred picks up some flat steel and a welder and does a bit of his own fabricating. A rippa effort, job well done Fred!
It’s now time to get going on the inside, so our first job was to cut the lino and put it down. I cut it a bit bigger than required to be sure that it would fit. We have left it for a few days to settle before we cut it exact to size. Apart from the shower, all the cupboards will be built on top of it.
Now that the lino is down we could install the shower and build the shower wall. We glued the pre-fab moulded shower to the 2 walls and once installed, Fred build the wall beside which will house the plumbing and act as noggin for a cupboard that will be built between the shower and the entry door. We have learnt from De Busta and didn’t install the taps or shower head at the back of the shower but instead on the side wall – We won’t get wet when turning it on anymore 🙂
We received the first draft of our fit out, very exciting. It looks great in 3D. We made a few changes and returned it and hopefully early this week, he will be out for the final measure to allow us to place the order. We are very mindful of time with this as there are a lot of things that can’t be done until all the cupboards are in.
Now for the big dog of the week! Fred began the electrical setup. This is a very involved and heavy project, as in the batteries and battery box weigh heaps. It started with building the wall that will divide the inside from the boot space. The electrics will live in the boot and most of the components will be attached to the wall. This took about 2 days and we are around 90% done with the wiring connections. Next step will be to attach the solar panels to the roof. We then have to wait for the cupboards to be installed to allow us to run the wires from the roof inside the cupboards to where they need to go. We intend to hide as much wiring as we can.
To finish up the week, we ticked off a few smaller jobs; Picking up steel for the back rack, frame for the boot space and bed. We ordered the aluminium for the solar racking but it is yet to arrive, painted the steps getting ready to finish and attach, changed up the wire in the winch that will lift our spare tyre on and off the back of the truck to a fibre rope cable and last but not least, ran the wires in the cab for the CTI system, radio and UHF.
And that in a nutshell is the week just gone. Stay tuned……..