[pete_79]

I finished off the wiring during the week ready for a quick trip over the weekend.

If anyone is interested this was how I ended up wiring the electrical system;


And how it all looks installed.


The meter on the left logs what is coming out of the battery, the switches on the junction box isolate the batteries and the solar panel when it's parked in the shed.


I picked up 2x 100Ah batteries at an awesome price and run them in parallel with a main 50 amp fuse.


This volt meter runs directly off the batteries with it's own switch.



Some observations from the first test run over the weekend;

1) The solar panel performs exactly as I had hoped, it makes more supply then the peak draw on the system (with everything running I measured a peak just under 8 amps).
There was no draw from the batteries during daylight hours and the batteries had the same volts when I got home on Sunday as when I left on Friday.

2) The fridge did produce a bit of heat when the trailer lid was closed. I will be installing a fan to force a bit of air circulation in there when driving.

3) The extra weight in the trailer wasn't noticeable in the car (thanks mostly to the electric brakes). But the extra weight did make the trailer ride a bit better (thanks mostly to the soft springs). I would say the trailer rides like an old 1970's Fairlane now, it kind of floats now around rather then the savage bumps that it did with a lighter load.
BUT it does need shocks, just to take the 3rd and 4th bounce out of it when it hits a decent bump.


All in all I'd call this upgrade a success so far.
Going to try and get the fan and shocks done before we do a decent trip for Christmas.

[striker99]

Looks really good, only thought, can't tell from the pictures, but regarding dual batteries in parallel.. I was told positive load off battery 1, negative load comes off battery 2.

This in turn ensures load is drawn from both batteries equally, rather than one battery getting the load and being charged from the second battery in effect...If that makes any sense?

[pete_79]

Makes perfect sense mate.

That's how I have them wired.
The solar feeds in one diagonal and the 240v charger runs in the other diagonal.

The common positive on the solar controller that I'm using for now means I can't wire it with the charge from the panel in one diagonal and the load in the other diagonal which is the best way to do it. When I upgrade to a decent MPPT solar controller I will wire it that way.

[pete_79]

I caught this bastard trying to steal my trailer last weekend......
But don't worry, I caught him and gave him a good touch-up.











Sorry kids, but there might not be any presents this year.

[pete_79]

The shocks are in.



I used the standard front shocks from the Jimny, but had to make a slight mod for them to work as I needed.



My old gas bottle was giving me a few dramas and was nearly out of date, so picked up a new 2kg bottle.
Looks like Primus have made some changes over the last 10 years.


Luckily there was enough adjustment in the latch to bring the strap tight on the smaller diameter bottle.

[zukenutter]

Interested in hearing of the difference in the handling/feel of the trailer after fitting shocks.

[pete_79]

zukenutter wrote:

Interested in hearing of the difference in the handling/feel of the trailer after fitting shocks.

First test run today with trailer 3/4 full.
The shocks have made a massive difference, it looks so much more stable in the mirror at all speeds. Heaps better over speed bumps as expected.

I started with about 10-12psi in the tyres, then bumped them up to 18psi just to see. It seamed to take a little more wobble out of the ride, so will stick with that for now and just drop them down if going on any softer stuff (sand).

I'm thinking this will be another mod I'm glad I've done.
The brakes are the other main one I'm glad I did, with the car and trailer loaded up my braking distance in stop start traffic is nearly a meter shorter then with the Jimny on it's own.

[pete_79]

Thought I'd update this with some stats from our trip around Tassie that we did over the Christmas break. Check out the full report HERE.

We did just under 4,000km all up, with about 800km of dirt and exploring some fairly easy offroad tracks.

Average fuel usage with the trailer was 11.81L/100km (that's averaged from pretty much every fuel stop on the whole trip).
The best 2 tanks while towing the trailer where 10.23 and 10.69L/100km. Have to be happy with that.

The rubber seals I fitted to the lid on the trailer did a great job keeping the water out (even in the pouring rain on the drive home) and no dust came in on normal gravel roads, but the really fine powdery stuff did find it's way in under the front panel. I haven't opened this front panel in ages and thinking I might just run a bead of silicon around it and seal it shut.

The solar and battery system worked brilliantly. I took the 240v charger just in case, but didn't come close to needing it.
We were lucky to have perfect weather pretty much the whole trip. And with about 8 hours driving each day there was plenty of sun on the panel to keep everything fully charged. I think this charging while driving is much better then taking panels that you need to set up once you've stopped for the night. There are no trees over head while driving on the road and the panel had a clear view of the sky pretty much the whole time while driving around.
There was a period that tested the amount of power storage that we had; from Arthur River when the panel was covered in dust for a full day, then 2 days of rain and cloudy skies. There was maybe an hour of sun on the panel before being loaded on inside the boat for sailing during the day, then driving in pouring rain the whole way from Melbourne to Sydney.
The panel didn't see any real sun for about 4 days and the lowest voltage I saw was 12.4v, even after driving in the pouring rain all day it was reading 12.6v when I isolated everything at home.

The shocks on the trailer worked brilliantly, no scuff marks on any of the gear, no shaken beers in the fridge, didn't even loose an egg.

The brakes on the trailer have bedded in properly now and have proven many times that they were worth the cost and effort to fit them.
The best bit was going over the ranges and just using enough brake peddle to turn on the brake lights and letting the trailer do all the work to wash off the little bit of speed as needed, I only needed to use more pressure (and use the Jimny brakes) on the really sharp turns.
The brakes do need constant adjustment on the gravel roads, the right amount of brake force to help at 80km/hr is way to much when slowing from 40-60km/hr.


I like this comparison photo of what people tell me I need to take a family of 4 on the road for a month, compared to what I actually need.....


And some other random pics.

[atari4x4]

Nailed it!

[zukenutter]

Great update as usual

[shakes]

pete_79 wrote:

I like this comparison photo of what people tell me I need to take a family of 4 on the road for a month, compared to what I actually need.....

Too true.

We did 3 weeks in an SX4 with no trailer. The only tricky part was balancing food as we had esky's, not a fridge. But used it as a way to move camp, 4 days food. pack up move camp.. 4 days at the next stop.

[pete_79]

Took the trailer for another run over the Australia Day long weekend, had a heap of fun exploring and area we'd never been to before.



Found some fun tracks to test out the little rig.





Got it a bit wet.





Got it a bit stuck.






Got it real muddy.






And a great time was had by all.....

[zukenutter]

Looks very greasy.

[pete_79]

It was a clay base with loose shale rocks on top and was very wet and greasy.

There was bright sunshine at the bottom of the mountain, but as we were climbing a big storm rolled through and dumped rain all afternoon.

There was a really long climb with lots of washaway banks, I was the first car and couldn't see the top through the clouds.
The first 4 or 5 sections where OK, but it got progressively steeper and slipperier as it went on. I didn't carry enough momentum into the second last rise, got about a meter from the top, broke traction and just skated from side to side.

I took a couple of hits at it, but needed a few revs to have enough power with the trailer on the back. I couldn't get enough run up before the steeper section and with the high revs I just broke traction every time.
It only took a very little pull to get me over the last section.

[lost]

another awesome trip buy the looks

[pete_79]

Finally gave everything a scrub today and found a few things that needed attention.

Looks like the shocks are too exposed, they got smashed with rocks last weekend.





So now I've turned them and run them beside the springs. This new setup uses the whole stroke of the shock now.





Then I found that the U-bolts on one side had come loose, letting the axle turn with the brakes. I had to weld the locating tabs to the axle to lock it up properly.





I also found the springs had fully bottomed out on one side, it pinched the brake cable between the U-bolt and the chassis. There's a dent in the RHS and a scorch mark from shorting out the brakes.
The brakes where working properly while in low range on the tracks on the way home last weekend, so I'm guessing they bottomed out in one of the pot holes I hit on the faster dirt road just before getting back on the highway.




Seeing as I have to do some work on the electrics I might as well do it properly, I'll rewire the brakes with bigger cables and do a better job on the earth wiring tomorrow.




I figured I might as well make it a full day and finally chop the mud guards after I bent one a while ago.

[christover1]

I fitted cut down Suzuki bumpstops to stop mine bottoming out, as my suspension is very soft.

[pete_79]

I'm toying with ideas for bump stops, but don't want to loose too much travel.
The main concern for me is just damaging the U-bolt or the chassis. If I do anything I might just weld a thickening plate on the chassis and have a thin rubber insert.

[christover1]

That would work

[zukenutter]

I had the same issue with my axle tabs, once welded it hasn't shifted.

[pete_79]

After giving the shed a tidy up today, I was sitting with a beer looking at the trailer and started thinking about how high the pod sits with the roof racks on the trailer lid.
I thought it might be better bolted directly to the lid, that would bring the weight a bit lower and it's some more fat to trim off it (even though the racks only weigh a couple of kilos).

It was easy to rip the racks off and have a look, I liked it sitting lower.




So I put some rubber in between the pod and the alloy lid and bolted it down.




Then back to the more important things......

[zukenutter]

Makes sense.

[pete_79]

Jezza86 wrote:

Thants one way to wet the bed

We did this crossing again last weekend and I couldn't resist getting a comparison photo.

Trailer V1.0 above and Trailer V3.2 below.

[pete_79]

Bit of an update.

With the rainy weather of the last few weeks I got a bit bored and decided to fix a couple of things with the trailer.



The first thing was the battery.
I needed to take one of the batteries out of the trailer to make a portable power box for when the fridge goes in the new dual cab.



Then there was the switches, the main isolator switches where in a bit of a shitty spot before.
The switches where just normal rocker style and would get bumped when throwing things in beside the batteries.
There was a few times that I noticed the solar had accidently been switched off. It was also a bit of a pain having to half unpack everything to isolate the batteries.

Once I was messing with the electricals to remove one battery, I decided to rip it all out and start again.
I moved everything out beside the fridge, added some super cool missile launcher switches and generally tidied everything up.
Electrical work has never been my strong point, but I'm really happy with how all the new wiring came out.



The next (and most annoying) issue was the kitchen/pantry.
All the dry food and some of the cooking gear goes under the table/chairs/shower/tarps that get strapped down over the front section inside the trailer.
The kitchen/pantry is always the last thing to get packed, which means I can't strap down all the other stuff until just before we head off.

I was having a browse on eBay and found some slides that where the perfect length.
Now I can pack and strap down everything days before we leave, then just slide the drawer out to pack the food and cooking gear.... Too easy.




New power box for the back of the dual cab.
Simple cheap battery box with a volt meter, 20amp circuit breaker and dual cig plugs (I just chucked the usb plugs in there to make sure both sockets had power).






New slide and storage boxes.








And the new kitchen area.








I'm going to say this update is pretty much weight neutral.

I've taken out; about 30+ kg of battery, the alloy tube frame and about 2/3 of a sheet of 12mm ply.
I've put in; 2 metal slides and 1 meter of 50x50x3 angle, as well as 1 sheet of 12mm ply.


Anyway, I gave all a wash and packed it ready for another run next weekend.

[sur5a]

Nice job

[Qthefun]

very tidy indeed! one day I might have to steal some ideas

[paynebrody]

Unreal mate. Excellent write up. I'll also be "borrowing" a few ideas for an around Australia trailer.

[CMichels35]

Wicked Build! Im in the process of building mine now. It was an awesome read and theres a few things ill do right away on the build like the shocks Ive also got old suspension i could use.

[CMichels35]

What thickness is the sheet metal you used for the sides?

[pete_79]

CMichels35 wrote:

What thickness is the sheet metal you used for the sides?

1.6mm gal on the sides and bottom.

And the mudguards are 2mm mild steel.

If you're planning to do any half decent off road work with your trailer don't mess around with pissy little guards.
I've bent both sides of mine on different tracks.