[murcod]

Yes, the roof top tent alone would exceed the 45kg limit stated in the manual.

[magnat]

Its that 45kg on just the roof rails.. without a roof rack ?
Pretty sure the Roof rail weight is for the dynamic weight...
Not the static weight ?

Anyway... alot of my camping mates bought roof-top tents and are now selling them because they are not all they cracked up to be.. Also they restrict your ability to get down some of the tree covered trails..

I wont lie.. the Kings Double is a big Bast-rd but its easy to set up and comfortable as even in a down pour..

[buzbox]

And of course my "original" idea has already been done, and would basically be similar to this.

In my opinion, There's no need for a full drawer system, unless you plan on lugging around your camping gear every day of the week.
Enough room for my Engel and a dog, that's all I need

[murcod]

Here's my finished effort:





The front section is hinged so it can be lowered if the middle row is not fully slid back or you need to have the seats folded and a flat(ish) load area.

Sadly, it is also up for sale as the XL-7 will soon be departing and I've refitted the third row. .

It's located in Adelaide if anyone is interested. It uses all the standard bolts holes and only requires the enlarging of an unused hole in the two brackets that the seat base clips into - see below.



Quite a bit of work went into it - routing out the form ply underneath to get the false floor as low as possible.

[magnat]

I use the drawer system.. It easy just to store the drawers in the shed and when you need them just slide them in and go...
The Draw system has been a blessing for camping... Recovery gear in one draw, camping necessities in the other..
Unlike that big and bulky thing in that other XL-7.. I still have a fully useable load carrying area..

[murcod]

Yes, that similar to what I used to do for camping. I had a lot of plastic containers of various sizes and filled them; they all stacked up nicely in the rear. It was easy to unload and left the rear vacant when the storage wasn't required.

[davico]

That's mine buzbox, here it is again all loaded up for easter



Dave

[murcod]

Similar containers to what I use and a pod too!

[buzbox]

Nice and simple setup. That's all you need.

When I first started 4WD'ing I made up a set of drawers thinking oh it'll be good, there's so many people with them so it must be. Oh how wrong I was.
Packing for a week or so camping in a zook, space is always at a premium and with drawers there's just so much wasted space and at time's impractical. The one time I packed my recovery gear into the drawer, well I needed it when stuck in about 4ft of mud, on an angle, which meant that opening the back door will result in our sleeping gear falling into the mud pit.

Now I just take one of those zip up esky cooler's for the tea, coffee, dry food and condiments (the pantry). And a storage tub for utensils and other camping gear. Recovery gear behind the passenger seat, even fit the swags inside.

[davico]

We're a family of four, couldn't survive without the roof pod! It has the rest of the camping gear (tent, sleeping mats, sleeping bags, camp chairs).
Behind the visible boxes there's another slimmer 30L box oriented sideways with more cooking gear, then a big duffel bag of clothes on top of that. Additional random bits and pieces behind the water and the fridge. Its a pretty good space actually! I'm looking to at upgrading to a taller/bigger touring 4wd later this year (something like a prado) and I'm not convinced its actually going to be any better than that in the boot!

[murcod]

davico wrote:

I'm looking to at upgrading to a taller/bigger touring 4wd later this year (something like a prado) and I'm not convinced its actually going to be any better than that in the boot!

Do you really want to swap to a massive "tank" though?

There's not much around to replace the XL-7. Finding something a similar size (external and boot space with third row removed) with aircon to the third row is hard. I know my dog appreciates the aircon in the cargo area.

This is one of the closest matches I've found http://mahindra.com.au/wp-content/uploa ... XUV500.pdf - they're supposed to be bringing out a revised auto trans version soon.

[magnat]

The XUV500 is completely useless off-road.and is not the most attractive SUV either..

Even though Mahindra now own SSangyong.. the Rexton would be a more comparable alternative to the XL-7.. It at least retains the Low Range Transfer..
http://www.ssangyong.com.au/showroom/rexton/
Sure its a little more money.. but the packaging and what you get is a little better..

[murcod]

I just saw a Rexton in a carpark - lots of space in the rear. Pity about the price and interior design- particularly the dash design (it looks as old as my 2004 XL-7!)

[magnat]

Used Rextons from 2006 go for between $10G-$14G on the 2nd hand market.. So Slightly new and diesel..