[Slo4x4]

I didn't post anything for a long time, but now there's something new on the car.
Well, I've spent the last two months building a new roof rack ... I don't know if I'm getting old or anything else, but I've become very slow with these tasks.
In short, the roof rack which I already had on the short Patrol was a perfect to me, so I wanted the same rack here. The only change that came with the design is that the front now has a curved ledbar and consequently, the front edge of the roof rack to.
But let's start from the beginning ...


It all starts with bunch of steel tubes. Why steel instead of aluminium? Simply because I can't weld aluminum and so this is easier to me.

Tubes for the front end was made with help from my friend who have the machine for bending tubes

I welded the other curves with the help of welding knees

And so the bottom of the rack was formed

Then came the crossbars and the steel net 5 mm thick

Then the fence ... I have my "supporting legs" and "covers" of the lights drawn on computer since the first roof rack was made.
They were laser cut from a 2 mm thick sheet metal

I covered the front with a thin sheet and prepared it for painting ...

 

[Slo4x4]

I choose black color named Hammerite. A very durable color that can be applied to bare sheet metal.
I achieved a matte effect with the way the paint was applied. I applied a mist of paint to the almost dry color from a far away. I have tried this technique several times and it always end great

And we're already at electricity.
When I was still working on the renovation of car, I already thought about the roof rack. So I drilled two holes in the roof for the connectors way before painting.
The each connectors are 7 pins, runs on max. 25 amp, 400V and it is also waterproof.

The side LED lights are low-budget product of Chinese. I sealed the lights extra, so for sure they won't get moisture trapped inside of the light bar.
When it comes to sealing ... I also sealed the front and all the other ones I had ... not one of them ever fill up with moisture

2.5mm2 wire, pvc protective tube, some empty beer cans, and the roof rack was wired

 

[Slo4x4]

Car without and with roof rack

The roof rack looking a bit over the windshield because I like it so and I also get a lot of space of the rack therefore . The trunk dimensions are 1300 x 2650. Weight? Who would know ... it's not super lightweight but not too heavy anyway. About 60 kg excluding lights, awnings and jack lift

The hi-jack lift brackets are the same as were on predecessor roof rack, ARB awning it is also the same, except that my friend Mitja washed it and gave it a new coat of impregnation. Did I say thank you?

I am waiting for the switches now and also for a little will to put the roof rack electricity in working order. I'm also waiting for another ARB awning (1250x2100) for the rear end of the car. Luxury for the back kitchen, nothing else

Continuing on this topic will follow when something new will happen

 

[ST391GQ]

I have been watching this thread since day 1....and the expertise and thoroughness of this build just blows me away. I too have a near mint 1997 GQ RD28 wagon....hasn't even got to 300.000K yet...and pride myself on keeping it in the best nick I am able to....as it is a long term own for me....plus I really cant afford to get anything newer that has the same reliability .It is probably one of the last of this model sold in OZ...as it is plated 5/97 build.
Every winter ...it tends to miss slightly on really cold starts ( it snows here...!!!)...and I dismantle and clean all the connections on the glow plug rails...and problem fixed...starts like new again. I suspect this problem is endemic of these engines...and I guess a lot of people overlook or don't think about this....and it ends up being expensive ….when it shouldn't be.
Keep up the thread hey...is very entertaining...at least from my point of view.

Cheers Keith

 

[Slo4x4]

I have been watching this thread since day 1....and the expertise and thoroughness of this build just blows me away. I too have a near mint 1997 GQ RD28 wagon....hasn't even got to 300.000K yet...and pride myself on keeping it in the best nick I am able to....as it is a long term own for me....plus I really cant afford to get anything newer that has the same reliability .It is probably one of the last of this model sold in OZ...as it is plated 5/97 build.
Every winter ...it tends to miss slightly on really cold starts ( it snows here...!!!)...and I dismantle and clean all the connections on the glow plug rails...and problem fixed...starts like new again. I suspect this problem is endemic of these engines...and I guess a lot of people overlook or don't think about this....and it ends up being expensive ….when it shouldn't be.
Keep up the thread hey...is very entertaining...at least from my point of view.

Thanks mate

 

[Bojordan]

Love your build mate! Really enjoy reading each post and thanks for keeping it picture heavy!

 

[Slo4x4]

And here we go again


For start, my car is also my home and bed when I'm traveling around the world so I had a plan to improve my car's bed for a long time, and of course the storage space i used.
So far, my bed has been made from some square metal tubes (2cmx2cm profiles) with a 12mm waterproof plywood on top. Below the "bed" was drawer fridge which has already come in wooden box from previous owner, and it was originally from a Renault truck. And at course a plastic box that contain the "kitchen stuff". On the left and right sides of the lower compartment, there was a lot of stuff, such like fire extinguisher, starter cables, some tools and things like that.
I don't have a better picture of previous state, but it doesn't really matters... It is from my old Patrol, but it was the same thing.

The biggest problem with the whole story was that the roof of the LWB Patrol was lower than the roof of the short version. As a result, sleeping on such a bed is a little uncomfortable, because every time you turn around you are scratching your roof ...
And since I don’t usually use a car in the winter, I decided it was a perfect time to make new inside bed.

The whole thing started, like everything before ... a whole bunch of internet browsing, browsing on YouTube matterials and some home-made beds. I took some smarts idea from each, add a little bit of my creativity and desires and get the outlined direction.
Of course, there was still a lot of measurement and sketching at the beginning, but somehow I came up with a drawing that (eventually) became reality.

As I do not have the necessary tools to make one, I turned to a good friend of mine who (among other things) makes camper vehicles. With having so much an assortment of tools is a real pleasure to do some work

We briefly reviewed my sketch, I explained to him how things should go and we were already in action!

With CNC machine the work is done extremely fast and relatively easy.

Making Of pull-out drawer that will be used for kitchen supplies

Drawer on inside is realy huge. Its internal dimensions are 53cm by 26cm by 89cm. Because of that I decide to make some partition walls so that I can better organize things in drawer. If necessary I can remove the intermediate panels or just adapt to the situation.

Then we made a top cover that serves as a bed base.
It may be worth mentioning now that I used 9mm waterproof plywood for the bottom of the drawer storage system, the sides and drawer it selfe are 12mm thick and the lid is from 15mm plate. The front and back of the drawer are also made of 9mm panel.

The lower left opening in the picture will be for electrical components such as an inverter 12V/220V(600W) and for a relay panel with fuse box that will control all the lights on the roof rack, fridge, kitchen lights, power of the cigarette socket (1x) and power of the USB sockets (2x 2 USB sockets each). Also, there will be the auxiliary battery voltage display. For the time being, it shows the voltage from a primary battery as I do not have the extra battery installed yet. There is also a plan for having an onboard running water once, so one relay for this purpose has already been installed in advance.
The lower right opening in the picture will serve to install the ARB compressor I have from my previous car. The only change will be that in the future the compressor will get its 10 liter air tank somewhere down in the chassie.
The rear two openings are designed to access a fairly large space behind the drawers. There will be stored all the tools, engine fluids, hydraulic lift, spare parts and things like that. The remaining two openings are designed to store small items such as the safety equipment of a car, fire extinguisher,...

 

[Slo4x4]

Making some covers...

Then is time to assembly drawers into the car. The box is fixed to the car with 3x M8 screws and 4x M10. I'm sure that this thing won't move anywhere

Then, electrification of the components followed.

With such a distribution block, I divided the power supply from the main power source to the relay board. A one 35mm2 thick wire is running from the battery to the back of the car.
Near the battery I will add a circuit breaker that I already have, but I have not been install it yet.

Sockets and voltage display

I then bought a set of relay pads on Ebay ... mistake.
The wires were too short and quite thin and the relays wrong. Of course I had to replace both of them

 

[Slo4x4]

Making a relay pannel with fuse box on it.

This is very easy to "maintain". If a fuse fails, it has a signal light next to it. If the relay fails, there is no drama either, because I can pull the plate out like this and the replacement is then so easy. Only 2 small M5 screws hold the plate in place.

Then the upholstery followed. We chose the material used for upholstery the floor in the vehicles.

As I mentioned in the beginning, the bed is not quite finished since it only reaches the back seats. Second part of the bed will be a chapter for itself, but we can already see certain cables and air hoses that have been laid down for further working...

Maybe it doesn't look like that, but the space here is really huge. Unfortunately, I couldn't make bigger openings, but with a little will you can put a lot of things in there , things you don't need them every day, so it's consider as okay .

 

[Slo4x4]

This is how the finished product looks from the back. I have not yet put inside any kitchen utensils in the drawer, but after the previous box that I have used, I conclude that there is way much more space. However, I might have also some food in the same drawer, which usually had its own box and I had to jump around the car a bit. If anyone is wondering about the fridge, I'm happy with it. It takes up less space than conventional ones known from overland vehicles but still measures a 35 liters, which is enough for my needs.

The top coves are opened in a second, and they do not rustle during the hard ride. Because of the upholstery, the covers goes a little tightly back in place and I conclude that this why I don't have a problem with rattle, but if they do occur later, I can still install some magnets to hold the covers in place

The space where the compressor is mounted. When it gets its air tank, it will also get external connectors front and rear for connecting the air hose.

Another look at the inverter

"Command panel". There is no power unless the power switch is on. When switched on, the voltage display turns on and all 3 sockets get power. There is also the switch to turn on and off the inverter, LED lights for the kitchen and for future on-board running water. The fridge, air compressor and roof lights are switched on from the cabin compartment.

And then for the end of the post, a picture which shows the LED light in the "kitchen". Each door has its own LED strip, also one strip is positioned to illuminate the contents of the drawer and refrigerator. The illumination can also be controlled by a dimmer switch.

 

[Slo4x4]

At the same time, at the end of the year, I would like to wish everyone a pleasant and adventurous full new year.
Give your vehicles a chanse to bring out to you the most beautiful moments, and let's only the best people surround and complement you in the coming year.

 

[shakey55]

Well done excellent build and looks fab. Happy New Year to you Slo4x4


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[Parelius]

Looks great as usual best newyears wishes from the icelandic orange patrol guy


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[festerGU]

Sounds good, wish I could see the pics.

 

[Slo4x4]

@festerGU, what seems to be the problem? You don't see the picture at all or?

 

[festerGU]

@festerGU, what seems to be the problem? You don't see the picture at all or?

First 3 pages are good but nothing on this last page.

 

[Slo4x4]

Oh, I see...
I will try to fix the problem...

Thanks for the notice

 

[ST391GQ]

I cant see them either. Had my eyes checked the other day too...so not blind either......

Cheers Keith

 

[Slo4x4]

There were obviously some issues with the source where the images were uploaded. Now I see them, I hope you do too.

 

[ST391GQ]

Yep...all good now...and a good new year to you too. This truck build up has been amazing...top stuff!!

Cheers Keith