All Terrain Warriors campers

whatcharterboat

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
Thanks for Today John, Thats 2 i owe you mate!!!
Hope you have a great weekend
Chock

Yeah...no worries Chock. You drive home safe over the weekend mate.....not a good time to be heading up the Pacific Highway.

Regards John.
 

whatcharterboat

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
John....an impressive machine, looks like its ready to compete in next years Dakar:)!!!!
Any reason why you chosen a Hino over say an Isuzu, MAN or Merc?
Any modification to the suspension?

Hi Adrian,

Price and simplcity are the main factors in a beach bus chassis......if they only get a few years out them on the beach (3 for a Fuso and hopefully 5 for the Hino) then they think twice about buying something loaded with all the bells and whistles....and of course less to go wrong. These chassis are great value. For a private motorhome, there is far more to consider in selecting a suitable truck.

Suspension is standard for now but we will be looking at mods shortly. Due to the big tyres, they tell me it's still pretty comfy in the back.....the tour company staff took it up the North Shore today. Everyone seemed happy except my son ... he cleans the windows on these buses after school. Haha!!

Took this tonight .... amazing difference between a 285/19.5 and the 425/22.5, eh?

Kuhmo bignsmall.jpg
 
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Thespoon

Observer
Thanks John.....yes of course it comes down to dollars and cents as the lifespan for a beach vehicle is obviously very limited. I suppose an operators main focus would be on profitability and not on comfort for tourist bums!!:)

Enjoy your time off

Adrian
 

whatcharterboat

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
How much lift did you have to put on to fit those meats? They look really nice on there! Heck, the entire truck looks amazing!

Mind if I ask what may be obvious to the rest, why do you expect the truck to only last three to five years?

Cheers

Hey!! How are ya?

1) No lift.
2) The beach is a savage place when you are on it every day. If they get 5 years they will be very happy. A little Fuso or Landcruiser or conventional 4wd is starting to look sad after 2 years. After 3 years they are VERY sad...after 4 years there is nothing left.....that's if they are meticulously washed down every night too. It is much worse than somone heading up to the beach every weekend ...at least then the truck would get a chance to dry out after you wash them down....but these vehicles never dry out. It is only the salinity that changes. It says sometyhing for our bus bodies then I guess if they outlast 4 chassis and they sell them after 12 years service in those conditions.

Cheers back.
 
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alan

Explorer
Hi John,
Have any of these operators tried the U beaut electronic rust preventatives? from what I've seen they don't do a thing, but hey you never know.
 

SkiFreak

Crazy Person
Have any of these operators tried the U beaut electronic rust preventatives?
I have it on good authority that these devices were tested by the CSIRO and were found to make no difference at all, other than to your bank balance!
 

whatcharterboat

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
I have it on good authority that these devices were tested by the CSIRO and were found to make no difference at all, other than to your bank balance!
I'm not surprised at all.

Hi Owen and Alan

Hmmm....funny you should ask about that. The tour operators all reckon they've tried everything including electronic rust prevention and they now all revert to their secret blend of herbs'n'spices that gets sprayed on every couple of months....ask them whats in it and they all say stuff like "awh, bit a this and a bit a that" or "I could tell ya but I'd ave ta kill ya" and that's about all they let on. Actually their entire maintenace schedules are a bit guarded....it's a competitive business and while they're all mates and help one another on the beach they don't give too much away.

I think they mainly use a blend of Tectyl, Xtrol, Penetrene and bitumen based body deadener but the ratio is important....if it goes off too hard it cracks and therefore doesn't work and if it stays too soft it won't last long enough when they wash them down and makes maintenace really painfull.

Anyway, getting sidetracked there.....this Hino is actually the first one I've heard of recently that's being trialled by ERPS ....they were really keen to offer this and if it works I imagine they could get quite a bit more business out of it. I'm out too lunch on it ... I tried it on an old Pajero I had a few years back and could have sworn it did work but probably didn't have it long enough to make a sound conclusion. I fitted 16 anodes though so it was a bit more involved than some systems that only run 1 or 2 anodes.....the Hino has them plastered all over. The tech spent almost 2 days to do the installation !

Let's wait and see.
 
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SkiFreak

Crazy Person
Sacrificial anodes are used in quite a few diverse environments and they work exceptionally well. You'd be a fool to argue against that. They even use them in situations where they want to preserve the remains of sunken ships.

As for these electronic versions that are promoted at 4WD shows and the like... I'm not convinced they work the same way.
As I mentioned, I have been told that the CSIRO tested the effectiveness of these devices and could not conclude that they had any beneficial effect.
The problem is that to really test them in "the real world" you would need two identical vehicles that are working in the same environment; one fitted with the device and the other with nothing. That way you could do periodic side-by-side comparisons of the vehicles as time goes by.

My thinking on these devices is that if they were as good as claimed, I would think that some mainstream manufacturers would include them as standard equipment, or offer them as a factory option.
As far as I know, no manufacturer does this. Read into that what you will...
 

whatcharterboat

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
Sacrificial anodes are used in quite a few diverse environments and they work exceptionally well. You'd be a fool to argue against that. They even use them in situations where they want to preserve the remains of sunken ships.

Hey Owen, I knew a retired CSIRO scientist (from Canberra too) ....among other things he did like adding a cup of metho to every tank of fuel, he actually used a zinc anode (yeah .. the same as you'd find on an outboard) on each corner of his car...reckons that worked.....but hey!! I don't know. One of my old electronics lecturers used to go off on these tangents about the electrical theory behind rust but he was as nutty as they come. Haha


My thinking on these devices is that if they were as good as claimed, I would think that some mainstream manufacturers would include them as standard equipment, or offer them as a factory option.
As far as I know, no manufacturer does this. Read into that what you will...

I think they just want to sell more cars. My old Subaru has panels like paper but I see the later models were at least galvanized like the Jeeps. Not too many car makers do that though do they?
 
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HumphreyBear

Adventurer
whatcharterboat said:
I knew a retired CSIRO scientist (from Canberra too) <snip> he actually used a zinc anode (yeah .. the same as you'd find on an outboard) on each corner of his car...reckons that worked.....

It worked compared to what? Is there a rampant and renowned problem of corrosion in Canberra due to ... the rising salt table?? ... that I have missed hearing about? ;) And here I have always thought that the Canberra Corrosion that everyone talked about is what happens to the bright and engaging minds who move there and slowly grind to a rusty mental halt after they pass the Public Service entrance exams. :)

I did some IT work at CSIRO a few years back and whilst I usually don't have anything against fat bearded blokes in shorts, long stocks and sandals there were some pretty interesting characters who had been breathing in the fumes too long...
 

Thespoon

Observer
Yea.....there must be a rust problem in Canberra....just look at the hair colour of the PM:Wow1:

Now back to the topic....I don't think it would be viable for manufacturers to fit rust prevention devices to all of their vehicles as only a very small percentage are really driven on beaches every day.

Greetings
Adrian
 

moose2367

New member
was at the show today and had a good look at the "yellow" canter. huge show, need a couple of days to see it all. So many cool new gadgets. managed to get out without spending more than $100 for the day, but I've got plenty of online shopping to do when I get time to read all the brochures I picked up. Make sure you get a bag at the gate, you will need it for all the leaflets. and check out the army bushranger. the guys will let you crawl all over it. very tough even without the guns.
View attachment 92740

These things are currently running a CAT engine, not sure of which one though, but they are in the process of changing over to a Cummins ISB 6.7L. My dad did some work on the transmissions in the prototypes and had 3 of the Cummins sitting in his workshop, one of which i bought at an auction later on, brand new, never run, it's going in my OKA dual cab very soon, along with 37 inch Nitto Terra Grapplers and 17 inch black Moto Metal alloy rims.

I'm leaving in the next day or so from Katherine NT, via Mt Isa, Cairns, Mackay, maybe Brisbane then down to Ballarat, Vic for the conversion. So if anyone sees a white dual cab OKA with no bullbar (got ripped off when i lost forward and rearward momentum for 29hrs :eek:) towing a trailer, i'll be on the UHF (scanning).

Edit: Sorry, no UHF, aerial WAS on the bullbar, now it's just a bit of coax, so no UHF

Sorry for the hijack
 
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Billysiron

New member
Great thread! Man I wish we had access to more trucks over here in the states. You guys have all the fun:).
I am ordering a new 2012 crew cab and would like to do the 4x4 conversion. Does anybody know if there are any ABS sensors or roll stability sensors that are going to go crazy if bigger tires are installed? I would like to do the single wheel kit from ATW. Does anyone know what size tires are on the white crew cab that ATW did and posted a great pic of?

Thanks
Billy
 

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