Its been a long time coming but I thought I’d share my setup as woolgoolgaoffroad while travelling on the road. The tow car is my trusty 80 series. Believe it or not its build date is Oct 1991 with their factory 1HDT engine. When it cracked 400 000 on the clock I decided to rebuild the engine prior to trip ( a new truck was out of the budget ) and owning it for near 10 years I know all of the quirks and perks of the car, happy to pull a CV out on the side of the road or fix any other issues that may arise. Combined with a new Hi Flow Turbo and 3'' mandrel exhaust ( including dump pipe ) the gasses get out nice and tasty - even with a muffler. Over the years pretty much customised it to suit outback touring yet happy enough to go looking for those harder tracks where ever we may be. Up front I have gone with Lightforce genesis lights, and have a Gme AE4705B antenna and a short stubby section where we drop the sand flag in when in the Simmo. The side tube steps are custom made from the Gold Coast.

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4wd & ute extras ( in Coffs Harbour ) set the car up with Rhino aero racks and a flat steel tray with twin Sunseeker Awnings for our summertime + wet days. They also supplied the @Safari snorkel and Arb suspension ( OME coils and shocks ) with a 3’’ lift with HD springs in the rear to accommodate the drawers and fridge I the back and for when we tow. Redarc supplied the brake controller and the smart solenoid to recharge the extra batteries when we are travelling.

In the rear I have gone with an ORS twin drawer system ( made in Narellan nsw ) full of recovery gear, tools and an amazing first aid kit from Tacmed, with a 40litre Engel providing our cold storage needs and an Ausgaurd half cargo barrier for our safety in case of any accident. Under the side wings we carry spares and have bolted a 12v pump for the tyres.

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Inside I run a Hema HX-1 navigator with full Australian maps right down to 1:25 tho with reverse camera. Communications setup is a GME 4500 80 channel din unit and when we go exploring away from the car we take the GME TX6155 handheld units. Other electrical gear include 1000 watt Xantrex inverter, extra USB & 12V ports with an Alpine stereo cranking out through 100w door speakers and a slimline sub/amp unit.

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I run Kendra Klever MT 285/75/16 on both the car and trailer and so far they are handling the tar and offroad situations fine. One thing I do find is that due to their hard sidewall, when going off road they need to be dropped significantly to gain awesome traction and Berrima diesel tuned the old girl to perfection. 

The trailer is a Chinese built Ultra which suits our needs. With twin batteries, 240litres of water, heaps of storage it follows nicely. Inside we have gone with a proper gel top full queen mattress which at the end of a long day its great. Customised the inside with extra drawers. When it was ordered we got the bunk configuration instead of a dinette, this allows for us to have 4 extra boxes for laundry, box of ‘stuff’ and extra clothes. Top bunk is a shelf for more ‘stuff’. We ditched the heavy rope awning and other canvas panels ( all up it weighed nearly 150kg and took up all the extra storage under the bed ), and installed a Rhino Batwing awning. Takes two min to setup, dries extra fast and we can still open in for road side stops for a cuppa - without popping the camper up. 4wd and ute extras installed a Rhino track system and 4 crossbars to support the awning and to carry our SUP’s. On that note I had gas struts installed to help lift the roof which help immensely.

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Inside we have plenty of 12v and USB ports for charging, lights or watching TV during crappy days. Plenty of windows with midge proof mesh and having vinyl walls with composite below its easy to clean. Up front we have 2 gas bottles and two 20litre jerry cans in case we need more fuel or water for those remote periods. Just a side note - I have modified one of those 12v shower units so we can pull up at any clean water way and pump water straight into the two water tanks. If we get really desperate we can plug solar straight into the back of the trailer to recharge the twin batteries. Oztrail supplied levelling ramps and a highlift jack - jockey wheel plate. Smartek in Coffs supplied our shower unit and double shower tent which works a treat at the end of a long dirty adventure. The trailer did come with half decent ‘rock sliders’ which do look the part. Kitchen is a 2 burner Dometic gas stove with a little sink with storage underneath which all slides from a side door. PC Canvas on the central coast made twin custom bags for the rear to store rubbish for us. Underneath on the trailer I mounted up a full size width stone/mud protector to minimise any damage one those dirt roads. I stayed with metal water tanks also for this reason.

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The whole setup is at home either on any bush track, camping at a local tourist caravan park, kicking dust and dirt up along any outback track or tackling the wonderful Munja track.

Thanks to our local guys in Coffs that have helped set up our touring setup over the years. Tacmed, Smartek and Goodguystyes for their support.

 

But a massive thanks to the guys at #ARB 4wd & Ute extras ( in coffs ) for their continual support and products, from mapping, suspension, Rhino roof rack and accessories, #maxtrax , and other ARB products and general support. Also to Authentic Auto @ Woolgoolga for the great servicing and repairs when needed.

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So please if you have other questions please don’t hesitate to DM me, follow our adventures or if you see us on the road - come and say hi - and make sure you sign the bonnet !!..

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