#Vancation!!!!

[BertieT5]

Well the Mrs has 4 weeks off school in a few weeks so we decided to go for a drive.

A drive that spans from Perth, along the Great Ocean Road, up to Noosa Heads then back to Perth, with our 5 month old dog.
So roughly about 10Kkms round trip!

So preparations have begun:

Foxwing awning installed
Wilco Tiregate rear wheel carrier installed to carry the oversized spare.
MEGA Service including a fuel filter change
Haldex performance controller (FINALLY)
HID kit installed

To do:
LED park light install
GPS stereo install with reversing camera.
some sound deadening over the rear wheel arches, and maybe some carpet in the floor around the front seats
Mods to Tiregate to carry my MaxxTraxx and a jerry can and if possible a Gas bottle.

I think an Ali sump guard is on the cards coz the plastic splash guard is broken in multiple spots.
Does anyone know where I can pick one up on my big adventure???

The Tiregate


The Foxwing in action at the Donnelly River RallyWA event.

And finally the Mutt; Lia!

[BrianJ]

Have fun, we were along the Great Ocean Road this year, its a great place to camp out.

On insulation, the best thing I added to my Kombi Beach was the roof lining insulation. I pulled down the ceiling card from the drivers cabin back and put heat insulation foam with foil from Clark Rubber between the metal roof and the ceiling. It improved the heat from the roof well, but the biggest gain was the quietening of all types of noise, even road noise, far less overall drumming, its surprising how much noise is due to the roof.

[Transporter]

A very cute dog.

[Sunny43.5]

How big are those wheels they look bloody huge !! or is it an illusion ? Enjoy Noosa my favourite holiday spot as it has the best surf spots around National Park Tea Tree Bay etc . The rides go on forever on a good day . You can see what I have done to several of our vans with carpet sound proofing etc the stuff I have used is a compressed wool blend great for noise and heat and glues easily to all outer surfaces , I also use household grade or commercial carpet for the floor as it easier to clean and cuts out noise as well .New T5 Project

[BertieT5]

Thanks guys.

The tyres are 245/70 R16, and the tiregate sticks out a little so the perspective is skewed a little.

The roof lining is a good idea. I was planning on just getting some domestic carpet off cuts and trimming to suit in the front.
I worry about the wool lining in the roof since we sleep in the van and when cold lots of condensate builds up. Maybe we need better ventilation....hmmm.
Yeah I'm super keen to get out and surf some different spots. I've got too many boards to finish shaping and glassing right now before the trip and other work stuff is getting hectic in a few days!

[Sunny43.5]

We do a lot of winter MX riding and no problem with condensation as insulation material is behind the roof trim anyway , I find when camping with the porta shade I sleep with the side door open or I tie a strap to the tailgate strap and just leave it slightly open [and yes it gets cold here too in winter last trip woke up with ice on the bikes and on the trailer .

[BertieT5]

Well on friday My mate and I modified the Tiregate. It now also holds a 20L jerry can, a 4kg gas bottle and my 2 maxxtraxx knockoffs.
I just need to tidy up the welds a little coz it rained on them before I managed to get them off and paint them. Hopefully I can post up a picture in the next few days.

We will be leaving for the big trip this weekend!!!! OMG i've go sooooooooooo much stuff to do before we go!!!

The audio and GPS with reverse camera has been scrapped. I cant justify $2K at this stage.

As per the other thread i made about sump guards I spoke with Allan at trakka and he will sort me out with a Guard when I get there for $1200 which is quite nice. I was surprised at the service coz when i've called them up before about getting other seikel gear they didnt want to know me at all!!!

I cant see the roof insulation happening, maybe we do it one rainy day along the way???

[Sunny43.5]

I know others will can me but I also cannot justify 2k for the audio side so I have fitted this to our two vans ,ES1268AM 8" HD CAR DVD Player GPS Ipod DVB T Wifi 3G Canbus VW Passat Skoda Seat | eBay You can add a camera as well for $25 ES880AM Waterproof HD 170 Wide Angle Color CMD CAR Rear View Parking Camera | eBay .
To make the system right up there I have in my work van two 12 inch subs and mid range speakers in the doors and tweeters in the dash , 2 amps one for subs and the other for the rest of the speakers . The whole lot is fed through a Line Driver adds 24 DB increase in gain .Matrix Plus Six Channel Line Driver with Remote Level Control Input Now if you are a radio person then don't bother as it seems that aftermarket radios are not compatible with VW,s , we have had to fit a powered roof antennae to compensate its from a Nissan Xtrail.

[BertieT5]

Well the trip is almost over!
I'm posting this from the oyster bar in ceduna!
Firstly I need to say a massive thanks to Miro aka Transporter for his generous help sorting out why I had a warning light flashing! It turns out the brake light switch had failed so I didn't have brake lights from ballarat to Adelaide and cruise control wasn't working because of it!!

Anyhow gotta get back on the road. I'll post some pics when I get back to Perth!