When we moved to Darwin we had a shiny new Suzuki Vitara, one trip out to Litchfield convinced me the Vitara wouldn't survive; so armed with some dosh we ventured into the car yards and emerged with a 1998 Hilux dual cab diesel.

Not much good being able to go bush without somewhere to sleep so I looked around for a camper trailer - zip, none available in Darwin, only boats!   After a little research, I decided on a Towtel and had it shipped from the sunshine coast to Darwin. Once it arrived I set to work: bought a couple of 100 AH wet cells and made a framework for them, then sent off to Perth for a Honda EXD battery charger. Solar panels weren't cheap back then, mind you the Honda wasn't cheap either, around $900 from memory, but I decided the Honda was probably a better option. Next I did some fridge research and based on the low power consumption claims decided on a Supercool, what a mistake that was, it was super power hungry, regularly sucking the batteries dry. Supercool was the forerunner of the Evacool, they look much the same with the motor mounted on the side but the Evacool has a different motor now.   The Honda got a good workout with this piece of rubbish. Every few days the coils inside iced up and we had to empty and defrost it. Two weeks old and it was into the shop for a new coil fan. After two dead batteries I started switching it of at night.

No LEDs back then so fluros were the next best thing. We also had a small TV and that was it for our electrical, aside from wiring in a couple of cigarette lighter sockets. I bought 6 plastic tubs with lids and screwed a hook into the end of a broom handle to fish out the tubs with. I also fitted a 60 litre water tank and fitted a retic tap. For the Ute I bought 3 x 20 litre jerries for water and made up a push, pull caravan tap arrangement to fit the cap. I bought another 2 jeries for fuel and bought a ball pump for them.

I also fitted an earlier model fuel filter but foolishly never checked it, that was to come back and haunt me when we ventured onto the Gibb. I removed the rear seat and made up a bench, that's where the Super cool Sat when travelling. Lastly I fitted an extra battery and designed my own dual battery system using bits and pieces from Tandy. That system served us well for about five years until we sold the Hilux. I did a heap of other work which escapes me now but it kept me busy for quite a while.   When finished we used the combo travelling around the territory for 6 months or so and then I took long service and we set off on our biggy.

Although the Hilux was a 4WD, the camper was just an on road model. Being a welder and steel fabricator in another life many, many years ago, I inspected the trailer and pronounced it more than capable of withstanding the Rigors of off roading, and of course I new I could fix pretty well any problems. As it turned out, aside from a U bolt bolt coming adrift, I never touched the Towtel until we sold it about 5 years later. Next, were off heading for the Gibb.

Not a lot to do on the Hilux, just removed the second seat and made up a shelf to take the fridge and a plastic container next to it for odds and sods. fitted it with a couple of cigarette lighter sockets and a skinny shelf up top for cups, coffee, sugar and one of those 12 volt kettles, you know the ones, useless, hopeless, dangerous and so on. I've been using these kettles since the 70s, never had a problem and I find they are excellent, just switch on 15 - 20 minutes before you intend to stop for a cuppa. No need to light a fire, hook up a gas stove and so on, much, much easier. And would you believe it, after 40+ years of using these kettles I still haven't been scalded to death - must just be lucky I guess..

I fitted a fuel filter from an earlier model Hilux and a foam air filter. The original fuel filters were $40 or so, whereas the earlier ones were only a few bucks. I also designed and fitted a simple dual battery system with parts from Dick Smith/Tandy, used this system for the next 5 or so years without problems.

I bought a second hand canopy, minus the rear window glass for a couple of hundred bucks, replaced the glass, fitted the canopy to the tub and made up some short steel shelves for either side of the tub. At the front on the sides I mounted two diesel jerries on the right and two water jerries on the left. To save manhandling the jerries all the time I bought a jiggler and ran it to the filler whenever we got low on fuel. Similarly, I machined out the centre of the water jerry cap and fitted a caravan pump tap with a short extension hose on the bottom to reach the bottom of the jerry. Both of these worked great, never once did I have to remove the jerries. Tobe the navigator wasn't allowed in a lot of parks so I fitted fans by the canopy windows to create a cross breeze and stuck his bed on the top shelf. We then parked just outside the park, stuck Tobe in the back with the fans on and a bowl of water and hiked in.

I machined up some fittings to screw into the diffs, fitted lengths of plastic tube to them and ran the front one up under the engine bay, coiling it around and around to stop water ingress. The rear hose was coiled up inside the tub.

Foolishly, I never checked the fuel filter and about halfway across the GRR I ran the Hilux dry. When I tried to pump the fuel through, no go. So with the wife operating the starter, I undid the injector pipes one by one to purge the air from the lines and got the Hilux started. Soon as we go to civilisation I replace the seals.

I also bought some get out gear: high lift, hand winch, snatch straps and so on. The high lift and the straps got used once in a while , but I never got to use the winch.

The naturally aspirated diesels of the day were lacking in power so towing anything, even the light Towtel, upset the fuel economy a lot. I filled up with Mobil before hitting the GRR, couldn't get the Hilux over about 70. Don't know if it was just the Mobil fuel or we got some crap in it, but on a number of occasions I had the same problem with Mobil, I refuse to use it now.

The old naturally aspirated Hilux diesels, although lacking any semblance of power, were great, they just kept going and going, nothing will stop them. Maintenance was dead easy, just adjust no load and idle, replace fuel and air filters and change the oil and filter every 5K.

-- Edited by toglhot on Monday 12th of June 2017 04:47:25 PM

-- Edited by toglhot on Monday 12th of June 2017 04:56:41 PM

I made up some bracketry for a gas bottle and mounted that at the rear right. The stove sat on the right side of the tailgate so all that was needed was to slide the 2 burner out onto the tailgate and attach the hose to the bottle.

I can't abide going to bed dirty, likewise I can't abide by cold showers so we bought a gas heater from the camping store, ha,ha, ha, what a pile of rubbish. Water had to be pumped through the unit continuously, when the pump was turned off the gas turned off and out went the heater. We used this a couple of times before heading of then I threw it in the bin.

So, without a hot water system I resolved to make a system that actually worked. I bought two S/S tubs, one fitting inside the other. To the top one I fitted a 12 volt shower pump you get from the camping stores, to the lower tub I fitted a round heater ring I made up and fitted an igniter and a tap. To use simply connect the hose between heater and bottle, fill the top tub with water, turn on the heater and plug the pump into a 12 volt socket. It took around 2-3 minutes to heat to shower temperature, but best of all it worked in wind and rain and wouldn't set the surrounding bush on fire.

What about safety, regulations, bla, bla, bla?   Not in the habit of wrapping myself in cotton wool, so it suited us fine, and would you believe it after being in use for nearly 20 years both the wife and I are still haven't been burnt to death or blown up, goodness we're a lucky pair.

I also bought one of those pop up shower cubicle thingies. Took a couple of shots to work out how to fold it back up.

I've since replaced the top tub and pump with a pump up pressure shower I bought at the local camping store.   Much better, no need for a 12 volt pump.