Camping set up JKU Rubi

[Mace1]

Originally Posted by humdingerslammer

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Some people had told me that they had never been so far from their home. True!! They wondered if I had to pack a lunch box.

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Same here now in Tassie...

Hard to believe that there are many people here that have never crossed the North/South divide...

[humdingerslammer]

It is all a bit sad really. I know a lot of people who always go to the same place for holidays, kids or no kids, year after year. Why? It is not that much more difficult to go somewhere else and probably doesn't cost anymore. I am sure it would be much more enriching to everyone if they did take themselves and the kids to different places.Talk about insular!!

I must say that I have travelled USA a bit and it is quite spectacular and, while Australia might not have things on the grand scale of say the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Montana, Monument Valley etc etc, we do have a lot of incredibly amazing places to see in the smaller version, of course. The UK is just fantastic for history!!!

But I don't think we publicise what we have got in Australia other than the touristy spots that get all the dollars in advertising and government help... and a lot of these places are quite trashy, in my opinion.

Having discovered them since owning the JKU, I must say that I love the deserts of Australia. But they are becoming crowded now, too, now that every one buys or leases a 4WD and just wants to be a Malcolm Douglas (bless his soul) or a Leyland brother (bless them all, too).

I remember finally getting to Rudall River National Park in the remotest Pilbara and bugger me dead if, after the last kilometre that took me an hour of crawling, there were 3 sets of bloody grey nomads all set up. Jeez, really. And they would not let me alone. I think that they get sick of each other being together so long in a confined 4WD space and so make a beeline to any one that turns up. I have to be careful here because my missus says that I am about as grey and nomadic as those about whom I complain.

It was here that one night I got bailed up by 4 dingoes (mum, dad and 2 kids). I pissed off the alpha male by squirting it in the eyes with African wasp spray.... it did not like that at all!! To be doubly sure that they would leave me alone I set off a screaming soccer hooligan horn. They all yelped and took off after that. Still, I was camping on their home patch.... there were a number of caves in the area that I noticed in the day and wondered whether there would be any dingoes about.

It is the only time that I have been bailed up by dingoes. You do see a lot of them, but only after they have been watching you, unseen, for 10 or so minutes. If they notice u spotted them, they will drop to the ground, as still as can be. When u turn your head, they take off. Ten minutes later they will be 5-10 metres away, and behind you. And you don't even know that you have been stalked.

[humdingerslammer]

Originally Posted by humdingerslammer

Sorry, no dog. Even the cats won't ride with me. The missus neither!

I am waiting for better weather to try out the bed... .

Well, I will be waiting even longer now.... the radiator has sprung a leak. Can get one from the stealership for $1300 (WTF?) and could get a ?dodgy ebay one. But have gone with a Mopar one from Quadratec.... don't know how long I will wait for it. Delivered to my door AUS$635.

Yep.... they have not learned!

[st_za]

That's a pretty nice setup, especially your use of vertical space and the storage up high below the roof. Are the rear seats still under there?

I've been planning out something similar for a few future trips where I will be on my own or possibly with my pug as codriver but simple in its design and modular too so it 's easily to remove and install.

So far, I'm planning to put the bed on the driver's side, regardless of the inconvenience of having to fold up the sleeping platform every time I want to drive it. This will allow me to have the fridge on a slide so I can use the space above it for storage and have it on the passenger side so I can use the tailgate table.

Any tips/tricks/advice from building your setup or for a 1 man JKU camping setup?

[humdingerslammer]

Originally Posted by st_za

That's a pretty nice setup, especially your use of vertical space and the storage up high below the roof. Are the rear seats still under there?


I took the rear seats (both) out in the first couple of months of buying the Jeep. It is only me when I go bush cos that is how I like it. This adds about 10-12 inches of storage depth and accesses seat bolts etc for securing drawers etc and reduces weight by about 40kgs.

The high up vertical space I use only for light things to keep C of G down low as possible. The front one is a bit of a pain to access as it point to the rear but I only have to get things from here now and again so I do a small climb up for that. I could turn it round and put a door or some such on it but I can't b bothered... it works for me!

The rear one hangs over the roll bar with two large wall hooks and then is stabilised against the bottom shelving as you can see. Once again only light things stored here and the sort of thing u might but probably won't need.... some spare parts etc.

I've been planning out something similar for a few future trips where I will be on my own or possibly with my pug as codriver but simple in its design and modular too so it 's easily to remove and install.

Modular would be good but will end up fairly heavy... might need 2 people to lift in and out. Small strong castor wheels could help here. It will also need to be secured in case of accident etc. The seat bolts r good anchor points. The thing is that modular designs will add to weight cos of need for side, back, side, top and bottom plus drawers. This can easily add up to 60kg. Weight is your enemy when travelling bush.

So far, I'm planning to put the bed on the driver's side, regardless of the inconvenience of having to fold up the sleeping platform every time I want to drive it.

I guess it doesn't matter what side you use for the bed but I suggest non driver side cos will become a pain to set and re-set the bed and driver's seat after a few days. If u r on yr own the passenger side can be left set. The little fold away piece is simple to use and putting the seat back and forth won't b that difficult. But, if the passenger seat is left forward it will obstruct your side vision and rear vision to some extent cos you can only turn your neck so far.

"This will allow me to have the fridge on a slide so I can use the space above it for storage and have it on the passenger side"

It will not be necessary for you to use a fridge slide provided that the fridge is not too deep. You will be able to access it easily. Fridge slide adds weight (about 20kg) for no real functional purpose. Might be better to have smaller fridge that "fits" the space.

"so I can use the tailgate table."

I have a home made tail gate table that I only use occasionally. I NEVER cook on it in case of fire and also splashes from frypan etc cover the tailgate inside. I always use gas cookers AWAY FROM the vehicle.

Any tips/tricks/advice from building your setup or for a 1 man JKU camping setup?

If I was starting from scratch I would use a caravan mattress (high density) that u can buy from Clark Rubber for about $200. These r 780mm wide and 2040mm long. I used an old mattress from my caravan and trimmed it to fit the existing spaces cos I did not want to start over from scratch. Probably not ideal since leg section is a bit cramped. But needs must! I would build my storage around the mattress, rather than the other way round as I have done cos of existing structure that I did not want to re-do as I mention.

I used 19mm ply cos then don't need much in way of framing, all of which adds weight. Screwed everything... no glue in case of needing to re-do. The ply lies on the base of the Jeep and where the seat was I did use a rudimentary frame. This is the chest end so heaviest body end and there was no other structures of the Jeep that could support it. This gives about 200mm of under bed space for storage in the seatwell for thinnish things. Most cans are only about 150mm high. If you raise the floor by way of a "false floor" it will be much more difficult to get in and out. You might need to fashion a grab handle to help ingress and egress. Dont forget the space in the front seat. I use the front passenger footwell for water storage. This helps to even up the weight in the vehicle when on the road which helps with handling.You cannot remove the front seat as this makes the vehicle unroadworthy apparently and u also cannot remove the seat belts for the same reason. If I think of anything else I will add to the post.

[st_za]

Thanks for your reply, that's a lot of great info and got me started on finding a comfortable but still narrow-ish mattress first and thinking about the wisdom of cooking with gas on the tailgate table.

I am only planning on short trips and nothing too extreme, moreover to get away from everything than to go on an adventure and on those trips, have somewhere comfortable sleep off the ground that I can pack up to get moving in minutes. Basically, a convenient way to go bush for a few days and to keep moving.

My plan is to keep the back seats for the time being and I use a soft-top year round so I need to be really smart in my storage, especially if I want to keep the design simple.

I don't want hijack your thread any more than I already have so I'll probably start another when I get round to my build.

[LuluBelle]

hope you are not a restless sleeper it looks a big tight ........ and if you can get lpg none out here in ventral qld