13. Choices
Just to explain a couple of these choices.
The roof vent is fitted above where our fridge/freezer is being sited. This will help take away any excess heat. It will also help ventilate the cabin on the odd occasion we sleep in it. Will help with condensation and prevent mould.
My water tank is being fitted immediately behind the front bulkhead - it is low and central to help stability. The water inlet skin fitting is positioned so the internal tank can be filled without lugging water into the car and messing about with funnels.
The heater exhaust fitting is located as high as I can (without intruding into the cabin space) so that if wading it is not going to flood the heater and get inside the vehicle. I’m also fabricating a bung so this can be closed off before fording through deeper water.
The fender locker replaces the removable cover to the top face of the wing. Underneath this is the bonnet cable release. By fitting a locker with no external fixings this removes a security weakness. It also gives me somewhere to position Anderson connectors.
The rock sliders are quite wide and double up as steps. I decided against traditional steps to maximise ground clearance.
Even with a full roll cage, if it goes over the vehicle is most likely trashed. Our roll cage only covers the front cabin. The logic is - this vehicle is only a 2 seater. When stationary and camping it is not going to fall over. If we are in the back when stationary it’s not needed. When on the move there will only ever be 2 occupants - both in the front cab. There is no need to protect the back. The cage only has to create a safety cell for the front occupants.
Do I need x6 spot/flood lights? Probably not. The roll cage came with spot mounting brackets and it seemed churlish not to use them. So x4 on the top. Rather than zip tie cables to the roll cage I fitted individual entry points immediately behind each spot. The cabling will run internally out of sight. The lights will be useful if working in front of the vehicle, winching or just in very dark places where extra light is needed.
The x2 combo spot/floods on the bumper mounting tube are more powerful and will give a better spread of light for off-road and country lanes.
Chequer plate fittings - hmmm. A bit of a marmite thing - love or hate them. I decided to fit wing chequer plate as the vehicle had them previously and the wing tops are a bit ‘sunken’ from people standing on them. I'm undecided on the sill and rear quarter chequer at the moment. I will probably add these but will have to be cut around ancillary fittings if I do so.
