Motoz MN GLX R: Evolution of a Warrior

[trumpy955]

Very mate !! great thread, looks like you have had some good fun getting this ute to where you wanted it. A bit of enginuity on the rtt brackets really paid off for you. Great work.

[motoz]

Very mate !! great thread, looks like you have had some good fun getting this ute to where you wanted it. A bit of enginuity on the rtt brackets really paid off for you. Great work.

Thanks mate, I've got a lot of ideas from members from this site and have spent a bit of time 'lurking' on some of the U.S sites like Expedition Portal. The rack design ended up being more about what I had at hand rather than going out and buying material to use. There's still room for improvements though. I think thats part of the issue though I'm always thinking of how to modify and streamline our setup so its ready to go.

Here's a few more shots from our last trip before I get back to the build thread. Full trip report to come...





@ Homer no the swine didn't get sunburnt It was more the case of Jane wanting some Asian flavours infused. We stuffed it with vegetables, apples, corriander and star annise etc before it was put on the charcoal. Towards the end it was painted with Hoi Sin sauce... TASTY !!!

[Homer]

Well that looks like an absolutely delicious work of art there
You must do it often to experiment like that...it's normally a big effort just to get the thing cooked when I've had a go!

I really like that rack. It's kinda industrial and right at the same time..

[motoz]

Let There Be Light !!!

while I was fitting the second battery I started to think about aux lighting. I found a seller on ebay and bought a 5m roll of LED strip lights. These come in two different sizes which refer to the LED diode size. Either 50 / 50 (5mm2) or 30 / 28. They come in a varierty of colors though for white either cool or warm white (blue'ish of yellow'ish)



I bought the 30/28 in cool white. This is more than enough light when cut in 1m lengths. It has a 3m adhesive backing so just cut, solder, peel and stick !!! I installed it on the bottom of the RTT to light up the tub and tailgate for cooking etc.

(sorry about the dodgy iphone pic)

While at the same store I a pkt of 8 x T10 lights. These have 5 x 50/50 white LED's. These have really solid contacts and I replaced the roof & map lights in the front as well as all the door lights. They throw out a great light with minimal draw.



I also got this cool wireless dimmer that I wired into the LED strip light I fitted to the top hoop of the RTT. It has a remote so you can not only turn it of and on while in bed but dim the lights right down to enhance the mood...



All this came to a grand total of $16.95 with free freight !!!

With everything apart I fitted a gutsy LED worklight that I wired straight into the reverse circut. This thing throws out a serious amount of light and is great to light up the campsite.

[Cowboy Dave]

That dimmer could be just the ticket for my remote switching of rear lights. Saves on cable runs back into the cabin anyway. Is it powerful enough to transmit from driver's seat to rear of tray with a load on do you think?

[motoz]

That dimmer could be just the ticket for my remote switching of rear lights. Saves on cable runs back into the cabin anyway. Is it powerful enough to transmit from driver's seat to rear of tray with a load on do you think?

I'm not sure mate. I just had the control in the tent and the box is stuck to the tent floor with me ol mate velcro.I remember reading it had a 10m range somewhere.

Here's the sellers blurb;

Brand new and high quality
Soft and stable, no flickering
Mainly used to adjust the brightness of single color LED lights
PWM digital dimming, avoid rush current, protect your LED lights
Suitable for MR16 LED spotlight, LED recessed light, LED strip light, etc.
Voltage: 9V - 24V DC
Current: 0 - 8 A
Working temperature: -25°C to 60°C
Dimension: approx. 110 x 56 x 34 mm
Adjust single color LED light / lamps.
Come with one wireless remote and one user manual

Wireless remote:
1. Up arrow button: to increase brightness
2. Down arrow button: to decrease brightness
3. On/off button

Package included:
1 X LED Dimmer
1 X Remote
1 X User Manual

for $6.75 with free delivery its worth a shot if only to have one more remote to buy batteries for then eventually lose...

[motoz]

If it aint nailed down...

After hearing that a mate had his RTT stolen of the top of his ML while it was parked out the front of his house I followed his lead and bought some lockable tie down straps.



I got them from Roof Rack City. There a webbing strap with a lockable cam. They have a 2.5mm strip of braided SS wire rope down each side of the strap. There made by Kanulock and come in various lengths. The 4m straps sold as a pair will go around the RTT with about 30cm to spare.



If they really want it you can't stop them though If you can make it bloody hard and less attractive you've had a win. Theives are lazy creatures otherwise they'd probably just get jobs



http://kanulock.com/

[big_bob_thefirst]

I think Big Bob's truck is next in line. Have tools will cut... lol

Hahahaha! Like I'd let ye nutters start sawing at my truck!

[godzilla_rising]

I think Big Bob's truck is next in line. Have tools will cut... lol

Hahahaha! Like I'd let ye nutters start sawing at my truck!

No, YOU get the joy of cutting YOUR truck...we drink beer and watch while you do it and then we will help with the rest!

We may even be nice enough to hold your bumper for you...

[big_bob_thefirst]

Huh, thought I remember reading somewhere Dave saying the installation money was the best money he ever spent...,

It might have even been this thread.... Hahaha

[mattz]

Great write up motoz.
I love the rack for the roof top tent too.....good work.

[godzilla_rising]

So that brings you up to date then Motoz? Nice write up, its good to see how so many peoples cars have changed over time...now to figure out if I want to powdercoat my sports bar. Do you happen to know anyone that can weld?

[motoz]

So that brings you up to date then Motoz? Nice write up, its good to see how so many peoples cars have changed over time...now to figure out if I want to powdercoat my sports bar. Do you happen to know anyone that can weld?

No there's still a bit more to add and a few little mods I've been keeping dark...

We're setup at work to weld Aluminium and a good mate does all my steel fab as our little gasless mig struggles on anything thicker than 3mm

Flick me a PM if you need anything done.

[har05l]

Flick me a PM if you need anything done.

If only you were in NSW I'd flick you one motoz

Very build up so far

It amazes me the amount of ways people have chosen to go in there mods. Unlike some vehicles where they all look much alike you have taken a few different avenues as well.

Keep the good stuff coming mate

[motoz]

Great write up motoz.
I love the rack for the roof top tent too.....good work.

Flick me a PM if you need anything done.

If only you were in NSW I'd flick you one motoz

Very build up so far

It amazes me the amount of ways people have chosen to go in there mods. Unlike some vehicles where they all look much alike you have taken a few different avenues as well.

Keep the good stuff coming mate

Thanks for the feedback guys.

A lot of it was due to cost. I'd set my budget early on in the build and apart from a few impulse buys have pretty much stuck to the plan. I took a lot of time reading a lot of other members builds and learnt from them. I take note when someone says "if I did it again I'd do this ...". If you take your time, plan and research you can usually find what your after at the price your wanting to pay.

I've never been one to need it now, though if a bargain comes up I'll grab it and store it in the shed till I've got every thing else ready for the next install. There's still a lot to be fitted in the evolution of this vehicle.

[motoz]

We were lucky enough to get given the old camper trailer recently from the farther in law. They've had it for the last 20yrs and its itching for a revamp and new lease of life. I've come up with a few ideas of how I can modify it to suit our needs. I'd like to use the RTT on top of a custom rack and storage tray.

It needs a bit of work though I think its a solid base to start with and gives us another option for extended trips away where you'd want to setup in one spot for a few days and explore. Here's a couple pics of how it is at the moment...




The plan it to remove the current top and make a new one that includes a kitchen area on one side and storage on the other. To fit twin 60lt polly water tanks underneath, deep cycle battery, recovery hitch, awning and fridge box on the front with a provision to sit the dirtbike across the draw bar. This is a similar design to the one I want to make;



It's going to be a long term project I'll have to extend the drawbar and add electric brakes etc. I'm sure I'll be quizzing the people in here to make this build happen.

And a quick snap of the other woman...

[Snooozy]

loving the build thread so far

you have come up with some original ideas & made them work quite well

& well done on the trailer too, it has huge potential with someone that has your skills to bring it back.
can't help thinking I have seen that grey trailer somewhere around too

When you get to the axle/brake setup let me know, I have the contact details for Adventure Camper's axle supplier. Was quoted $600 for parts to change mine to electric....one day

[har05l]

In regards to the Camper and extending the draw bar keep in mind the added weight to down load with the addition of the bike and what ever else you intend on putting up front.

Perhaps you could extend a bike ramp holder off the rear to even the weight

The options are endless

[motoz]

loving the build thread so far

& well done on the trailer too, it has huge potential with someone that has your skills to bring it back.
can't help thinking I have seen that grey trailer somewhere around too

When you get to the axle/brake setup let me know, I have the contact details for Adventure Camper's axle supplier. Was quoted $600 for parts to change mine to electric....one day

Cheers Ian, I was quoted $1500 for an axle, e-brake and offroad hitch setup. The Adventure design is up there for practicallity. Your setup is first class and the envy of many. There was one for sale in Roxby when we drove through. $15k and it came with a free pit bike

In regards to the Camper and extending the draw bar keep in mind the added weight to down load with the addition of the bike and what ever else you intend on putting up front.

Perhaps you could extend a bike ramp holder off the rear to even the weight

The options are endless

Great points mate. I would keep it all balanced over the axle for sure to offset the weight of the bike. Its all academic at this stage though good fun to plan and think of options.

[Snooozy]

$1500 sound pretty damn good for all that. I priced a treg & it was around $600 on its own
I would like to replace the car section of my Treg, but it is not available on it's own

[jock71]

Nice light on the KTM ther motoz, r u doing the road trial series this year?

[godzilla_rising]

Hey Motoz, did you end up getting around to taking some photos of your Dual Battery setup installed on top of the rear bar? I cant for the life of me figure out how you have done it or where it goes...

Also, your mate that got the stuff done by Hugh on his rear bar...do you know where he got the jerry holder/swing away parts from? Or was it just a jerry holder, and Hugh welded stuff to it? One of the many things that I am looking at, but I am really put off by the price of some of the options...

[motoz]

Nice light on the KTM ther motoz, r u doing the road trial series this year?

Thanks Jock, its one of the 'Extreme Race Lights' from Trail Tech 100w H.I.D (2 x 35w spots 1 x 30w spread beam)

I have to renew my MSA licence before I do anything. I may do the 24hr this year.

Hey Motoz, did you end up getting around to taking some photos of your Dual Battery setup installed on top of the rear bar? I cant for the life of me figure out how you have done it or where it goes...

Also, your mate that got the stuff done by Hugh on his rear bar...do you know where he got the jerry holder/swing away parts from? Or was it just a jerry holder, and Hugh welded stuff to it? One of the many things that I am looking at, but I am really put off by the price of some of the options...

Gheeze make a bloke crawl under the truck on a cold night...
The angle bracket bolts onto the RB6 as there's a plate just on top of where the hitch goes through. I mounted the AGM on its side and placed the plastic 'roost' guard around the outside. At the moment I'm just using a webbing ratchet tiedown strap. I've fabbed a bracket just been a bit slack in fitting it.

Its a bit hard to see from the pics though there's about 60mm from the terminals to the rear number plate sil panel. All the cables are double sheathed and placed in split tubing and a 50amp CB fitted. There is enough slack in the cables to enable me to lift the battery out of the mount and sit it on the ground. It makes it easy to add feeds etc at a later stage as needed.

In reference to the rear bar on the ML my mate scored the a rear Kaymar bar off a 100 series. The car was rolled and the bar was very twisted. He took the tyre & jerry swing aways and had Hugh graft them onto the ARB rear step bar. The end result is pretty trick and looks factory though you lose the step function.

[har05l]

If ever you got sick of the look of your rims Motoz I came across these puppies

[motoz]

the love afair with the strip lights continues...

There has been a few times while out when I could have used some decent lighting while tooling under the bonnet. Sometimes the head torch just doesn't cut it and the fluro work light is a PITA to get in the right position. I was toying with the idea of adding some of the LED striplight I had left over so here's the install.

I cut just under a metre of light and soldered the cable onto the end. I ran the 3mm twin core sheathed cable under the bonnet lining and bought it out near the feed lines for the windscreen washer jets...



I then ran the wires along the inside of the LHF guard and cliped them into the washer feed line stays...



From there I fitted the pin switch to the radiator support pannel. There is already two holes in this so it made the install pain free. The negative wire is connected to the base of the switch. Once again I soldered and placed heat shrink over the connection...



The positve side was run back to the battery via a 2amp fuse. I then went about securing all the wires and fitting the strip light. It stick's along the bottom edge of the bonnet right where the second support brace turns up at 45 deg to meet the bonnet skin...



I had to wait till dark to see if I'd stuck it on the right angle. It came up a treat and throws out a serious amount of light into the engine bay...




This should make it a lot easier next time were away and I need to do some tooling.

I also got around to mounting the dimmer box for the RTT lights. This is a great bit of kit, the keyring remote stays clipped in the tent and with push button on / off as well as a dimmer is $7 well spent.



I still want to add a run of light inside the track of the awning as well as a couple other little projects.

to be continued...