Setting Up Your 4x4 For Offroading, Part 1 Options

[Spudly]

Thought id do a write up on setting your 4x4 up for offroading and doing some trip's.

When I talk about offroading, I like to do trips, from simple touring along marked dirt roads, to fire trails (some of where 4x4 is not even required) right through to rock crawling and the serious stuff...

In Part 1 we will start with the basics, why you need them, and how to get the most from them.

Firstly, there are a few differant classes of 4wd's, and what I class as a 4wd (this point always starts a few pub arguments)

A 4WD should have:
Solid Axle's or at least a Solid Rear (Wheel Travel and load carrying)
A seperate Chassis from the Body (strength)
LOW RANGE 4x4 is a MUST!!
A Reasonable amount of Ground Clearance

Anything that does not have these I will describe as an All Wheel Drive (Subaru's, CRV's Etc)

Once you have selected the 4wd that suits you the best the time comes to modify it, and beleive me you can get seriosly carried away!
I beleive that there are some essentials and some would be nice's. So here we go with some mods and why they are important.

BULL BAR These are nessacary as we all know Australia's outback is full of all sorts of critters and having some up front protection for your car, radiator and engine components. It also provides a mounting point for some of our other additions later. I would reccomend a good steel Bullbar in most cases, such as that made By ARB.

Spotlights If Any of the critters we have the bullbar to protect us from are out there, Its best we see them as early as possable. Driving lights have come a long way recently. One of the new additions is the range of HID (High intensity Discharge) Lights which have an extremly high output for less power (similar to the Xenon lights seen in some expensive european cars)

UHF Radio The main reason for having a UHF is for car to car contact if there is more than 1 on the trip. However in some cases it may be your only option to call for help in an emergency if your mobile is out of range. Mount a good arial to your bullbar and buy a decent UHF such as ICOM, GME or uniden.

Tyres If your heading off the beaten track it can be wise to upgrade your tyres. Some H/T tyres are not suitable for travelling on alot of dirt. I would reccomend a A/T or a M/T tyre with a square edge as these are less prone to staking by rocks or sticks. (BFG, Mickey Thompson are two of my Fav's)

Dual Batteries If your spending some time in the bush, Dual batteries provide you with extra power for running fridges, accessories, Cd Players etc while your not running, and still ensuring you have power to start in the morning. Also a topic of argument is how to set them up, and from my experiance the best and simplest method os to run a Deep Cycle as your second battery, Have all accessories (lights, radios, Outlets etc etc etc) connected to this battery. That way when you leave the lights of the radio on with the fridge and you flatten the deep cycle, your main battery is diconnected from the system, so when you turn the key to start, the main battery has all the power to crank the engine.. The systems can be bought complete or as a solinoid that you do yourself. I beleive "red arc" make a great simple system. It works on a solinoid that when 13.4 volts is reached in the main battery the solinod will open and start charging your second battery.. Once the main battery drop below 13.4 volts the solonoid disconnects, saving you main battry for starting. The only Thing that I would connect to your main battery with the starter motor is a winch if you run one, as it is only used when the motor is running and requires as much power as possable. This is also a good time to run some accessory outlets around the car. I Have a Cigarette and a Hella Type output mounted inside the cab and on both side of the tray giving me access to power in all places for fridge's air compressors lights etc.. In a wagon i would have them in the front and on each side in the rear.

Diff Breather All cars have diff breathers as standard, however they are mounted down on the diffs where they will suck in water the first time you go into some water. Some Hose (forget its name but like a clear fuel hose) can extend the breather hight into the bonnet or rear of the car. Also extend your g'box and transfer case breathers.

Always Carry a First aid kit, Fire extinguisher and supply of fresh water

I Think as a start this will do. If you have any questions please ask, Or if you think I have missed anything then Please add it to the list for disscusion.

Next time We will go into more mods, Such as Suspension Upgrades and gear for getting into the rough stuff.

This post has been edited by Rum Dust N Ruckus: Nov 18 2007, 07:25 PM

[poly]

rum if i may say one thing here, i don't like the idea of fridges and lights running off the batteries as it has been my experience that a lot of peeps don't know when to turn them off hence flattening there batteries, your idea of twins may help but when i come across some of the city people who have bought a 4x4 and think they know it all are the ones that end up needing help.
all my lights are gas and the fridge is gas electric.
love those Micky Thompsons
this is a very good read RUM keep it up mate

This post has been edited by poly: Nov 18 2007, 09:48 PM

[Spudly]

The system I use for the dual batteries poly has all accessories connected to the second battery. That way the second battery can go flat because it becomes desconnected from the main battery as soon as the main is at 13.4 volts which is pleanty in a cranking battery to start the engine.

As long as the system is wired correctly you cannot flatten the main battery...

As a backup my system uses a override button, whick allows you to link the batteries manually to start of both batteries, should the main battery become flat.

I have drawn a quick diagram to explain the setup...

I should add, that for things like Aux outlets, trailer brakes and items that draw high current i prefer to use circuit breakers than fuses.

[poly]

thanks for that rum, people like u who set there 4x4s up wright very seldom get serious trouble and if they do they will most likely be able to get out of it.
i said in an earlier post that it was city people that don't think about or plan for a trip in the bush and when they get there do some very dumm things like the peep we came across some years ago camped in a very remote area, he had left the lights on all night because his wife was afraid of spiders, he had been stuck there for 2 days when we came along at least they had stayed with the 4b.
after getting there 4b started we sat down to a cup of tea and a yarn to cut a long story short it turned out that this was there fist trip off road they had not told any one were they were going just that it was a camping trip for 2 weeks.
we got to know them well as we let them tag along with us for the next 4 days as that was the duration of owe trip last we herd from them was they had joined a 4 wheel drive club.

[Spudly]

too right poly, too many people dont realise the dangers of the outback or what you need.. Hopefully i can cover a few things in this thread that might give some who havnt one it before an Idea, however I would always reccomend that you do a TAG along or travel with someone who has done that type of trip before if you are inexperianced.

[SUMOFISHIN]

Poly and Rum, if you want to do it correctly and never have any problems do not use an alternator splitting system as it will not charge evenly if batteries have dissimilar voltages, the most effective way is to use a continuous duty solenoid which connects the batteries in parallel while ever the ignition is switched on, this way the voltage will equalize and the alternator will charge both evenly not shut down once one battery reaches correct voltage.
when you use an alternator splitting system the regulator will shut down then any one battery reaches 13.6volts , therefore the other battery may only be half charged. Hope this hasn't confused you .

[Spudly]

My system always keeps the MAIN battery above 13.6 volts sumo,

The second battery being a DEEP CYCLE will not be harmed by being only half charged. The AUX battery is just that... If it does go flayt then your beers get warm and you might lose some food..... But your car will still start..

The system charges JUst the main battery untill it is 13.4 and then charges Both batteries..

The one problem with your system sumo, is that If you aux is flat and you connect and do not get enough charge into both batteries, you may find that over time both batteries wil be to low to start the car.. My system ensures that the main battery is always full.. I know this because in 2 of my early cars it was the system that i used and i had that exact problem. My solinoid was linked to IGN (also had a switch that could bypass) and I flattened both batteries by sucking the second one dry.

THERE IS HOWEVER A SOLUTION TO YOUR IDEA THOUGH, I know this because in 2 of my early cars it was the system that i used and i had that exact problem. My solinoid was linked to IGN (also had a switch that could bypass) and therefoer i could manually control the charge into the batteries via the switch. This however means if you forget it you could be stuck. And make my system easy because you can forget about it as it does the switching fr you.

There are other issues with having one alternator charging 2 types of batteries with differant capacities, but lets not go into that. (rotronics isolaters solve this issue but are VERY Expensive)

This is the system that I have installed in many touring cars in my time working for ARB and as a 4wd Mechanic and is by far the best system... Although individual needs change and if it doesnt suit you thats ok, but its my favoured system.

There is however one know issue with my system, and that is more so if you dont use the veichle (or boat) often and the main battery starts to lose its edge. The "Smart" type solinoids will open the circuit when the main charges back up but the initial voltage drop of connecting the deep cycle will drop it below 13.4 again and the solonoid can get stuck in a viscious open/close/open/close state, which will quickly destroy the solinoid..

This post has been edited by Rum Dust N Ruckus: Nov 20 2007, 01:07 AM

[Smelly]

Hey Rum ,

some great info in there .

I wanna put a dual batt setup in the Paj .

so i think your post might help me out , thanx

who sells these red arc kits & how much moolah ??



& POLY you mentioning the fridge reminded me of seeing some 4b in the back of a 4wd mag burnt to the ground under a tree which was also burnt.

can't remember the details exactly....

They ran outta fuel for their boat & were filling it's tank at the back of the 4b , which was parked under the shade of a big'ol tree .

Well the fridge kicked in & set the whole shebang alight .

I do remember something bout a pilot light on the fridge being an old fridge ???

[Spudly]

smelly, Red arc's are around $200 normally but can be founfd on ebay for $110..

I Keep my own rolls of 3mm, 4mm, 3mm twin, 4mm twin, 6mm and 6mm twin as i do alot of instalations of gear for people still..

You would only need to buy enough for what you need though... 4 Aux plugs run 6mm Twin Core and for batterys I run Heavy battery cable with soldered on ends using a heat gun.

As for fridges, personally dont like Gas ones, they work great on Gas but are useless on 12v.. I have had no problems with my marine deep cycle running a fridge and lights etc for a few days (engel fridge)

As Sumo has said there are cheaper ways to do this with a standard soilnoid wiered uo to Ignition (aroud $50) but I like the idea of the main battery being looked after! There are also more complicated systems that look after charging rates of differant batteries (acid cell compared to deep cycle) but they are much more expensive (Ro Tronics)

I can say that All ARB, TJM, Red Arc etc kits that are installed around the country will work for 99.9% of people with no problems and have installed over 100 sets with no problems and would reccomend it to anyone who wants a dual battery system that looks after itself.


Just want to add, I incorrectly stated earlier that the RED ARC connects both batterries at 13.4 volts....

The correct figures are that the aux is brought into the charging circuit at 13.2 volts, and when the main drops to 12.5 volts the Aux is disconected to recharge the main.

Check out http://www.redarc.com.au/smartstart-techspec.pdf for more info on the red arc

This post has been edited by Rum Dust N Ruckus: Nov 20 2007, 03:54 AM

[Fed]

I'd rather be in control with one of those (1, 2, BOTH, OFF) manual switches.

[SUMOFISHIN]

Rum, Isolators are ok if you buy the smart charge system but as you say they are in excess of $200 dollars , on the other hand a continuous duty solenoid has been around a lot longer and is more effective, in my career as an Auto Electrician I have seen Many stuck and melted solenoids ,BUT never in my life have I seen a continuous duty solenoid with a problem, they cost less than $60 and guarantee the equalisation of battery voltage. if connected correctly you can connect it through a switch in series with ignition, you can even have a switch to activate solenoid for jump starting engine off auxilary battery if required. you mention deep cycle battery for auxilary, deep cycle batteries are known as Calcium/Calcium batteries and most high grade motor vehicle batteries are now Calcium/Calcium so even though you may have two different capacity batteries it is wise to use a Calcium/Calcium for your starting battery.

as Fed states, the manual changeover switch is an option, if you remember to switch it, but electronics fail miserably, and that is why I always use cont. duty solenoids. they do not rely on electronic microchips to operate.

This post has been edited by SUMOFISHIN: Nov 20 2007, 02:14 PM

[poly]

& POLY you mentioning the fridge reminded me of seeing some 4b in the back of a 4wd mag burnt to the ground under a tree which was also burnt.

hmmm numb nuts at work again, and i don't mean u by that fed

fed if its a gas fridge it has to have a polite light so why would u try to fuel up any thing with in a bulls raw of it.

This post has been edited by poly: Nov 22 2007, 06:23 PM

[Smelly]

smelly, Red arc's are around $200 normally but can be founfd on ebay for $110..

Check out http://www.redarc.com.au/smartstart-techspec.pdf for more info on the red arc

Thanx Chadd & SUMO for that matter , it's good to hear a few diff opinions .

I'll look into it , it'd be good to have it by chrissy .

Can picture it now kick'n back by the river with the doof doof crankin . :whistling:

[jasonb]

hey rummy what happened to part 2 ,,,hahahaha

[Spudly]

i havnt been at home drunk and bored yet

[poly]

well its about time u did young Rum, Now were did i put that slab

[Jumpus GooDarus]

A 4WD should have:

A Reasonable amount of Ground Clearance

Yo Spud
Ute went in yesterday all painted up now
Started the mods yesterday extra 70 odd litres of fuel now, had 90 litres @ one stage that bloody Pez

Yap Yap Yap Yap & more Yap Yap Yap Yaping & he reckons i talk alot
My ears were ringing & i made a booboo new tank was 200 mm's to long & had to cut it down.

If that aint bad enough looks like i have to take him for a fish tommoro so ran to Bunnings & got the biggest ear muffs they had

No probs with clearance now hell i even got Pez under there, wonder if clearance is to high now

Start on the rest of tray when he goes home dont want to make any more mistakes

[Spudly]

Haha, oh dear... whats the go wid the motor?

[Jumpus GooDarus]

Dee Eee Dee ded

Water getting into 2 of his cylinders, compression is there
Explains spluttering & overheat alarm
Advised not to use it

No more playing Buzuki 4 U

U fluked it , told him not to let you drive it but did he listen to me

[poly]

No probs with clearance now hell i even got Pez under there, wonder if clearance is to high now laugh.gif laugh.gif

photos jumpy, photos lets have a good look at it

Paul