4WD Trip, Tools & New Job.
Duck Creek Road.
So last Sunday we headed an hours drive South West to drive Duck Creek Road.
I took a short cut on the way and drove a few dirt roads.
We soon passed through Beudesert and found the turn off for the track.
Soon the track turned to dirt and we stopped to lock the hubs.
We stopped to put some money in the donation box.
The track was quite easy but we really enjoyed the drive and the great views.
We passed a few bikes.
And lots of signs.
Eventually we popped out of the rainforest and were greeted with a spectacular view.
We continued on to Lamington National Park.
Where after getting some lunch we went to have a look at the tree top walk.
I liked the board walk up into the trees and the ladder leading high up into the trees to the viewing platform.
After that we headed home.
Tools.
I've been busy sorting tools out in my garage and finally got round to finishing one of my spanner drawers.
So this was how I had left the drawer after I built the rack for my Kamasa set.
So the plan was to also store my Metrinch spanners in there.
And also my Gedore double end ring spanners.
Cut and notched some bits of hardwood.
Screwed them to the alluminium.
And finally they were all neat and easy to get to!
The New Job.
So I was reading through the excellent free online 4wd magazine, Unsealed, when I found this article:
http://www.unsealed4x4.com.au/issue021/#159
So as I mentioned previously I went and had a chat with the guy running the company and dropped my CV off. I've now done my weeks trial and the boss wants to keep me on!
So I can now officially say that I rebuild and modify Uni Mogs and other big 4WD trucks to turn them into the ultimate overland vehicles/off road toys for a living!
One of my first projects has been working on this brand new Iveco 4WD truck which is being kitted out for a professional motoX rider who has his own company doing motor bike tours across the Simpson Desert,The Cape etc. This vehicle will be the support vehicle and will need to carry all the food, fuel, camping gear, water, bike gear, spare parts as well as 2 complete spare bikes.
The some what vulnerable looking pipes dropping down over the top of each tyre are for an onboard air system which allows the driver to alter tyre pressures without leaving the comfort of the air conditioned cab!
My first job was building a towbar/rear winch mount which will house a 17,000LB Runva winch.
The guys have already built a frame for the back of the truck, which they have now bonded fiberglass sheets to the sides of, so now it is one big white box.
This is what it looked like before the panels went on when we were trying it on the truck to make sure it fitted ok.
My second job was to build a frame with 4 drawers to carry 4 big space cases which will be mounted inside the body on the back of the truck.
This project had to be millimeter perfect to the drawing so that all the drawer runners would fit and work properly.
Next to the drawers I needed to make a storage system to store 12 chairs and 12 OZ Tent Bunkers with space for a generator on a slide in the corner.
The frame is now all tacked together and we will try it in the body soon to double check how well it fits.
This is going to be a BBQ and will be mounted below the tray and will have the hotplate mounted on drawer slides and will slide out for cooking.
I welded the box together but forgot to take a pic of the finished item.
That was as far as I got on this project.
My next job was doing some work on one of the Mogs.
This beast of a truck!
This ex Australian Army mog, complete with crane is going to a big farming property.
My first job was to repair the broken hinges on the tailgate, apparently a common issue on Mogs.
Cut out the cracked section of metal.
Cut and tacked a new section in.
Fully Welded.
Ground the welds down and its ready for paint.
My next job was to cut some of the gates we had in stock and shorten them as we didnt have any the correct size as with this being a crane model its a bit unusual.
Carefully cut the end off.
Cut the hinge off.
And tacked together a short rear gate.
Other side.
Few pics in the light.
And that was my first week which I thouroughly enjoyed!!!
Bec was incredibly sweet on my first day at the new job and surprised me!
I got home to find a note pinned to the front door.
And yummy ice cream in the freezer!
Little Lexi is amazing and seems to be getting bigger everyday!
She did great at school this week and were blown away with how smart she is and how quickly she is picking things up!
So all in all a great week!!
Now to enjoy my 4 days off! Hoping to take Lexi to the beach for the first time.
