Kumho tyres in soft sand

Yesterday we wanted to go fishing and local knowledge tells us that the salmon holes are on the main beach about 5 kilometres away and "you'll need to drop your tyre pressures." So, further enquiries suggested 15-20 psi for running along the beach in the pure white, soft sand. This was the first time that I had attempted to use my tyre de-flator. I have been carrying this for at least the last three years, you know, "It'll come in handy one day." Well yesterday was the day. The instructions had glued themselves to each page and when pried apart, it took half of the instructions with it! Who needs instructions anyway?

Figuring out exactly how this tool took a little longer than I thought, fortunately I was able to use an Allen key to assist. That's not in the instructions. Anyway, tyre gauge in hand, the deflator and Allen key. Got all the way around to the last tyre and the deflator worked as it should. Attach the tool to the valve, screw the outer handle anti clockwise, this removes the valve, pressure of the tyre shows by the needle on the gauge, hissing of air indicates air escaping, needle falls to desired level, screw outer handle clockwise to replace and tighten valve, withdraw the deflator and replace valve cap. DONE.. My Kumho road venture SAT tyres are brilliant in sand. They are rated at 70% road use, 20% sand and 10% mud. Let me tell you they worked really well in this sand. Other vehicles that had turned around, found it difficult to get out of the sand ruts then turn around on the softer less compacted sand. We pulled out of the ruts and did a normal turn back into the ruts again with no problems at all. To inflate the tyres again, I will be using the onboard compressor built in to our On The Move Caravans Grenade Series 2. This is normally used for the air bag suspension but has the air hose and external fitting included for the purpose of adjusting the tyre pressures on the van or, in this case, our Toyota Land Cruiser.

Satellite tracking

Having a substantial investment in a caravan/RV and then to have that property stolen can be extremely traumatic. We often see the plight of victims of this sort of crime, posting photos of their vans on social media to assist with a speedy return. We have the usual tow ball lock and use it rarely. As we are on the road permanently, our van is usually only left while in a caravan park and we trust the local security of that park. If we choose to stay in a National Park or bush camping, we rarely leave the van unattended and if so, that's when we use the trailer tow ball lock.
Melbourne Caravan and Camping Supershow is where we first saw a demonstration of the new Al-Ko Anti-Theft System.This little jigger stays hidden in your caravan/ leisure vehicle and is hard wired into the house battery system. The system also carries on board battery backup should the house battery system fail or be disconnected. The ATS is easily monitored through the Black Knight tracking systems website and is accurate within 5 metres. The system does not need a separate sim card as it uses whichever telco provider is nearby and satellite technology.
Fleet owners can use the Al-Ko ATS system to manage their vehicles as well. For instance, "fences" can be programmed into the system restricting the vehicle to, say, a 250 klm radius. If that vehicle exceeds the range, then an alarm is sent to the fleet controller alerting them to the fact. Our system can go to sleep while stationary and starts up again with movement. Daily tracking movements can be checked while parked for the night.
We hope that we never have to call on the device in the case of theft, but it's great to know that it is on board and actively looking after our investment.

Westward Ho!!

The Melbourne Caravan and Camping Supershow was held from 11th March to the 16th and our new On The Move Caravans Grenade series 2 was on display for the duration of the show. Due to unforeseen circumstance we were unable to be at the show for the entire time but did manage to attend for the last two days. During this time, we spent several hours at the On The Move stand talking to people and showing them through our new and exciting caravan. The van then went back to the factory as it was not quite ready for handover. That happened on the 16th March at 31  Randor Street Campbellfield, where the official handover and orientation by Lennie Mifsud took place. It was then that we hitched up and towed our new van back to Treetops scout camp at Riddells Creek for the swap over from our old van to the new one.

 We were really keen to get on the road, but the changeover took a little longer than we expected. A visit to our storage facility was required and after a goodbye to our friends and family, we headed to South Australia by way of Mildura and the Riverland. 

CES, Caravan Electrical Solutions, from Campbellfield do all the electrical work for On The Move Caravans. They also do electrical work for quite a number of other caravan builders around the area. Jason and his company not only fit but supply all and everything to do with the electrical side of our build. This eliminates the need for the builder to source the different products from the various suppliers when Jason at CES can do the lot. In our caravan, they have installed their very own 240 volt power points which have a silver buff backing plate and black socket and switches, which suits our decor to a tee. When we go off power, our 240 volt outlets switch over, by way of the invertor, to stored power. We have given this a trial run and it's all good. We maintained a good strength of voltage through our 3 x 120 amp/hour batteries and nothing faltered.

It was great being able to pull up in a wayside stop on the Eyre Highway while crossing the Nullarbor and Marg was still able to have her brewed coffee.