Installing A Stone Stomper On Our Offroad Caravan

We do a lot off offroad and dirt road travel so we’ve installed an aussie made Stone Stomper® to protect our tow vehicle and offroad caravan. It’s a bit of an investment but in the long run we reckon it’ll be money well spent.

The Stone Stomper® protects your tow vehicle as well as the complete drawbar, gas bottles, gas and brake cables, coupling and the front of the van. The mesh isn’t made from crappy old shade cloth like a lot of el cheapo home made jobs, it’s made from one piece truck mesah that is manufactured by professional canvas makers. They make each order to custom fit your tow vehicle, tow hitch setup and carvan/camper trailer. All provided metal work is laser cut and electroplated for durability.

Stone Stomper Fitted To Nissan Navara NP300 Supreme Getaway

Stone Stomper Fitted To Nissan Navara NP300 And Supreme Getaway Offroad Caravan

Ordering Our Stone Stomper

I sent them an email and they got back to me quickly with an info pack outlining what measurements they needed to custom manufacture our Stone Stomper as well as questions about our tow vehicle and hitch. I took a photo of the van a frame from both front on and side on and took the measurements, made up a diagram and emailed it through to them. After ordering the Stone Stomper was delivered to us in under a week, this was in August 2020. They reckon it can take longer than this at times depanding upon demand which varies at different times of the year.

Stone Stomper Drawbar Measurements

Installing Our Stone Stomper

It took me less than 30 minutes to install The Stone Stomper®. Connecting and disconnecting takes us less than 10 seconds. The kit comes complete with everything you need to install it. I had to do drill a few holes and then use the provided tek screws to mount the mounting points on the van, I used some silicone underneath the bracket to prevent any water ever getting in.

Stone Stomper Mounting Bracket Installation

I then wrapped the provided foam around potential rub points and cable tied it in place, it didn’t say to in the instuctions however I then wrapped the foam in insulation tape to make it look nice and neat. Finally I had to fit the rear bar section to the ute. We use a DO35 hitch so I ordered the correct bar section and flaps to suit.

Stone Stomper Foam Wrapping Potential Rub Points

Conclusion

We’ve already done a few offroad trips with the Stone Stomper installed and the sound of stones pinging in to the back of the ute has completely stopped. We should have installed one a few years ago!

Bushman 12v Fridge Installation In A Supreme Getaway Caravan

We had a lot of issues with the old 3way fridge running on gas in hot weather not getting cold enough in our Supreme Getaway. We decided to ditch it in favour of a Bushman 12v fridge. We also installed a VoltaX 200AH lithium battery & an Enerdrive DCDC 40+ charger to run it. We also had a gas bayonet installed at the front of the van so we can run our BBQ directly without requiring an additional bottle.

Battery setup in front toolbox

200ah Lithium and an Enerdrive DCDC charger – redid all of the wiring and fuse system
Everything is fused and cable is sized according to Enerdrive recommendations
New cable run inside van for both the fridge and the rooftop solar – 240w panels on roof
Added Anderson plug for external unregulated solar panels – we have a 300w Antem solar blanket so will have 540w total if needed
Had gas fitter do a new gas certificate after removal of gas line for fridge
Gas fitter installed a bayonet to the van for plugging in a BBQ
Gas fitter installed a new gas regulator

New Bushman 12v 130-X Fridge Installed In A Supreme Getaway Caravan

How Much Did It All Cost To Install A Bushman 12v Fridge?

Well it wasn’t exactly a cheap exercise but it will be worth it to no have to put up with the temperamental old 3way fridge.

Bushman 12v fridge 130-X	$1495
Enerdrive DCDC charger	$465
200ah Volta-X lithium battery	$960
Fuses, cable, cable lugs and miscellaneous bits	$250
New regulator and hoses	$150
Gas fitter	$350
Total Cost	$3670

Conclusion

It took me about 2 full weekends to install it all. It works great and we are very happy with the result. Here’s to plenty of cold beers on this years National Muster!

Supreme Getaway New Hose and Regulator Setup

2021 MARS Enthusiasts National Muster Preparations

For those of us who are confirmed for this years MARS Enthusiasts 2021 National Muster it won’t be that long before we are heading off and the time will go quickly. The meet up at the Burke & Wills Camp at Lake Pamammaroo (Menindee) is on 18/09/2021 and that’s only 147 days away but who’s counting eh!

The Van

I am installing a lithium battery system and an upright 12v fridge in the caravan and I have ordered a couple of new and slightly larger water tanks for it. We’ve already had the gas fitter over to blank off the old 3way fridge we removed and he’s fitted a new gas regulator and a bayonet fitting so we can plug the BBQ in directly – he also did us a new gas compliance plate to keep it all legal. The van will be going to the mechanic in about a months time to get some new shocks fitted as well as having the suspension and brakes looked at and wheel bearings given a going over. The shocks on it have only done about 20,000ks since they were fitted but a LOT of that has been on the kind of tracks and roads we’ll be doing on this years National. On bitumen they’d probably be good for 100,000 plus!

VoltaX LiFePO4 200Ah Enerdrive DC2DC

The Ute

The ute is in pretty good nick. We’ve had it since new and it’s always been serviced at shorter intervals than recommended. It needs a new set of tyres so we’ll put some on before we go. The tyres probably have at least 20 or 30,000ks left on them but considering where we are going a new fresh set is cheap insurance. About 6 weeks before we go we’ll get our mechanic to give it a good service and we’ll get him to replace top and bottom radiator hoses as well as the turbo hose and all belts. They’re all coming up on 5 years old and the ute has 120k on it now so again I reckon it’s cheap insurance. We’ll get it done 6 weeks out to give the mechanic time to get in and fit any parts needed. We’ve already ordered some new snorkel head filters and a spare diesel prefilter elements.

A good recommendation is to join a Facebook group for your specific vehicle and read back through posts and see if it has any common issues. Most vehicles will have something that crops up regularly – better to get it looked at before you head off than to be stuck on the side of the Strzelecki Track.

Food & Meal Planning Etc

Amanda Sloane is pretty good when it comes to making sure we are always well fed and looked after. Have a go at the size of my guts, they don’t get like that by going hungry! We’ll be doing a lot of pub meals this trip so we won’t need to take as much with us as we sometimes do. Things such as powdered milk, coffee, sandwich wraps and dried and pre-packaged meals will be sorted in the weeks before we leave.

Conclusion

The National Muster Trip is coming up sooner than you think. Amanda Sloane and I have done plenty of these kind of offgrid semi remote trips so we know the mad rush that can happen in the last few weeks if you leave your preparation too long. I reckon the best way to go is to make yourself a list, whack it on the fridge with due dates then tick them off. We’re really looking forward to this!

2019 MARS Enthusiasts National Muster Tibooburra Aboriginal Land Council Camp Site

2021 MARS Enthusiasts National Muster Tibooburra Aboriginal Land Council Camp Site

Basic Caravan Toolkit You Should Carry In (2026)

It’s important to carry a decent assortment of tools and spare parts in your caravan or 4wd toolkit when you hit the road particularly if you plan on going to outback and remote areas. Even if you aren’t particularly handy someone might come along who is and can help you out.

What Tools Do We Carry In Our 4wd & Caravan toolkit?

Just a basic mechanics tool kit and anything specific to your vehicle or caravan or camper trailer will see you through most tasks. Any of the usual retail outlets will be able to set you up. For something in the range of $300 you will be able to source all of the basics. More specific tools in our caravan toolkit are things like custom spanners for adjusting suspension settings or for setting up your towing hitch or for basic adjustments and repairs to things like a chainsaw.

Our Basic Tool Kit For Caravan and 4WD

Spare Parts and Supplies

It’s great to carry a decent range of common items such as gaffa tape, electrical wire, electrical components like relays, fuses and cable crimps. Cable ties, WD40, strong wire and nuts and bolts all come in handy as do glues, adhesives and different kinds of silicones. We also have a spare set of wheel bearings for the caravan as well as wheel nuts for both the ute and the caravan. A puncture repair kit and a compressor are good things to have too.

Spares we carry specific to our vehicle are a top and bottom radiator hose and associated hoseclamps as well as a fanbelt and turbo hotpipe (known point of failure with our vehicle). We also have a diesel prefilter fitted so we have a replacement filter for it. We run a snorkel on our vehicle and have dust filters as spares for when we are in dusty conditions. After a trip we did a few years ago we now carry a few spare Anderson plugs as well as both male and female trailer plug connectors. The Planet Arabury Road is pretty hard on your gear!

Spare Parts and Supplies We Carry

An OBD2 Diagnostic Scanner is a Great Addition

When a modern, EFI vehicle isn’t running correctly, it can be difficult to diagnose the problem particularly if you are on your own and a long way from home. In a lot of cases it will let you know what is wrong with your vehicle and you might be able to come up with a quick fix. Sometimes the problem isn’t readily apparent but once you know what it is the light goes off in your head and you can work it out. It can also help you to determine what spare part you may need. Some of them also allow you to clear simple error codes.

Caravan Plumbing Spares

Caravans have a lot of pipework and a lot of joiners to link all of that pipework together and sometimes things can go wrong particularly if you do a lot of dirt road travel. Have a look underneath your van or camper trailer and in cupboards etc and make an inventory of all of the different fittings and types of hoses that are used and buy a couple of everything plus a few metres of the different hose types. It may seem like overkill but it won’t cost you very much and when you lose a t-piece from your water pump and you are 450km from a hardware store it will then seem like a bloody great idea! We’ve had a few bits that we have had to replace on the road and a lot of bits that we have helped out fellow travellers with. And if you use a bit don’t forget to replace it when you get back home.

Supreme Getaway Offroad Caravan Plumbing Spare Parts

Conclusion

We may not carry the absolute best toolkit or spares for every eventuality however we are more than covered for the basics that can be done with our knowledge and skillset. We are also able to offer assistance to others in need whenever and wherever it’s required. We could carry a lot more but we always have reducing the weight of our caravan and ute in the back of our minds.

Happy travelling!

Free Camping At The Black Stump Hotel Merriwagga NSW

Free camping at Merriwagga NSW is great. Headed up to Merriwagga on the first day of what was meant to be the 2020 MARS Enthusiasts National Muster that Covid19 put an end to. We met up with friends from the group at the Black Stump Hotel at Merriwagga.

Black Stump Hotel Merriwagga NSW

Free Camping At Merriwagga NSW

Normally you can free camp behind the pub however there was an extremely heavy downpour from a huge storm that blew through a few hours before we arrived and it was a bit wet out back. We set up camp just across the road alongside some grain grain storage sheds. It was a very cold and windy night and the grain sheds were excellent shelter from the wind. Nice clean toilets are available for 24 hour use in the park just across the road from the pub.

Free Camping Beside Grain Storage Sheds Merriwagga NSW

The Black Stump Hotel Merriwagga

The Black Stump Hotel Merriwagga is a great old pub. Meals were really really good and very well priced, service was excellent. Beers were nice and cold, the locals were all friendly and enjoyed having a chat and the bar staff were very helpful. The most interesting thing about the Black Stump Hotel is the height of the bar and the size of the bar stools. The top of the bar must be about five feet off the ground and the bar stools are made out of old timber branches all cobbled together including a bit of a step you have to climb up on to. I reckon they are made from ironbark or something similar as they weigh an absolute ton.

Inside The Black Stump Hotel Bar Merriwagga NSW

Having A Drink With A Mate At The Bar Of The Black Stump Hotel In Merriwagga NSW

Walk Around Merriwagga

I got up very early the following morning and went for a walk around Merriwagga. What a great old town. There are lots of old buildings and shops that are no longer being used for their original purpose, quite a few of them are now being used as private residences however they have maintained their original facades.

Old Shop In Merriwagga With An Original Billy Tea Sign

There were even a few old “Ghost Signs” visible on the side of some of the shops and buildings. I love looking at these old signs and thinking about what they must have looked like back when the town was in full swing and they were freshly painted.

Old Ghost Signs On Building In Merriwagga NSW

Where Is The Black Stump Hotel?

The Black Stump Hotel is in the small regional NSW town of Merriwagga in central NSW about 70ks from Griffith.

Travel From	Distance	Time
Griffith to The Black Stump Hotel Merriwagga	70km	00:50
Albury to The Black Stump Hotel Merriwagga	341km	04:11
Canberra to The Black Stump Hotel Merriwagga	427km	05:17
Sydney to The Black Stump Hotel Merriwagga	644km	07:12

Going Up Big Red At Birdsville To Watch The Sunset

We drove up to the top of Big Red at Birdsville to watch the sunset. Part of the 2019 MARS Enthusiasts National Muster groups adventure to the Dig Tree and Birdsville. What a drive! The view from the top of the sand dune aptly named Big Red is nothing short of incredible. And to experience it as part of a group just made it better. We even witnessed a wedding proposal between a couple of group members!

Getting Out To Big Red From Birdsville

You’ll find Big Red about 40km out of Birdsville right on the edge of the Simpson desert. The road is bitumen in a couple of short sections but mostly dirt. After about 35km you get to Little Red, a slightly smaller sand dune that you need to navigate to enter the Simpson desert. Before heading up over Little Red it’s a good idea to pull over and drop your tyre pressure to something more suitable to sandy desert driving. We went down to 18psi front and rear and it worked well. Once over Little Red you turn right. Then you drive a few more kilometres until you get to the base of Big Red.

Getting Ready To Climb Big Red At Birdsville

Going Up Big Red The Hard Way

Most of the group members decided to have a crack at getting up Big Red head on. They all made it eventually after more than one attempt in a few cases! The techniques varied. A steady run up and climb to a launching a few kilometres back. Hitting the base of Big Red at warp speed!

Head On Climb Big Red At Birdsville

The Chicken Track

There is an easier way to get up Big Red although it’s still not easy by any stretch of the imagination. Off to the right of the main tracks there is a track that sweeps around through a reverse curve that increases the distance you travel up the dune hence decreasing the steepness of the track. Any decent 4wd with good clearance and tyres (tyres with reduced pressure) will have no problem getting to the top in 4wd high range. Make sure you have some recovery gear, a shovel and a mate in another vehicle to lend you a hand just in case.

The View From The Top

The view from the top as the sun sets is amazing. Big Red is supposedly only 40m high but when you are up on top it feels like it’s a lot higher than that. The view back towards Birdsville in one direction and the Simpson Desert in the other is something you have to experience. All of us in the group agreed it was one of the most amazing things we’d ever done.

Amanda Sloane On Top Of Big Red Near Birdsville At Sunset

Nissan Navara NP300 Up On Top Of Big Red Birdsville

Conclusion

What an awesome place. If you ever get a chance to get up to Birdsville then go that little bit further and check out Big Red. It’s something you will never forget.

Save Travels!