CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL. 4WD Canter Motorhome OWNER - JOHN W

Transcription

1 CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL 4WD Canter Motorhome OWNER - JOHN W OCTOBER 2013

2 INTRODUCTION In late 1998, I purchased a Mitsubishi Canter 4WD (high and low range) short wheel-base cab-chassis truck and had a motorhome built on it by Dario Caravans of 1 Pinn Street, St Marys, Adelaide. Today, however, Dario no longer takes on the construction of custom built motorhomes. The 1998 Canter was stock standard with a 4.2 litre diesel engine (no turbo-charger), developing 85kW of power and 304Nm of torque. It had a standard limited slip differential in the rear and an open differential in the front. Wheels were the standard 7.50x16 split rim units with tubes. There were duals on the rear. On completion, the fully loaded vehicle (fuel, water, equipment, food, etc) weighed almost 6 tonnes each front wheel bearing about 1 tonne and each rear wheel bearing about 2 tonnes. The unit was completed in June In a baptism of fire we took it on its first major trip part the way across the Simpson Desert in July The weight of the vehicle and the dual rear wheels (with the front track in the centre of the rear tracks causing all six wheels to push fresh sand) stopped us on a number of sandhills even with low tyre pressures all round (about 18psi). Good friends travelling with us in conventional 4WD vehicles snatched us over sandhills when necessary without too much difficulty as we usually made it to quite near the top of the dunes. I had previously owned a number of conventional 4WD vehicles and driven the Simpson and many other tracks. The Canter is quite a capable 4WD but it is different to other 4WDs in that normally we use momentum to get over steep deep sandy hills, but with the Canter this is not an option as it is low geared and torque is not there in the higher gears. We have to rely on good floatation (low tyre pressures) and minimal wheel spin (it digs down very quickly). The Canter is a very heavy vehicle to push through soft sand and mud. The standard leaf spring suspension on the Canter doesn t give the smoothest ride it is after all a truck and it is heavy and it has a short wheelbase (no longer than a Toyota Troop Carrier). Undulating bitumen roads (we seem to have many of these in South Australia) make for a bouncy ride. However, on corrugated dirt roads it rides as well as many 4WDs. With hind-sight perhaps we should have replaced the standard seats with Recaro units for more comfort but we wanted the three seats in the cab and there is no access from the cab to the van and no seat belts on the seats in the van. Even with its limitations, for over 12 years, we drove the Canter all over Australia on numerous 4WD tracks through sand, mud and rocks. We do have a hydraulic front winch fitted (fitted as part of initial set up) and this has rescued us in a few situations. Another idea (from my experience in growing up on a cattle station west of Broken Hill) was to carry two 5 diameter perm-apine poles each 2 meters long (mounted in a rack across the back spare wheels) and place these in front of and between the dual rear wheels to get out of being bogged situations as the rear wheels jump up onto the poles and gain forward motion - or reverse motion if the poles are placed behind the wheels. These poles worked well and saved hours of digging. Then of course we have the never to be without snatch straps for situations when there is a good Samaritan around or in a number of situations when we were able to assist others who were bogged.

3 MODIFICATIONS In February 2007, a turbo-charger was fitted to the Canter by Turbo Glide of Wollongong a Garrett unit. It provided a 35% increase in maximum torque and a 32% increase in maximum power. This unit significantly enhanced the vehicle s ability to pull up hills without changing down a gear. In terms of offroad performance, it allowed sandhills to be climbed in one higher gear as momentum can be maintained in the higher gear. In 2012, I became aware of a company ATW (All Terrain Warriors), located in Yandina, Queensland, who manufacture 4WD buses and motorhomes built mainly on Mitsubishi Fuso (the more recent renamed Canter) or Isuzu trucks. ATW s experience with these builds has led them to develop several modifications to wheels, suspension and other components. ATW have now packaged up several of these modifications so that they can be retro-fitted to earlier models of Canter. ATW s agent in Adelaide is Alltrac 4WD. They are located at 305 South Road, Mile End, Adelaide and have extensive experience with all types of 4WDs. Using ATW s packages and Alltrac s installation expertise, I have had three modifications applied to the Canter and these are summarised below. Dealing with both of these companies has been a pleasant experience as they are knowledgeable and very helpful. ATW SINGLE WHEEL CONVERSION In May 2012, the original Canter wheels were replaced by Super Singles. The eight 7.50x16 wheels and tyres (tubed), made up of singles on the front, duals on the back and two spares, were replaced by six 285/70R19.5 ATW wheels and Toyo tyres (tubeless), made up of singles front and back and two spares. The clearance of the whole vehicle was increased by 50mm. This gives an immediate advantage in sand as there is now less chance of bull dozing sand with the differentials and bringing the vehicle to a halt with it sitting on its diffs. With the larger 19.5 wheels and wider tyres (285mm) came a minor improvement in ride over corrugations. The front and rear wheels now run in the same track. When the new tyres are now aired down for sand, the resulting load carrying footprint is much larger. This provides significantly better floating on the sand rather than the previous tendency to dig into the sand. With the aid of Toyo tyre pressure/load charts, advice from ATW and after some suck it and see experimentation with tyre pressures, I have found the following to be satisfactory for my specific vehicle s weight distribution. The two psi figures are for front and back as back axle weight is double the front axle weight. Highway driving 55/80psi Front could be lower for load but this gives good steering Corrugations 45/70psi Lower a little more for really severe corrugations Sand tracks 26/40psi Travelling at say 40kph with patches of heavy sand Deep sand 18/30psi Simpson Desert tracks or beach at low speed Bogged 15/22psi Re-inflate as soon as out of trouble to avoid rolling a bead

4 ATW PARABOLIC SUSPENSION In August 2012, the original Canter leaf springs front and back were replaced by an ATW Parabolic Suspension which included new shock absorbers. This provided better wheel travel and improved ride on corrugations (which was always quite good and is now excellent). The ride on undulating bitumen is better but still a little bouncy due to the weight of the vehicle and its short wheel-base. We can live with it! The fitting of the new suspension raised the body another 30mm for a total of 80mm with the suspension and larger wheels. Off-road performance has, therefore, been enhanced without any noticeable increase in vehicle roll on corners. The only drawback is that new higher steps were needed to access the van and my wife now needs a small set of steps to get up into the cab! ATW FRONT LSD The standard Canter is a capable truck as it is fitted with a limited slip rear differential. However, the front differential is an open type meaning that when one wheel loses traction (sand, mud, snow, off the ground, etc) all the power is transferred to the wheel without traction and the front drive becomes basically useless. In February 2013, an ATW limited slip mechanism was installed in the front differential of the Canter. This provides better front wheel traction in sand, mud and over steep rough ground. A positive gear action provides a quiet automatic splitting of the torque between the two driving front wheels. There is no noticeable impact on steering. This front LSD has had a very marked impact on the Canter s ability to negotiate deep, steep sandhills. On many such tracks, the wheel ruts are uneven on each side of the track (often referred to as humpty-doos) and without the LSD one front wheel would lift and spin and then the other front wheel would lift and spin, resulting in a rapid loss of motion and bogging down. With the front LSD this no longer occurs and the low geared Canter can crawl up sandhills that a normal 4WD must take a run to crest. Of the three ATW modifications made, the front LSD has given the most surprising improvement I didn t expect it to be so effective.

5 ACCESSORIES To complement the winch, snatch blocks, snatch straps and long-handled shovel, I have invested in a couple more accessories along with the modifications made to the Canter. Firstly, a TyreDog Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) that continually monitors each tyre, and via an in-cab monitor, displays tyre pressures and temperatures. If a tyre s pressure falls below a pre-set value of your choice, an alarm sounds. An alarm can also be set to indicate high tyre temperature. Immediately stopping can prevent a slow leak becoming a blowout and ruining an $800 Toyo tyre in my book, good insurance! Secondly, a set of four hard-plastic MAXTRAX lightweight vehicle recovery boards. These units are easy to use (they can also be used as a shovel) and are very effective when used with care, even with my heavy vehicle in both sand and mud. SUMMARY Today, the Canter Motorhome is not the same vehicle as it was when newly constructed in 1999, in terms of its power, ride and off-road capability, although the inside of the van itself has not deteriorated with age or rough roads travelled well constructed by Dario Caravans.. It has now been transformed into a truly go anywhere vehicle with inbuilt luxury. The only restrictions to travelling on 4WD tracks is the vehicle s height (3 meters) and its width (2.5 meters) but many National Parks have public access to fire tracks and these are cleared enough for us to travel along without scratching the vehicle or having to do major pruning of trees! We have recently returned from a trip to Broken Hill, Cameron Corner via station tracks, on into the Queensland channel country, across to Birdsville on station tracks, then into the Simpson Desert on the QAA Line past Eyre Creek and as far as the park boundary and then back to Birdsville. Big Red was crossed in both directions, including the harder west to east direction for that sandhill, not just over the bypass. In this drive into the Simpson we required no second attempts at dunes and didn t need to use any bypasses. Slow, smooth and easy 2nd gear low range for the steepest dunes.