Track Trailer Forum

After much experimentation, I've developed the following bike rack mounting system to attach two bikes to the front of the Tvan, directly above the front box.

The bikes are positioned in line with the direction of travel, so there's little wind resistance, and can be fitted very quickly. The bikes require that the front wheel is removed and stored separately, however we have found there's plenty of room in the Tvan for this, once the wheels are in a cover to keep out dust/grime.

The bike mounts are from RhinoRack, and are supposed to be used to attach bikes to the RhinoRack Pioneer roof platform. They work just as well in this setup though...

The Rhino Rack part is: 43233, and is available from many outlets, eg:

https://www.a1roofracks.com.au/rhino-rack-pioneer-platform-mount-thru-axle-bike-c?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqPKWqKzS-AIV3pZLBR1FlwQkEAQYAiABEgIzV_D_BwE

The bar is steel rectangular section from Bunnings.

The rear wheel is just strapped into place with a cam-lock strap. It has almost no load on it.

Photo of the bar setup, without bikes mounted: (very dusty at present, as just returned from a long inland trip)



View of the all-important front fixing - a piece of L shaped steel bolted to the front stone guard.



Bikes are rock-solid, and van tows better through lack of wind resistance, compared to cross-ways bike mounting.

Cheers,
Rob

This one was actually completed last December, and we then went to the Victorian High Country for four weeks, carrying bikes using this carrier. All went well, so I'd say the design works.

For this, you need to be handy with a welder. I'm not. But I have a friend who is!

So, the design is to remove the rear "bumper bar" rod that Track supplies, and replace it with rear posts bolted onto the same plate surface that the bumper bar is bolted to. I created a template, to get the large number of bolt holes lined up, and then drilled the many holes into a sheet of 3mm steel plate. I then had my friend weld a steel square rod (40mm x 3mm) to it. From the outside, it looks quite neat.



From the inside, you can just see the edges of the plate, and how pretty much all the standard bolts now go through this plate.



Once these were painted and installed, a smaller steel rod (35mm x 3mm) is inserted into the post, forming a nice snug fit, and an 8mm Lynch pin is used to hold it from moving.



This will hold the bikes, but will put undue stress on the latches that hold the rear deck up, so we made some diagonal struts that run from the rear of the chassis (next to the rear water tank) up to a plate welded on the inside edge of the 40mm rods. These were made from threaded steel rods, with adjustable ends to make sure they took the strain withiut any slack. A Clevis pin (with R-clip) holds the rod against the square post, as it needs to be removed each time the deck is to be lowered! (This is the only fiddly bit of the design - but we survived it on a month long trip without problems!)





This is the connection at the end of the chassis rail: Just a piece of 3mm steel, bent upwards at about 30 degrees, with two bolts holding it against the bottom flat of the rail.



I've already got an old ISI bike carrier, which I used part of to make the actual bike holder... another Lynch Pin holds the cross member in place.



Closeup:



Now the bikes can be loaded behind the Tvan, where they are solidly mounted, do not move, and cause no extra wind resistance when towing:



Side view:



Here's the parts that have to be assembled each time bikes are needed:



When not being used, I created a new rear bumper bar that just slots into these rod ends, and painted it the right colour for a Firetail:



Hope this gives others inspiration for bike carriers! 

(To be continued - DIY: Front Bike Rack...)

If anyone is interested in putting in "standard-size" lithium batteries into the existing battery box (or boxes in my case) then the summary is: Yes - it can be done.

First thing though, the 100Ah Lithium batteries available are all pretty much the same size, and this is a bit bigger than the weird-sized Fullriver AGM batteries that Track fit as standard.

Fullriver AGM:  310 L x 165 D x 215 H
Fusion Lithium: 330 L x 173 D x 220 H

So I had to make room for a battery that was 20mm longer, 8mm wider, and 5 mm higher.

Unfortunately Track don't build their battery boxes with much spare space (even though they could easily do it... Track, are you listening?).

So to make things fit, one of the first jobs was to surgically remove part of the strange platform that forms a ledge at the base of the ICC panel inside the van. This platform was no longer needed for the huge Projecta brand 240-12v charger that Track supply, as I'd removed it to put in a much smaller, higher capacity and bluetooth enabled, Victron charger - which also has a mode to charge Lithium batteries.

https://www.outbackmarine.com.au/victron-blue-smart-ip22-charger-12-30-1-230v-au-nz?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpOnvqpWs2wIVgh0rCh1fEA9jEAQYAiABEgJOmfD_BwE

Pity Track don't use this Victron charger as standard. They cost the same as a Projector charger does, but are far more useful. Anyway...

Here's the modified ledge: (the Victron charger is the blue thing hiding behind the panel)



So after this, the next space issue is that the battery terminals are now 5mm higher, which means they protude 5mm as the battery is positioned on its side. To fix this, I got out my  handy "nibbler" tool and cut two small slots in the lip that goes around the battery box where the rubber seal normally sits, to accommodate the terminal posts and wires.

In the following image, I have then covered the positive terminal with a white rubber stopper, so that the battery cannot move over and start shorting out on the box walls.



Before I could lower the battery into the box, there were a few more bits that had to be removed:

1 = spacer under the box lid
2 = spacer between battery terminals, on side of box.
3 = spacer at each end of the floor of the box.



Only then would the battery actually lower into the box, and sit flat.
The rubber dust seal around the lip of the box does not fit back on, as the battery is too close to the lid, (about 5mm below) so I used a piece of closed cell dense foam sheet to put on top of the battery instead.



Here's the battery in place once the ledge has been removed, and room has been made for the battery terminals: It is a good snug fit, and doesn't move at all.



Hope this helps anyone wanting to do an upgrade to 100Ah Lithium batteries!

After seeing various threads on the ventilation (or lack thereof), in the Tvan's front fridge box, I've decided to try a solution...

The existing box comes with two grilles, each covered by a cotton filter: One on the door, the other in the middle of the rear wall of the box.

I decided to "adjust" the one on the door, as the other one is not easy to get to.

First, removal of the filter:



Next, I made up a new filter holder, with sides, so that I could mount two computer cooling fans in front of it:



I bought some 12v computer cooling fans off Ebay, which only draw 0.2 Amps each. I looked for ones with at least 2000rpm speeds.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3-x-New-12cm-120mm-Quiet-PC-Computer-Case-Cooling-Fan-12V-Cool-Air-120-mm-12-cm/311627048558?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

I then bought a thermal controller off Ebay which turns on a relay when the temperature gets to a preset level, and turns it off again when below. I set the turn-on point to be 30 degrees.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Two-Relay-Output-Digital-Temperature-Controller-Thermostat-with-Sensor-G1/282829316281?_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20140106155344%26meid%3Dd2055906c9394159b758d3b6336e3130%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D152928151203%26itm%3D282829316281&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Installation in the Door:



Installation in the Box itself:



When running, there is a small flow of air out from inside the box (actually better than I thought). This will hopefully be enough to circulate air through the box, and help out the fridge.

Additionally, the current draw from the fans and controller is far less than the extra power needed by the fridge when the box is hot (during most days in summer)

Will report back after this weekend on how it went!

Hi All,
Just a question with regards wiring up external solar panels...

We have a Firetail, which has no external Anderson plugs other than the one connecting to the car. (seems to be Merit-plug-land at Track!)

I'd like to add in an Anderson Plug externally, so I can hook up some folding panels I have. These have no regulator, etc, built in, and in the past I've connected them to an MPPT device in the car, to optimise its second battery charging.

The Firetail already has a solar regulator (Projecta) for its roof-mounted panel, so I assume I need to cut into this wiring and add the external connection point in a similar way to the Projecta as the existing panels use?

Thanks,
Rob

Hi there,

We've just bought a new Firetail and will be travelling from Brisbane to pick it up from the factory in Victoria in a few weeks. Just working out a scenic route back home now, since we'll be near the Victorian Alps area - and it is school holiday time...

See you all round! I'm sure I'll be posting soon...

Cheers
Rob