Jayco finch -off road conversion to take to the Pilbara

Gidday Kazz44. Our 79 Swan has had the treatment. I got Carasel trailers to weld on 3m lengths of 100mm by 50mm tube with 4mm thick walls onto the existing frame. Then new shackles to this and bingo - 140mm more clearance. Kept same leaf springs. Got new axle and Alko electric brakes and wallet is $2000 lighter. Went to 14 inch rims off an HT Holden so could still run original 13 inch for short trips. Got 195R14C light truck tyres at $100 a pop but the GRR took one of those out so $145 for another in Derby. Also had 10mm U - bolts (same as original on van) but these snapped on GRR too so that cost $400 to get 16mm fitted which I should have done in the first place!!! For pix of these adventures look in Places at the GRR trek and click on the Waypoints. We also continued down into the Pilbara doing Marble Bar to Nullagine, the Bonney Downs to Hillside road and then back to the tar at Newman. No problems there, the GRR was far rougher. Cheers, Warrie

Hi again, the GRR is this forums abbreviation for Gibb River Road. I doubt whether you could fit the 16 inch rims and tyres under the Finch, the wheel arch is just too small. The major consideration with our beefing up was cost. I've read enough gripes on the forum about $30,000 or $50,000 vans being shaken to pieces. There was enough advice from caravan repairers to justify what I did and what you want to do. i.e. buy an old van cheap, do it up a bit and if it gets trashed on the GRR then its not a huge loss. I wasn't worried about the paint getting scratched nor stone chips. Things broke as we went along - two cables of the wind up the roof mechanism broke in Broome. Got new cable from a boat shop for eight bucks and paid $12 for a nylon roller there. Check your mechanism well and truly before you leave. Cheers, Warrie

Getting extra clearance from sixteen inch wheels is one thing but I don't think the average rig is suited to rough going. The chassis is going to be a lot lighter than the off road rigs and I know someone who broke a chassis without even going off road. Next thing to consider is the fitout inside which is usually made from cheap composite type panelling that may or may not remain in one piece after a hammering on the corrugations. Then there amy be the things that are screwed into the panelling to consider.

Before going for the changeover, I would go and ask a manufacturer what the different aspects of construction are.

I could be wrong though.

best of luck anyway

Owen

Hey,

I live in Port Hedland - it all depends on where you go and the speed at which you travel - time of year. If you can afford it I would take something else or be prepared to bush weld.

I bought a new Jayco Finch in 1980 when living in Port Hedland, and saw much of the Pilbara in it, going camping virtually every second weekend, towing it behind a Subaru 1800 dual range 4WD before trading that to a Petrol Auto Patrol Wagon.

Finch was fitted with the so called "Off road Pack" which consisted of reversing the axle on the springs to give more clearance, and a bit of aluminium under the water tank.

Also made several trips to Useless Loop, Quobba and other places over the subsequent years.

Did no damage when towing it behind the Subaru as was very careful and travelled slowly (very sometimes) on the roughest bits.

The only real damage occurred when towing behind the Nissan and travelling too fast (90km) on the then badly corrugated and rough Useless Loop road, when the springs kept jumping out of the hangers. This was resolved by putting the axle back to the standard configuration, and blowing the 3 way fridge up when a live 12V wire running down the back of the fridge chaffed through and shorted out on the ammonia coils arcing a nice pin hole which let all the gas out.

My brother bought a standard Jayco Dove in 1989 and did the GRR without damage or incident admittedly towing it behind a diesel landrover ute (they don’t go very fast at the best of times, 90km/hr flatout, much less when towing).

In 1990 my father towed a new Jayco Swan (Standard) like a bull at a gate through the GRR behind a V8 F100 ute. He did a lot of unnecessary internal damage by travelling too fast, there were many extra screws in place when it arrived back in Perth, but no chassis issues.

I towed the same Swan with kids, dogs and the kitchen sink, through the GRR in 1991 behind a TD Pajero and had no problems whatsoever, including into Silent Grove, and other unmarked tracks in that area at the time. (Got chased out by a bushfire in the middle of the night too!) and into ElQuestro when the tracks there were not as they are now. Didn't have a puncture or blowout on the entire round trip from Perth, however we often met drivers of heavily loaded Tojos & Nissans repairing tyres when camped.

Once again we travelled very slowly on the rough and corrugated patches (My wife tells me she counted each corrugation to pass the time) and aside from the bushfire and me chucking a kidney stone while camped up at Joes Waterhole, trip was totally uneventful! I find it much more appealing tonking along at 15 - 20 km/r in aiconditioned comfort enjoying the scenery, than arriving early and fixing tyres in the heat.

You could take an unmodified Jayco campervans through the GRR in those days quite successfully, however speed is what matters. If you are conscious of the van, and drive accordingly you will not damage anything, and you will also save yourself the problem of fixing flats and tyre damage to your towing vehicle.