The Pajero Sport Mods Part Three

This next mod was the most expensive and the most thought over mod, the dual battery system. We needed a system to keep our fridge running (constant cold beer)  and power all of our first world camping essentials, iPhones, tablets, notebooks and lights.

After much research, we settled on a Redarc dual battery system based around Redarc’s BCDC 1225LV https://www.redarc.com.au/in-vehicle-battery-chargermppt-regulator-25a-lv and an Optima Yellow Top D34 battery.

Some of the features of the Redarc BCDC are:

• Multi-Stage DC to DC Battery Charger
• MPPT Solar Regulator
• Start Battery Isolator
• Fully sealed
• No fan for super quiet operation
• Charges AGM, Gel, Calcium content, VRLA and Standard Lead Acid batteries

We went with Redarc and Optima for number of reasons but the most important was that they both have a reputation for performing really well in adverse conditions.

We used a professional installation company with an excellent reputation for 4WD fit outs to install the complete system, and they did an awesome job, to look under the bonnet (hood if your in North America) you wouldn’t know that a second battery system had been installed.

If you think I’m a fan of Redarc your dead right – the Redarc gear isn’t cheap but works brilliantly. It kept our Dometic Waeco CFX 40 fridge going for three weeks, while we were camping in some of the hottest weather - most days were close to 40c and harshest terrain around. It kept the Optima charged and didn’t miss beat and we had plenty of good food and lot’s of cold beer. 

I highly recommend Redarc.

Picnic in York & Geocaching in Wandoo

We made a last minute decision to try and follow a 4WD track though the Wandoo National Park, between Perth & York. We had found the track on the Hema Maps web site and thought it sounded interesting, needless to say the directions were a little vague and involved quite a bit of back tracking.

We managed to find the track and also managed to do some Geocaching as well, team glcm was in fine form for a mighty total of two caches!!

After Wandoo it was onto York for lunch then on to a Northam to try and locate some old family homes of interest to Leanne.

A great day and an interesting day.  Some of the pics include the track @ Wandoo, “The Lolly Shop” in York  & the suspension bridge and the old hospital both in Northam

The Pajero Sport Mods Part Two

After hearing multiple horror stories about the lack of real protection provided by the standard Mitsubishi bash plates we decide to upgrade to something which would protect the PS a bit better.

We went with Boos Bash Plates – ordered online and delivered surprisingly fast http://www.boosbashplates.com.au/ they are made to fit perfectly and are one of the easiest installs possible. 

Installing them really showed why the factory plates need to be replaced and why so many other owners of the PS had had issues with intercooler damage particularly on sandy tracks or beaches. I couldn’t believe just how flimsy the factory bash plates were, in reality they were made up of some thin pressed tin and plastic, just bloody useless and in hind sight we could have caused some serious damage to our vehicle.

Overall one of the best mods we have done to our PS. They give us a sense of confidence on the tracks that we didn’t have with the standard factory ones.

The Pajero Sport Mods Part One

The PS is nearly a year old and I thought it might be good to detail some of mods.
Let’s start with the light bar – I found the high beam to completely useless for long distance travel at night. With the ever present danger of animal strikes a good auxiliary lighting set up was required.
As it turned out, due to the space limitations created by our nudge bar we were limited to pretty much a light bar. It took ages to find a bar that was going to give us not only a decent spread but also some punch down the road and not cost huge amounts of dollars – we ended up choosing a Korr 27 inch XDD600 G3 light bar http://korrlighting.com.au/shop/led-bars-driving-lights/xd-series/xdd600-g3-dual-row-light-bar/  talk about amazing white light and a great spread but it also punches out 1 lux at 600 metres which is what we needed – we have tested it numerous times and reckon we get usable light out to about 725 metres. Bang for buck it is nothing short of brilliant (pardon the pun).
We have just completed a 4,000k trip of which quite a lot of driving was done at night and it made the driving so much easier – highly recommend the Korr light bar, well priced, well made and performs exceptionally well.

WA Day Long Weekend Down South

A quick over night trip down South staying in Busselton was brilliant.
We managed to see quite a lot, from the Chocolate factory, to the Candy Cow and just about all things in between.
Perhaps the most interesting thing was the “accidental” 4WD track we took, “Three Bears”. Looking for something to do before we headed home we Googled 4WD tracks and Three Bears came up as a pretty easy track not far from Dunsborough. Well easy was far from the truth, but after a tough track in and finally getting to the Three Bears Break it was all worth it. Bloody fantastic track and scenery.

The Big Trip–Final Thoughts

All the words like amazing, awesome and brilliant could be used but probably the best would be stunning.

We covered over 4,000 kilometres, visited too many great sites to list and did things we never thought we would see, and do things we never thought we would do.  All in all just a stunning trip.

Kalbarri–The Final Stop

With the big trip nearing an end, Kalbarri was the final stop, and a chance to do some more 4WD, fishing and just relaxing.

Kalbarri is an amazing place with so much to see and do, from the gorges in the national park ,to the cliffs along the Indian Ocean, to safe swimming waters, to great fishing spots – pity we couldn’t catch one dam fish!!

Overall it was an mazing trip and probably one we wont be able to do again simply because of time – nearly three weeks away can really bite into your annual leave etc.

A few final thoughts – I am pleased we had a 4wd as we were able to see and do so many things we wouldn’t have been able to do if we hadn’t had one. I am even happier that we had done a 4WD course and had some genuine 4WD experience before we attempted this trip.