Cars & Camping
I wouldn’t say that I am a 4WD enthusiast, I’m not mad about 4WDs or even driving tough stuff.
This is just an extension of my enjoyment of travelling, of exploring.
I plan to one day drive around Australia, this will involve a 4WD in order to access the best places and do some dirt road driving.
It all started during COVID when everyone was buying 4WDs because we couldn’t travel overseas. However, I got mine as a blank canvas and slowly worked away to get it to where I wanted it (for now) so it’s been a long time in the making.
Connected to the four wheel driving is of course camping, in Australia it is too expensive to stay at hotels for very long, camping is the way to go to not burn through all of your money.
In this section will be all things camping or car related as I see the two as being intertwined for my use case.
My 4WD Build
I bought a 2015 Mazda BT-50 in the middle of 2021 and proceeded to spend the next 2+ years and tens of thousands of dollars trying to make it what I envisioned at the start. Below is the full documentation of that process with all the prices and dates included.
Other 4WD Build Posts
The above post is the nuts and bolts of it all, but these other posts are also related to the build, diving into different subjects with some depth and analysis, or reviewing different parts of the project.
Best Value Dash Camera || Why I Bought The Viofo A119 V3
Why Look For the Best Value Dash Camera? If you are in the market for a dash camera you might get a little overwhelmed at the choices and features available. Dash cameras are everywhere, there are hundreds of different options at all different price ranges. The...
Does Sound Deadening Work? Is Sound Deadening Worth It? || A Guide To Sound Deadening
Is sound deadening worth it? Does sound deadening work? These are two common questions that get asked a lot: Is sound deadening worth it? Does sound deadening work? As someone who has done sound deadening to two cars, I wanted to share my test results and...
How to Shower With a 4WD? || Easiest Summer & Winter Shower Setups
Wondering How To Shower With a 4WD? Four wheel driving is becoming very popular, with a crazy amount of power available from a variety of lithium batteries and a large selection of 12 volt inverters to run house hold items, camping and four wheel driving is...
Gear & Equipment Comparisons
As I looked to fit out my 4WD with different gear, both fixed and removable, I did a bunch of research to try and narrow down what would work for me. I though heavily about the pros and cons of each choice.
This set of posts is me sharing all of that information in order for others to make infomed decisions. Your final choice might be different to mine and that’s fine, it’s just about sharing the information.
Upright Fridge Comparison – What Is The Best Upright Fridge?
What is the Best Upright Fridge? If you're in the market for an upright fridge this post may be of some help. It is a pain to be looking back and forth across different websites and tabs to try and compare all of the data, dimensions, costs etc. This upright...
What Is The Best DCDC Charger, AC Charger and Inverter Combo? Is The Redarc BMS30 Worth The Cost?
What is the Best DCDC Charger, AC charger and Inverter Combo? That is one question that I knew would be hard to answer when I was planning my 4WD build. I can tell you now that I went with the Redarc BMS1230S3R (affiliate links) and paired it with the Enerdrive...
What Is The Best DCDC Charger? – DCDC Charger Comparison
DCDC Charger Comparison & Guide G'day. This post is a DCDC charger comparison. In it I will be comparing DCDC chargers that have charge cycles for lithium batteries and range from 25 amps all the way up to 60 amps. Using the numbers in the DCDC charger...
Solar Blanket Comparison – Who Can Benefit From A Solar Blanket?
Portable Solar Panel Comparison & Guide G'day solar fans. This post is a solar blanket comparison, comparing solar blankets only. Solar blankets are those that fold multiple times, they pack away into small cases and differ from portable panels in that they...
Portable Solar Panel Comparison – Will A Portable System Work For You?
Portable Solar Panel Comparison & Guide G'day green energy lovers. This post is a portable solar panel comparison, comparing solar panels that fold (usually in half), come with stands to angle them towards the sun at camp and are for 12 volts systems. There...
Fixed Solar Panel Comparison – What’s The Best Solar Panel?
Fixed Solar Panel Comparison & Guide G'day. This post is a fixed solar panel comparison, comparing solar panels that get semi-permanently mounted to a vehicle and are for 12 volts systems. There are a lot of options when looking at solar panels, so this...
Camping
Hand in hand with 4WD travel comes camping.
These posts cover camping accessories, locations, tips and tricks. Whatever it is to do with staying in a swag, a caravan park or anything that isn’t a hostel or hotel will be covered here.
Dual Zone Chest Fridge Comparison || Which Is Best?
What is the Best Dual Zone Chest Fridge? If you're in the market for a dual zone chest fridge this post may be of some help. It is a pain to be looking back and forth across different websites and tabs to try and compare all of the data, dimensions, costs etc....
12 Volt
A lot of people find 12 volt quite tricky, and it can be.
But if you tinker around with it and use good work practices you learn a lot about your car’s camping setup, how to fault find is very important if something ever goes wrong when you’re by yourself.
In this section is all things electrical that I’ve posted during the car build.
How to Hardwire a Reverse Camera || Gator GRV90MKT Hardwiring
How to hardwire a reverse camera I don't know how common this is, but if you have a reverse camera that comes with a cig socket as the intended power supply, or a USB-A port or similar, then you might want to know how to hardwire a reverse camera. Knowing how...
Where to Find a Dash Light Feed in a Mazda BT-50 / Ford Ranger
Where to find a dash light feed in a Mazda BT-50? The style of switches that you add to your car or canopy these days mostly come with some type of illumination, as you can see on the bottom of the 6 switches I added to my centre storage console in the image...
Where to Find an Ignition Feed in a Mazda BT-50 / Ford Ranger
Where to find an ignition feed in a Mazda BT-50? Have you tried to add some sort of accessory to your car only to realise that you need it to be switched with the accessories? What this means is that it turns off when the car is off, for me this happened when I...