 We're two senior gals, recently retired, who had no idea that, post-pandemic, we'd be launching into four wheel driving, camping, and "waking up with the birds". But we did - and here's our story: what we did and why, who we engaged to fit out the Troopy, and how that's gone. We'd love to hear your experiences, and hope our story helps others who are thinking of taking the plunge. This blog post gives you the general background - and others give more detailed reviews of the main providers. WHAT WERE WE HOPING TO ACHIEVE?We were somewhat in the dark undertaking this: we started researching four wheel drives in July 2022 because while we loved our town car, we wanted something a bit more fit for purpose in the Outback when we came across water, muddy gravel or similar challenges as we went searching for birds and wildlife. While one of us hasn't camped for years, and the other has successfully avoided camping altogether, we were interested in being able to occasionally "wake up with the birds" by sleeping in a national park or similar. So the idea of a 4WD camper started to take shape, and we started seeing and reading about the Troopy (a Toyota Land Cruiser GXL Troop Carrier) with a roof conversion. The Troopy is an iconic beast, a cruiser rather than a speedster, that will motor its way into and out of just about anything, and is said to be very simple (easy to repair), and with a big gutsy (and thirsty) V8 diesel engine. We thought they had gone out of production (we were nearly right) and we kept seeing pics of roof conversion and fitouts. We watched many many "rig rundowns", imagining what we could do with such a vehicle, how we might go about it, and where we could find one. We also learnt that in fact you could still get pretty much new ones, but they sold very quickly, then there was quite a lead time to get them kitted out. WE FOUND A TROOPYOnline research can be all consuming, and we were pretty avid users of Carsales and the like, on the lookout for a suitable vehicle. Given they we're both recently retired, and having had a couple of those retirement years snatched away from us by the pandemic, we had a strong sense of being prepared to take the plunge and act pretty smartly if the right opportunity came up. And it did - we found a 2022 Troopy with 40km on the clock parading as a used vehicle at a local Melbourne Toyota dealer. It was sporting a bull bar and a winch, spotlights and a roof rack, and it came with a six year warranty. Don't ask us what we paid - we're not saying. But we dove in head first, added a UHF radio, rear and front cameras and parking sensors, and a tow bar, and collected our Troopy at the end of August 2022. NOW FOR THE TRICKIER BITS ...IRONMAN/ALU-CABWe sort of knew what we wanted on and in the vehicle, but neither of us had actually been out driving let alone living in one. But, how hard can it be? The Melbourne 4WD show was a good place to start exploring, and we had already done our research on rooftop conversions, and had decided that ours was going to be Alu-Cab rather than Mulgo. We knew both had benefits and issues, but the fact that Alu-Cab seemed a larger company was what swayed us: when something went wrong way down the track, which company looked like it might still be around to deal with it. While Mulgo seemed a bigger going concern in NSW, our impression was there was only one guy actually doing Mulgo conversions in Victoria, and this - rightly or wrongly - was a concern. So, having visited Ironman 4X4 at the Melbourne show, we signed up for the All-Cab roof conversion and the 270 Awning. Oh and by the way, a GVM upgrade will be needed too, and yes we can fit those snazzy side steps and rails for you, no worries! Sign here...deeper in we dove! But wait there's more: we also found out very quickly that none of this would be fast: we'd be very lucky to have the Ironman/Alu-Cab work done by Christmas. See our detailed review here. DRIFTASo while we waited we also continued our research into the trickier part of the internal fit out: who could turn this empty van, with a roof conversion, into a kitted out tiny home on wheels for us? It was mid 2022 and Melbourne was emerging post lockdowns - and that meant even more hours of watching "rig rundowns" and researching our options. We could find potential providers in Queensland (we liked the look at Bonetti Camper's Cruisinator), and WA (Odyssey Fitouts were producing some fine looking work in Freo), but we couldn't see much happening at scale in Victoria (perhaps we just missed it). The other team that kept attracting us back for you another look at their videos was DRIFTA, in Gloucester NSW. We were particularly taken by their Troopy system number six, and they looked as though they had a lot of experience and staying power. We gave them a ring, got some advice and pricing, and settled on a combination of elements that would make this a viable camper for somewhat 'risk averse' adventurers: plenty of water, ample electricity, and something we could get in and out of without falling and breaking bones. A MaxTrax table on the side would house our recovery tracks. We settled in for the seven-month lead time to get the job done. This was September, and we'd have our Troopy kitted out by Easter if everything went to plan. See our detailed review here. AND THE CRUISER COMPANYStaying with that risk aversion theme for a bit, we were also keen to have two spare tyres (and to get the weight of the spare off the back door hinges). The stock Troopy rear bar was ok, but we reckoned the little instep in the centre was a "fall hazard" waiting to happen. Plus, as we learnt in our Victorian 4WD course, we need rated recovery points, so we went looking for a rear bar that integrated with our tow bar. We signed up and paid our dues, and settled in for simultaneous lead time - the work would be completed in March 2023. Sigh* - that's just the way it is. See our review. AND IRONMAN AGAINMuch later, in April 2023, we still didn't have the MaxTrax table and they were kicking around inside the vehicle...so we went back to get some Alu-Cab load bars fitted (they be handy for any extra load, we reckoned), and while we're there, let's have the Alu-Cab shower cubicle fitted. OH AND CLARK RUBBER, SPOTLIGHT AND...Turns out we need a mattress for the downstairs bed, curtains, metres of Velcro for everything, and all sorts of camping gear. This was a shopaholic's paradise! And then endless hours of playing cubbies in the back of the Troopy, getting it ready for its first adventure. DOES IT ALL WORK? |