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Couldn't help myself.
Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 9:28 pm
by jim
G'day all, when I saw your world map i had to jump in and stick my pin into it. Hopefully i can contribute a bit to the forums too, although owning an L400 it'll probably be a few more months till my experience is relevant to Canadians.
Re: Couldn't help myself.
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 12:56 pm
by FalcoColumbarius
Welcome to the club, Jim. Where in the world are you? And yes, no L-400s here.... yet, but I do think people will start importing them as there has been some interest. Have you modified your van at all? Do you go off road at all? Always looking for input, here at Delica.ca. 
Falco.
Re: Couldn't help myself.
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:17 pm
by jim
Yeah sorry, i was a bit lacking with details.
Mine is a 1996 L400 Jasper, automatic with the 4M40T diesel. I live in Ingham which is the southern boundary of the wet tropics on the Queensland/Australia coast. I don't actually do much driving at all these days, the jump in fuel price killed my habits and our dollar has nosedived recently to negate any benefit of the drop in crude prices, however that said, I am in a fairly beautiful region and can go to places in comfort, which is why i bought "Derry"
I've also fitted a fair bit of LED lighting to it and have a long range fuel tank which is a real blessing on the rare occasions that i'm touring.
I also play a fair bit with GPS.
Re: Couldn't help myself.
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 5:37 pm
by FalcoColumbarius
What make of GPS do you run on board the Derry? I have a Garmin (Mobile PC) that I run on my laptop, combined with Topo Canada mapping system, married together with "Nroute" ~ so the way it appears on the laptop is a little red arrow head travelling about on a constantly moving ordinance survey map. Very useful for reading the lay of the land, i.e.; if I cross this three foot deep creek now, it could be nine feet deep in minutes if it rains, judging by the lay of the mountains.
Other mods I have done are putting an extra leaf in my rear suspension, because of the weight I carry; a cargo bay unit which I find very useful for storage purposes (made of steel which adds weight over the rear axle, preventing slippage, too); a pentagraph as a mount for my GPS system; a small grille, protecting my main air intake (stopping branches & marmots &c. compromising my main radiator or any number of hoses in that area); Rancho 9000 shocks with a bluetooth controlled compressor system which allows me to change my shock rating for different driving scenarios (such as highway versus off road). As DeliCat puts it ~ "If it ain't broken, modify it!"
You will find on this website the different mods members have been introducing to their Starwagon, one mod in particular that you may be interested in is a "Waste Vegetable Oil" (WVO) system, which has allowed people to drive across Canada for $37.00.
Falco.
Re: Couldn't help myself.
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 12:49 am
by jim
Yeah you need a street GPS as well as a map based GPS to have a top time. I use oziexplorer software with our natmap 250000 to 1 series of 513 maps to cover our way smaller country than yours. Also have a tighter series for Victoria but i don't get down that way too often.
I also have a real cheap eBay GPS that has turned out to be a little beauty, i've put the pocket pc version of oziexplorer on that as well as all the aussie maps, plus also have igo8, destinator and route66 on a 2gb card, all with full aussie maps.
My car radio/dvd unit is also GPS and i have those last 3 street programs on it.
I installed air bag boosters for the rear end a while back but that isn't relevant to Canada yet, at least till L400s start appearing.
Now i'll have to cry myself to sleep tonight, the air conditioner died on a trip today. Bugger!