Oka owners group newsletter
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What have I done? I remember when I pulled up next to it in my 'little' Landcruiser, looking out at it and thinking, "God it's huge!" Time will tell if I've made the right decision for me, but if I hadn't, I know I would have regretted it. I'm now in the process of obtaining my Light Rigid truck licence so I can bus down and drive it home. It's unregistered, so there's an unregistered vehicle permit to obtain, and It'll have to be fixed (by me, as I can't afford to pay for repairs), then finally registered. If I figure correctly, that's when the 'real' adventure begins! So, Lloyd and Marj, that's my 'how I came to own an OKA' story in a nutshell. Well, in a small novel, just looking back over it. I fully expect to have the OKA at the 2005 Narromine, and if you're there, I'll make a point of introducing myself. The replacement aeroplane will have to wait, but that's another story. There are some questions I'd like to ask you. The thing I'm mostly curious to know from other OKA owners, is how they feel about owning and driving one. Is it the best thing since sliced bread, or is it a burden and a chore, but necessary because no other vehicle will quite do the job? Speaking of that, does it live up to expectations, or fall short of what you want it to do? Do you find it requires a lot of upkeep? Is it a pain chasing parts? The OKA factory can't get locking fuel caps, and I'm told the fuel caps are the same as Landrover Discovery. These sell at the dealers for $110.00 to $170.00 each. For a fuel cap! Do you find parts prices disappointing? How about breakages and the cost and effort of recovery and repair? Mine has a Kirby/Bishop steering box, which I'm told should be replaced with a TRW unit ($3000 from OKA), and I've heard of axle breakages! My 'cruiser has stopped twice in 13 years and 160,000 kms of on and off road driving (it now has 295,000 kms on the clock). Both times it was on a highway trip, and both times it was a $5.00 fuel filter, and was replaced in five minutes with a carried spare. Without the carried spare, just driving at 40km/h to the next town would have gotten me out of trouble. It's only other serious (?) failures were the air conditioner compressor and alternator. Can the OKA be that reliable? OK, I've bombarded you with enough information and questions for one (or even many) e-mail, so until next time, Regards, Andrew Kovacs Email: AKovacs@xstrata.com.au Hi Lloyd, Thanks for the welcome. Sorry about the slow reply. I was busy when your message arrived, then just forgot. I figured you had to be into flying from the Natfly visits. I doubt I'll fly down next year, having just bought an OKA has put a new aeroplane out of reach for just now, and the Thruster isn't something I'd fly to Narromine. I've done a few long flights in it, so I'm sure of that. One year, however, I'll get something a little quicker and fly there. I've just gotten my LR truck licence, and diverted the return flight of a pre-paid holiday at Coolangatta 7 (Wintersun, if you like rock 'n' roll and old hot rods), so I should be picking up the OKA about mid-June. I'll know from then on, what I'll need to modify and what It'll be like to own. I've spoken to Paul, and he says it'd be a very good idea to replace the Kirby/Bishop steering box with a TRW unit, and the engineers at the OKA factory pretty much agree with this. I don't agree with their price for the parts however, so I've got some searching to do yet. $1500 for some steel brackets to weld on to the chassis seems a bit steep to me, and even the engineer at the factory said he might try to get that reduced for me, so they must be a bit embarrassed about that one! I'll have to see what kind of diff it has, before I think about the axle situation, although I have a price from Paul if I decide to go that way. Mine's been a company vehicle (mining and power line inspection) for all it's life, so I expect some problems. I will give you a call some time, as I'd like to hear of your experiences. It would be good to know what to look for, and maybe what to expect. I'll give Gordon a call as well. I've already noticed that there's a frustratingly limited tyre choice. I have the 19.5" rims, and there doesn't seem to be much about in the way of tyres for them. Despite it's off-road capability, experience suggests that more than half the driving I do will be on the bitumen, and the really good tyres that suit the OKA seem to be full off-road designs (Michelin XZL, for instance) and are for the 16" rim. I'll need to do some more information digging in that area yet. The trip home (1,400km) should give me some idea of cruising comfort and economy, and that'll be a good start. It's reassuring to hear that most owners eventually get to love their OKAs, so they must be good in the long run. Barring major problems, the big struggle will be whether it suits me or not. I tend to stick at things for quite some time before giving up though, so I imagine it'll work out OK. I'll almost certainly see you at Natfly next year, but I won't be at the Innaminka rally (other plans and limited holidays and funds). As you say, perhaps I'll see you on the way back from your trip. Till next time. Regards, Andrew Limited Slip Diffs RECOMMENDATION I would like to recommend Jack McNamara Differential Specialists of Moorabbin in Melbourne. After a recent service of my OKA I found I had a problem with my limited slip differential. I took my OKA to Jack McNamara Differential Specialists and Geoff McNamara replaced my old differential with a new differential (not limited slip) and made and fitted new axles. Geoff removed the old 32 spline axles and replaced them with 35 spline axles. Geoff makes OKA axles and informed me he will be making more 35 spline axles if anybody requires them. He also told me that the axles that are currently fitted in OKAs (32 spline) are not really strong enough for a vehicle the size of an OKA. I am very happy with the job Geoff has done, it should last me a lifetime. The company is family run business with over 50 years of experience. If you would like further information please contact Geoff McNamara, 25 Levanswell Road, Moorabbin Vic 3189, Ph. 03 9555 2213 or visit www.mcnamaradiffs.com.au Hope this information helps! Rowena Paterson Air Bag Kits for OKA’s. Hi Guys, Would like to put an article for Airbag Kits that Darren makes up. $900 per axle plus GST complete kits, 1/2 an hour to install per wheel, " It's just like riding on air " Ring Darren on 0419 522 225... Regards
Janine & Darren Visser 8 Prices for new OKA’s Forwarded from John Hendriks As per your re-request I have re-attached the latest OKA Specification sheet and some interior/exterior pictures of the Oka Camper Vans (pop-tops). A pop-top OKA is approx AUS$136,000.oo (exc. GST) or AUS$149,600.oo (incl. GST). If you have any further questions/queries please do not hesitate to re-contact me. Regards Arthur AND JUST FOR FUN – COMPLIMENTS OF JOHN HENDRIKS One day a donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway. It just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As a farmer’s neighbour continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off! Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest well just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up. Remember the five simple rules to be happy: 1. Free your heart from hatred – Forgive. 2. Free your mind from worried – Most never happen. 3. Live simply and appreciate what you have. 4. Give more. 5. Expect less. NOW.......... Enough of that crap........... The donkey later came back and bit the shit out of the farmer who had tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock. MORAL FROM TODAY’S LESSON: When you do something wrong and try to cover your ass, it always comes back to bite you. You have two choices – smile and close this page, or pass this along to someone else to spread the fun. 9 Hi everyone, OKA OWNERS GROUP (PUTTING PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT FIRST) NEWSLETTER September 2004 During the 2004 trip we sure did meet up with a lot of great OKA people. Amongst the Oka Owners that we have met, we haven’t come across any we wouldn’t want as friends. The OKAs seem to bring together like-minded people from all walks of life. We like the input we are getting from members, such as the email from Paul Wainwright about tyres and rims. Thank you Paul. Our group certainly got some brake experience this year – no not “great”, we really mean “brake”. If anyone knows of any modifications that can be made to keep the calliper retaining plates and clips etc. from falling out, we’d like to hear about it. Ron and I made a plate out of a piece of angle iron we found in a rubbish tip and it did the job for Ron until he got home. It could be handy to have in an emergency amongst the spares. When it comes to shocks, it would appear that the most popular, and the ones used by tour operators we came across, are the Monroe no. 66638. They say they get a good run out of them We called into Repco in Kununurra and talked to them about brakes (very helpful people, they service Okas in that area) and they recommend the bonded brake pads rather than the riveted ones. Protex No. CS 7081ADM are the ones they use. We are looking into ways of fixing steering column rattle without costing an arm and a leg. If it is possible, we will let you know what we find out, and if you have any ideas you might pass them on. I acquired a worn column and will send it away and see what can be done with it. We are also looking for feedback (for and against), from Oka Owners about airbags, and /or coil springs between existing springs and the chassis. If you are looking at your vehicle’s electrics or solar power, we have seen Collyn Rivers’ books and found them very informative. On the service side, I have been led to believe it is a good practice to check the diff. crown wheel retaining bolts from time to time, as they have been known to work loose, and once the holes have worn oval it is a fairly costly exercise to fix them. 1 For those who have parallel or 2 blades on each windscreen wiper, they should make sure that the windscreen is kept very clean, which can be difficult in muddy conditions, because if the grit gets in between the blades, it is just passed backwards and forwards between them and scratches the glass. Whether they are a good idea or not depends on the conditions your vehicle works under. We are planning a get-together again this long weekend – October 1-4, 2004. If you are able to come, we would love to see you. Lloyd & Marj Parsons OCTOBER LONG WEEKEND – PARSONS GET TOGETHER: While Michael Hession is planning to visit the Nymagee Music Festival during the long weekend, Parsons will be staying at home and would welcome anyone who feels that “Folk” isn’t their thing. We live about 20 km west of Coonamble on the Quambone Road. Turn off at the telephone exchange box, and we are the first place down the Emby Road on the right. If you go past the end of the bitumen, you have gone about ! a km too far! We have plenty of room for everyone to camp, and the season is good this year and the outlook green. If you would like more information or a mud-map, ring us on 02 68228323 or email us at l-mparsons@bigpond.com. For those who plan to visit the Nymagee Music Festival, why don’t you come on to Eulalia when you are “musiced out’. We look forward to seeing you. – Lloyd & Marj Parsons NYMAGEE OUTBACK MUSIC FESTIVAL OCTOBER LONG WEEKEND The last two years there has been an OKA weekend at Coonamble, as guests of Marj and Lloyd Parsons at their property “Eulalia”. These have been great get togethers!! This year we thought we may like to get a real taste of the outback and combine our visit with the Nymagee Outback Music Festival. The Festival itself starts 5pm Friday the 1st October and carries through until 6pm Sunday the 3rd . Nymagee is a small village with a district population of 150, situated 98km SE of Cobar in the Central West of NSW and is approx. 8 hours drive from Sydney. Nymagee is an Aboriginal word for 'surrounded by hill'. It is uniquely nestled within the amphitheatre of large hills formed mainly of sandstone and shale. "The Overflow", made legendary by Banjo Patterson's poem is only 32 km from the town. Nymagee was a thriving copper town until 1917 when the mine was closed. In it's heyday, there were about 4500 residents, half of whom were Chinese scrub-cutters. The Metropolitan Hotel is the last of the five hotels the town had during it's popularity as a mining centre. ITINERARY: We would leave Sydney on Wednesday 30th September and travel to Condobolin and either camp on the side of the road, if we can find a suitable spot, or stay in town. The next day travel to Nymagee and set up camp. Thursday night there is a concert night in the pub featuring “Neil Murray”. Friday day is a day to relax or explore the surrounds, as the festival doesn’t start until 5pm. The music appeals to all tastes, 2 young and old. We will endeavour to get a “quiet” campsite. It is a family weekend. Saturday/Sunday the festival continues, finishing at 6pm Sunday. After the festival there are many options. Depending on what we decide we could either leave Sunday afternoon or Monday morning and travel back to Coonamble (I guess about 3 hours travel) and stay at “Eulalia”, Marj and Lloyd will not be with us. The Hessions have to be back in Sydney Wednesday night. If you would like to come, CONTACT (before 22nd Sept.) Michael Hession: 02.9809.5754 (Bus), 02.9679.1463(Hm). We need to book and the cost is $50 per person which includes camping. For more Information you can go to http://www.geocities.com/nymageefestival/ VICTORIAN OKA RALLY When: 12th - 14th November 2004 Where: Upper Yarra Dam, Warburton, Victoria Directions: - Vicroads map 80 F5. From Warburton travel 24 kms on Woods Point Rd to entrance of park. Gates to park close at 5pm. Hot showers, elec. BBQ, toilets, water, Dogs OK. Camp fees apply: $6 per person per night, child 5-15 $3.50 per person per night, Family $19 per night. Please bring firewood. For further details please contact Rowena Paterson Email: rowenap@g-mwater.com.au or 03 5823 2732 (ah) 03 5833 5710 (work) INNA MINCKA – NATIONAL RALLY QUEENSLAND & NSW TRIP Written by Rowena Paterson On the 26th June I left the wet weather in Victoria and headed up to Coonamble NSW to stay with the Parsons. A few days after leaving home I arrived in Coonamble and was only in town for 5 minutes filling up with fuel when a familiar face appeared from behind my OKA. I was happy to see Lloyd and followed him back to their property – 20 kms out of Coonamble. I enjoyed a couple of days with the Parsons. I even had a grand tour of their property. The Hessions (Michael, Virginia and Virginias sister Pam) arrived in Coonamble on the 30 June and the next morning 1st July we were off heading across the Macquarie Marshes towards Bourke. The first night we spent in Wanaaring, camped on a small creek on the edge of town. The next day we headed to Tibooburra, unfortunately I discovered a little problem with my OKA. I had blown a seal on my steering box and had a small amount of power steering fluid dripping & spraying underneath – making a little mess. I made a quick phone call to Paul Nott, who assured me it was quite safe to keep driving until I reached Mt Isa, were I could get it fixed. In Tibooburra we met Ron & Lyn Quigley & their friend John and his Son travelling in a Land cruiser. During the afternoon we left Tibooburra and headed towards Cameron Corner – where the 3 states – SA, NSW & QLD meet. That was really interesting. Michael Hession knew a spot nearby where we could camp for the night, so we headed off a few km’s from Cameron Corner and set up camp. I really enjoyed that part of the day when a camp fire was lit and I could relax after a full day of driving and concentrating. The next day we headed up to Innamincka travelling along the old Strezelecki track. When we arrived in Innamincka we all parked up near the pub and store. Not long after another couple of OKAs joined us including: Jack Green & Noeline Charlton & Geoff Mathews (a local who runs the Innamincka homestay). Later that day John & Dianne Smithard arrived along with their daughter Rebecca. Jack & 3 Noeline found a nice spot on the edge of town on the Cooper Creek so we all joined them and set up camp. The next day a group of us jumped into the Quigleys OKA and we headed east 40 kms to check out the Burke & Wills Dig tree. That was very interesting, a little bit of Australian history. The countryside east of Innamincka was beautiful, I enjoyed the scenery as we drove through it. When we arrived back to camp, we noticed the police had arrived and were searching a couple of guys camped beside us. When the police were leaving they told us it’s probably best if we move camp as these guys couldn’t be trusted. As most of us had set up and didn’t want to move, we decided to shuffle a couple of OKAs around. We ended up camped close together in case these guys decided to try something. Every Sunday night the local pub puts on a roast dinner, so we all headed off for dinner leaving Jack & Noeline behind to look after camp. A little while later the Quigleys headed back to camp so Jack & Noeline could come up for dinner. There wasn’t much else we could do with suspected criminals camped beside us! The Parsons met a couple of friends at the pub who had flown into Innamincka and were heading off the next day. So the next morning we all headed off to the airport to watch the plane take off (except for Jack & Noeline who were staying an extra day in Innamincka before heading back to Brisbane & the Quigleys friend John who was heading back to Sydney). Geoff Matthews dropped the plane passengers off in his OKA and we managed to take some really good photos of our OKAs lined up with the plane before it took off. The plane was heading towards Birdsville, arriving in a few hours. We had a few days of driving before we would arrive in Birdsville. We said goodbye to the Hessions (who were heading back towards the Flinders Rangers) & Geoff Mathews then headed off towards Haddon’s Corner. We now had 4 OKAs in convoy. We arrived at Haddon’s Corner after lunch (where QLD & SA meet). It was 15 kms in from the main road. We had to drive over a number of sand dunes on the way in. It took me 3 goes to get over one dune as it was a new experience for me. Thanks to John & Marj for giving me the encouragement and teaching me how to tackle sand dunes. It took the Quigleys and the Smithards a few goes also. The Parsons managed it in one go! That night we found a nice camp site nearby the main road towards Birdsville. Next day we headed into Birdsville, I checked out the pub and museum. We also met another OKA in Birdsville, a new member to our group, John & Dot Clarke from Northern NSW travelling across to Innamincka. Later that day we left Birdsville and headed up Bedourie finding a camp site just north of the town. Next morning we were up early and headed to Boulia. This was where I was leaving the group and heading up to Mt Isa by myself. After taking a few group photos at Boulia we parted ways with the Parsons, Quigleys & Smithards heading across the Plenty Hwy towards Alice Springs on their way up to the Kimberleys. I decided to head to Mt Isa to catch up with Andrew Kovacs and spend a few days at Lawn Hill National Park. Later that day (travelling on a good sealed) road I arrived in Mt Isa. The sealed road was really enjoyable after travelling on the dirt for so long. I must admit that the outback roads were much better than what I had anticipated. The only really rough part I found was the road north of Innamincka where it was quite sandy and corrugated until we reached the QLD border. When I arrived in Mt Isa I booked a 3 day tour to Lawn Hill National park and contacted Andrew Kovacs. Andrew checked out my leaking seal and recommended a few places in town on where I could get it fixed. After my seal was fixed I was off to Lawn Hill for 3 days with Harry (a local Aboriginal tour guide). I found the tour excellent and the amount of knowledge Harry had of the area was unbelievable. I was very impressed with Lawn Hill, I think it’s one of the most beautiful areas in Australia. Accommodation was at Adels Grove 4 kms from the Gorge area. We also visited the Riversleigh World Heritage Fossil Fields nearby. This place was fascinating with the ancient bones of animals on display. When I arrived back in Mt Isa I spent a few days with Andrew & checked out his OKA. Andrew took me for a day trip around the area to check out some of the ghost mining towns. It was absolutely fascinating to see where steam trains once ran through the hills and tunnels. It was great to have a local 4 person show me the Mt Isa area, and I enjoyed it very much. I also met up with Ian Ransom and his tour OKA from Adelaide while I was in Mt Isa. He was on his way up to Lawn Hill. After leaving Mt Isa I travelled through Winton, Longreach, Emerald, Carnarvon & Cania Gorges, Bundaberg, Gympie then I headed down towards Toowoomba, Warwick, Tenterfield, Grafton & Coffs Harbour. I spent quite a bit of time in the Northern NSW area, checking out all the National Parks including: Washpool, Dorrigo and Oxley Wild Rivers National Parks etc. I really enjoyed the waterfalls & scenery in this area and took many photos. A week after I had been in the Northern NSW area I met up with John & Maree Hendriks in Coffs Harbour. They had travelled down from Hervey Bay. We spent an extra day in Coffs Harbour (meeting up with Larry & Colleen Howse) before heading across country towards Armidale camping in Wollomombi for the night. After leaving Wollomombi we headed across to Tamworth, Coonabarabran, the Warrumbungle’s, Mudgee then back to the Blue Mountains. I stayed with John & Maree for a few days at their home in the Blue Mountains before heading back home to Victoria. By the time I arrived home I had travelled 10,000 km. I had a chance to meet a lot of nice people along the way and had a very enjoyable time. I have placed all the photos from the rally at Innamincka and of my trip on the website. PARSONS TREK REPORT, 2004 Following Rowena’s story, after we left her at Boulia, we headed across the Plenty Hwy – a misnomer if ever I heard one, as in parts the bull-dust was really thick and the road pretty cut up on the NT side. Lloyd had an annoying noise when he applied the brakes, so at lunchtime they took the wheel off and dismantled the brakes. They found nothing wrong, so just filed the edges of the brake pads and put it together again – no further trouble. You wouldn’t believe such a simple thing could fix such an annoying noise. We reached Alice Springs next afternoon and met up with our other travelling companions, Brian & Sue Munns in a Ford Courier. We called into Fidler & Clarke, where they replaced our broken free-wheeling hubs, putting silicone round to seal them. They also changed the oil in the front diff, as Lloyd was complaining of a noise; they found water in there, and advised that they change the diff. oil every time they change the engine oil, and nearly always find water in the diff. It certainly fixed the noise. We spent a couple of days in Alice, dining one night with Leigh Goldsmith & partner Sandra and Brian and Margaret Forrester. Brian & Lloyd got to talking about kerosene tractors and Lloyd said that Brian once cranked one of these machines till it boiled and it still didn’t start. Trouble was, every time it would give an encouraging kick, Brian bashed his head on the framework of the old grader! If you happen to meet Brian, Lloyd says you should make allowances for this, as there is a limit to how many times you can bash your noggin! We spent a few hours at the Camel Races before setting off into the west again. Camp that night was at the Redlands Gorge, at the extreme west of the Macdonald Range NP. We must go there again sometime and look round further. Then it was on to Papunya and across the Gary Junction Road. We travelled this way two years ago and were amazed at the beautiful formed road with gravel to stabilise the sandhills, but really expected it would have deteriorated by now, but it was almost as good. The only drama we had was when John Smithard slipped into a deep mud puddle, but we soon pulled him out of there. I forgot to mention that there had been late rain right across Central Australia, and the whole area was green, or covered in thick buffel grass or in the case of the more western deserts, green vegetation and Spinifex with plenty of beautiful wildflowers. We crossed the CSR and stopped at the community near Well 33 for fuel, then camped on a rocky knoll about 30 k’s down the track. From here it wasn’t far to the turnoff for the Kidson Track, and we headed north-west. The track is no longer maintained, and was quite exciting in parts. The sandhills are still fairly stable, with some washouts, but some of the very rocky sections have fairly big gouges in them and the sand in other places was pretty deep, forcing us a couple of times to leave the track altogether. All kinds of wildflowers were in season, we saw plenty of dingos, lizards, camels and camel tracks and they were obviously having a good season. Ron Quigley broke a shock hanger along here, and he and John Smithard dismantled it and welded it so well that it is still good as new. When we came to the bitumen, we drove south a few km and spent a night at 80 Mile Beach before heading on to Broome. We left the Smithards to visit with family at Barn Hill, and they then had 5 to have their power steering reservoir repaired when they reached Broome. They had some months to complete their trip as they were on long service leave, and didn’t need to continue at our pace. First stop in Broome was to visit the auto-electrician to fix our charging problem – can’t do without the refrigeration! This proved to be only a regulator, and we set off to find a camp place. This was at the PBYC, and there we found another couple of Oka’s – Terry & Debbie Morris and Kim & Helen Blythe in their coach campervans. We then found our campsite and headed out for sunset at Cable Beach – a tradition in Broome. This sunset was beautiful, some cloud turning the sky vivid oranges and pinks, and with this backdrop we found yet another Oka – Marcus & Tracey Bell and their 2 pre-school daughters. Their Oka (a dual-cab) is set up as a living area, with both sides opening out as awnings and the cooking, bathroom & laundry area is in the rear. They pull a camping trailer for sleeping - a very interesting layout. Next day all five Okas took us to lunch with Collyn Rivers at his beautiful home above the water. Collyn was again a fountain of knowledge on Okas, electrics and solar power and we had a fascinating couple of hours with him. Next we headed to Derby and onto the Gibb River Road. This time we visited the gorges we had missed on our last trip, and saw the Lennard River Gorge, Adcock Gorge, Galvan’s Gorge (where we had a swim), and the Barnett River Gorge. All of these were very different, and each of them beautiful. The Gibb River Road itself had been graded and we thought it was in good condition, although some of the tracks into the Gorges were a trifle rough. We turned off on the Kalumbaru Road, and this too had been graded and was in good shape. When we stopped at Drysdale River Station they assured us that much of the Mitchell Falls Road had been graded a couple of weeks ago and they thought it was the best they had seen it for years. We turned off on this road, and crossed the King Edward River and camped in the campground there – a beautiful place. Next morning we set off towards the Falls, and yes the road had been graded, but the condition wasn’t really good – I think they had just moved the stones around on the road. The track was corrugated, narrow and rocky, and we had to laugh at the “Are We There Yet?” sign attached to a tree beside the track. The scenery more than made up for this however, with big areas covered in the “Livingstonia eastonii” palms amongst the eucalypts, and picturesque creek crossings. We walked to the Mitchell Falls and back from the parking area, and were entranced. The first falls, Martens, had aboriginal painting the like of which we had never seen before – Bradshaw Art which depicted humans in ceremonial dress, Wandjina paintings which depicted deities (?) with headdress, halos and no mouth, and irregular infill paintings of animals. Mitchell Falls itself was something that unfolded as you walked round the area – first you only saw the rivers and the top of the falls, but when you walked round to the helicopter landing area you could see the next section, and it wasn’t until you made it to the opposite side that you saw them in all their glory with the 4 areas of waterfall shining in the sunlight – truly beautiful. On our return along the Mitchell Falls Road towards King Edward River we lost our brakes and all our brake fluid, which made the drive more interesting. When we camped we pulled them apart and found that the LRear caliper had fallen off and the banjo bolt had disappeared entirely! After a bit of creative maintenance, they plugged the hole where the banjo bolt had fallen out and purchased some brake fluid from a neighbourly camper, and we headed on towards Kalumbaru. We had been warned that the road was very rough, but it was great – freshly graded and top dressed in many parts, with the grader and trucks still working on the road. First port of call at Kalumbaru was at the community workshop, where the mechanic managed to bleed the brakes for us, but we were still without the LRear one – nothing to worry about after driving without any brakes at all! After paying for our permits we went to Honeymoon Bay, where we found a camping spot almost on the beach not far from the toilet and shower. This area is beautiful with shell-covered beaches, mangroves and rocky outcrops. We spent a few days here, looking round the area, eating huge oysters from the rocks and some of our party went out fishing for the day and brought back some fish. We were sad to leave but had to get on our way. 6 Back on the Gibb River road we spent time at El Questro (no, we didn’t stay at the homestead!) where we visited Chamberlain and Explosion Gorges and Lloyd flew in the helicopter early next morning. We took in the view from Bronco’s Lookout before having a quick dip at Zeberdee Springs on our way out, visiting Emma Gorge before setting out for Kununurra. Here we introduced ourselves to the headquarters of the two tour operators whose vehicles we had come across on our travels, and settled into some repairs on Ron’s brakes. By the time we had finished them, Ron had checked all his brakes and we were ready to set off again. From Kununurra we drove down the east side of the ranges on the Duncan Road to meet up with the Buchanan Hwy and north-east to Top Springs. This was an interesting drive, and we passed many beautiful Brahman cattle that were in top condition, in contrast to the rangy, poor and probably inbred animals that we had seen on the Aboriginal stations. From Top Springs we crossed by the Muranji track (they call it something different now) to the Stuart Hwy and turned north to Daly Waters for another turn east to Cape Crawford and the Heartbreak Hotel. From here we drove south along the Barkley Hwy, before turning off on the Rankin Stock route to end up at Camoweel, then Mt. Isa where we caught up with Andrew Kovaks, saw his Oka and heard about the way he is rebuilding it. Cloncurry next, then we drove via Kynuna & McKinlay (where we were in time for Richard McGoffin’s Waltzing Matilda show) to Winton and Longreach. You might have thought we were on our way home, but we then headed east to the coast, calling in at Rubyvale and Emerald, where we farewelled our non-Oka friends and went on our way to Rockhampton. We camped alongside a road heading into the ranges a little south of Rockhampton and were settled down nicely when a car pulled up, and backed back to talk to us. This lady was thrilled to see a couple of Okas camped almost on their boundary, and it turned out that they had recently sold their Oka to Andrew Kovaks. Small world!! We called in to Gladstone, then Agnes Waters before spending a night in the Deepwater National Park, before lunching with friends at Bundaberg and then on to Hervey Bay where we spent a few days with family. From Hervey Bay we went out on a boat to see the whales, which played and cavorted, diving under our boat and surfacing again. They seemed to enjoy looking at us as much as we did looking at them. When we were on our way again we drove via Coolum Beach and Buderim to see friends before spending a night with more friends at Toowoomba, when we left the Quigleys to make our way home. That was the plan, but as we set off we noticed water under the Oka; not much, but it was leaking as we drove off, so we decided to check it out and it was a seal in our water pump. As we were not far from Brisbane, it seemed a good opportunity to replace it, so our friendly mechanic ordered it, to be delivered that afternoon. It didn’t arrive, so we expected it next morning, then next afternoon, and then the next morning. When it didn’t turn up then, and being Saturday morning, we just sat in the office of the supplier until he did something. What he did find was a 2nd-hand pump at Gatton, which we duly bought, and returned it to Toowoomba for our mechanic to install. Luckily we had friends in Toowoomba who looked after us, as the Oka remained parked close to the Hwy for those couple of days, and it would have been pretty noisy camped there! Anyway we left at lunchtime, and arrived back home the next day to find everything under control there, and we felt truly relaxed and very satisfied with our great holiday. OKA KEYS: In case you need a new set of keys for your OKA, we thought you might like the numbers we used to have ours cut by our local friendly locksmith. Ron Quigley wanted spares while we were away, and the 7 locksmith in Alice Springs said he couldn’t cut them, but the one in Broome had no trouble, and used the following Silca blanks: Ignition key – Silca blank number NE38. Door key – Silca blank number V01. EXHAUST STACKS: Dear Lloyd & Marj, I am going through the process of getting a roadworthy and registering the Oka we have recently bought. I thought I would let you know that in Victoria all vehicles over 4.5 tonne gvm (except buses with more than 9 seats) are required by EPA to have a vertical exhaust stack(s) extending 150mm past the roof line. Buses which have had their seats removed to make less than 9, but more than 2 seats remaining require an engineering certificate. Cheers Peter Davis TYRES: Hi Lloyd You obviously made it home with the brake problem. One comment I would make is, we went to the 19.5 rims a couple of years ago and found that our vehicle started falling apart due to the hardness of the tyres, we then went back to the 16 inch rims this made our Oka a different machine. The tyres we are running are the Michelin 255/10016. Good luck and regards Paul Wainwright East Kimberley Tours Kununurra W.A. Dear OKA club members, We (Walter and Elly Hes) will be going on a ‘Red Centre’ trip, starting early October. We’ll travel the Strzelecki and Oodnadatta tracks to Uluru and Kings Canyon, then via Finke River and the MacDonnel Ranges to Alice Springs. We plan to stay about a week in Alice to have a good look around before we’ll head down again via the Flinders Ranges to Port Augusta and Adelaide on the way to Melbourne where we’ll celebrate Christmas with the family. Anyone who’d like to join us for parts of the trip is very welcome. You’ll find us at 0428 389239 or waltelly@bigpond.com It seems that we’ll have to chicken out of our earlier plan to go with a number of OKA’s on a China/ Europe trip. Not many reactions to our invitation, which is maybe understandable now much of the world is in such a mess. Reluctantly we decided to let go of that dream and instead book a plane ticket to visit our relatives in Europe next year and after that we’ll be looking after our daughter’s place for half a year. All this means that we won’t be able to use the OKA for at least a year. That’s not good for our faithful ‘home on wheels’, so (again reluctantly) the OKA will be up for sale in January 2005. If you’d know anyone keen for a very well maintained 1994 OKA, please pass on our contact details. What we’ll miss a lot after selling the OKA, will be being part of the OKA family. It seems that every OKA owner is always keen to meet up with you, offer you hospitality, lots of good advice and hands on help if you need it. We wish you all many happy travel hours. Walter & Elly. 8 FOR SALE
Lloyd, I had a conversation with Reg Stirling at Yinnar a week or two ago and he suggested that I send you the details of an OKA twin cab that is parked at my place and is for sale. I was hoping that you could put it on your club website for me. On the asking price, i have been informed by Reg that this vehicle has travelled in the vicinity of 300,000 kilometres and am open to suggestions. It starts and runs well, no noises or smoke, so i think it is in good condition for it's age and distance travelled. .Regards Hans Schutte The following is information regarding the OKA. ! Chassis Number: 6N544D3M4RA090166 ! Manufacture Date 04-94 ! Vehicle and trailer Gross mass 7 tonne ! Perkins Diesel engine, Turbo ! GVM 5.5 tonne ! Tyre size 280/85-16 ! ROPS in roof ! Drop sides on tray ! Duel fuel tanks ! Radio cassette player ! Tray size 2250mm long ! Seats 4 but 6 seats fitted ! Dual batteries ! External sun visor fitted as an extra ! OKA tow bar 1900mm wide The following is not actually attached at the moment, but is intact and can be replaced on the vehicle. ! Pipe frame rack with timber platform of marine ply on top ! Canvas sides – fully enclosed Note: There is a list of work done, cost, and parts supplied that is available, together with a list of things still to be done to make this vehicle roadworthy for rego. Please contact Hans Schutte at: schutteh@dodo.com.auact Name Tags We have had name tags made for ourselves with the Oka Owners Group Logo. The 1st one is always the most expensive, and they now have the design on their computer. If you would like some, please contact KC (Print Shop) at 101 Talbragar Street, Dubbo. 2830. Ph: 02 68828230; Fax 02 68828029; email kcprint@hwy.com.au FINAL JOURNEY We are saddened to tell you of the loss of one of our OKA group. Noel Peterson from Manilla, near Tamworth, where he had a farm, and the Grawin Opal Field, was killed in a tractor roll-over accident on the farm at Manilla last month. He and Lesile were the first members in the group. Their OKA , a dual cab, he bought new, and had all his gear on the back and they towed a houseboat for living quarters when travelling. The houseboat was home whether on sand, water or rock. Our condolences to Lesile and family. If you are nearby you might give her a ring on 0267789011, or email lesile@bigpond.com 9 Hi everyone, OKA OWNERS GROUP (PUTTING PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT FIRST) NEWSLETTER November 2004 The October weekend at Eulalia was quite relaxing, with Walter & Elly Hes, John & Maree Hendriks, Peter & Sharon Furlong and their boys and Darren & Janine Visser and their two kids. All the attendees spent some time looking up exhaust stacks, under radiator caps and doing some minor repairs to the Okas. Looking at the modifications and little innovations that people come up with is always fascinating. We did some flying and also some calf-marking during the following week, thank you to our visitors! We are still working on our Oka, but find that the jobs that need to be done now are just small ones. We have found that the clattering in the bottom steering shaft can be reduced with a small mod which take about half an hour (if that) and cushions it with grease. Thank you Leigh Goldsmith! It seems to work just fine. We have also had the two drive shafts overhauled and balanced and you wouldn’t believe the difference it has made to the ride, much smoother, and it has eliminated some of the rattles as well. Also we finally found out how to turn off the red brake light that resulted from the loss of brakes on our trip in July, and also the green 4WD light that came and went while we were driving along. Little things that just annoy. Well, 2004 is just about shot and it didn’t take long for it to slip by. Marj and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a great New Year. A little less drought, less grasshoppers and a little more rain would suit just fine. We hope to catch up with more Oka Owners in 2005. Lloyd & Marj Parsons HIGH COUNTRY TRIP TO SHEEPYARD FLAT & CATTLEMAN HUTS, Mansfield Victoria. 7th - 9th January 2005 Hi All, I am planning another High Country trip similar to last years Craigs Hut/Mt Stirling trip. The idea would be to meet in the Mansfield Caravan Park (Friday 7th) and leave Saturday morning towards Mt Buller turning off to Sheepyard Flat (near Merrijig). From there we could spend the weekend exploring the area including visiting a number of Cattleman Huts. I will be on leave from new years day and hope to explore some of the Woods Point area prior to the 1 Sheepyard Flat weekend. If you would like to join me you are most welcome. Please RSVP by Friday 31st December. Thanking you Rowena Paterson Ph: 03 5823 2732 (ah) 03 5833 5710 (work) Email: rowenap@g-mwater.com.au UPPER YARRA DAM The Oka Owners weekend on 13/14th of November at Upper Yarra Dam was great, the weather was wet and showers, but still, who worries about the weather when you drive an Oka !! We had 5 Oka's roll up, including Boyles, Davis, Furlongs, Mauracher and Wilkinson, and 3 owners with out their Oka's, Including Paul Nott - his vehicle is being painted, Ian Jones and Lex & Corina Brown haven't got them road worthy yet, and both will be building camper bodies soon. The usual vehicle inspections took place as each truck pulled up, and bums and feet protruded from the doors and under the body, Stories of experiences and stuff ups were exchanged, as well as hints “ n tips and holiday destinations. The venue was excellent, there was a huge hall about 120 feet long and 30 foot wide, which used to be a mess hall when they built the dam, with a hot water urn, 2 canara type fireplaces and heaps of picnic tables, and outside of that was an under cover decking area with 3 electric bbq's. so even though it rained everyone stayed dry, Thanks to Rowena for organizing another great weekend. Seeya Offroad Soon Greg Boyle 5 Month trip to Broome via coast 29.3.04 – 4.8.04. Having booked Kimberley Coast boat trip of 11 days, my wife & I decided to 'Oka' via coastal roads from Sydney, through Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia. Our usual mode of travel being to plan the next day's sight seeing in the evening while mostly bush camped, national park site or rest area. Only Caravan Park stay being at Monkey Mia to catch the early dolphin display of three calves and their mothers. Our routine was to check the map to travel any through route along the shore line, or one way in & out, taken if map showed something of interest. Kilometers done this way was a surprising 32,751, after the boat trip, diagonally back to Sydney in one week doing 5,455 ks to bid the passing of a beloved Aunt. Southern & Western coasts consisting of rock formations aged between 350 & 360 million years old, with hundreds of small islands & offshore reefs. No wonder in some areas called “shipwreck coast”. Pilbara region colour formed by cyanobacteria living in shallow seas 2.5 million years ago, producing oxygen as a waste product ! (ferrous oxide) now mined. Kimberley rocks are more than 400 MY (million years). Napier Range is a horseshoe shaped reef formed 370 MY. Aboriginal Wandjina rock painting, appears to have been a cult over the last 3000 years, yearly repainted, now fading due to the elders who had the authority are either dead or sick in hospital. Bradshaw painting have become part of their rock due to silica leaching are 17000 years old, origin unknown to the present aboriginal. 2 Oka health – Couple of weeks into our trip the pump for our showering hot water gave up, soa bag was used thereafter. As frequently happens, the air compressor for the step & tyre inflation failed, worked perfectly day before, in past, examination & dissembly finds nothing wrong! As many roads were gravel 4WD was not required. Approaching Broome, local news being that the area had a late, cold winter, not experienced in the area before. Finding camping areas north of Broome, with the roads just opening, couple of water holes required 4WD. Later found slight oil leak from transfer seal. Therefore 4WD saved only for emergency. Gibb River Rd & track to Bungles only requiring 4WD a couple of times. Therefore a run to Mitchell Plateau will wait for a return visit. Winch used to extract a car when it slid down an embankment, the mother being distracted by her demanding young daughter. Above Broome, at one of our camp sites, a Troopy bogged on the mud flats. Had zoomed past our camp the evening before. & was expecting a bogging listening to their engine roaring that night. Jumped started a vehicle in a national park. On return trip to Halls Creek from Wolf Creek Crater was flagged down by a group of 6 aboriginals in a Toyota requesting a tyre pump - all 5 tyres being bald & showing fabric, spare unusable, no jack carried by them, 2 complete flats, were rectified & sent on their way. It was evident that many other vehicles had passed them by! A few kilometers later another flag down occurred, a vehicle in better condition this time, apparently needing a jump start, given, few Ks later, same vehicle, same problem! Having occurred to me that the vehicle was stopping on any incline & a diesel did not need battery power once started, problem was more likely a fuel problem. My hosts not understanding any other option apart from the battery option, stop and battery boost continued 6 times back to Halls Creek. A couple of times, with the host vehicle having continued on its way, Oka proceeding after repacking jump leads, other vehicles would stop to lend us a hand! But not for our host's car! On another stop off at Halls Creek, a couple of Gray Nomads, remarked how disgusting it was to see an older group of aboriginals drinking in a public place, “that if a white person did the some they would be put in jaol!” My angry remark being that it was indeed a shame to see their condition after we had destroyed their culture which had survived for 60000 years. On rushed return to Sydney, 40 Ks from Mt Isa , having experiencing loss of power, found 2rd fuel line joining injector had broken, emergency repairs proved useless due to the high pressure in the lines. A passing motor-bike, giving directions to a diesel mechanic, Oka limped onward for repair. A new connection was fitted to the existing line which did the job until, again 40 Ks from Burke, same problem occurred. Apparently old line unable to take the repair! 2rd repair OK, consisting of “line found out the back”. With only one end with the correct fitting, sleeve was drilled from a solid rod, joining the two. Both breakages had caused fuel to be sprayed over the engine, fuel misting the rear window. Just right for a fire via the manifold. Warwick Oliver. NEW MEMBER Here is another new member to add to your list. Coke and Helen Haywood run a spray rig, up in the hills above Tamworth. They have had their rig from new and worked it hard, and are still working it hard. Coke is a fount of knowledge. He said his is the 2nd production model, and Paul Stedding, the man who sold it to him, came and stayed at his place. They did some mods. on the steering. He said the bottom steering arms come off the king pins, and you need to keep an eye on this. He also said that the original model had a different slope on the windscreen, but when they tried the one they have now, the fuel consumption improved markedly. They use it in 4wd for spraying most of the time, and they pull the transfer case out and re-race it (at a cost of a couple of hundred $'s) on a regular basis and have no trouble. Coke said he’ll let me know his OKA number. He said he had trouble registering it originally, as OKA wasn't on any lists, and they had to make a new file for them. EMAILS: 3
!!! Just a quick note, In recent investigations we discovered OKA's have Two Air Filters and a lot of members do!not know of the second Air Filter which should be replaced regularly the filter is inside the primary air filter and is used to!hold the primary filter in place this filter it is often missed and not changed !!! I had a problem with a missing brake shoe retainer spring!when we purchased our vehicle and is worth!all owners checking there callipers in there morning inspections and Grease of Grease points, prevention is better then cure, we now carry a spare spring and retainer, the best way to build up a spare parts box is as you replace a part that is not broken then keep the old part for an emergency spare!as long as the part is not U/S (Unserviceable) this has helped in the past !!!!!!! We had a Little Disaster recently when our OKA decided to catch on fire, It all started with a Starter Motor failing, (Many thanks to Robin Wade of OKA Kalgoorlie) we ended up with finding a starter than now works fine but during the starter motor change over, the Positive Battery cable running directly to the starter must have moved as on the first run through a windy road the cable ended up coming in contact!with the exhaust long enough to stick melt through the outer casing and then proceeding to weld it self to the exhaust, the first thing we noticed was the UHF and the CD Player started to have static come through the speakers followed by my wife Genine (Driving at the time) states that all lights on the dash had just come on, followed very quickly with a comment from Scott my 9 Year old!Son "What that's Funny Smell, It smells like something is burning" we knew we were in trouble doing 50 Kph in the Adelaide Hills in a section of road with no where to stop, on coming around a blind corner there was a small!2-3 Car length area. with a loud pull in there Genine executed emergency stop but unfortunately we where just!of the road!(The tyres were on the tarmac still) I get out to find sparks and flames 6-8" High under the drivers side, Genine went for the Kids!as I went for the fire extinguisher, I dumped!a heap of the powder only to realise the fire was re: infighting it self, My first thought was to disconnect!the Battery as my battery boxes have!a padlock!and the keys are kept on the Isolation Key, on retrieval of the keys forced me to remove the Battery Isolation Key and also isolating the spare from!fuelling the fire. (Would Never have thought of disconnection the!auxiliary battery on the passenger side)!Unlocked the battery tray and disconnected the Battery then dumped the more on the powder from the fire extinguisher finally extinguishing the fire. After I calmed down, I remembered that!this all happened on the edge of the road in the Adelaide Hills around a blind corner. I was lucky not to be run over. We assessed what had happened.!Genine called the RAA and stated the!vehicle was!located in a dangerous area and posed a collision risk to other vehicles, while I rang David & Janet Ribbans as we had only just come from their house looking at the incredible job they have done on there high roof OKA (Check out the Photos on the web). With a quick plea to help to come out in the Discovery and pull the vehicle back in to the park bay (We only missed the amco barrier at the far end of the park bay by a few feet and with no way to move the vehicle under its own steam David and Janet came to the rescue 20-25 Minutes later the OKA was off of the road.!Shortly followed by the arrival of the RAA. After removing the offending cable and a full inspection this was the only damage,!after a clean down with a air hose we!reconnected the battery and used a jumper cable from the positive on the battery to the starter terminal and she kicked over first time and we were ready to get back on the road in only 1 1/2 Hours. Any other type of vehicle would have been lost as the easy access to the battery (With!a Large wing nut!is!the only thing required to disconnect the battery)!and full access to engine from the outside of the vehicle I believe saved the vehicle from a mess.!Also there is little in the way of exposed wiring looms not to get damaged. The whole repair job totalled under $10 for a length of Battery cable and 2 Solder terminals from the local Repco!store.!! Well, so much for a short story. If you happen to hear of anyone looking for a dual cab module, and extended tray, we have them for sale. Details are on the website. Chow for now David, Genine, Scott and Naomi OKA 131 Thanks. I am now able to open your newsletter! A glitch on my computer! The information contained in the news letter is valuable and I hope to contribute in time. After months of delay the roof on my Oka is being lifted as we speak. I will then be able to start on the fit out which will probably take me six months or more. We have recently returned from a trip to Kingscliff and back to see the inlaws and slept in the back on air beds. We have now covered seven thousand kilometres since we acquired the vehicle from Perth, a sister vehicle to David and Janet 4 Ribbans. We are having a great deal of difficulty with the hand brake, which has not worked since we bought the vehicle. We have now ordered some parts through Robin Wade and hope to have it fixed before rego in October!. Regards. Tim and Brenda Greenish. The SAGA of The BROKEN STEERING ARM Michael Hession (Ph: 02.9809.5754(Bus)) On the weekend the 18/19 September we spent some time camping on Newnes Plateau just out of Lithgow in NSW. On the Sunday afternoon on our way home we decided to visit a location called “Deep Pass”. Any vehicle with reasonable clearance could have travelled the tracks we were using, in fact we never got out of High Range 2WD the whole weekend. As we entered the car park area I decided to reverse park and as I selected reverse and started back the vehicle did not respond to the steering. Upon inspection I found that the steering arm had broken. There had been “no prior warning”, “we hadn’t hit anything”, “we hadn’t been using the truck hard or abusing it”, I couldn’t think of any reason why the arm should break. (The arm is bolted to the top of the steering knuckle on the left hand wheel and connects to the steering linkage from the steering box). There was no way that the vehicle could be driven with no steering and we had no welding equipment (if that would work?) to effect a repair. The only thing to do was to get another steering arm. Luckily we had been away with another couple for the weekend and so we piled into their vehicle and headed back to Sydney. The plan was to contact another member of The OKA Owners Group, remove their steering arm from their vehicle, go back to the broken down vehicle, fit the good steering arm, and thus retrieve the vehicle. Our first option was to contact Bob Etherington at Kurrajong (the closest member) but as we got into mobile range and made contact we learnt he was on his way to Melbourne in his vehicle. Plan “B” was then called into action, contact Ron Quigley. By the time we had contacted Ron we were back at home and learnt that he had been away for the weekend and was on his way back to Sydney on the freeway, but would be home by about 8pm. By this time it was starting to rain and so by the time we got to Ron’s house we ended up working in the rain, to remove the arm from his truck. At 9.30pm, we were back on the road, heading up into the mountains. The rain was constant, the fog at times had us down to 20kph. And you wouldn’t believe how different a forest looks at night in the dark, rain, and fog. It took us an hour to find the track into where we had left the vehicle. It was 1am. We fitted the arm and were mobile again, and with no further problems we were home in bed by 4.30am. A BIG THANK YOU to Ron for the loan of his steering arm and to our friends Rob and Liz Colless (they drive a 130 Defender TD5), Rob insisted on taking me back to the vehicle and helping with the repair. We have since fitted a new arm from OKA (Almost $300.00). But I am not at all confident that the same thing couldn’t happen again. WHY DID IT HAPPEN? Our Vehicle has travelled 195,000 km, 100.000km in our hands, it hasn’t been abused or used very hard. I am at a loss to understand why it broke. Luckily it broke when we were stationery, if it had broken when we were mobile, it could have been catastrophic. I have learnt since from Paul Nott that OKA had a recall on some vehicles (about 30) due to poor casting of some arms. But on contacting OKA our vehicle was not one of them. Upon examination of the broken part, it seems to have broken all at once, there does not appear to be any “old” fractures. The metal is very grainy (“porous”), which to me indicates poor strength. It has broken 5 at the weakest part of the arm where there is the least amount of metal. In casting, the mould has been relieved underneath. This is evident in the photos, this has weakened the arm at this point, if this area was solid the arm would be much stronger. QUESTIONS Could the broken arm be effectively repaired by welding? Is there a forged or machined arm available in the US? Is there any way of strengthening the existing arm? If anyone has some comments or input I would welcome it? Below are various photos of the broken arm. NOTE:
From enquiries I have made, it seems it is highly illegal to modify or weld anything on components such as steering. It seems that everyone wants to sue nowadays, and if anything went wrong in the future, it could be a problem. It seems that nothing can be done in the way of change without an engineering certificate. Lloyd
TYRES & RIMS Hi Marj & Lloyd, I was interested to read this in the newsletter: One comment I would make is, we went to the 19.5 rims a couple of years ago and found that our vehicle started falling apart due to the hardness of the tyres, we then went back to the 16 inch rims this made our Oka a different machine. The tyres we are running are the Michelin 255/10016. Good luck and regards Paul Wainwright East Kimberley Tours Kununurra W.A. I hadn't actually given that any thought, despite perhaps having some experience to back that up. My work van is an old Daihatsu Delta that used to wear 16" rims and 10-ply truck tyres. Some years ago I replaced them with 15x7 white spokers and BFG All-Terrain radials, common enough stuff on regular 4WDs. The difference to ride was so dramatic, anybody would believe the vehicle had received an entire new suspension system, not just essentially a tyre change. Yet on the Oka, I still have the 19.5" rims, albeit with the Michelin radials. Apart from now giving some serious thought to changing that setup, I can report on the 'falling apart' side of things. The vehicle has a couple of Super Oscars, and in my Shark Bay excursions (corrugated sandtracks) they have never been a problem, and n.b. tyre pressure had always been reduced to 25psi. On a recent trip we lost the spare (another sad story), and were faced with a week off-road and no spare; so the tyres were left at 50psi to give the sidewalls a better chance. Although we didn't really notice a harder ride, the vehicle certainly did; for the first time ever, both Super Oscars fell to bits, without doubt due to the extra vibrations being passed to the vehicle through the harder tyres. They were reassembled, tightened, made good, but both would fall to bits (fronts coming off, bases vibrating loose) within a couple of hours' driving on the harder tyres, something they had never done before in weeks' worth of driving over the same tracks on softer tyres. Hal Harvey Perth 6 Hi Marj and Lloyd, Last month we fitted the new motor home body to our NT #196. The coach body has been fitted to Terry Mclaaren's OKA, and will become a camper too. The pics would have you believe that it is almost finished, but it is probably about half way. I must admit that it looks pretty good, especially since I cut the first piece of steel on Christmas day and I still have to work full time for a living. I hope we will catch up with you on the road at some stage. Please give us a call if you find yourselves in SA. Cheers,
Peter and Margaret Wright 16th September, 2004 Re: Brakes falling off I know the problem, I had it on a desert trip a long time ago. The pads, locking blocks and springs fell out on the track repeatedly. The problem could be simple to repair or it could be costly. You could have worn edges on each end of the calliper support bracket. Also the calliper slide retaining surfaces could be worn on both edges and allow the callipers to FALL OFF, not right off, as they get held on by the wheel rim going round!! But hopefully, it will only be the locking blocks that are worn. They are available from any of the OKA parts suppliers, they are Dana parts. Dana do mention that they have available oversize locking blocks in a few sizes. I have only bought standard size bits. I also found when this happened it also chewed up the pads. I made a forge with an air bed pump and Oka jack and lump hammer and made an over size one from a piece of star picket that I “scabbed up” from an old fence! 2 days later I also lost the curved long spring, it was made from a pair of circlip pliers handle forged in to shape. It got me home from Alice Springs. With regards to the steering column rattle, I replaced the steering shaft, UJs complete, spline and bearings and it didn’t seem to make much difference. I feel the noise is transmitted up the column from the steering box or tie rod ends! I find with the 900 x 16” tyres and OKA wheels running at 58 psi cold, front, there is very little noise and almost no shock coming into the steering wheel at 80-90 km / hr and heavily corrugated and broken roads. On the subject of air bags over leaf springs etc. – try Bob Clarke at Alice Springs OKA. For any further information, please give me a call on 02 4576 3309. Regards, Bob Etherington Hi Lloyd Thanks for the September newsletter. Denise said I should write and let everyone know about our breakdowns on our trip but you have already pointed out similar problems. During May/June this year we travelled to cape York (our 3rd trip in this area, first with the OKA). We had problems with our rear diff. We were north of Coen when we experienced a serve shutter, up until then the Oka was running faultlessly. On stopping diff oil could be smelt and looking underneath I could see that the pinion shaft bearing had collapsed. It was found that some of the crown gear bolts came out or had been sheared, one put a hole in the bottom of the rear cover plate draining the oil. Running without oil the pinion bearings collapsed. We removed the 7 rear drive shaft and removed the axles to check the wheel bearings (these still had oil). We then dismantled the diff to remove what was left of the pinion shaft, packed the carrier bearings in wheel bearing grease and refitted the carrier and axles. Refitted the rear cover, covered where the pinion shaft was and drove to Coen on the front diff. On further inspection of the dif I found that 6 of the 12 bolts were out, one of these had sheared off as the broken stud is still in the crown gear, and the remaining 6 were still under tension. We rang Super F Spares in Melbourne about Dana 70 diff spares. Glen Cullen knew the dif and advised that there were four different series in the dana 70. Bearing numbers identified the model. All parts were air freighted to Cairns and then transported to Coen (TNT service is another story). We rebuilt the diff and continued on our trip. A week later we started loosing power steering fluid from the steering box. We got as far south as Morton Telegraph station where we stayed while this was repaired. Morton was run by Steve and Angie, and it turned out that Steve drove OKA's on the cape for 7 years for Oz tours and was very helpful. Wayne, one of the mechanics, at Oz tour put us onto Pinks Power Steering in Cairns for the steering box repair. Steve also told us of the usual breakdowns that the had on the cape, most due to the corrugations. The steering box leak was common, air conditioner pump mounts break, damaged rear diffs due to the crown gear bolts coming loose, the brake caliper springs falling out (he used to keep them spares on board the Oka), broken main leaf on the rear springs (at eye) and broken spring eye bolts. While we were at Morton Savanna tours with an Oka and Lindsay Black from Oker tours came over to see us. Lindsay was 3 days behind his schedule due to a blown rear dif in Sesia. He gave us Paul Notts phone number for spares parts. Lindsay left Morton in a hurry to make up time and had a wheel bearing fail on one of his trailer wheels and rolled his trailer 7 klms south of Morton. Steve and I went and dragged it back to Morton. On returning home I rang Paul Nott and he referred to Lindsay's Oka and he knew about his trailer rolling. Paul told me that the crown gear bolts are very common to come to loose, especially if towing, and said that Oka advised operators that the crown gear bolts should be retensioned ever 25,000 klm. Retensioning these bolts may prevent other members experiencing the same failure in the future. wchadwick@ozemail.com.au Suggestions/Tips Use Low Range In some circumstances, e.g. tight manoeuvering, I have found reverse gear to be too fast. In these circumstances you are caused to slip the clutch, which OKA recommends you don’t do with the original ceramic clutch. To overcome this problem, I select low range and with the free-wheeling hubs unlocked, the vehicle is still virtually a 2WD. But now you have much more control as you reverse at a slower speed. An added advantage is that the whole front drive train up to the free-wheeling hubs get turned over and lubricated. I have developed the habit of doing this every time I back the vehicle out of its shed, purely to lubricate everything. Thoughts on the Organic Clutch I installed an organic clutch just over 12 months ago. So far I am more that happy with the result. Some of the advantages are: ! It is smoother than the original ceramic clutch, ! I feel it is a lot kinder on the whole transmission, as the take up of power is a lot smoother, ! I can now comfortably take off in 2nd gear on a slight down hill grade, ! The only negative is that with the clutch free-play adjusted correctly, the clutch pedal has to be fully depressed to disengage the clutch Michael Hession FOR SALE: 8 From: "A & PA Payne" To: Yüklə 2,02 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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