Oka owners group newsletter
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Not withstanding a four tonne plus vehicle, this guy travelled light! We chatted about Hummers for a time until he noticed my OKA a short distance away. He had purchased OKA #004, the first OKA ever sold. Because he had contributed significant effort and advice to the Company during development, they agreed to waive their ‘white only’ policy for that first vehicle cab.
****Glad I could get people to think a little. Also thanks for a lot of ivilize stories etc. You simply can’t do that with a flexible chassis. The rigid chassis OKA196 Motorhome.http://www.oka4wd.com/xt196.htm
In June 2003 we were on our way to the Sandy Blight Junction Road in the OKA when we stopped off at Yulara for a night. Always having an eye out for ‘proper’ vehicles, I noticed a 2 door, matt green Hummer trying to sneak into the camping area and I quickly resolved to have a chat with the driver. The owner was one John Faulkner, a weathered man of very small stature but significant presence. He had just driven over from the West, cruising the Hummer at around 120kph along the Great Central Road via Warburton and Docker River. John was camping out of the back of the Hummer. He had a single burner gas cooker, a small bag of personal belongings and a swag. Two spare wheels and a tool kit occupied most of the balance of the cargo area. A pair of jocks was drying on the campground fence. Not withstanding a four tonne plus vehicle, this guy travelled light! We chatted about Hummers for a time until he noticed my OKA a short distance away. He had purchased OKA #004, the first OKA ever sold. Because he had contributed significant effort and advice to the Company during development, they agreed to waive their ‘white only’ policy for that first vehicle and had painted it (you guessed it) matt green for him. I had seen this vehicle in a used car yard in Sydney just two months earlier. It had had a body change and had been re-painted white. John had obviously enjoyed the OKA. When the new LT model was released, he bought one. It was in that vehicle that he had driven into a remote Aboriginal community in the Western Desert and he told me the following story. After he had pulled up and alighted from the vehicle, a full-blood Aboriginal Elder had wandered across towards the vehicle and spoke to John in broken English, “Is dis one of dem four cylinder ones mister?” “With dem turbo charge?” “Dis one got dem Chrysler transfer or dem Rockwell transfer?” To which the Elder responded with much waving of the arms “And dem loooong springs that make im like-a bitumen aaaaaall du way!” There are lessons in this tale: John Faulkner at near 80 years young has more off road experience and knowledge than anyone else I have ever met (except Len Beadell). That Aboriginal Elder in the remote community owned an OKA and he knew very well why they performed so well in the bush. © Peter Wright.http://www.oka4wd.com/xt196.htm
Drive an OKA and heads turn. ****Just a footnote; just had a call from Steve at S and E automotive repairs in Welshpool who has my Canter in for maintaince, bad news, the front diff housing on the short side is bent approx 3 mil, cost of CV.s from Skippers he tells me are approx $3500 and the list went on to an annus horibilis story so advised to put back together and we will trade her in. Its done 190.000 kls, for the record the Dynatrac Dana 80 complete front diff assemblies from USA approx $8500 landed tax paid. The Canterhad just been to Westralian spring works in Dowd St Kewdale and had new springs and shockies fitted at a cost of $2900 and then to Big Wheels Truck alignment specialist in Abernethy Rd and had all steering etc recon for approx 950 . Westralian Spring Works supply Oka their new springs and have stock on tap. I gave serious consideration to up grading the Canter springs to Oka springs but the red tape sprung the door shut. Its the old pick it up on the ferris wheel and lose it on the swings and roundabouts again. No more Canters for us their parts are prohibitive expensive, we will now seek a couple of single cab tray back Oka,s, I guess we’re victims all right. ****One interesting occurence that I just have noticed, Daimler trucks took over Mitsubishi trucks a while back, they also manufacture the mighty Unimog, they are getting ready for the launch of the Unimog U20 but I noticed that the only thing they borrow from Mitsubishi is the cab(from the Canter) no use of drive train or engines, another change is that Daimler opted for a rigid chassisis model is favourably priced, it looks like OKA and Bremach had it right with the chassis design...(U20 is coil sprung). to Big Wheels Truck alignment specialist in Abernethy Rd and had all steering etc recon for approx 950 . Westralian Spring Works supply Oka their new springs and have stock on tap. I gave serious consideration to up grading the Canter springs to Oka springs but the red tape sprung the door shut. Its the old pick it up on the ferris wheel and lose it on the swings and roundabouts again. No more Canters for us their parts are prohibitive expensive, we will now seek a couple of single cab tray back Oka,s, I guess we’re victims all right. ****One interesting occurence that I just have noticed, Daimler trucks took over Mitsubishi trucks a while back, they also manufacture the mighty Unimog, they are getting ready for the launch of the Unimog U20 but I noticed that the only thing they borrow from Mitsubishi is the cab(from the Canter) no use of drive train or engines, another change is that Daimler opted for a rigid chassisis model is favourably priced, it looks like OKA and Bremach had it right with the chassis design...(U20 is coil sprung). ****Glad I could get people to think a little. Also thanks for a lot of ivilize stories etc. However I have looked at Canters and things do add up Springs upgrade about 3k and the skys the limit, With coils now available for around 18k Then there is a winch around 3500 I wonder if the tourist operators will start heading back to OKA‘s
Does the new NT front nose fit on the old XT/LT? ****Up on Cape York, the Wilderness Challenge people have just taken delivery of 3 new NT model Oka’s. They’ve been waiting 5 years and they could have gone for other tour bus solutions in the meantime, so they must have a good reason to prefer Oka’s for their business. We’ve had offers to buy ours while we’ve been on the road from people who think we can get further than they can, so they also have some broader appeal. We are always the centre of attention when we pull up, which has its plusses and minuses. Personally we would not want to change. Oka’s are easy to modify and personalise. They are rugged and heavy but not unbreakable. But they are economical to run and they are fixable. Ask anyone with a computer engine management system which has gone wrong in a remote location. Then price starts to become less relevant. David and Janet Ribbans, in Burketown and loving the heat. Oka 148 ****My wife didn’t like our OKA when I first bought it as she considered it ugly. It is a black LT bus and does attract a bit of attention, so after quite a few people took photos she changed her mind to now being the proud co-owner. ****I’m still looking for an Oka, they command a premium even when rusty and have ****Hi Travis, there is a couple of things about OKA’s, these are...how can say.. special vehicles ,they may be pricey but they are fully rebuildable.. that is something that you can’t find with most of the other brands, if you can’t justify the price you must be like I was 5 years ago, I wasted a lot of money trying to save money, the end of the day you will not get better value for money anywhere, you don’t need fanatical about it but it’s a bloody good bus,(s% $#@ I got biased Again) ****Sorry I got carried away...Can you get a history with any other 4x4? The truth is that at least with an OKA 80% of the times Robyn can tell you where its been and there is decent people to help you out with the rebuilding process Burnt-out Alternator Cabling Heading for Mareeba, there was a quick burst of electrical burning smell. Not too much, and only for a short time, but we had both noticed it. Shortly afterwards, the ignition light started to flicker and eventually came on permanently. Then the rev counter stopped counting and then the alternator stopped charging. Time to investigate. Initially there seemed to be nothing wrong, I did all the basic checks and everything seemed to be fine, so we motored on to a more ivilized location to take a more detailed look. We weren’t worried about charging the batteries since our solar panels were charging them just fine in the hot Queensland sun. After stocking up in Mareeba we stopped for a few maintenance days at Mt Molloy where there is a very good free, but crowded, rest area. After taking the drivers seat out and removing the engine side panel I noticed some burnt wires from the alternator which had been tie-wrapped to the air conditioning hoses, themselves tie-wrapped to the chassis. They were in a bunch inside some plastic sleeving and thus fairly well hidden from view, and was one of the few areas that I had not previously done any work on. Remains of the burnt out alternator wiring After removing numerous tie-wraps and cutting off the plastic sleeving, I was faced with a mass of burnt and melted wires. Some were burnt brown but still working, some were just bits of blackened copper wire with no insulation and a couple had disappeared completely, just leaving their terminals and blobs of molten copper. The wiring after being sorted out It took quite a while to unravel what I had left and what was missing. Fortunately I had an electronic version of the wiring diagrams on my computer and I traced the identifiable wires and replaced them with new wire and new terminals. But the thin wire from alternator to the rev counter had disappeared completely, so I had to re-run a new wire from the back of the rev counter to the back of the alternator. After rechecking and tidying up the new cables I ran the engine and everything was OK again. It had taken the best part of a day to analyse and fix the wiring but what had caused the problem in the first place? The section of burnt cables started where they were bunched closely together in a plastic sleeve (which allowed them to overheat) and ended roughly where they were tie-wrapped to the air conditioner hose near one of the metal ferrules on the hose. These were close to the point where the valves are located to recharge the a/c gas, which we’d had done only a few weeks before. What I think had happened was that the edge of the ferrule on the hose had rubbed on the cables and shorted one of them to either another wire, or the chassis. The hose ferrules were not grounded in themselves, they might have also been touching the chassis. Maybe the act of re-gassing the air conditioning had disturbed the wires and hoses and caused a partial penetration of the insulation on some wires, and subsequent vibration had finally caused the short circuit. Since the wires came directly from the alternator connectors and were fairly low current signals there are no fuses to protect them, so we were fortunate that the short circuit was not sufficiently solid to cause damage to the alternator itself. The new wiring bunch, kept well clear of the hose ferrules Anyway, all was then well but to ensure it couldn’t happen again, the new cable bunch was kept well away from the hose ferrules. MICHELIN TYRES ! Before we left on our trip, Lloyd ordered 2 new tyres for our Oka (XT), and what he got were the more luggy XZL in the 255/100R16’s. This is a slightly taller tyre than the XY’s that were on the vehicle, but apparently that was all that were available. Lloyd elected to leave both these at home, as he didn’t want to be running on uneven tyres and couldn’t fit another (3rd) spare anyway. Between Menindee and Broken Hill, we had 1 tyre blow, and when we went to replace it in Broken Hill not only were there none in town, there were none available anywhere in any pattern. We have since learned that Michelin have a contract to supply the armed forces, and civilians only have access to those that are surplus to requirements, if any! After a phone call to Robin Wade, we settled on a set of the smaller 6.25R16. Robin has been recommending the use of the smaller tyre to other clients that have had the same problems, and says that any of the better brands of tyres are fine and the Oka’s steering seems better with these. The plus is that for every 4 Michelin tyres, you can buy about 6 of these. **************** Yes, this is an Oka. This vehicles is known as FAT ALBERT, and lives at Alice Springs where it does duty as a tour bus with seating 2 wide each side of the centre aisle. It hasn’t been much used during this winter, as it is only 2WD. That extra width would make it ideal for a motorhome – so long as you stay on made roads. It still looks like an Oka! ********************* Thank you to David & Janet Ribbans for their article on the Alternator, to Hal for the use of material from the Oka Owners Group forum, and to Peter and Margaret Wright for inclusion of the story of the Loooooong Springs, which was in a newsletter many years ago. Hi Everyone, OKA OWNERS GROUP (PUTTING PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT FIRST) NEWSLETTER Summer 2010 I am planning a shortened version of the newsletter this time, as I want to include our present membership list. I would like you all to check your names on this list, and if you have bought or sold an Oka or if your details are incorrect, I would appreciate it if you could let me (or Rowena Paterson) know, so that we can update. You will be aware that memberships for 2010 are now due, and you will find this year’s application form at the end of the Newsletter. Rowena has obligingly put banking details as well, so you will be able to pay online to make life easier. I am using some information I have gleaned from the Oka Owners Group Forum in the Newsletter as this will be of interest to all our members. If you have problems or questions about your Oka, if you post them on the Forum of the website there is sure to be someone who can help. This is a good source of items and even Okas for sale, as well as all kinds of other information about these trucks that you are sure to find helpful. We carry a list of available parts with our Oka Manual whenever we travel. We had a visit from Marcus Dziubak before Christmas. He is travelling the country demonstrating the NT Oka and we went for a drive in it. He calls it a work in progress, as he says that changes to improve the model are still being made. We found it rides well, (we would be surprised if it didn’t, as all our Okas should ride pretty well), and was very easy to drive with the automatic gearbox in this particular vehicle. The finish in the cab has been changed somewhat and is now more convenient. All round, it looks much the same, with the characteristic rugged looks of all Okas, but we are assured that it has been made even more robust. For your information, Marcus is the Sales Manager at Oka, and he is also the son of Angelica, who is known to ALL Oka Owners as the person who is so helpful and knowledgeable when you visit or ring Oka in Perth. Marcus also knows pretty much everything about Okas, or if he doesn’t he will soon find out, and he is very enthusiastic about the vehicle he is demonstrating. We were disappointed that he didn’t have time to stay the night with us. I am sure the rest of his trip will be as productive as the area he has covered so far. We are planning another desert trip this year, and in preparation we are upgrading our air compressor from the BlueTongue we have had for years that will only pump our tyres up to around 50 PSI to an Endless Air compressor that will run off the motor. George Philipson visited their factory a few months ago and did the research and ordered 3 units (1 each for himself, for us and for Mark Fishpool of Dubbo). George has already installed his and it is working well. Ours will be used in Oka’s farm vehicle mode to pump tyres for machinery around the property as well as for travelling across desert dunes. Ron Quigley has a similar set-up in his Oka, and he obligingly sent us photos of his installation. In my research (googling) I found that it is also possible to make up and install air-conditioning compressors yourself. 1 As far a the “single cab wobble” goes, David Ribbans has suggested that tightening the big bolts on the rubber mounts between the body and the chassis made a difference (2 at the front and 2 at the sides of the cab). He warns that these bolts might be very tight or rusted. I would appreciate it if anyone could send us a report of some of their outback trips that you have completed in the past year. This is where the Okas come into their own, and we would love publish of your adventures in the newsletter. We hope you all have a very satisfactory 2010. Marj Parsons (Editor) Fix the Steering Column Rattle (with thanks again to David Ribbans) The steering column in an Oka comprises a telescopic splined shaft and 2 universal joints connecting the steering wheel to the power steering box. The Oka manuals have good breakdown diagrams (Section 8 of the Parts Manual) and removal descriptions (Section 3 of the Service Manual). The shaft removed from the Oka. The lower UJ is still on the Steering Box. If the column rattles over rough roads, it could be the UJ's which are worn or loose, or the sliding joint. The plastic ring inside the column indicator switch assembly can also rattle but that's unlikely to be the real cause. You can check column wear by holding the lower UJ in your right hand under front of the drivers floor (without the engine running), whilst moving the steering wheel with the left hand. If there's any perceptible movement or clonking, something needs to be done. If it's the top UJ, the only solution is a new column assembly as the top UJ is part of the shaft body. If it's the lower UJ, that can be replaced independently, but both UJ's will probably be worn by a similar amount. They don't have grease nipples. Note that there are two sizes of lower UJ, one for the original Kirby Bishop steering box and a larger one for the TRW box. If the sliding joint rattles, it can be fixed fairly simply and at low cost. The shaft doesn't need to be replaced, or even removed. Although it's a sliding, splined shaft, it spends most of its time working in the same spot and when the paint has worn off the piston shaft, it becomes loose and rattles annoyingly on any rough surface, even though it is still quite safe to use. I have fixed my rattle by clamping an old urethane spring bush to the piston shaft and then securing that to the main body of the column using a piece of PVC pipe and 2 hose clips. I greased the shaft so it can still slide, but its movement is now heavily damped by the urethane bush and the rattling is eliminated. 2 column.
The black Urethane Bush clamped to both the piston shaft and body of the To ensure the hose clips cannot catch on anything as the shaft rotates, I surrounded the joint with a larger piece of PVC pipe inserted inside the rubber boot near the floor. A couple of small self tappers will hold this pipe in place. A piece of PVC Pipe to prevent the clips from catching. The bush and PVC pipe need to be split to be fitted around the shaft and column, so in theory, this fix could be done without removing the steering column, just the lower rubber boot would need to be removed. That can best be done by cutting it off with a sharp knife and then gluing it back together afterwards with super-glue. Removing the column is a fiddly job, so I would certainly try this approach first. If the column has been taken out, now is a good time to check or adjust the steering wheel alignment when wheels are in the straight ahead position, before it is replaced. Ensure that all the pinch bolts are correctly refitted to the UJs and fully tightened. I put additional lock nuts on top of the Nyloc nuts to ensure they wouldn't work loose. Endless Air Compressor & Tank: Endless Air compressor and tank Pulley specially made to bolt to main pulley; Bracket welded to Engine mount to hold 3 2 of these bolt holes are offset. compressor.Take care that the belts run true. Adjustment to tighten belt Compressor mounted with belt tight Removing Sound Shielding You all thought the holes in the roof lining were to let sound through so it could be absorbed by the foam layer behind. NOT SO!
That is all just a front to disguise the real purpose of the lining. Very cunning forward thinking. 15 years forward thinking in fact. The foam is there to absorb the water that comes in all the roof joints and the holes are to let excess out so it can drip on the floor - and the seats - and ... Am going to paint the roof with thermaguard anyway so that will block up all the seams after I give them a good scraping and prime and hopefully the water hasn't done too much damage to the seemingly sound lining in the crew cab. In the front cab, where the roof lining was totally shot, the roof doesn't leak anyway so figure that one out. Tony Lee Hello again, Has anyone found a good method of removing the foam sound shielding material from the panels? The foam is slowly disintegrating, and trickling down our necks through the little holes in the black vinyl...... The foam is glued pretty well to the panels, and I am wearing out my fingernails trying to get it off! Any suggestions most welcome. Cheers, Paul Oka at the moment is using Dynamat,their website is well detailed and this stuff is really good; here are also a couple of other products that a panel beater friend recommended www.dynamat.com www.megasorber.com www.stage1customs.com cheers Joe All off. Some peeled off easily like skinning a beast and what was properly stuck was removed with one of those cheap wire wheels driven by an electric drill. Didn't seem to damage the paint finish. Decided to remove the contact adhesive as well and wiping it over a few times with a turps-soaked rag softened it enough to be able to scrub it off with a coarse rag. Probably the easy part. Now comes the hard part of sticking new stuff on. Maybe Sikens will be a bit less sudden-death than contact adhesive. Tony Lee
You can buy them as disc to suit different size grinders from a specialty abrasive shop. I get mine from Blackwoods, over here in Perth I pay about $7.00 a disc. Cheers Joe Picked up some info on Soundguard Soundsorber Foams made by Pyrotek from Insulation Industries in newcastle. www.soundguard.com.au Several different configurations in three thicknesses and three colours - one whick looks identical to that fitted to the OKA. Have been enduring the rain of disintegrating foam since we picked 123 up a month ago but yesterday things 4 came to a head - quite literally. The perforated cover came right away from the foam and was resting on my head. Duct tape to the rescue but I have "replace the head-lining" as item 256 on my to-do list. Might move it up the priority list a bit. 25mm soundsorber 1350mm wide is around $80 per lineal metre so not cheap. Existing lining seems to be 15mm (although given the deterioration, who knows what the original thickness is), but there is plenty of headroom, so shouldn't be any problems with going a little thicker. Doubt whether the 15mm will be much cheaper. Yüklə 2,02 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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