Roofrack for Hilux Pickup
 

Hi

Just wondering if anyone knows where I could get a roofrack for a Hilux pickup? I saw one on a newer twin cab toyota pickup which had risers at the rear of the cargo bay and stretched to the front of the roof. I guess it was specially made, as it looked like a commercial vehicle, but do you know where I could get one?

Also, has anyone got a rooftop shower on their 4x4. I figure a blcak 15L plastic oil drum (cleaned out of course), a length of radiator hose and the rose from a watering can could work??

Cheers

Dan

Rackwise, I know a South African guy who has a full rack on his Hilux, but its from SA. I can email him for the details if you want?

Showerwise, Ive tried a few ideas.

1. 5 gallon plastic drum (strapped to roofrack) with hose and watering can rose attached to tap - perfectly good esp in hot places where sun heats water up. Not that tough but easy to fix and replace. Vulnerable to bugs living in water unless you puritab (or similar) water first.

2. "Solar shower" black plastic bag with hose and tap, similar to above but purpose-made, about 20 quid at Billing. Fine, same limitations as above.

3. 12v electric goldfish tank pump connected to shower head. Drop pump (plugged into fag lighter) into jerry can and instant shower. If can has been on roof in hot area, instant warm shower. If used in UK, will stop traffic (eg in Ben Nevis car park in March)

4. Brownchurch shower/filter combination with built-in heater. Fab, but pricey and not overly robust.

5. Twine heat exchanger system - hot water on demand. Very civilised. Not cheap. Get one http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Re shower:

With a solar shower one side of the plastic shower bag is transparent and other black. The idea being that sunlight travels through the transparent side of the bag and through the water and then hits the black side of the bag. This acheives maximum heating effect.

Therefore if creating your own thermal shower, better to use a clear or almost clear drum and then paint one side of it black to obtain the same effect.

I have created a few white elephants on the shower front. They were heavy complex and took up too much space. In the end I did not take them.

The cheapest, lightest most problem free approach is to buy a thermal shower bag. The only downside is their size. In my experience you only get three showers out of them.

I now have a shower made out of a home brew drum with hose, rose and tap. Its works well but is uneccesary unless you are more than three people.



[This message has been edited by ctc (edited 06 May 2004).]

In North Africa most of the locals have their racks made by local welders, complete with logo of choice.

No reason why you could not get one made up when you hit North Africa, if of course you can cram all your kit in until you get there.

Brownchurch (www.brownchurch.co.uk) in NE London would weld you up a rack to any spec - though doubtlessly be cheaper in N Africa!

Huey

Not a great believer in vehicle showers - we had two for eight of us from London to Sydney (7 months) and never used either. Nobody came near us towards the end, odd that...

If you really want one, the only thing I'd suggest is not to put it at the rear door (where they seem to be normally) because you'll end up with mud being walked in and out of the vehicle afterwards. Also you'll want some sort of floor so that you don't slowly sink into the ground as you are showering!

Sam.