Hard Lid Ute Tub: Touring Setup

This story starts the same way many good ones do.

A ute, a destination and 6 weeks to pull it off.

6 weeks to get a Nissan NP300 into touring mode.

Touring in a hurry

This was a tourer in a hurry.

I’d done camping, I’d done holidays.

But the possibility of 2 months on the road, how would I like it?

One way to find out.

I figured the best way was keep it modular.

Everything that goes in must come out and come out easily.

That way if worst comes to worst, the ute isn’t permanently mangled and you go nuts on FB marketplace when you’re back.

Non-Negotiables

With that said, it’s time for the necessities.

The trip was a run down the coast from Surfers Paradise to Melbourne.

The plan

Righto, so the plan is whack on a hard lid.

I was sold on the Utemaster, essentially giving my car another roof rack and safely lock my gear.

It also followed the modular theme, being easy to take on and off, no holes in the tub, laughing.

With the hard lid sorted, everything can be planned backwards from there.

Electrical

This system has been designed to be completely removed and used separate to the car as a portable battery.

It also means it can be removed easily should it not be needed in the ute.

On that note, I didn’t use it as a portable battery once, so I wouldn’t consider portability a necessity going forward.

I added a few more fuses to the battery box because I wasn’t happy with how much of the circuit was unprotected.

Rather blow a fuse than my fridge or laptop.

The fridge is positioned beside the battery as I would be setting up shop on the passenger side of the ute, so the closer the better.

The fridge took some very careful planning because I wanted the biggest I could fit under the lid.

The reason for going for myCOOLMAN was that it fit with 10mm to spare.

Others of equivalent sizes were 10mm higher and would restrict the lid from locking.

The biggest issue with this setup is there is no room for a fridge slide due to how tight it is (maybe the shorter fridge was better).

I could still reach in and was willing to compromise if the alternative meant a smaller fridge or no fridge at all.

140Ah kept me going for about 2-3 days without charging.

I didn’t have solar and only used the DC-DC charger in between charging at parks.

Product	Supplier
Dual battery wiring kit	Kick Ass
DC DC Charger	Kick Ass
Micro blade fuse socket wire tap	Jaycar
Micro blade fuses	Jaycar
Lithium Battery 140AH Atlas	Aussie Batteries and Solar
Ardent battery box	Aussie Batteries and Solar
Battery Monitor with shunt	Renogy
1200 Watt Inverter	Kick Ass
175A Anderson plug	Jaycar
ANL fuse holder	Jaycar
ANL wafer fuse	Jaycar
85L dual zone fridge/freezer	myCOOLMAN

Water

Planning a spot for water was probably the most important for weight distribution in the tub.

So I opted with going along the headboard at the rear of the tub.

I couldn’t get my hands on a poly tank in time that ticked all my boxes, so I decided on a 100L water bladder.

The beauty of the bladder was I could fill it to 80L and the left over space was able to fit around the wheel wells in the tub.

It would also shrink with use, giving more space if I didn’t need the water.

I built a shelf under the bladder to act as the lowest point and completely drain

It was also good for storage of gear that doesn’t get used much.

The pump also goes in the shelf and connects to either the hot water system or straight to the hose.

Product	Supplier
100L Water Bladder	Fleximake
Plumbing fittings for bladder	Bunnings
Formply (shelf)	Bunnings
Marine carpet (shelf)	Bunnings

Gas

With water sorted, I plonked the gas bottle up against the opposite wheel arch in easy reaching distance to turn gas on and off.

I was not liking the concept of having to connect and disconnect regulators for two gas appliances – enter the 2 way POL adaptor.

This permanently connected 2 regulators at one time.

The Joolca has quick connect fittings so I modified the Weber Baby Q to have the same setup.

I also modified the hose to a 3m braided hose.

The gas bottle could stay in the tub and the BBQ could move around each side of the tub.

That’s efficiency my friends.

All up, setting the BBQ up takes about 18 seconds, with most of that time used by reaching in and taking the cover off.

The Joolca takes about 50 seconds to setup.

I hang it on a small j hook that is attached to the rails of the hard lid.

Then it’s just a matter of hooking up 2 water hoses, a gas hose and the hot water is on.

I purge all gas out of the system by turning the gas bottle off and letting the units run until empty and then pack it all up.

Product	Supplier
Hot water System	Joolca
Baby Q BBQ	Weber
Double POL adaptor	Bunnings
Quick connect gas fitting	Bunnings
3m braided hose	Bunnings

Tools, pantry, accessories

There isn’t a whole lot to how this is setup.

A tool bag for the tools, a reusable bag for the pantry items and a couple bags with spares and recovery gear.

The back seat became the designated area for the tool bag, pantry items, camp chair/table and clothes.

I kept the pantry items on the back seat.

I had heard a few stories of some rogue bush turkeys getting into the food so in the car it was.

Clothes and towels were also on the backseat.

Tools were in the footwell with the camp chair and table.

The spares and recovery gear was in the tub under the water tank shelf.

Finally, utensils were beside the Weber in the tub, along with cleaning items like dishwashing liquid and sponges.

The other item I haven’t mentioned is the 270 awning.

This thing was a breeze to setup and meant I could be completely dry, had an inbuilt wall and accommodated the hard lid.

Best part was it doubled as a clothes line on washing day.

Undies out the back for the neighbours sake of course.

Kiss, marry, kill

I think we all know how this works.

Things that were good, things that were elite and things that can fk off.

Kiss

Hot water systems, ahh such a contentious issue.

I love them, if something allows you to stay out longer, why wouldn’t you do it?

The only downside is if you’re doing an east coast trip in summer, chances are there isn’t a whole lot of bush camping.

Meaning you’re either pulling dodgy’s in a carpark or in a caravan park.

Both places you probably won’t need hot water for.

So for this style of trip it is not entirely necessary because a cold shower on a warm summers evening is not that bad.

Marry

Dual battery system, fridge and Weber.

I won’t leave home without these items on another trip.

Power for fridges, camera gear and laptops was always reassuring.

Having the battery monitor was killer for always staying on top of consumption.

The fridge is pretty self explanatory but I typically used the fridge as dual zone fridges.

Apart from wanting an occasional ice cream, no freezer didn’t bother me.

The convenience of so much space with twin fridges meant I could plan dinner for nearly a week.

The weber is right up there with my favourite bit of kit.

Baked fish, steaks, burritos, schnitzels, Kilpatrick oysters.

The only thing it can’t do (efficiently) is boil water but a $20 butane stove sorts that out.

I love the weber and cooked on it most nights for 2 months and I didn’t even finish the 4.5kg gas bottle.

Kill

Tables that take longer than 60 seconds to setup.

I couldn’t wait to send the filleting table back into the garage at home.

It was something I used twice and was just a hassle to setup.

It’s not a bad table and has a time and place.

It just isn’t that ideal as a touring table.

My preferred was a Kmart table that took about 8 seconds to setup and was slim enough to fit just about anywhere.

Upgrades n’ updates

The sleeping situation

You’re probably wondering what the sleeping situation was.

I rocked an Ironman rooftop tent, but since completing the trip and understanding roof rack limits, I’ve realised that it was a little heavy.

So technically I can’t really suggest it on a Rhino Rack platform.

Legally, this setup will be fine with a swag strapped straight onto the hard lid.

The struts can lift a fair bit of weight and rounds off the setup.

I absolutely loved having the roof top tent, nothing beats setting up a tent in 30 seconds flat.

Here’s the upgraded version, rooftop tents included.

Slides and Drawers

Having a fridge slide will make the setup a touch easier to use.

There was more than enough of an opening to get food out, it just became an issue when removing the wire basket.

A drawer would make a difference in keeping things organised and not needing a bunch of woolies bags.

Towards the end of the trip, tidiness does start to dwindle but drawers can help keep mess at bay.

Updates

The first trip was a massive learning curve, here’s how the setup has changed.