>Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
(>Pictures at the bottom!)
As I’m sure you already read in “the decision” and the travel report “pit stop”, there was a complete vehicle change after our return to Switzerland.
We stayed true to the Jeep concept with the body of Gazell (AEV-France), after various tests of other vehicle types and body types. We are simply Jeep fans and appreciate the compact vehicle that can get through almost anywhere and would never get stuck on any corner because of its size.
After securing the financing, we quickly found our new Jeep Wrangler JK, Rubicon Recon, built in 2018, on the used vehicle market. The vehicle was on the road for a short time as a representative vehicle (Jeep/CH) and already equipped with many extras. The only downer: The Jeep has no manual transmission!
From AEV-France we received very fast help for the conversion and were immediately invited to Thônes/sur Annecy by the company boss. The camping kit was changed from the old to the new jeep in 2 ½ days.
The further conversions and corresponding registrations were delayed well into November 2019 and put additional strain on our budget.
We had the following changes done by Calonder/Dietikon and entered them into the vehicle documents:
- Increase to 3’300 kg (OME); this resulted in an increase in height and a widening of the track.
- New rims (Bawarrion) and tyres (BF Goodrich) for the new total weight.
- Steel bumper with bracket (AEV) and corresponding winch (Warn).
- Snorkel (Safari)
- Washable air filter (K&N).
During the first vehicle inspection (Calonder/Kt. Zurich) our Jeep, as it was only equipped with 2 seats, was newly classified as a delivery van, which proved to be a great savings potential retroactively on the vehicle tax!
I (Tom) did the rest of the conversion work myself, i.e. the complete re-fitting of the camping body and external attachments, such as:
- New floor covering.
- Furniture (all parts from the old jeep).
- Changed sewage system from the sink.
- Raising of the rear axle ventilation.
- Trailer coupling (square) and electrical connection.
- New wiring of the additional battery.
- Installation of the side running boards (from the old jeep).
- Underride protection for engine, transmission and exhaust gas cleaning (filter) from Rival (Offroad Accessories/Vernier).
- Rear carrier over the spare wheel.
- Cyclone filter from Donaldson (Mounted: Feb. 2020/Turkey)
- Lateral sticker with mountain/forest motif (Mounted: Feb. 2020/Turkey).
For navigation we changed from Garmin to a tablet and now use the map material from Locus-Map.
Although the change and start with the new device from Sony and the map software required some practice, the following advantages stood out for us:
- Larger screen than on a GPS device from Garmin. The scenic overview is very good on the screen in case of any changes and the one new route is planned very quickly.
- The geographical maps offered by Locus-Map are relatively accurate and very economical.
- The tablet is held by a carrier of RAM.
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