Vanlife: A disconcerting squeaking / scraping from the back

The van is lovely but I'm still working through mechanical problems before I head off on a longer trip.

So far I've had to replace the differential and rear bearings. I noticed that the radiator coolant warning light would come on after starting for a while and asked the guys at the garage to check it out - they said they couldn't see a leak.

Last Sunday, driving back from Dural with John, VK2ASE on board, there was a noticeable squeaking sound from the back. It stopped after a while but when it started again I drove to the service place and took a bloke for a drive to demonstrate.

It turned out that a rubber dust seal had come lose and was rubbing so nothing major happily. No charge so that was nice. The next morning they rang and asked me to bring the van back as someone was worried that he'd forgotten to tighten something.

Today I noticed radiator coolant leaks each time I parked. No overheating according to the temperature gauge. I had topped up the coolant quite a bit when the light was coming on so perhaps I'd over filled it but today I see that the overflow tank is empty.

I'll call my very close friend now, Jason in the morning for a chat about that.

Good news, the electrical box is gone

You might recall there was a rather large box containing two dead batteries and a bunch of mysterious wiring when I first got the van.

Inside was a mix of some very nicely done wiring along with some very poor wiring. There was also a cable from the starter battery and a relay that should let the alternator charge the living area battery when driving. Turns out that the inline fuse has blown so that wasn't working. In the end I moved my 150AHr battery under the bed and have completely removed the big box.

Lots more space now but I miss the switches. For now I'm happy to simply plug things in to the Anderson Powerpole box I've mounted on the wall but later I'll mount switches somewhere for convenience.