Known issues with Telstra pods

[Bakes]

Ladies , gents and everyone in between,

Just thought I'd share some knowledge given to me by lads that repair our beloved camping pods. More specifically, things that can go wrong and what to watch out for during maintenance or buying one for your dream camper. It should be known however, I rate my pod highly and believe both manufacturers do a top rate job fabbing these pods up, which is probably why most of us want one.

If anyone would like to add to the list, it may well be a good reference for someone to check before buying one.

[Bakes]

Hinges.

The black plastic hinge that ships with the pods are good while they last but as photos on other threads show, you can axe yourself when opening the side doors. People are saying they have a shelf life of around 6 years but some certainly have had them on for much longer. Things to look out for are:

Split plastic in the centre of the hinge
Perishing at the ends of the hinge
Plastic hinge breaking away from the pod surface
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Pod Chassis

Now I reakon it seems that north Queensland/outback pods seem to be the most abused pods. Inspecting some pods has revealed the aluminium channel rail parting from the base of the pod. Probably due to overloading?? My pod is from city Victoria and has been looked after well, hence everything is still glued together, however seeing some other pods from qld, it's certainly apparent that their former owners have tested their durability very well.
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T locks and door sensors

Some pod locks will receive the key but then turn but not unlock. My opinion is the barrels in the t locks aren't great. I've opted for the round high security lock for mine.
Door sensors, depending if they are working, need to be adjusted. They seem to creep out of alignment and if you have the alarm hooked up will keep getting false alarms.

[DX grunt]

Thanks

Today when I washed my truck, I noticed that the bracket that holds the metal mud flap up at the top of the rear fuel tank, is broken (cracked all the way through). Not sure how it happened, but will need welding/replacing.

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Door locks/sensors....... WD40 my locks and never had any turning/locking issues.
Sensors............The right hand one plays up occasionally. Not sure why, but I just bend it a little bit and all's good. Had a few issues with the buzzer going off when travelling on pretty corrugated gravel roads. But a bit of a bend, and it came good.

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Gas cyclinder compartment kept creaking. Soaked it in WD40 or silicone spray (can't remember), but it came good.

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One of the Telstra guys told me that the back compartment door is hard to open sometimes. Again.....WD40/silicone spray fixed mine.

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I went around and sprayed all the locks and haven't had any issues. In my case, preventative maintenance, helped.

Rossco

[Cuppa]

I tried WD40 in my pod locks but it was only effective for a short time, so I tried 'Dry Glide' aerosol lubricant & so far so good.

Mine is an 'outback pod' (Alice Springs) - very obvious from the extensive stone chipping of the underbody, chassis & door sills. Anyone have suggestions on the best way to deal with this? Just spray over, or take back to bare metal? More interested in a durable finish rather than an aesthetic one.

Only a month or so before mine was 'decomissioned' it had a complete new front diff fitted - must've hit something pretty hard I reckon.

Mine is a Rosscos pod. Could other Pod owners tell me how your pod is attached to the chassis. I get a few creaking noises when on uneven ground which I'm pretty sure is the chassis rails flexing in conjunction with the solidly mounted pod. My pod sits on aluminium pieces between pod & chassis rail. One person has suggested I should have rubber there, whilst another has told me that what I have is 'normal' & that I should expect a few creaking noises. I can live with the noise as long as I know that the pod can flex enough to take it without cracking somewhere.

Cuppa

[Bakes]

Gday cuppa mine came with 10mm rubber feet which are around 50x50. I've seen this on all the obeico pods around. I done get creaks when flexing so maybe try this.. maybe time rubber paint might fix your underbody. .
Steve

[DX grunt]

Mine's copped a hiding on unsealed roads, too. It hasn't rusted yet and adds 'character' to my truck. I'm gunna leave it for the moment.

The top support that holds the rear right hand metal mudguard has cracked right through - just below the top nut/bolt. Don't know if it was abuse or just driving on a lot of unsealed roads.

Rossco

[Stropp]

Cuppa I have probably been in your pod as I worked for the big T in Darwin and used to go to Alice and help out with the bush jobs, still have a mate in gipsland driving a Telstra pod as he still works for them.

[Cuppa]

Looks like the new suspension & exhaust will have to wait a bit as I've decided I need to do what I should have done before fitting out the camper. ie. deal with the creaking noises & repaint the chipped/rusty areas of the chassis. I've ordered some paint online. http://www.kbs-coatings.com.au/kbs-chassis-paint-kit-pro
Not a job I really want to do, but will feel better about it once done.

Went into town to Clark rubber today to try to get some suitable rubber to make some 'spacers' for between pod & chassis rail. Jeez I hate going to Clark rubber, I'm sure the job description for their employees includes the ability to be permanently surly & impolite, to pretend to have product knowledge when they really know jack sh*t, & to be covered in facial pimples! I can forgive the latter, but those first two attributes really piss me off. In a so called 'specialist shop' is it too much to expect them to employ people who can offer sensible advice? Grrrrr. The strips of 'insertion rubber' of the right thickness were only available in much wider strips than I need, with a minimum length of a metre sold. Was going to cost a small fortune. They had strips of a softer dense foam rubber strip, but I thought it may compress too much or 'push out'. I ended up buying 50mm wide strip of 12mm conveyor belt material but wonder if it will have enough 'give' in it. Only way to know is to fit it & find out (unless anyone here can advise on what might be a suitable type of rubber product???). It's gonna be fun trying to make holes to take 12mm bolts in the conveyor belt material. Thinking maybe a piece of pipe of suitable diameter, sharpened at the end, heated & then pushed/punched through it. Oh what fun that's gonna be. Not.

Stropp, do you recall anyone needing to get a new front diff fitted around 2 years ago? Would love to know the story.

Cuppa

[Stropp]

Stropp, do you recall anyone needing to get a new front diff fitted around 2 years ago? Would love to know the story.
Cuppa

No mate I don't, will see if I can find out any info.

[GUtsy ute]

I put heat shrink on the ends of the rods that hold the doors shut on my pod.
Then i drilled out the holes to the same size as the heat shrink.
Took away all the noise opening and shutting the doors and made the operation of the locks feel
a lot smoother.
The holes for the rods were worn oval, so killed two problems at the same time.

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af61/GUtsyute/carpetontopshelf004_zps26130025.jpg


http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af61/GUtsyute/carpetontopshelf006_zps6d6ce46f.jpg

[Cuppa]

No mate I don't, will see if I can find out any info.

Thanks Stropp. If it helps ...... Servicing was done at Kittles in Alice Springs. Vehicle ID was 764833 (rego no?).
At 135000kms in April 2010 the service record says 'Front diff crack'. I'm pretty sure I phoned & spoke to someone at Kittles before I bought the vehicle & got told a new diff had been fitted. Certainly there is no evidence of an crack having been repaired.

Whoever drove it obviously used it pretty hard, there are several occurrences of 'repair steering' in the service history.
I'm assuming a vehicle is allocated to one person rather than being in a shared pool?

Cuppa

[DX grunt]

Cuppa I have probably been in your pod as I worked for the big T in Darwin and used to go to Alice and help out with the bush jobs, still have a mate in gipsland driving a Telstra pod as he still works for them.

My service book says most servicing was done in Broome/Kununurra. There's a lot done at Duncan Nissan, too. Which makes me wonder if it was based in Perth and used as a 'country car' when the need arose?

[Stropp]

The Telstra vehicles are allocated to one person but can be used by others as the need arises, so like when I was working out of Darwin and went to Alice to cover one of the guys on holidays I would use their vehicle. Will see if I can contact one of the Alice boys and find out.

[DX grunt]

All guvvie vehicles are sold as one owner - but don't specify how many drivers!! lolol

[Cuppa]

Well I've had a bit of a win.
I mentioned previously that my pod suffered with creaking sounds whenever I drove on uneven ground. This had existed since I first bought the vehicle & I have been concerned that stress was being placed on the aluminium pod when the chassis rails flex, & that sooner or later I would see the pod start cracking somewhere.

I determined to rubber mount the pod I stead of the solid metal to metal fixing it had.

In doing this I lifted the whole pod by about 10mm (12mm conveyor belt rubber slightly compressed)

I have just returned from a test drive in which I took the vehicle on ground more uneven than I have previously done .......... And not a single creak, YAY, WOOHOO! :)

Having looked at another podologist's vehicle yesterday I noted his was solidly mounted, & he doesn't get any creaking sounds, so I now think that the issue was that the pod's lower support beam was touching the top of the shock mounts on both sides. Inserting the rubber has created a gap above the shock mounts which had worn a groove a few millimeters deep into the aluminium support beam.
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/12/73.jpg
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/12/74.jpg

Another issue worth checking for owners of the Rossco variety of ex Telstra pods.
The under tray toolbox on the passenger side is attached to the pod with 4 bolts through it's top & one near the bottom of the steel mudguard.
The top 4 bolt into threads just cut into aluminium & I found two of these had stripped & a third was a bit dodgy. My initial efforts to rectify this was to drill out the holes & fit nutserts. When removing the toolbox to raise the pod I found a couple of the nutserts were beginning to pull out (I carry a 3kg gas bottle in the box). When the box is in place there is no access to use nuts/bolts/washers.
This time I have replaced the box using an additional bracket at the front held by 3 more nutserts, 3 additional bolts through the steel mudguard, & 3 longer bolts through from above the tray, with a length of angle iron both above the tray & inside the box for additional strength. Hopefully this will keep everything in place. There is no doubt that without the additional attachments the box was waiting to fall off on a corrugated road somewhere.


I was surprised that the thing was only bolted into aluminium.

Cuppa

[threedogs]

Should never have metal to metal if possible, You may find some used timber to insulate them. Personally I'd be placing some very thick conveyor belt..It not
rocket cooking, use rubber and cut some spares for later

[Cuppa]

Hi TD,
Sounds like you are advising me to do what I've just done? :)

Cupparooni the creak buster.

[Sir Roofy]

Good on ya cuppa glad you solved the problem and looking at another pod must have given you
some insperation

[Cuppa]

Good on ya cuppa glad you solved the problem and looking at another pod must have given you
some insperation

Nah, it was talking to it's owner Roofy! ;)

[Sir Roofy]

nah, it was talking to it's owner roofy! ;)

i knew that lol

[macca]

Good result mate Great to catchup yesterday. You have planted some seeds of ideas too.

[emu]

I have worked with Telstra for a long time, have worked in every state in oz and can say that the pods in vic are the best, most gull wing door pods are used by techs and most are never given a hard time.
They are given to individuals and is their responsability to look after, makes it easy to see if the vehical has been looked after just through it's appearance, very rarely do we let anyone else drive our cars.
Check the winch, most have never been used.

Cheers

[Cuppa]

Thanks Emu. Your post raises an issue I have a question about, not just for you, but anyone who may know. My vehicle is fitted with a Warn XD9000 winch. Whether it has had much use or not is anyone's guess. The cable (soon to be changed to rope) looks to be in good condition, but it could have been replaced.
Since buying the vehicle, the lever used to allow the cable to to be free spooled out, or to engage the drum for winding in, has been very stiff. It can be turned with some effort, & works ok, just that it's very stiff. Working it back & forth has failed to make it any less stiff. Anyone have any idea what might be the cause of this stiffness & what might be required to resolve it?

[GUtsy ute]

[QUOTE=Cuppa;339020]Thanks Emu. Your post raises an issue I have a question about, not just for you, but anyone who may know. My vehicle is fitted with a Warn XD9000 winch. Whether it has had much use or not is anyone's guess. The cable (soon to be changed to rope) looks to be in good condition, but it could have been replaced.
Since buying the vehicle, the lever used to allow the cable to to be free spooled out, or to engage the drum for winding in, has been very stiff. It can be turned with some effort, & works ok, just that it's very stiff. Working it back & forth has failed to make it any less stiff. Anyone have any idea what might be the cause of this stiffness & what might be required to resolve it?


Hi Cuppa, I had to strip my winch, derust it and reassemble it with good grease.

As said by emu, it had never been used in 5 years and was seized.
It had been wet a few times me thinks.
Cleaned up ok and works perfectly although a little noisy.

[Cuppa]

Hi Cuppa, I had to strip my winch, derust it and reassemble it with good grease.

As said by emu, it had never been used in 5 years and was seized.
It had been wet a few times me thinks.
Cleaned up ok and works perfectly although a little noisy.

Is there much involved in removing the winch from the vehicle & stripping it? It might be the time to do it before fitting the rope, but I'm not keen if it's a big drama, given that it works ok.

Cuppa

[threedogs]

Really need some kind of routine with the winch. Most will just sit there for years on end doing nothing.
Then when its time to use them they wont, just use them a few times a years even if only to re spool them.

[emu]

I cant remember how long ago i used the winch, but i am always using good old blue/gold rope to jump start and pull out the odd van from a bog, i just find it easier to tripple up a bit of rope than deal with the winch.
i just checked the release pin on my patrol and you guessed it ..............couldn't turn it so i will make sure that nissan services it at the next service..................got to look after the future owners

[DX grunt]

I've just added my 2 x 125w solar panels to the roof. Pics to follow. Welcome Emu.

Take care out there.

Rossco

[Guesty]

Hey guys, I'm in the market at the moment for a telstra pod for my ST patrol. I was going to buy a slide on camper but after putting my patrol over the weigh bridge with a steel tray on the back I've decided that a aluminum pod will be much lighter and cheaper as well. What would a fair price be to pay for one of these? I saw a Rosco one sell on eBay a while ago for $2700 and that seemed reasonable to me. It was just too far away. I know of an Obieco one for sale not too far away from where I live but he wants at least $4500. I was thinking around $3000 cash would be fair? Depending on the condition of course.

[Cuppa]

Depending upon where you are ThreeDogs knows where there is a supply of them, no idea of the price.
You may find that you get a better response if first you go to the introductions section to let folks know who & where you are.
It's important to recognise that the forum is a 'community', & not just a resource.

Regards
Cuppa

[rafa]

From Muka?

How long you been there, we lived there a long time and my wife grew up there, we left in 07 are you in town nearby, I see Sothern X plates not MBL?