Alu-Cab Shadow Awning & Hercules Rooftop Conversion Review - Full Time Overland Travel Pros and Cons

Interested in supporting the channel? Join us for a coffee!
www.buymeacoffee.com/jackandm...
Exclusive videos and real-time updates on the memberships tab.
Get Our Cheap Eats Ebook | 50 Recipes From Life On The Road -
jackandmegan.com.au/store/p/c...
The best copyright free music for your videos (30 days free with this link):
www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
Join us on Instagram & Facebook for more content:
/ jack.and.megan
/ jmxploring
Check out our blog for more travel tips & itineraries:
jackandmegan.com.au/blog
Our current camera gear (2023):
• Camera - amzn.to/3MeL147
• Main lens used - amzn.to/40Hpsxs
• Zoom lens - amzn.to/3MySv1F
• Microphone - amzn.to/3KecyQA
• Drone - amzn.to/3GhxPrk
• Camera bag - amzn.to/3Byl60I
(Affiliate links- at no extra charge to you, purchasing from these links will help support the channel!)
#vanlife #travelvlog #roadtrip
About us:
We're Jack & Megan, and in late 2020 we sold our belongings and packed our lives into our 2005 Toyota Troop Carrier to travel Australia. Our original plan was to complete a full lap of Australia and return home to Perth to resume our 'normal' lives. We decided we wanted to document our lap for the future and began sharing weekly travel vlogs of our life on the road and fell in love vlogging, filmmaking and sharing our lives with you. We completed our first lap and couldn't imagine living any other way so we decided to continue travelling and calling the Troopy home. We have gone on some crazy adventures since then and it is all thanks to you tuning in to join us every week.

[@NikolaiGazdzik]

To avoid trapped water on the canopy I wedge large inflatable swim buoys between rafters and canopy. That way I still enjoy the floating awning without the trip hazards.

[@surfing4theloveofit]

Hey, try this to stop water pooling on top of awning, in-between each arm place some sort of heavy duty clip that you cam tie a guy rope to, gently pull down alittle and peg down, this will run off alot of water, and you can put a bucket under to catch rain water if you are low, I got some clips from bunnings that don't damage the canvas, experiment alittle this works, I do it cheers rick from Perth, Australia 🤗👍

[@itsJackandMegan]

That’s actually a really good idea will definitely try this thanks mate!

[@andrewheadland50]

Great set guys simplicity at its best yet👍👍👍

[@itsJackandMegan]

Cheers mate appreciate it we absolutely love it!

[@pmcpmc1257]

Nicely done! So quick and comfortable 🤩

[@itsJackandMegan]

Thanks appreciate it.

[@Davi.b]

Nicely done guys. Keeping it simple is the best way, I had so much gear when I started, now its just what I need. Got a van and a kings rtt, awesome set up

[@itsJackandMegan]

Cheers mate yep nice and simple. We are the same we are slowly loosing a few items as we just don’t require them.

[@bradbaston7186]

@@itsJackandMegan can I ask what you've been losing on the way

[@johndiaz7240]

We can only dream of a truck like yours , thanks for sharing.

[@itsJackandMegan]

It took us a long time to get it to where it is today mate! Thanks for watching :)

[@THESITESUPERVISOR.]

Bloody great video guys!! Keep up the content 👌🏻

[@itsJackandMegan]

Thanks heaps mate!

[@GirlByTheSea-12345]

Nice

[@silviogentile5622]

Great video, thanks!

[@itsJackandMegan]

Thanks for watching glad you enjoyed it mate.

[@iteotwawkiaiff8948]

I love mine but if I could make one change (hint hint AluCab) it would be to use solid rivets where possible. As an aircraft structures guy, solid rivets just seem stronger, and look better than pop rivets.

[@leebrowne8462]

Very good video …easy to absorb.Thank you

[@itsJackandMegan]

No worries at all mate! Thanks for watching 😊

[@racingescort1970]

Use the straps on your awning to pull down to the ground and that will make a gutter for the rain to run off

[@itsJackandMegan]

Thanks mate will give it a shot😊

[@bush2coast801]

Cut some PVC pipe to length needed. Slot it, so it goes over the Alucab awing poles. Tennis ball, cut a hole in it to suit the PVC pipe (Tight) and chuck it in the place you need it. No more rain pooling issues. Luv ya work and Videos :)

[@itsJackandMegan]

Thanks heaps I’ll give it a shot

[@ramblingprose6603]

Wind usually goes with rain so I would peg the canvas sections between poles, but if conditions are mild you could clip a surf sinker on

[@itsJackandMegan]

Thanks for the tip mate!

[@hugheshome]

Great Video! I think AluCab should sponsor you!

[@itsJackandMegan]

That would be awesome maybe one day 🤞

[@erikcele1604]

Nice! Wish i cloud do this to my new RAV 4 PHV.

[@itsJackandMegan]

You could defiantly have a rooftop tent installed on a Rav4 they're a capable car mate!

[@terrysmith1307]

Buy a couple of adjustable tent poles drill a hole on on side of a tennis ball slip over spike and extend under the awning where water pools not to hard or it will stretch awning work great

[@itsJackandMegan]

Cheers mate!

[@auladepiano]

We live daily on our troopy 2 years now. Alu-cab is great. Although we did some mods...

[@itsJackandMegan]

It has been 7 months now and we love it still thanks for watching.

[@alananile9504]

How do u get up in the night to go to the toilet ?? Do u need to wake the other person up and open the hatch where your head is ??? Love the set up .. pool noodles are good to . Just make a circle and put up on the bar of the awning. We do it on gazebo to stop pooling.. keep the good work up

[@itsJackandMegan]

Hi Alan we do normally wake each other up to go to the toilet but we have trained our body’s to not have to we stop drinking at a certain time so we can avoid the situation.

[@65cj55]

Cool, the awning just looks like it could of been mounted back further maybe, so the last arm has more travel to stretch the canvas tight.

[@itsJackandMegan]

Yeah mate it definitely would have helped! 👍

[@Connor-25]

Hey mate great setup! Have you noticed much in terms of drag and fuel costs with the extra height?

[@itsJackandMegan]

Thanks mate! Not too much, we get about 560kms to a 90lt tank when we are fully loaded. When the car was stock we would get around 600-650km from memory so it’s not too bad. With the box and inflatable paddle board on top it definitely does add extra drag and we are considering losing the box and paddle board at the moment as we haven’t really been using them too much. As for when the roof conversion was done there was no noticeable drag at all, I was very surprised!

[@jasonkay742]

how much weight is in those boxes on the roof? cheers isn't there a loop between poles to create a gutter?

[@terrysmith1307]

Bed tried the eggshell mattress not a fan if you are still looking for a awesome replacement look into 50mm latex topper for a bad back they are great

[@itsJackandMegan]

Will definitely look into this cheers mate!

[@leebrowne8462]

Would love to know where you got your camp cover bags with velcro ..i got the same alucab setup after seeing your videos…would love to store clothes like you have TIA😀🇦🇺

[@Chopperdoll]

Nice!

[@janelledouglas7101]

Saw a pool noodle placed between canvas & frame on gazebo. Maybe adapt to your amazing rig.

[@AliShooting]

Big fan from Kuwait

[@itsJackandMegan]

Hey mate thanks for watching 🤙😊👍

[@genevievemount4210]

thanks for the vids, super helpful when planning my troopy build. Can Megan set the awning and tent up and down by herself?

[@itsJackandMegan]

So happy to hear they’re helpful Genevieve! I can do the tent by myself but I’m a bit too short to reach the awning 😅😆

[@genevievemount4210]

@@itsJackandMegan thank you! yeah at 5'1" I'm thinking i might need my handy stool for the awning but hopefully it's still possible. I'm just hoping I'm tall enough for the tent! So sounds like I might be

[@debedwards1717]

We have a roof top tent which we access via a ladder. The only thing I don’t like, is getting up to pee during the night. It’s a pain in the a$se! And the other person in the tent gets woken up as well.

[@itsJackandMegan]

We have that same problem aswell 😂

[@daverayment9347]

Hey Jack Love your stuff mate What is the height of your truck to the mm? You have a 2” lift right? With standard rims and tyres (16’s) ? Might have to dig my driveway deeper 🤨😆

[@itsJackandMegan]

Hey mate sorry I must have missed this comment I don’t have an exact height but to the top of the rack it’s definitely around the 2.3m mark

[@daverayment9347]

@@itsJackandMegan That’s cool Cheers. I’d like to improve the suspension, not too worried about lifting the body though Maybe I’ll deflate to enter my garage 😋

[@aron2199]

Mate, what are you thinking opening up at 40-50km wind... use tie down and legs if you really want to deploy in wind speed like that... tie/pull down straps in between the arms and pull them tight to create enough slope for water to drain away

[@itsJackandMegan]

Thanks for watching mate. Yes definitely learnt my lesson and won’t be doing it again😂 Thanks for the advice on the water draining, will definitely give it a go next time

[@aron2199]

does alu cab awning has facility on the fabric between arms for straps to hook on to, so you can tie it down to create a valley between the arms, so water can drain away ?

[@itsJackandMegan]

@@aron2199 no it doesn’t it’s one of the major flaws we think. I think I’m going to come up with something and get it stitched on so that I can attach some string to pull that part down.

[@norafinley5216]

I like your car set up in the inside. Will it only works for toyota landcruiser? What cars can do set up like yours? Thanks

[@itsJackandMegan]

The Toyota landcruiser troop carrier and the Land Rover defenders can have the conversion done mate.

[@norafinley5216]

@@itsJackandMegan thanks

[@jasonmcneil3902]

Curious, when you pack up the tent wet, does it wet your bedding?

[@itsJackandMegan]

Hi mate, when the tent is wet we make sure that all windows are completely zipped up. We have never had a problem with water getting in. Only down side to having all windows zipped up is that when it comes time to pull the tent down and pack it up there is no way for the air trapped inside to escape, so it takes a little while for the tent to actually come down.

[@jasonmcneil3902]

@@itsJackandMegan thanks for the reply, I thought the moisture would sleep through the canvas when wet being folded up under pressure

[@itsJackandMegan]

@@jasonmcneil3902 surprisingly no mate it has not happened at all but in saying that we do pop the tent every day as we are full time travelling so maybe if we were to close it up and open after a few days it may seep through.

[@ralfralf9273]

@@jasonmcneil3902 I’ve got an alucab, and also have never had water seep through the canvas,there is 2 layers of canvas which helps and also gives a bit of insulation .

[@chrissmith2826]

With your awning just loosen it off a touch and then the water runs away in the channel that it will create between each of the posts

[@itsJackandMegan]

Thanks for the tip mate! 😊👍

[@999mrkhaled]

I love the alu can roof tent but it cost half the price of new troopy Why

[@itsJackandMegan]

It's definitely a huge mod to consider, to us it was worth it as we planned on spending 90% of our time over the next three years living out of it! Probably not something we would invest in for just weekend camping 👍

[@gungfuriceboy]

Troopy's Are SUPER 'RARE' in Canada! I WISH....Hercules Rooftop 'Conversion'...would SERIOUSLY Think of 'Manufacturing A 'KIT'...for the more common Toyota 4 Runner....or Jeep Wrangler in CANADA!!!!!..CHEERS!

[@itsJackandMegan]

Yes have heard they ar rare over there. Would be cool to see something designed for those kinds of cars. Thanks for watching cheers mate.

[@gungfuriceboy]

@@itsJackandMegan ..yes they have The 'Ursa Minor' for Jeeps. ...but i don't like the Non 'Flip-up' bed! ...i'll keep hoping...'Hercules'..'makes the Move!! Cheers! Safe Travels Sir...

[@coastmtb8994]

What was the total cost

[@itsJackandMegan]

Hey mate for the tent and awning fitted $15,00

[@999mrkhaled]

Although this awning is 270 it does not cover the front door

[@itsJackandMegan]

No it does not unfortunately.

[@johnd4697]

how much is it?

[@itsJackandMegan]

$13350 for the tent conversion and $2000 for the awning 👍😊

[@tomtomlost9536]

Awning not giving enough coverage to call it 270

[@itsJackandMegan]

Thanks mate yes would be nice if it had just that little bit more coverage!

[@Mrdipsay]

1 sec over a minute ughh bugger

[@itsJackandMegan]

😂

[@fisher898]

I put a Fox Wing 270 awning on my Troopy. Biggest mistake of everything I've done to mods on Troopy. Contacted the supplier to express my concerns, did not even reply. Bad design and bad service.