Dust Coming In through Four Seasons Roof Hatch

Hi Gizmo

Just cut some 2 inch foam I think 64 CM square and place on the ceiling lip inside the van under the hatch. No more dust

Scott

I agree with foam from Clark Rubber idea. I got a square cut by them a smidge bigger than the hole so a tight fit was made. Just fold it to insert. I actually got the end piece of foam from the block. Then paired a margin, (for flexibility) equal to the inside lip of the hatch. That leaves a firmer centre making it more stable.
* When taking it down at next stop do it carefully as some times there's a lot of dust on it.
I also always check for a window which may have had its catch miss pulling it closed completely. cheers

We too use a piece of foam - around 4" thick - when travelling on dusty roads. It doesn't collect much so dust through the four seasons as when I bang the foam outside every now and then and hardly any dust comes out of it. Our previous van was a very old wind up camper. We'd get practically shovel loads of red dust out of it each night, particularly all over the beds from the four seasons, so we have always used the foam which we inherited from the previous owners. Most dust comes in through the door vents.

Motherhen

Thanks to all for the suggestions re the foam I hadn't thought of that Simple Fix Duuh!
Cheers

G'day Gizmo,

We tried a scupper vent and found that it is very effective when it comes to dust. We still use the foam square in the hatch, as well as a 50mm foam slab between the door and dust door. However, we still get some dust intrusion when we have the tinny on the roof of the LC100. Seems to create an updraft that sends some dust into the scupper vent.

Our van is 2002 with well over 100,000km, probably about 40,000 on dusty roads.

We have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a dustproof van and therefore accept that we do have to wipe some dust off the surfaces some of the time. Vacuuming and washing the bed covers is still routine, just as it is in a house!

We very much enjoy our BT lifestyle and putting up with a little dust is just part of it.

Happy travels.............Rob and Liz

Dust in the van .......Honestly one problem we have never had, and the van has travelled many dirt roads, Gulf Savanah, Plenty, Birdsville, GRR, Oodnadatta, Merinie loop etc etc

We do not use foam or anything on any vent except i taped over the door vent, and our fridge is internally vented. We gave up wiping around the inside of the 4 seasons to see if dust was getting in as the cloth was always clean. Our hatch is the same as everyone else's not 100% sealed.

Why have we had it so good?

Possibly placement of where the hatch is on the van and the aerodynamics of vehicle, i have read that 200s owners are saying the shape of the vehicle causes more dust to blow over the van than the 100's.

It's very much to do with the aerodynamics. On our trip up the Darling in 2008 (dirt all the way) we got no dust through the four-seasons hatch. Then in 2009 I made an aluminium box for our metal detectors and fitted it on the 100 Series roofrack, and dust poured into the hatch. We had to use the piece of foam for that trip.

This year I'm fitting a aluminium deflector to one of the solar panels that is mounted directly in front of the hatch, and also a deflector for the front of the roof rack of the Landcruiser. However without a convenient wind tunnel to carry out some tests, it is a suck-it-and-see solution, and we will have our piece of foam with us just in case.

This problem has been brought up before, maybe on Steve's forum, and it was mentioned that Kedron's always put the hatch behind the air conditioner unit, but apparently that can also create other problems.

Regards,

Col and Diane

Hi there,

We, like Mick & Vickie have not had any problems in the last 3 years with dust except for the door vent which we taped up. Although just recently we have put a tinnie on top of the effie but we haven't tried it on dusty roads yet. We are looking for a wind tunnel big enough to take the truck and van to test the aerodynamics.

Lola & Wayne

Hi All

Hope everyone is having a great time out there, dust & all. Currently planning our Kimberley trip, leaving Briz around early May, so that will once again test the 4 Season's hatch dust 'proofer'.

To be honest we haven't had a problem with dust entering through the 4 Seasons hatch however as a preventative measure we use one of those approx 15mm thick floor mats; which fit into the opening perfectly; and cover it with either newspaper sized to suit or a light cloth. Our mats are the type with holes in them, thus the need for the paper/cloth cover on top of the mat.

We also fit the mat only, on those nights preceding any morning when we may wish to sleep in a little (Happens a lot actually, especially if the fish aren't biting or the night before's happy-hour covered several hours) , as it significantly reduces the early morning light while the holes still provide flow-through ventilation.

Happy & safe travels

Greg