Hello...

Hi my name is Shane and i live and work in Rockingham WA.
My Wife and i are keen travelers and have been all over WA 4WDing, we especially like the northern Coastal and Kimberly areas.

We have had various setups over the years including roof top tents, OZ tents, camper trailers etc. and have recently ordered a Travelander SC1 Jack of camper to go on the Land cruiser Ute, which will be ready April 2013. As we are getting older the little comforts have become more appealing, and getting in and out of bed in the SC1 will be far better than climbing up a narrow ladder to get into bed on top of the 100 series..

Anyway, i am currently building a plate alloy boat 6.1m and we will be wanting to tow this around with us, which is another resin we wanted the SC1 so we could tow the boat. We are looking at the option of purchasing a duel cab Oka for several reasons but mainly comfort compared to the Ute, Beach launching the boat and the extra cab space to take friends and family on trips away.

I am mechanically minded and have rebuilt a few 4wd's from the ground up including gearboxes, engines and diffs, i think this will come in handy if we get an OKA as they seem to be fairly easily repaired if you have a bit of nouse and parts aren't too hard to come by, which is another advantage.

Ill be keen to read the posts on the forum, and learn what i can about the OKA's, do's and dont's, tips and tricks etc.

If there are any OKA owners that are in the Rockingham or Mandurah area, that wouldn't mind me coming to have a look over there machine and givce me some tips, it would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome Shane,

Your mechanical skills would come in handy with a OKA. I suggest a trip to OKA Parts and speak to Alan. He has been with OKA Australia and more recently OKA parts. You just need to track him down, he gets busy.

Not sure where Joe lives, but he also knows a lot about OKA and has been rebuilding one for a few years at least.

Thanks for the welcome and info

Shane
I am down in Mandurah, anytime your down this way your welcome to pop in and check mine out.

Cheers
Chris

Thanks Chris much appreciated.

Ill PM you to get your details.



Regards
Shane

Just like to thank everyone on this forum for making it a great place to visit for information on the OKA.

The write ups and experiences from the members make it an awesome resource for owners and would be owners. Those of you that contribute and maintain this website/forum you should be proud and thank you.

My wife and I are off to see Robin Wade tomorrow and take an oka or 2 for a test drive, who knows what might happen.



Regards
Shane

Shane, you'll find Robin is no ordinary "car salesman", he is one of life's honourable gentlemen and knows his Okas.

He found our Oka for us in 2003 and I'm sure he won't point you in the wrong direction either.

Please give him our best wishes.

Thank you for you comments on the website, kind regards, David and Janet Ribbans

dandjcr wrote: Shane, you'll find Robin is no ordinary "car salesman", he is one of life's honourable gentlemen and knows his Okas.

Second that.
Say "Hi" from Peter & Margaret too.

Good luck.

What Robin doesnt know about OKA`s is not worth knowing. He has been around OKA`s since day one or maybe even before.

He knows about a lot of the OKA`s on the road still.

Very nice guy and will take care of you.

Hi Shane, we live in east freo and keep ours at cockburn, you are most welcome to check it out. Being mechanically minded and owning an oka is very beneficial. contact me anytime 0427956671 justin.

Welcome Shane

I'm pretty new here too and they are a very helpful bunch and the site is a treasure trove of useful information.

I spoke to Robin this morning and he was busy getting ready for, what I assume was, your arrival to take a few for a spin. I hope they didn't disappoint.

Sounds like one hell of a nice bloke.

Cheers
Tony

Thanks everyone, yes he is a great bloke and very knowledgeable. They don't make them like that anymore.

Anyway took Oka 423 for a spin and Lisa and i fell in love.

So we thought we would give it a new home, 7 hours later it is sitting In the back yard .
Purrs like a baby and such beast to drive, very comfy...

Our 16 and 18 yo kids think we are mad... But they are excited too....

Anyway hers a pic or 2......

Regards Shane and Lisa

You now have the bug for real/ welcome and enjoy

Congratulations Shane and Lisa.

It doesn't look like Oka 423 has ever been a member of our group before so I've added you to the " Where the Okas are " listing.

Nice work Shane

Been watching that one for a while. Always wanted to know what kind of treasures the back of that held.

Hi Tony, I'll take some photos of the back and post them so you can have a look. The south Australian government did a good job with the design of this, there is an extendable monorail with chain block at the forward area that goes out the passenger side for getting 2 spare wheels in and out. These are in addition to the spare under the tray. The inside is in 3 main compartments running length ways, with access from each Side and the back middle. There is also an upper and lower section on the sides. Great setup for camping.

It also has the roof rack on top for more storage, the doors on the back are all lockable and fold downward making them into a bench. The only door that doesn't do that is the back as it is too long so it swings on hinges to the right.

There is 2 extra batteries, in addition to the front left and right, sitting in the back, I haven't been right through the electrics but there power points both 12v and 240v all over the place, their is an inverter, regulator, isolator, etc etc. It looks like they went to a lot of trouble to set this all up as they really needed power for what ever the department was doing. Also it has a fridge slide that will suit a 40ltr Engel.

It looks heavy but well built and would make a good setup for someone who used a tent, plenty of room in their. We won't be using it as we have a jack up slide on/off Travelander SC1 due to arrive in April, so we will sell it and I will make an aluminium tray for the SC1.

I spoke with David Hallandal from this forum a few weeks ago about this OKA he said the SA Government had 2 of these units. This one is a 1997 model and has only done 165,000 km. The gearbox has been replaced and transfer case rebuilt by Robin. He also gave me some lessons on how to use the gearbox properly so it lasts. I was very happy with how the OKA performed driving back yesterday especially going up the hills coming back into Perth, it pulled like a train and has a lot of tourque.

I'll post pics soon but I might put it under the member vehicle section as I will keep adding to it when I build the tray.

Regards Shane

Shane
you will have to bring 423 to the gathering at Harrismith.
Check out all the OKA's & meet the other mad OKAites.

Brett

Welcome to the fold.

Robin is a great bloke. Good looking OKA and think a Double/Dual Cab maybe have been better for our setup.

How much did you pay in the end?

Hi Brett, we'd love to go but unfortunately we have already made plans to go gold detecting that long week end. Originally in the land cruiser but now in the OKA

We will make sure we make the next one.

Regards
Shane

Hi jack, we paid 42k which I thought was ok considering the varies prices for different body types and years of OKA's on the market.

I also didn't mention on my previous posts the winch it has which looks like is never been used in anger, and that Robin has done all the wheel bearings and a full service including oil changes.

Regards
Shane