After persisting with our Snugtop canopy for nearly twelve months and finding it was just too difficult to access items at the front of the tub even though there were side windows, we decided it needed to go and have a canopy that is more functional and easier to use.
The canopy sold within a day of placing the ad on Facebook, along with our Engel fridge, Enerdrive lithium battery and 40 amp DCDC charger.
Trying to minimise the dust entry through the rear tailgate was always an issue, even though we purchased sealing kits from the States and fitted a scupper vent to the canopy front.
Our only real option was a custom-made tray and canopy that was waterproof and dustproof, made with automotive-quality rubber seals on the canopy doors that would eliminate dust entry.
So with all that in mind, we finally decided to go with GWorks, a Port Macquarie firm that builds canopies trays and fits associated accessories and best of all, it's all Australian-made. GWorks
We are again going with an Enerdrive battery system incorporating a B-Tec 200AH lithium battery, dc2dc 40+ vehicle/solar charger, 40A AC charger and a 2000W AC transfer inverter. A 180-watt solar panel will be mounted onto the canopy roof inside a 35mm low-profile full-length canopy platform.
To ensure we can fit our Silverado into our garage, we've had to limit the sizes for our tray and canopy. Our canopy will be 1700mm in length.
All the Enerdrive charging equipment is installed on the front wall of the canopy, and just behind this, a Bushman 85-litre upright fridge will be installed.
In the interim, we've decided to use plastic crates inside the canopy and only fit drawer systems once we've been away for an extended time to see if these will suffice.
We dropped our vehicle off at Port Macquarie early on Monday, the 15th of May, and by COB that day, the tub had been removed and the chassis scanned to determine what mounting point brackets needed to be made to secure the tray.
I organised to have Robbie Holmes of A to Z Imports at Currumbin on the Gold Coast upgrade the vehicle GVM. Robbie is an NSW VSCCS Certifier.
During the build process, I ordered wheel covers with the Chev bowtie to grace the tyre on the rear of the canopy.
