When you own a 4WD it’s easy to want to add all the bells and whistles to it, so you have the biggest and baddest rig out there, but before all the mechanical upgrades there are definitely a handful of simple 12v accessories that you should add to your setup for the ULTIMATE 4WDing and camping setup to be the envy of everyone else on the tracks, and they can be done easily, on a budget and in your own driveway with simple hand tools!

DUAL BATTERIES

If you’ve spent any time camping out of the back of your 4WD there is no doubt in our mind you’ve considered adding more 12v accessories to make camping simpler and easier such as LED Camping lights, extra cigarette/USB sockets for phone charging and blasting the radio for campsite tunes to set the mood!

If this is you then a Dual Battery setup is imperative, by adding an additional 12v Deep-Cycle battery like the Adventure Kings 115AH AGM battery and some form of isolation, you can keep the secondary battery topped up from your alternator whilst you drive and completely isolated when you are camping making sure you can always crank your starter motor in the morning, this is an easy install with a CTEK D250SA, built with an integrated isolator and smart 5 step DC-DC charging, this setup will intelligently ensure that no matter what you attach to your second battery (batteries) you will be able to easily start your 4WD!

This setup also has a connection for attaching an unregulated solar panel like the Kings 110W panel which it will regulate with it’s internal MPPT voltage regulator for maximum efficiency.

UHF RADIO

More than just cool factor, a UHF Radio is one of those accessories that you MUST install for remote area travel, a well set up 5W UHF radio like the Oricom UHF380PK, include a 6.5dBi raised feed antenna, this setup is compact, with the main body of the radio hiding underneath your dash, with all of the important controls being easily accessible on the hand unit, allowing you to scan, squelch, listen and transmit up to 25km or more in ideal conditions.

A UHF radio is very simple to wire, simply run the included cables directly from your battery through the firewall to where you have mounted the unit with your included mounting kit. The antenna cable uses a clever removable plug which allows you to fasten one end to the antenna and pass the cable through the firewall and reconnect without needing any soldering or special electrical knowledge.

Once everything is wired and the brackets all connected you are ready to go in under 15 minutes. A UHF will offer cost free transmissions in both convoy and emergency situations, and when coupled with a repeater station using Duplex mode, can reach hundreds of kilometers!

LED DRIVING LIGHTS

A set of LED driving lights has become a more popular modification to many vehicles, and is often done before many other mods, as clear vision whilst driving at night can make the difference between arriving safely and not arriving at all.

A set of Adventure Kings 9” Domin8r LED Driving Lights offers a staggering 22,970 Lumens and can reach out to 863m with 1 lux of light, with standard (12v 60/55W) H4 high beam globes only put out around 1,450-1,500 lumens. You can imagine just how much of an improvement these heavy hitters are.

So far all of the listed modifications have not required any complex wiring, and neither will this one!

The 9” Domin8r LED Driving Lights include an easy to install, plug and play wiring harness, which even corrects for negatively switched vehicles like LandCruisers and Hilux’s, simply plug the included H4 or HB3 Connector in between your vehicles high beam globe and the plug on the rear, fasten the positive and negative wires to your vehicles battery, and plug the waterproof deutche connecters to the rear of your 4WD’s brand new LED Spotlights and everytime you hit the high beams, you’ll have clear vision hundreds of meters down the track and coupled with a set of 9” Spreader lenses, you’ll have clear vision wide into the bushes on either side of the tracks!

REVERSING CAMERA

If you have little ones running around this one is important! You may have a big 4WD but there are limitations to your vehicle, the most critical one being that you have severely limited vision out the rear, down low. For this reason it is becoming popular to install an aftermarket reversing camera to the rear of your 4WD so you have unrestricted vision behind your 4WD.

The VMS Reversing Camera offers 150° of vision with its wide angled lens and will even come in handy when 4WDing, this requires a small amount of tapping into your wiring to make the camera switch on but this is simple. simply find the wires that your 4WD uses to power your reverse light and tap into the +VE terminal this will mean whenever your reversing lights come on your camera will switch on. The next bit is simple, just plug the RCA cable into your VMS Touring 700HDX and the reversing camera image will be displayed clearly on the back lit 7” touch screen for easy reversing regardless of the terrain or what’s packed in the rear of your 4WD!