Vehicle
From the front to the back and outside working our way in.
The mechanical preparation for the car wa done by a company based in Peterborough ‘Footloose 4×4′. I chose them because they are leaders in the field. The owner Paul Marsh has extensive overlanding experience and the mechanics are all landcruiser specialists. So the work we had done at Footloose is as follows.
We replaced all four sets of wheel bearings, new CV boots and joints on. Just a word of warning, if you have a pre 1995 Landcruiser 80 you will need the shorter version of the joints. We only realised this once we had them in. While we had the front axles strapped down we replaced all the hub seals. They are notorious with all landcruiser models. Once we had reasembled the axles, this is important, I say we because at Footloose our mechanic Graeme allows you to get your hands dirty. He guides you trhough the disassembly and reassembly of all the importantn moving parts. We thought it would be important to replace al the discs and pads for the car. From the brakes we moved on to the suspension . We installed 2″ TJM heavy duty springs and shocks. So far they are holding out we’ll see as our vehicle is slightly overloaded.
Moving onto the engine bay we installed a Safari Snorkel with a Dobson pre-filter. All the driving belts as well as the radiator cap was replaced. I intended having the big end bearings replaced, but never go around to doing it. All the fluids diffs, gearbox and transmission were replaced. Now to the accessories. We will start with our tyres. The come in the form of Cooper Discoverer S/T’s 10 ply All Terrain tyres with fairly aggressive tread. The main reason I chose them is for their longevity. Our friend Tim Dennis has driven more than 66000 miles on his set and they are still going strong. These wonderful tyres were also sponsored by Cooper Tire. Pro-Edge has sponsored Puncture Safe technology which prevents tyre blowouts and maintains the tyre pressure.
On the front of the Landcruiser we have a TJM T-15 bullbar. Another word of warning this bullbar does not come with a high-lift mounting points. To the top we go. A large chunk of our accessories go here. It is all promptd and our Patriot roofrack which was intended for a rangerover, but we had it modified by Patriot themselves to suit our Landcruiser. We use this roffrack to mount our four 100W Wipac driving lamps, spare tyre, bridging ladders, jerry cans and Howling Moon Deluxe rooftop tent. This product was also donated by Howling Moon. The last exterior feature is our reversing spotling, which is infact a garden light which I modified slightly to fit onto the roofrack. It’s really strong as it has a 55W lamp in it.
Now onto the interior. We will start with the safety features and then on to the creature comforts. Safety feature No. 1. We have forward and reverse facing cameras which are always recording when we drive. These were loaned to us by Pro-Edge to test their new system, Eye-Data 360, hopefully our testing work will help make good a big donation to Street Kids International. From the cameras we move onto our satellite tracking which is feature No.2. We will be tracked globally by Isotrak which links into the EyeData 360 system. This should put Mom’s heart at ease. Feature No.3 we have installed two 1kg fire extinguisers, one mounted int eh front between the seats and one at the back. Both are very easily accessible. Our first aid kit, Life Systems Mountain Leader Expedition, together with medicines have been placed near the right rear passenger door in a cool spot.
Lastly onto the practicalities nd coforts. Starting in the front we have heavy duty canvas seat covers which we got off ebay for only £40. Moving little further back we removed the right rear seat and this is where I have mounted our Engel MT44 Fridge Freezer. We also keep our highlift jack on the floor behind the front seats and our “washing machine” which is a water tight marine dry keg which we found on a website called Solent Plastics on the rear seat. On the roof we have a cargo net, to hand our jackets in, but have since discovered it makes a great place to hang our damp washing while we drive. Silve made material covers for the rear window to keep out prying eyes. The are attached by velcro so are easily detachable if we ever had passengers. Behind the rear seats I have installed a backboard which I made from 12mm ply wood then covered with carpet. On this we mounted a 600W invertor for charging all our electrical appliances. Now the back is where we have done a lot of work. We didn’t buy a prebuilt system, but made our own. Together with a friend we made I storage sytem out of 18mm ply and plastic boxes bought from Solent Plastics once again. We used two sized 600x400x300 and six sized 400x300x300. This would keep everything from tools and spares to food and books. Five boxes fit underneath and 3 ontop. Also ontop is 2 water jerrycans and 2 gas bottles secures down. I designed it so that the gas bottles are accessible from the rear slide windows for cooking. Our camping table folds flat onto which we’ve placed our clothing bag. To the right of the storage system is the leisure battery and National Luna split charge system, which I wired together with the help of a friends Dad. To the left of the storage system we store our compressor, shower curtain and camping chairs. There is another cargo net in the rear, where we store our ‘cold’ clothing and roll-up mattresses for the Aswan Ferry. The rear window is boarded up in order to mount the rear facing camera, but also to mount LED lights for when we have the back open at night. This too is covered with carpeting to cover the wires.