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fmb123
Member Since: 04 Jan 2011
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 125
  
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check out this link (once on this link click preparation at the top then scroll down and click on vehicle.) this chap is a member of fullfatrr.co.uk (our sister site). he drove a new range rover from london to capetown. he went for the 19" wheels as well because he wanted to fit mtr's, even though his had come with 18". if my memory is correct he only had one puncture.
f
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 26th Jul 2011 3:19 pm |
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ralphhardwick
Member Since: 29 Jun 2011
Location: Norfolk UK
Posts: 23
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Thanks, but there's no link 
oops, beat me to it  Discovery 300Tdi
www.overland-rovers.com
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| 26th Jul 2011 3:21 pm |
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ralphhardwick
Member Since: 29 Jun 2011
Location: Norfolk UK
Posts: 23
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Thanks for that link.
It's given me some very useful info such as list of spares etc. Discovery 300Tdi
www.overland-rovers.com
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| 26th Jul 2011 3:25 pm |
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Wildrover
Member Since: 19 Jul 2005
Location: Walkabout
Posts: 628
 
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Ralph
What price are these James Baroud Explorer roof tents and what makes you recommend them over the howling moon brand
Just interested as in the market for a tent and there are quite a fs to choose fro 2007 D3 HSE Artic Frost Silverish
Wandering Aussie-Looking for SUN
Growing Old is Mandatory, Growing Up is Optional.
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| 21st Aug 2011 11:54 pm |
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TONY PROCTER
Member Since: 22 Aug 2011
Location: melbourne
Posts: 2
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Hi,
I will come clean, i've never been to Morroco so don't know the terrain, but living and touring Australias outback and deserts along with the arid climate and high temps I suspect there is some common ground.
I have heard of compressors overheating on corrugations, but have never experienced it myself, a good set of aftermarket shocks is a good failsafe though, I run German made Bilsteins on my Disco 3 here in OZ and the difference is hugely noticable on the rough graded tracks out here, definately recommend a set of those to upgrade the suspension if travelling on rough tracks for long periods in high temps.
The compressors have been know to fail and leave you on your bumpstops, but it is not really that common in truth, a great failsafe I have found that allays any worries I had when travelling in remote regions is to fit a "faskit" system (WWW.FASKIT.COM I think or maybe WWW.FASKIT.SPN anyway its a spanish site) that allows you to manually reinflate the airbags if the compressor does fail using a portable air compressor (which I assume you'd be carrying anyway to re-inflate your tyres to full pressure when back on tarmac/hard ground, you can do it with one of those foot pedal type bike pumps but I wouldn't as you need around 60psi).
If you do decide instead to go coils, a 2" lift wouldn't be a bad idea, I believe Old Man Emu here in OZ do a set that would suit that terrain, but don't quote me, there are some in the UK too.
If you go without the terrain response though you may find yourself wanting in sand, traction control / terrain response is not the best solution to soft powdery sand (beach dunes etc) and arguably the D3's only weak link offroad in comparison to mechanical diff locks due to it working on applying brakes to any spinning wheels, although perfectly fine on the more compact tracks and coarser desert sands we have here in the outback, but is certainly better than the open diff option, if you get the option though search out one with the rear diff lock from the factory, it certainly does the job in deep sand on my D3 here combined with pressures down to 18psi and Grabber AT2 tyres.
Hope that is of help, best of luck with the trip, Tony.
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| 22nd Aug 2011 7:38 am |
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grzesiul
Member Since: 11 May 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 6415
  
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Ralph
Lots on here will slagg me off to bits for saying it buy woulg with simples D3 available like my coiper especially in case you are going on yer own
It has proven to be awesome machine over 1000+ km of rough stuff in Romania with no failures at all
TR might be an advantage buy to me it disconect the driver from real driving and besides much less to go wrong
Underbody protection which proven to work superb:
Sump guard,rocksliders (although i was thinking of tree sliders as well), rasta gearbox/transfer case plate slightly modified to my liking, front wishbone plates from D44 really got beating
Will be getting rear diff platimg and some sort of fuel tank,plate like the one N4 4x4 does but a bit pricey
I will be going for roof rack next time prospeed one as i think it is best suited for streamlined emty travel and hold crap loads as proven on hered
Tyres for long Marocan trip Cooper STT tough b  ds or mentioned ATR
Fridge personal preference i guess
Upgraded coils in HD flavor all the way
cheers
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| 22nd Aug 2011 7:41 am |
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John Fair
Member Since: 03 Jan 2008
Location: Horning Norfolk UK
Posts: 178
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 How did you get landing approval for a D3? The truth in my humble opinion is that despite us all moaning about our LR's they have in fact been pretty well thought out and i suspect a lot more "get you home" is in built than most would ever come to realise. When we were driving back from Italy with our "major" problems and inability to exceed 50mph we cruised past an African spec. Landcruiser with the biggest black smoke cloud struggling to max out at 40mph. Bomb proof my ass 
Locking rear diff
Air suspension
Tool kit
Grin.
Guards just make you go places that you perhaps would not go if you were being sensible whilst a long way from home and as far as i have seen there is not a lot that would really be damaged beyond repair to get you home. Not being funny but if you rip the back axle out you probably were in touble anyway. Call round we have moved to Horning 8)
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| 23rd Aug 2011 3:44 pm |
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ralphhardwick
Member Since: 29 Jun 2011
Location: Norfolk UK
Posts: 23
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Hello John, fancy meeting you here I'll drop you a line to arrange a pint sometime. Say hello to Tracey and ask her if she has any jobs going  (I hate Aberdeen  )
I agree with you that despite much gnashing of teeth and tales of woe LR make pretty good machines.
I spoke with Paul Marsh of footloose 4x4 at Billing and he was trying to convince me to buy a Land Cruiser. the only problem was that he was recommending an 80 series that were only produced in the 90's. I have no intention of replacing a 1995 disoc with something that is only a few years younger
Wildrover
The James Baroud tents are a similar price to the Magiollina pop ups (£2k-ish) but are much better made. On Johns advice we bought a Howling Moon which is an exceptional tent. It was comfortable and quick-ish to erect. It withstood some pretty strong winds in Tunisia and some torrential downpours at Stoneleigh and Billing. I would definitely recommend them. However we became very envious of the speed of erection and packing up of the 2 pop-ups that were in our group.
Although HM claim that you can keep your bedding in the tent this does make it a bit of a struggle to put away each morning. Normally resulting in sitting on the (road dirt encrusted) cover to squash it down while you struggle with the zip. In truth it is not THAT bad but once we saw the Maggiolinas going up and down in seconds, whilst standing on the ground we decided that we wanted to go that way.
The James Baroud tents are very popular in Europe and Oz and have some very nice features which make them stand out from the Maggiolinas. Such as mini-awnings over each window so that you can have ventilation when its raining. They are gas strut assisted, so there isn't a chain mechanism to go wrong. The 'Explorer Evolution' has a solar powered fan to assist with ventilation and remove condensation and finally (and maybe not as important to some) they are avialble in any colour you like. The Magio's are predominantly white shells with blue cloth
I intend to order a black shell with grey cloth. At the moment I am waiting for a confirmed quote from a French distributor (they're not available in the UK) as I plan to fit one on my current disco for next years Morocco trip.
Tony
Thanks for the info. The website I found for FASKIT is http://www.opcionesavanzadas.com/pedidosing.php. It's a bit pricey at 385Euro but looks like a pretty good investment.
I am hoping to get a MSV2 fault code thingy which I hope will allow me to modify the settings to prevent the vehicle lowering at speed when you go over corrugations (the cause of the overheating, so I'm informed).
You are right to think that I would have onboard air. Just don't know what setup as yet.
I shall add Bilsteins to the list of recommendations so far.
grzesiul
Thanks for the reply. In honesty, both me and the wife, like our luxury (she drives a Freelander 2 HSE, which is a brilliant car by the way) so we have decided that, as the vast majority of the trip will be on roads, the benefits of air suspension outweigh the coils.
It would seem (correct me if I'm wrong) the main differences between the SE and the HSE are glass sunroofs and some extra bits on the sat nav display. The display bits can be enabled with the MSV2 and as it will have a bl**dy great black box on the roof a sunroof is a bit redundant. As such we aim to go for a SE spec (unless a cheap HSE pops up at the right time).
I shall definitly have some underbody protection especially as I shall have a fuel tank in the spare wheel well.
I thought the locking rear diff was standard, is that the case?
Keep the comments a recommendations coming guys. The vehicle may be a few months away as yet but I like to plan well ahead.
Thanks Ralph Discovery 300Tdi
www.overland-rovers.com
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| 23rd Aug 2011 8:22 pm |
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D4JWW
Member Since: 20 Oct 2009
Location: London, UK
Posts: 1318
 
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Sonic what's the progress with the swing away wheel carrier, need one by April 2012? Ralph, APB trading supply and fit Bigcountry rear wheel carrier and Front runner aux tank, probably close to £2000 fitted for both. I would avoid 19" wheels, but your choice, what's the date for Morocco I want to go in April 2012 with http://www.waypoint-tours.com/, but would be good to here your thoughts, are you planning to go to LRO Peterbough would be good to meet up? A few mods... and keeping it all running...Faultmate MSV2
MY09EGR's blanked Thanks Bellautos, BAS
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| 23rd Aug 2011 9:06 pm |
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TC
Member Since: 26 Oct 2005
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 253
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Just read your Morocco 09 Blog Ralph
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| 23rd Aug 2011 9:36 pm |
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Phil S
Member Since: 27 Oct 2008
Location: Glasgow
Posts: 94
 
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Ralph
your mongolian adventure sounds fanstastic, but beware of Russian roads, outside of the major cities they tend to be really bad, sometimes no more than dirt tracks.
There's a 4x4 race run from murmansk to vadivostok by a Russian company called expedition, might be worthwhile to speak with them, I'lll ask a pal who lives in Moscow for their details. Plus Russia & FSU has seen a huge rise in LR sales, although how good their mechanics are is anyones guess.
Keep us uodated on your progress and if you need any local info, i can ask my moscow guy.
Cheers
phil
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| 24th Aug 2011 12:39 am |
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disco4x4au
Member Since: 19 Jan 2006
Location: Perth
Posts: 409
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Hi Ralph,
Just finished doing a trip through the Canning Stock Route (CSR) and Gibb River Rd (a 5500 km trip) with one RRS, one D4 and two D3's, so thought I'd give you our experience.
The CSR is the longest and most isolated stock route in the world (2000km or so), and runs across three deserts in the outback of Western Australia. The corrugations are amongst the worst you will ever find in Oz. All our vehicles were with EAS and TR, and apart from the oldest D3 (which had done 240,000km plus the CSR once before), there were no issues whatsoever. Other than shortened HS rods (to raise the suspension 50mm), compressor protection plates and tyres, we were all fairly stock vehicles. No overheating or breaking of shockies and only two punctures in total. The track normally takes 14 to 18 days to complete - we did it in 8, cruising along at 50kph, which was something that none of the other groups on the track could manage.
A Faultmate is a must for peace of mind on trips like this, as well as ensuring the vehicles are in top condition prior to departure (checking all bushes, rims, control arms etc) - the one D3 that had suspension issues was found to have a crumbled lower control arm bush that was missed in the pre-trip check.
7 brand new Merc G Wagons started the track the week we finished. 6 broke down. Pity we missed the photo opportunity!
Cheers,
Gordon ex - 2006 D3 TDV6 SE, silver, with lots of stuff - R.I.P.
ex - 2009 D3 TDV6 SE, silver, had lots of stuff too!
Now - 2010 RRS 3.0 TDV6, rimini red, 18" rims + Cooper LTZ, rear eLocker, Spider tuning box, GOE protection plates and rock sliders, GOE 3way shortened rods.
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| 24th Aug 2011 1:30 am |
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ralphhardwick
Member Since: 29 Jun 2011
Location: Norfolk UK
Posts: 23
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Gordon,
Thanks for the info. that is very reassuring news about the EAS and corrugations.. Just one point (excuse my ignorance) but what do you mean by 'shortened HS rod'?
I see a faultmate as indespensable as a spanner when I comes to these newer vehicles and the MSV2 seems to add plenty of very usefull bells and wistles. It's just another essential tool in the toolkit.
Phil
That Murmansk-Vladivostok Expedition Trophy looks awsome but may be a little severe for us . Thanks for the link and offer of info. Our Mongolia trip is a few years away yet. We are going to Morocco again in 2012 (Disco 1) and then I have my eyes on Iceland for 2014 (Disco 3-hopefully). There may be other trips before we fulfil our asian dreams. Although I've been a bit remiss lately I do intend to update my website with progress and reports as we go along.
D4JWW
Thanks for the info on the carrier and tank. My main reason for the 19" wheel is so that I can fit MT/Rs as these have poven themselves over the last 40+k miles on my current disco. I have also heard that there are only a few (2, MT/R & BFG ATs) off-road biased tyres approved by LR. I am open to persuassion on the best setup though.
We are travelling with Atlas Overland (http://www.atlasoverland.com/) again. Not because we need the guide but mainly because we liked Peter so much and there are two other couples travelling with the group that we went to Tunisia with (which is a pretty good recomendation for Atlas). We are going on the 20th March - 2nd April tour (there are still 2 places left). I can't comment on any other tour company (except Terrain Adventures but you can read our Morocco blog and make up your own mind on them) but the fact that we are going with Atlas again should give you an idea of how highly we rate Peter's company.
We did plan to go to Peterborough but we are flying away to the Canary Islands for a bit of a break so won't be able to make it this year.
Cheers
Ralph Discovery 300Tdi
www.overland-rovers.com
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| 24th Aug 2011 8:45 am |
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