Vehicle 
Technical

We decided to give the Land Rover a complete overhaul, replacing everything that seemed a bit worn. It took us a week, but now she drives great. Here’s everything we replaced:

- Braking pads (all around)
- Inner and outer wheel bearings (all around)
- Half shafts (all around)
- Oil filter
- Fuel filter (with water splitter)
- Air filter
- V-belt
- Distribution belt
- Waterhoses (all)
- Thermostat
- Waterpump
- Radiator
- Main gear box (!)
- Parts of hi/lo-gearbox
- Clutch (complete)
- Handbrake
- Exhaust pipe
- Fluids (engine, brakes, diff’s, gear boxes, coolant, power steering)

As you can see, quite a bit has been done. We did this because most of the things really had to be replaced. Sometimes a part was OK (e.g. brake pads, thermostat, V-belt), but we replaced them anyway so we can take the old ones with us as reserves and because we could practice replacing these parts. We also replaced the gear box, this was not really expected, but the big boss mechanic (Albert) advised us to do so. By the way, we removed the catalyst for more power, and because it will probably not survive the bad fuel in Africa. We replaced it with a straight pipe.

Protection and Recovery

- 12V electrical winch
- Winch bumper
- Steering guard
- Front diff guard
- Bull bar
- Bush wires
- Sand plates
- Hi-Lift jack + mounting to roof rack + adaptor + mud plate (homemade)
- Normal jack (2000kg)
- Air jack (works on exhaust)
- Snatch blocks
- Shackles
- Kinetic rope
- Tree rope
- Shovel
- Spade

Lots and lots is written about fitting a winch or not. We believe you don’t really need one, but we just love these toys, so we had one fitted. Ours is a T-max 9500, which can pull about 4300 kg. Of course a winch bumper has also been fitted, one with two adaptor holes for the Hi-Lift jack and two rings for towing.

The same can be said about bull bars, most of them aren’t more than a garden fence but only look nice. The real good ones are just very expensive. Nevertheless we had a not so expensive one fitted because it’s easier for fitting lights and bush wires and they protect the head lights.

Electrical

- New Optima battery (the yellow one)
- Split charge system
- Extra fuse box for auxiliary system
- Main battery switch (only on primary battery)
- 12V plugs in front and rear of car
- 12V plug in the roof for the lamps on the roof rack

Because we have a winch and other electrical equipment like a fridge we have decided to fit an auxiliary battery system. The old battery (starter) is still the primary and only does the starter engine and the winch (because you always keep your engine running while you use the winch), the auxiliary battery does all the extra electrical equipment like fridge, 12V plugs in the car, emergency lighting on the roof rack etc. Of course, whenever a second battery is fitted, a split charger system is also required. The main battery switch is only connected to the primary battery, because of anti-theft protection. This way the fridge can keep running when the car is out of sight.

Extra’s

- Extra 45L fuel tank (behind right rear wheel)
- Wooden table-like plank (in the rear)
- Snorkel
- Hannibal Roof rack
- Hannibal tent 1.6m wide
- Gas bottle holder (on the rear)
- Jerry can holder (double, on the roof rack)
- Two lamps (on front of roof rack)
- Two smaller lamps in bull bar (keep enough space for cooling air)
- 12V compressor

The roof rack, tent, gas bottle holder, jerry can holder, lamps and bush wires will all be fitted at Hannibal in Cape Town.