Africa trip
I am planning to drive from Snowdonia to Cape Town, starting in November. I bought the car on Saturday, a '90 300td. Planning to start work on the car just after Easter and will put pics on site.
I have fair mechanical knowledge, and I say where there is a will there is a way. I have never upgraded a 4x4 myself, but have done a lot of series off-roading. (L*#!d R*&%r, Ford Explorer, Land Cruiser pick up and Isuzy)
Repairs required to the car:
Find rev counter pic-up, not working properly
Sort out the aircon (hope it only need regas)
Small oil leak somewhere in top of engine
Planned mods:
2†lift
Gas shocks
Winch
Sandladder lifting points
Rock sliders strong enough to take lifting points
Extra fuel tanks under car
Water tanks
Roofrack
Proper engine tuning/ slight modification
Underside protection
In-car plumbing
Duel battery system with in-car wiring
If there is anything I have forgotten please say
Christo
Go for a tirfor winch not as funky but will pull from any angle unlike a fitted job.
maybe concider using water jerry cans and nato fual cans as if you have bad fual or water its easy to sort and remove if you get badly bogged in .
have a look at off road waffles as thay are easy to carry and use off piste .
remember any mods you do you may need spares for in the middle of nowear maybe look at keeping it near standard ?
again if your up on this info please ignore but try to ignore crowd pleasing mods as you may not need then .
all the best
Twodogs
yes mate i have used sand ladders( to heavy and the alloy ones snap ) and waffles in mud both are heavy but waffles dont cut you to bits and spread the load better , tie a loop of rope on them as a handle helps when pulling them out of the goo..
if your loking at fitting a second batterie, spit charge it , one starter batt and a lesure batt as it will take the drain down better.
have a look at the optima website but check if you can fit them in the tray first .
Twodogs
remember there is a million ways to prep a motor so my way may not be yours .
If you get a Tirfor,learn how to take it to pieces,and put it back together again,remember to get the right shear pins for the weight of your vehicle,always err on the heavy side,also try to get the longest winch rope you can deal with.
Think about some type of ground anchor plate,and pins(there isn't always a convenient tree),if you're really clever get one made that is wide(squarer)rather than long,about 8 holes will do,with a heavy duty D shackle on one end.
In soft sand you can bury the plate vertically and use it as a baulk holdfast,also consider a heavy-duty,exhaust autolift bag,it will allow you to lift a side up on any sort of soft ground,maybe to lift a wheel out of a hole.
Try to get someone to show you how to make a baulk hold fast,maybe get hold of a couple of snatch blocks,to use for self recovery.
For a shower get a couple of large black heavy duty plastic rubble bags,
half fill with water.leave on the roof,in the sun,the water will be hot enough when you stop to use,get a large plastic watering can rose,tie it in to the end,turn bag upside down,and stand under it. Anything black and plastic will get very warm in the sun.
Also take some rope,get a book of knots and,learn some of the more useful ones(There is one called a "snotter" that climbers were using before Jumar clips were invented,that is worth investigating. Go to a library and ask for "Ashleys book of knots".
What ever you decide to use,practice over here before you go,until you can deal with most situations blindfold!
Good luck
J C
Move the exhaust to run on the outside of the frame rail and exit before the rear wheel. It gets the heat away from the fuel tank and you can use the space either side of the propshaft for twin stainless fuel tanks(bottom higher than frame rails). The rear (original fuel) tank is vulnerable, so you can get rid of that and fit a stronger and smaller water tank.
Whatever you modify or fit, try to hang as much weight as possible onto the chassis rather than the body - seen stress fractures around bodymounts on several G's with overloaded roofracks and that's a hassle worth avoiding.
Change wheels/tyres to standard 16-inch steel wheels with 235/85-16 BFG Mud-terrains. Reason is the wheels' strength and the tyres are a common size in Africa, easily substituted by 7.50R16 truck tyres which are the same size for practical purposes. The BFG MT's could be bettered by AT's in sand but only marginal and in rocky terrain, the AT's get cut into shreds like grated cheese by the small sharp stones on the gravel roads(aka grondpad :wink: )
While you are getting the radiator done, get an extra row added to the core.
If no-one of your party are too tall, consider mounting the seats higher on top of steel "boxes" which will give you extra storage for heavy items nice and low in the vehicle.
I'll post again if I think of more ideas.
Remove all "mercedes" signs and emblems from the vehicle, yes, even the front star and the one in the steering wheel. It will save you a lot of unwanted attention and hassle.
I did a similar trip in 1993/4. We were advised not to drive thru the Sahara at the time due to robberies by the Touregs. So we shipped it to Ghana and drove to Capetown from there thru Zaire to Kenya and down. We took at 74 series 3 diesel.
Most of the sdvise above is good sensible suggestions. Keep it standard. 2 spare wheels and tubes, tyre levers, repair kits, roof top tent. Are you travelling with a partner or mate/s. Keep it light everything needs to be pulled up hill, through sand etc. Weight is a killer on the suspension mounts. Lots of small storage boxes built in are good for food, cloths and stuff. We got broken into and had loads of stuff nicked, so having lockable boxes is good too. I would concerntrate on checking everything you have before you start major mods, they are terrific vehicles in standar form.
My planned route so far is France, Spain, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Melawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Angola, Namibia and South Africa.
Has anybody done the extra tanks under the car, I’m wondering how much it will hold.
I am 99% sure I would rather use a turfor than a winch, I know them, and I know they work. I have also found that usually when I got stuck in the past I try to get back out of it, not deeper into it. I use an auger anker, it twists into the sand and works quite well.
Unfortunately all merc badges will have to go. The grill gets covered in a very fine mesh as well to keep grass seeds out of the radiator. Mercfan you sound knowledgeable about the terrain?
I will discuss my wheels in the wheels column..
It is only my wife and me going on this trip. We are planning to travel between 3 months and 1 year, depending on how much fun we have...
Are you planning a website? If so you should ad your link to http://www.africa-overland.net
We bought a G two years ago for the same type of trip (we are also from SA), but decided against it because ours was in a very poor condition and repairs would turn out to be more than we can afford.
Anyway, we can't change our minds now because someone stole our G this weekend.
I think you chose wisely going with a G.
Best of luck.
Yolandi
Hallo Yolandi
On my Way to cycle the road to Santiago, chat when I'm back.
LEEU,
Maybe I am missing the obvious, in your spec you list 2" lift and gas shocks, but no mods to wheels and tyres, what is your thinking behind that,
Leave space for a farm jack, as well as lifting it can be used for winching.
Bill, I am considering to fit 255/85/16 wheels. I am going to load the G very heavy, just fuel and water will be +- 350 kg. Add the tent, winch, recovery gear, spares, food, extra battery, compressor, etc. I think the total added weight will be in the region of 700 kg including my wife and me.
If I don’t lift the suspension, the G will have the ground clearance of a Lotus Elise!
Yolandi & Coenraad, sorry to hear about your stolen car. I have another G. A 230 GE auto in fantastic condition. Would you be interested in driving that through Africa? If you are, I might loan it to you for free, ‘cause I won’t mind getting it to SA.
If interested give me a call or mail me.
divejumpfly@hotmail.com
07843496233
If you get rid of the back seat you will loose a couple of hundred kilo. the weights you are talking about are within the designed carrying capacitry any way.
A turfor alltho an excelent piece of kit is bulky/heavy and you are going to have a lot of wire rope lying around ,on a journey it will become a pain, if you store it on the outside it will get nicked, think about a detachable elec winch of around 8000lb cap (£200) and plasma rope, with a recever hitch front and rear it will cover all eventualities, carry a small hand winch (£50) and climbing rope to use for side winching or just as triangulation to steady vehicle on side slopes, best tho is avoid getting stuck. carry baby wipes to fresen up, and loose any bulky shower kits, only carry water for drinking, there are opportunities to shower.
What is plasma rope? And do you know if elastic recovery/tow ropes are available in UK?
You will find plasma rope advertised in all the off road and 4x4 magazines, if by elastic rope you mean Kinetic, yes it is available, see the mags for sellers.
If you get rid of the back seat you will loose a couple of hundred kilo. the weights you are talking about are within the designed carrying capacitry any way. A turfor alltho an excelent piece of kit is bulky/heavy and you are going to have a lot of wire rope lying around ,on a journey it will become a pain, if you store it on the outside it will get nicked, think about a detachable elec winch of around 8000lb cap (£200) and plasma rope, with a recever hitch front and rear it will cover all eventualities, carry a small hand winch (£50) and climbing rope to use for side winching or just as triangulation to steady vehicle on side slopes, best tho is avoid getting stuck. carry baby wipes to fresen up, and loose any bulky shower kits, only carry water for drinking, there are opportunities to shower.
Couldn't agree more. Travelling light will make your lives a lot easier, you'll get stuck less, tyres(in fact entire vehicle) will last much better and use a lot less fuel.
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