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Body Protection for Overlanding

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Guest

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Hi All,
With so many people here with experience in overlanding I would be
interested in your views on body protection for your TLC. I'm not
really interested in the underbody side of things, just protection from
side/front/rear impacts.
Ignoring any winch or jacking requirements, is it worth having a re-
inforced front bumper? I guess it's a case of what is the likelyhood
of you being hit by other vehicles or hitting wildlife whilst
travelling across Africa?
How about re-inforced rear bumpers?
What about sliders?
If you go the whole hog you could end up with re-inforced front and
rear bumpers, sliders as well as wing protectors running from the bull
bar on the front down to the sliders, but this a hell of a lot of
weight to carry around so is it really necessary for your average trans
African trip?
I know it is a case of personal preference, but I welcome your views
particularly from those with experience from driving in various parts
of Africa.
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
Mobile: 07971 540362
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift
 
Hi All,
With so many people here with experience in overlanding I would be
interested in your views on body protection for your TLC. I'm not
really interested in the underbody side of things, just protection from
side/front/rear impacts.
Ignoring any winch or jacking requirements, is it worth having a re-
inforced front bumper? I guess it's a case of what is the likelyhood
of you being hit by other vehicles or hitting wildlife whilst
travelling across Africa?
How about re-inforced rear bumpers?
What about sliders?
If you go the whole hog you could end up with re-inforced front and
rear bumpers, sliders as well as wing protectors running from the bull
bar on the front down to the sliders, but this a hell of a lot of
weight to carry around so is it really necessary for your average trans
African trip?
I know it is a case of personal preference, but I welcome your views
particularly from those with experience from driving in various parts
of Africa.
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
Mobile: 07971 540362
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift
 
Hi Jeff
When you say remember you are uninsured when driving, does this hold true for all of Africa.
John C
92HDJ 80 1HDT Ireland
 
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<html><div style='background-color:'>


and if your worried about overloading you aint seen nothing!!! see attched</P>


jeff watts
</P>




</P>
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<HR color=#a0c6e5 SIZE=1>
From: "jeff watts" <[Email address removed]>
Reply-To: [Email address removed]
To: [Email address removed]
Subject: Re: [ELCO] Body Protection for Overlanding
Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 18:14:12 +0000


<DIV>


 </P>


i only know about the eastern run!</P>


effectively yes you drive uninsured..third party insurance is of course compulsory and is available at the border or just inside the country, or included in the price of fuel..for the southern african states (kenya southwards)you take out one insurance and are issued with a windscreen sticker and yellow certificate which covers all of them</P>


comprehensive insurance which is  i suspect what your interested in, is available in the UK but i was quoted ?4000 for the trip..i drove uninsured and hoped for the best</P>


regards

</P>
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<HR color=#a0c6e5 SIZE=1>
From: "John Byrne" <[Email address removed]>
Reply-To: [Email address removed]
To: <[Email address removed]>
Subject: Re: [ELCO] Body Protection for Overlanding
Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 19:06:51 +0100


<STYLE>
</STYLE>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Jeff</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>When you say remember you are uninsured when driving, does this hold true for all of Africa.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>John C</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>92HDJ 80 1HDT Ireland</FONT> </DIV>
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</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>-- European Land Cruiser Owners Mailing List Further Info: http://www.landcruisers.info/lists/
</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></div></html>
 
Hey Jeff
So whats in the bags or stuff and did the van even move off with all that on it.
Would it be allowed to travel like that.
John C
92HDJ 80 1HDT Ireland
 
Julian,
I have only done a limited amount of travel but you have to compromise
between vehicle protection and weight. I think it was Roman a few months ago
on here that said diff protection was not to neccesary as the diffs are
fairly large. This is true, diff protection in this country is spoken about
more by Land Rover product drivers where it is much more of a neccesity.
Rock sliders could well be usefull but only if you are driving over rocks
that are large enough to bother you, the more lift you have the less you
need sliders. I saw a vehicle at Peterborough that had 13" of lift,
adjustable with air, using this would almost make sliders obsolete. At the
end of the day you are driving and at 2 MPH you have a lot of control over
exactly where you go. While front protection is sensible ((nothing (animal
wise)is going to run into the back of you)), and you are protecting your
engine, that is all that I class as neccesary. I always associate most of
this protection with off roading, as opposed to overland travel, and the Two
are very different.
 
julian
body and suspension lifts mean diddly-squat when it comes to genuine
clearance on ifs or beam axled vehicles. with a suspension lift of 50mm (ome
hd springs and shocks) and an upgrade from 265/75 r15 to 750/16 wheels, the
lowest part of my 4runner is still its rear diff: 230mm. next is the front
skid plate: 280mm and finally, in the middle, the gear box / transmission
skid plate: 330mm. with ifs, sliders are only really useful if they are
strong enough to hi-lift jack off.
your radius arms (?); track rod ends and other gubbins are open to abuse as
was my radiator: my radiator is very deep and so i have fab'd a second steel
skid plate to protect the front facing bottom edge. i do have a very good
arb bull bar but haven't been involved in any collisions yet and so it
hasn't been "tested to destruction". but a good strong bulbar is a useful
addition for an overlander: i bolt my hi-lift there; i can jack off it; my
vice (needed for battering stuff back into shape) is bolted there, as is a
tow rope. it is also obviously has sufficient potential to do damage that
even the crazy matatu drivers give you a wide berth, but i'd agree with
chris scott when he says you don't need it for a quick jaunt to morocco. i
removed the old "aesthetic" rear bumper and will be welding a bit of 3"
square pipe in its place - this will also be a useful place to mount a pair
of custom swing out wheel carriers.
again, without fitting larger wheels and upgrading your gear box, you can't
gain real clearance without fitting portal axles et al. too much lift and
you may begin to experience cog problems especially if you load up the
roofrack with all the usual gumph you aquire, or need, whilst overlanding.
too heavy a bulbar should also be avoided as a friend of mine, who just
completed a mini safari from sa to east africa in a landcruiser ii (70
series?) found out when his chassis (mounts?) started to crack on the badly
pott holed roads in zambia! in reality a lot of vehicles that leave the uk,
bound for africa, are over 'specced but most of that comes from a latent
british "be prepared" syndrome.
between cape town and nairobi you never really have to leave tar unless you
want to, which brings into question the necessity of a 4x4 in the first
place, of course i have yet to explore the roads further north.
on the question of insurance: campbell irvine would have insured my original
12 month trans-african trip for gbp 760.
campbell irvine, 48 earls court road, kensington w8 6ej
phone: +44-171-937-6981
fax: +44-171-938-2250.
email: [email address removed].
they charge about 12% of the cost of the vehicle so it's definitely not
cheap.
jeremy --
www.bundubasher.com
s1 16.362 e36 45.684
nairobi: 0723 152 787
'94 kzn130 3.0td
ome hd suspension
rob's magic polybushes
safari snorkel
arb bullbar
5 core radiator
twin batteries / split charge
16" steel lc splitrims
750/16 michelin xzls
surf rear wheel carrier
custom roofrack, light protectors & skid plate.
_____
-- european land cruiser owners mailing list further info:
http://www.landcruisers.info/lists/
 
hi Fred,
thanks for both ;-)
you make some great points.
in theory a tlc is perfectly suited to life in africa out of the box
with no modifications and i agree that most of would be inclined to
over spec the vehicles.
this is why i was interested in the veiws of those that have been out
to africa and what they have found to be useful/not so useful.
i know that if you are driving in this country in wild places like
london a lift kit is essential for the speed bumps and the re-inforced
bumpers are handy in the traffic and squeezing into tight parking
spaces!!
interestingly i was looking at 3 tlcs over the weekend and all of them
had had the end caps on the corners of the bumpers either patched up or
replaced - a common area of damage in the car parks around london.
referring to jon's post, i think protection for the rear light clusters
is very handy, there have been a few times whilst turning round in
woodland/tight lanes where i have had to park the rear in a hedge -
fortunately no damage from my efforts, but gilly has succeeded in
breaking one of the rear lights on a stump!
--
regards,
julian voelcker
mobile: 07971 540362
cirencester, united kingdom
1994 hdj80, 2.5" ome lift
 
hi Fred,
thanks for both ;-)
you make some great points.
in theory a tlc is perfectly suited to life in africa out of the box
with no modifications and i agree that most of would be inclined to
over spec the vehicles.
this is why i was interested in the veiws of those that have been out
to africa and what they have found to be useful/not so useful.
i know that if you are driving in this country in wild places like
london a lift kit is essential for the speed bumps and the re-inforced
bumpers are handy in the traffic and squeezing into tight parking
spaces!!
interestingly i was looking at 3 tlcs over the weekend and all of them
had had the end caps on the corners of the bumpers either patched up or
replaced - a common area of damage in the car parks around london.
referring to jon's post, i think protection for the rear light clusters
is very handy, there have been a few times whilst turning round in
woodland/tight lanes where i have had to park the rear in a hedge -
fortunately no damage from my efforts, but gilly has succeeded in
breaking one of the rear lights on a stump!
--
regards,
julian voelcker
mobile: 07971 540362
cirencester, united kingdom
1994 hdj80, 2.5" ome lift
 
-----Original Message-----
From: [Email address removed] [mailto:[Email address removed]]
On Behalf Of Julian Voelcker
Sent: 15 September 2005 10:00
I've had more damage done because of rear light guards than they ever
prevented - if you find yourself squeezing through tight firm vegetation
a branch easily gets hooked into most light guard designs and rips
things off and it's usually a pain trying to make/repair the fixings.
Also when dragging along through V gullies the rear lights have a
tendency to be pulled out partially without light guards, with them they
would be history.
If the light guards fit to strong mounting points on the body they may
be worth having but IMHO the ones that re-use the light fixing holes are
pointless. Mmm, got me thinking about trying to make some that work now!
Best regards,
Jon.
 
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