G
Guest
Guest
Howaya lads (and Renate and I see we have a Clare ot there too!)
Made it to Walvis bay, namibia. Job done. 30 odd thousand km from
Ireland to here and 4 months to the date. 20 weeks and 16 African
countries. Approx 4000litres of diesel - mabey more when off roading
fuel efficency taken into account.
The fun and adventure has been nonstop. All i'l say is if your
thinking about it - do it!
Overall i was happy with the cruiser and how she held up to the task.
Especially the last 5K M which included the Kalahari desert and all
the other brilliant places in bOTSWANA. Boy was I praying the AT would
behave itself!
AnywAY, the mainproblems were:
- Wheel falling off. Reason - poor on road maintenance by my co-pilot
and mechanic/cook.
- V belts broken - Reason - ignoring the squeeking sound too long -
agan whie co-pilot was on duty
- Rear diff - not working and making lots of noise. have draned alot
of oifromit and there is evidence of lots of metal floating about. -
reason- not sure but want to take it apart and see then take ARB to
task. I do have a sneaky suspicion that the cook drained the oil and
put the wrong stuff back in..... More to the in why did the co-pilot
let the cook at the diff!!
- Wheel bearings were always needing to be tightened. - Reason - bad
co pilot/mechanic cook must no have been doing correct in the first
place.
- 2 sidewall rips. - Reason - underflated for the terrain - again by
co-pilot/mechanic/cook
So, apart from usual nuts and bolts that needed tightening and oil
changes - no dramas really when you think about it.
Most problems manifested themselves late in the Afternoon after a long
day on the road - this is when tell tail signs of trouble are ignored
or you just think theres only a short distance to camp - "i'll drive
on syndrome" kicks in.
So
m organising a container o ship back home.She should fit nicely into a 20'.
Anybody got any pointers or things that i should be careful of when
loading a cruiser for a 4 week cruise on the QEII
I'm thinking of chucks for the wheels - secured in position some way
so they dont move out of position in heavy seas.
Anything else? needless to sayi'l have all tanks full of African diesel!!
Cheers
Niall
Made it to Walvis bay, namibia. Job done. 30 odd thousand km from
Ireland to here and 4 months to the date. 20 weeks and 16 African
countries. Approx 4000litres of diesel - mabey more when off roading
fuel efficency taken into account.
The fun and adventure has been nonstop. All i'l say is if your
thinking about it - do it!
Overall i was happy with the cruiser and how she held up to the task.
Especially the last 5K M which included the Kalahari desert and all
the other brilliant places in bOTSWANA. Boy was I praying the AT would
behave itself!
AnywAY, the mainproblems were:
- Wheel falling off. Reason - poor on road maintenance by my co-pilot
and mechanic/cook.
- V belts broken - Reason - ignoring the squeeking sound too long -
agan whie co-pilot was on duty
- Rear diff - not working and making lots of noise. have draned alot
of oifromit and there is evidence of lots of metal floating about. -
reason- not sure but want to take it apart and see then take ARB to
task. I do have a sneaky suspicion that the cook drained the oil and
put the wrong stuff back in..... More to the in why did the co-pilot
let the cook at the diff!!
- Wheel bearings were always needing to be tightened. - Reason - bad
co pilot/mechanic cook must no have been doing correct in the first
place.
- 2 sidewall rips. - Reason - underflated for the terrain - again by
co-pilot/mechanic/cook
So, apart from usual nuts and bolts that needed tightening and oil
changes - no dramas really when you think about it.
Most problems manifested themselves late in the Afternoon after a long
day on the road - this is when tell tail signs of trouble are ignored
or you just think theres only a short distance to camp - "i'll drive
on syndrome" kicks in.
So
m organising a container o ship back home.She should fit nicely into a 20'.
Anybody got any pointers or things that i should be careful of when
loading a cruiser for a 4 week cruise on the QEII
I'm thinking of chucks for the wheels - secured in position some way
so they dont move out of position in heavy seas.
Anything else? needless to sayi'l have all tanks full of African diesel!!
Cheers
Niall