G
Guest
Guest
Alright Guys.
Stocking up on fuel for the winter at the weekend and so found the
furthest, most remote stockist (Kerry Bio fuels) and used it as an
opportunity to clock up a few hundred K's with 600KG's of wood pellets
in the back of the cruiser.
I reckoned it would be about equivalent to expedition weight and filled
up Auxiliary fuel tank for good measure. With 2 sets of windsurf gear on
top I had approx 900KG of load over and above the normal kerb weight.
Was very interesting to feel the difference to the handling on various
roads and I spent a fair bit of time up tough mountains in Kerry - off
and on road and generally giving it a bit of wellie. Also had it down
Bandon Beach which is a 6KM stretch of sandy beach.
Drive home was 3 hrs in torrential rain at night on bad roads.
Currently running a 2" lift with Pro-comp springs and some "Aussie" type
of springs.
Performed as follows:
- On road: steep inclines: Very light steering. Had to give her plenty
of wellie to drive on but did OK.
- On road: steep declines: Not so bad but used the gears to assist.
Slippy in the wet.
- Off road: steep rocky inclines - performed OK got where I wanted to go
but bottomed out on big bumps - as you'd expect. Took it very slowly.
- Off road: steep rocky declines - slowly slowly, bit of bumping didn't
test it too hard.
- Sand - Developed a kind of rolling wobble at about 70k/hr. Slowed
considerably on the soft stuff. Stop start in the soft OK. Lots of
clunking coming from the CV's when turning sharply - need to get to work
on these soon. Couldn't get it stuck despite best efforts.
- Sand: Crossing sections where a river enters the sea - ie banks in
excess of 8" - like hitting a concrete block on front wheels, back
suspension bottoms out very badly. Repeated at various speeds - no
improvement unless crawling. Wood pellets all over the place
-Fuel consumption: Lots
Overall conclusion:
- Didn't really test it hard enough to simulate African conditions.
More testing required
- Wait until the vehicle is fully prepped and fully loaded before
getting front and rear axels weighed - only then go about pimping up the
suspension in line with actual weights.
- She's too heavy with 8 or 900kg's on board - Get the weight down if
possible.
Have estimated my additional weight as follows:
180KG =3D 170 ltr fuel + tank
40KG =3D 2 Jerry cans
75KG =3D 50ltrs water + 25 KG emergency
25KG =3D Spare steel wheel & tyre + 1 over original spare
45 LTR - Full fridge Fridge
80KG - ARB bumper + winch
150KG - Roof Tent
15KG - roof rack
25KG - gas fuel+ cooking stuff
50KG - Recovery gear Incl High lift jack
20KG - spares
100KG - personal kit incl First Aid Kit
25KG - Slab of beer
3KG - Bottles of whiskey
1KG - Bottle of Poitin
15KG - shelving system and drawers
6 kg - Gunsafe (for documents)
60KG - Windsurfing gear
Total =3D circa 900KG over curb weight of a cruiser
Thats quite a shock really. Kerb weight is say 2300KG + 900 =3D 3200. Say
40% over Kerb weight.
Might have been a bit heavy on some of the estimates but its there or
there abouts. So the weight test at the weekend was on par with
estimated expedition weight.
Question is: how much weight can these machines take and what are the
limits of springs and shocks to counter act it.
Spring bags are beginning to sound like an option...
Apart from going on a calorie controlled diet - any thoughts or
comments....
Cheers
Niall -
HDJ80 - 3.2Tonne (excluding driver)
Stocking up on fuel for the winter at the weekend and so found the
furthest, most remote stockist (Kerry Bio fuels) and used it as an
opportunity to clock up a few hundred K's with 600KG's of wood pellets
in the back of the cruiser.
I reckoned it would be about equivalent to expedition weight and filled
up Auxiliary fuel tank for good measure. With 2 sets of windsurf gear on
top I had approx 900KG of load over and above the normal kerb weight.
Was very interesting to feel the difference to the handling on various
roads and I spent a fair bit of time up tough mountains in Kerry - off
and on road and generally giving it a bit of wellie. Also had it down
Bandon Beach which is a 6KM stretch of sandy beach.
Drive home was 3 hrs in torrential rain at night on bad roads.
Currently running a 2" lift with Pro-comp springs and some "Aussie" type
of springs.
Performed as follows:
- On road: steep inclines: Very light steering. Had to give her plenty
of wellie to drive on but did OK.
- On road: steep declines: Not so bad but used the gears to assist.
Slippy in the wet.
- Off road: steep rocky inclines - performed OK got where I wanted to go
but bottomed out on big bumps - as you'd expect. Took it very slowly.
- Off road: steep rocky declines - slowly slowly, bit of bumping didn't
test it too hard.
- Sand - Developed a kind of rolling wobble at about 70k/hr. Slowed
considerably on the soft stuff. Stop start in the soft OK. Lots of
clunking coming from the CV's when turning sharply - need to get to work
on these soon. Couldn't get it stuck despite best efforts.
- Sand: Crossing sections where a river enters the sea - ie banks in
excess of 8" - like hitting a concrete block on front wheels, back
suspension bottoms out very badly. Repeated at various speeds - no
improvement unless crawling. Wood pellets all over the place
-Fuel consumption: Lots
Overall conclusion:
- Didn't really test it hard enough to simulate African conditions.
More testing required
- Wait until the vehicle is fully prepped and fully loaded before
getting front and rear axels weighed - only then go about pimping up the
suspension in line with actual weights.
- She's too heavy with 8 or 900kg's on board - Get the weight down if
possible.
Have estimated my additional weight as follows:
180KG =3D 170 ltr fuel + tank
40KG =3D 2 Jerry cans
75KG =3D 50ltrs water + 25 KG emergency
25KG =3D Spare steel wheel & tyre + 1 over original spare
45 LTR - Full fridge Fridge
80KG - ARB bumper + winch
150KG - Roof Tent
15KG - roof rack
25KG - gas fuel+ cooking stuff
50KG - Recovery gear Incl High lift jack
20KG - spares
100KG - personal kit incl First Aid Kit
25KG - Slab of beer
3KG - Bottles of whiskey
1KG - Bottle of Poitin
15KG - shelving system and drawers
6 kg - Gunsafe (for documents)
60KG - Windsurfing gear
Total =3D circa 900KG over curb weight of a cruiser
Thats quite a shock really. Kerb weight is say 2300KG + 900 =3D 3200. Say
40% over Kerb weight.
Might have been a bit heavy on some of the estimates but its there or
there abouts. So the weight test at the weekend was on par with
estimated expedition weight.
Question is: how much weight can these machines take and what are the
limits of springs and shocks to counter act it.
Spring bags are beginning to sound like an option...
Apart from going on a calorie controlled diet - any thoughts or
comments....
Cheers
Niall -
HDJ80 - 3.2Tonne (excluding driver)