Go Back   Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB > 4 wheels > Equipping the Overland Vehicle
Equipping the Overland Vehicle Vehicle accessories - Making your home away from home comfortable, safe and reliable.
Photo by Ellen Delis, Lagunas Ojos del Campo, Antofalla, Catamarca

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Ellen Delis,
Lagunas Ojos del Campo,
Antofalla, Catamarca



Overlanders Handbook - everything you need to know, available NOW!

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #16  
Old 21 Feb 2005
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Sheffield UK
Posts: 5
Cheers, Will be looking for OE heavy duty replacement spring/sockers. I like the idea of keeping it all simple!
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 22 Feb 2005
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Louisville Colorado, USA
Posts: 90

Robert,

It's not the piston pushing on the oil that increases the boiling point of the oil per say, it's the 200+psi of gas pressure on top of the oil. Boiling is just the process of changing from liquid to gas phase. The gas pressure on the oil means that the oil has to absorb a lot more energy before being able to boil. And that raises the boiling point of the oil. Just like a pressure cooker. Works very well.

And to those who may not know, the Baja 1000, is, more than anything else, about reliability and survival. The cars may be light, but the speeds they hit bumps at are enough to offset much of the payload you may be talking about. Try hitting a one meter jump at 100+ MPH in anything and it will cause stress. (But hell, it is really fun!!)

That all said, I will reiterate what I hoped was my main point above: don't modify your suspension unless you know what you are doing and are using a product that has been well tested. Otherwise, you risk doing what I did -- getting your truck welded back together at various points around the Sahara.

cheers

Graham
www.africaoverland.org
__________________
Graham 'Cracker'
Director: Overland Training
Editor: Overland Journal
Instigator: Africa Overland
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 22 Feb 2005
Gipper's Avatar
Contributing Member
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Saltspring Island,Canada/Poole,UK
Posts: 1,081
Keep it simple:
OE Heavy Duty Springs and Shocks, Wolf Bushes,

On a 25,000km across West Africa and back trip -
Good ride, good articulation, no problems at all
And I saved a good few hundred pounds over an 'uprated' set up.
- And actually in the case of LR the suspension (HD) IS set up to overland straight off the production line - have you seen how they test them ? - CONCRETE corrogations all day - for weeks on end up at Gaydon....AND field testing...Im sure other manufactors do the same.
Save yourself some money and put it towards a roof tent.

------------------
Ex RAF Regt, Ex Dragoman, LRE Instructor,
LR 90 300 Tdi Overlander
Suzuki DR650 Overlander
..and Bloody Nice Bloke!
__________________
Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 23 Feb 2005
Robbert's Avatar
Contributing Member
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Gent, Belgium
Posts: 523
Graham,

That's what I thought was the Idea, but then, if you have just oil in a close environment, with no gas presurized cylinder to compensate for expansion, the presure must raise much quicker, and as such the boiling temp must increase even more. Or not?

BTW, you should have lowered your bumpstops (just bolt a piece of wood or so between the bumpstops and the chassis). By the time I read your suspension was giving you trouble you where relaxing in Namibia already



[This message has been edited by Robbert (edited 22 February 2005).]
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 23 Feb 2005
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 142
Our Defender 110 did 65.000 km thru africa with LR heavy duty springs and the original shocks. Only when we had a few thousand km left did one of the front shocks begin to get a small leak. Nothing big enough to bother with even, and we left it as it was till the car was shipped home. Granted, both the springs and shocks were pretty worn out then and thus had to be replaced. But that's not too bad IMO considering where we drove etc.

I do think that driving style has a lot to do with it. If you drive like a maniac, you won't get very far in africa no matter what you use...

Erik

------------------

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the rear springs were Defender 130 HD with the inside "helper springs"!


[This message has been edited by Erik D. (edited 03 March 2005).]
Reply With Quote
  #21  
Old 23 Feb 2005
Registered Users
HUBB regular
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Louisville Colorado, USA
Posts: 90
Robbert,

Actually, oil doesn't expand very much when it goes into the gas phase. As the oil boils you will get an increase in pressure and hense a corresponding increase in boiling point. But going from 1 atm to 2 atm in the headspace above the oil is a doubling of pressure which takes a lot of boiled oil, and only corresponds to about 30psi in increased pressure. The 200 +psi that you can put on top of the oil in a gas shock has a dramatically larger effect!

We did end up lowering the bump stops, but by strapping some pieces of old tyre tread onto the axle. Worked pretty well. It got us from Gabon into Namibia, so wasn't too bad!

Cheers

Graham
www.africaoverland.org
__________________
Graham 'Cracker'
Director: Overland Training
Editor: Overland Journal
Instigator: Africa Overland
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old 25 Feb 2005
Registered Users
New on the HUBB
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Sheffield UK
Posts: 5
Gipper, You mention using wolf bushes. Thats not a modification ive heard of before. How do they differ from standard bushes?

Cheers Aaron
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 25 Feb 2005
Gipper's Avatar
Contributing Member
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Saltspring Island,Canada/Poole,UK
Posts: 1,081
Hi Aaron
Wolf Bushes - used on Wolf military Land Rovers.
They are just a bit firmer - the compound of the mixture used - which when loaded for overland means they are about right.
Its popular to use polyurethane bushes these days, but I find the stiff ones dont have enough give in them for articulation - and the ones that let you articulate wear out quickly.

Cheers
Grif
__________________
Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 25 Feb 2005
Runner's Avatar
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 302
Gypper - where would you get Wolf bushes? Craddocks?
__________________
'91 LR 110 Def/Disco hybrid "Elsa"
Bring me the horizon....
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 2 Mar 2005
Gipper's Avatar
Contributing Member
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Saltspring Island,Canada/Poole,UK
Posts: 1,081
Runner - I managed to get a set in relation to a previous Job.....say no more...
Try Craddocks or any Independant.
Grif

------------------
Ex RAF Regt, Ex Dragoman, LRE Instructor,
LR 90 300 Tdi Overlander
Suzuki DR650 Overlander
..and Bloody Nice Bloke!
__________________
Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca
Reply With Quote
  #26  
Old 2 Mar 2005
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 921
On my 110, I have Land Rover's own brand 130 HD springs on front, and 130 HD springs on rear, with the second, inner spring as well.

Has now done London-Sydney, 5 months in Australian outback, UK-Ivory Coast-UK, UK-Algeria-UK and Belgium-Mauritania-Belgium.

All grossly overladen (once we even had 700kgs of water on the roof, crossing the dunes of the Simpson!!) - have never had a shock fail, or a spring break. Thought I should replace them now because of time - but there is no sign of them needing to be replaced and I'm Scottish by birth - another little trip will be fine, I'm sure!

Sam.
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 8 Mar 2005
Gipper's Avatar
Contributing Member
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Saltspring Island,Canada/Poole,UK
Posts: 1,081
Sam, what shockers do you run - OE ?
Keep on Truckin
Grif
__________________
Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca
Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old 19 Mar 2005
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Leicestershire,UK, or in my Iveco Daily 4x4
Posts: 474
Theres an easy way to sort out shock problems - just buy a landrover 101 - you have no choices - just the standard landrover shock - but they work very very well and you can't get spares easily so they'd better keep working

Now not knowing much, I put this down to them being big with plenty of oil in them so they disipate heat better (they are dramatically bigger in diameter than a 110 damper)

Any comments welcome

As for the OME comments I know of 1 supplier of them who stopped selling them because they would not honour the warranty so he had to ship out shocks to customers at his cost and comments from my overland truck driving friend who has seen alot of defenders with suspension troubles and the trouble was OME

Just cos lots of people use it doesn't mean its good Roman - after all look at MS Windows :-)



------------------
Rich
LR101 300Tdi Ambi 'Tiggurr'
__________________
Rich

Iveco Turbo Daily 4x4 40-10
Ex Owner LR101 300Tdi Ambi 'Tiggurr'
Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old 24 Mar 2005
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 921
yup, OE

Sam.
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 Registered Users and/or Members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


 
 

Announcements

Thinking about traveling? Not sure about the whole thing? Watch the HU Achievable Dream Video Trailers and then get ALL the information you need to get inspired and learn how to travel anywhere in the world!

Have YOU ever wondered who has ridden around the world? We did too - and now here's the list of Circumnavigators!
Check it out now
, and add your information if we didn't find you.

Next HU Eventscalendar

HU Event and other updates on the HUBB Forum "Traveller's Advisories" thread.
ALL Dates subject to change.

2024:

Add yourself to the Updates List for each event!

Questions about an event? Ask here

HUBBUK: info

See all event details

 
World's most listened to Adventure Motorbike Show!
Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...

2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.

2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.

"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)



Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance.

Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance™ combines into a single integrated program the best evacuation and rescue with the premier travel insurance coverages designed for adventurers.

Led by special operations veterans, Stanford Medicine affiliated physicians, paramedics and other travel experts, Ripcord is perfect for adventure seekers, climbers, skiers, sports enthusiasts, hunters, international travelers, humanitarian efforts, expeditions and more.

Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!


 

What others say about HU...

"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia

"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK

"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia

"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA

"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada

"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa

"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia

"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany

Lots more comments here!



Five books by Graham Field!

Diaries of a compulsive traveller
by Graham Field
Book, eBook, Audiobook

"A compelling, honest, inspiring and entertaining writing style with a built-in feel-good factor" Get them NOW from the authors' website and Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk.



Back Road Map Books and Backroad GPS Maps for all of Canada - a must have!

New to Horizons Unlimited?

New to motorcycle travelling? New to the HU site? Confused? Too many options? It's really very simple - just 4 easy steps!

Horizons Unlimited was founded in 1997 by Grant and Susan Johnson following their journey around the world on a BMW R80G/S.

Susan and Grant Johnson Read more about Grant & Susan's story

Membership - help keep us going!

Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.

You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.




All times are GMT +1. The time now is 14:16.