.....and maybe a length of electrical cable so that you can fix any dodgy earth issues. African cops love a light that dosn't work...

I've uploaded my working spreadsheet here. It's quite comprehensive, and I don't use everything from it.

Sorry about the obscure notes, it wasn't designed to be a public document but I'll provide it here as it may be helpful.

Cheers,
Nick.

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Nick Taylor, a Colorado Mack'em
blog | vehicles

I'd replace the fuel tank before you go too. Ours rotted through in Ethiopia and we couldn't find a replacement until we got to Nairobi about 1500 miles later.

Just one comment from me;
I had my water pump replaced 5 months before a trip to Tunisia, brand new, LR genuine part, it failed on the first day in the dunes. That was a 200Tdi Discovery. So, no good assuming that as it has been fixed/replaced recently it will not let me down. Take the old one as a spare, it'll save you money over buying a second new one. I replaced all of my steering ball joints when one was shot, took one L/H and one L/H of the good ones as spares.
Kevin

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www.4x4-travel.co.uk

Hi Chaps, I've been following this with interest, I have found the keep it standard & genuine is a very good rule, in my experience i have found lots of the aftermarket parts sold for the LR to be of poor quality and poor design which have contributed to the bonnet up image of the brand.

I would have a new water pump fitted and keep a spare pump and gasket, also the original design of the rad and thermostat filler/ bleed caps to be very bad as the plastic tend to deform easily and be a source of leaks. I have fitted rad caps from X-Eng:X-eng High Performance Off-Road Engineering

as in the previous posts that mention a rad screen, this is a genuine part and have seen a few on ebay recently, i'll look up the part number when i get home.

regards

Gren

Hi part number for the radiator chaff guard is : MTC4220
from what i remember it is expensive for what it is, but worth checking ebay.

regards
Gren

well guess whats on ebay! : chaff guard Item number:330372640584

regards all

Gren

Hi, Good tip on the Chaff guard below I need one of those, but smaller holes would be good.

Regarding the rad caps. Land Rover do some brass ones. ERR4686 I got some for mine. I think they are cheaper than the x-eng ones. But don't look as pretty!

Dan

I've got one of those chaff guards on my 110... had it on my 90 previously.

bought it for about £20 from old sodbury some years back.

Here is our seed net. all it is is Alluminum mosquito net from Bunnings or B & Q. Remove the rad guard then wrap the mesh around tightly gluing it on the back.

It is still going acter 2 laps of australia has stopped all the bugs and when creek crossing catches all the weed and crap.

only cost $3 well worth & dosent affect the cooling at all.

Attached Images

 

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www.landroveradventure.co.uk
Land Rover Discovery 2, Yamaha Super Tenere

Folks

Just finished the trip in Africa after 48,000km. The spares info above was useful - thanks guys! We will post our full spare list here soon.

One thing we will take next time is a spare re-conditioned alternator. Ours packed up (luckily) in Namibia on a main road so a tow and parts were not too far away and not too expensive. Had this happened in Angola / Central Africa things could have got expensive (basically the shaft bearing failed and could not be replaced) so we could have done with that one item on our trip.

Apart from that, we managed to do the whole trip with the parts we took. We did have to call on the services of a diesel injector pump specialist in Western Sahara - it started leaking after a 3 day trip in the desert where things got a tad hot (air temp 48'c) and the seals failed. We also had some front wheel bearing work done in Namibia.

Thanks again

Nick

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Langebaan Sunset - Africa Overland
http://langebaan-sunset.blogspot.co.za/

For one, in Europe, especially the western part, I wouldn't take spares at all. The number of garages is large enough to have one within easy reach, and spares can be delivered easily overnight.
If you allow plenty of time for your journey, very few spares are needed in any country. Just make use of the extra stop-over time, and enjoy yourself locally !
I think that the art of travelling lies not in keeping going, but in enjoying the journey, no matter how fast or slow it goes...
Besides, what's the use in carrying spares you're very ulikely to need, given a good preparation of your car.
Sod's law (or Murphy's , for that matter) dictates that the only parts on your car that will definitely fail are the ones you do not carry with you ....

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Landrover Discovery 2 Td5 with a Garmin 276c and a great co-driveress

Huskynose

I agree with the spirit of your ideas on spares but trust me - when you choose to go remote (Namibia / Sahara desert, Congo, Gabon, DRC) you will need basic spares for 4 reasons:

1) Knock on effects: In Central Africa you tend to have back to back visas so if you get delayed because of a small issue (e.g. broken water pump) the impact goes far beyond the issue of waiting for an expensive spare to turn up

2) Extremes: No matter how well prepped your vehicle is it is put under extremes on a long term overland trip. Heat, dust & grit, does strange things to things like seals, pumps, filters etc.... e.g. the heat destroyed our air hose on the compressor for example which we swapped with our spare fuel line.

3) Expense - if you have to call on help in say Congo / DRC, it can cost. We heard of one couple who broke down - a tow cost the $500!! The garage they were taken to then ripped them off (i.e. the fix was sub standard) and the vehicle was broken into whilst in the garage.

4) Survival / safety - In the desert / bush you can find yourself stuck for the lack of a spare part or fix - e.g. cracked radiator. Whilst this is fine in Europe - 48'C shade temperatures, wild animals and a lack of people mean you are on your own, so its basically sensible to consider the "what if factor".

So in summary - a basic spares list is worth packing if you "choose" to go to more remote parts of the world. If your pottering round in Europe and have AA / RAC cover no worries. Whilst you cant pack everything, take some basics just to make life easier. Even though we had a basic spares kit, we still had to visit plenty of local garages for oil changes and small fixes along the way.

One final word......we neglected (forgot) to pack the T55 torx bit that allows you to open the gearbox oil inspection nut - these are HARD to find in Africa!! A small item BUT caused us some fun and games to find one.......in a plumbers shop in Congo!!

HTH

Nick

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Langebaan Sunset - Africa Overland
http://langebaan-sunset.blogspot.co.za/