21 Year old 110 or 12 year old shogun
 

So the planning for our trip through Africa is comming together. But somthing has made me think.I currantly have a 12 year old mitsubishi shogun that i have been preping for the trip but i have to admit i have started to have some douts as the parts could be a problem out side ZA and namibia and kenya then today i got offered a landRover 110 but it's 21 years old it's in good nick and has just had and mot the Shogun is also in good condition and has had a new clutch belts full service new brakes ect ect.
So now i don't know what to do sell the shogun and get the 110 or keep the shogun.
Just want to know what you guys think as the wife (the boss) is more unsure than me as i would get the landrover as i know them inside out and i drive the works one every day.
So let me know what you think
Cheers
Gary

What engine is in the 110?

I'd go with what you feel most confident about. Reading between the lines it's a LR. If you reluctantly take the Shogun and the head goes, you will be pretty peeved off. If the same happens in the LR, you'll get over it.

I'd want it to be a 200/300tdi if it were me tho.

I think that while the LR is probably more likely to have mechanical issues, the parts will be easier and cheaper to get and the maintainance in the bush is likely to be easier

This is my view too i think the shogun is up to the job but if somthing dose go wrong i'm not sure i'll be able to get the parts and i think somthing without an ECU would be better.
I think it's a 300 engine in the 110

If it's a 300 Tdi then go for the Landy without a doubt. Give it a good service, look at all the bushes and joints, fuel lines, brake lines etc. Give it a really good going over and it'll be fine. Easy to cheap to get in tip top condition.
Cheers,
Matt


Just had very nice home made chicken soup and really nice bread. But I'm about to go out for a bike ride. I feel quite full.... !

Go Shogun...
 

Gary,

With the bit of information you provided, I would take your Shogun. A few reasons why...

- you know your vehicle and you have said you have prepared it. It would be money wasted not to use what you have invested in.
- The majority of Trans-Africa routes do not require the toughness of the Defender. So much so, that a new Range Rover just completed a trip.
- The comfort factor of your Shogun will keep the wife very happy - esp. if it has aircon & a radio that you can listen to.

So, in summary: Take the vehicle you know and the one that you have already spent the money one. One more key point... the more you spend on your vehicle, the less travel time you have.

Go for the Shogun!

I think it all depends on the route you're planning to take, how much real off-road there is, and how comfortable you are making repairs.

If I were you, I'd take the Shogun, mainly because I've used them in West-Africa in the late nineties and they coped pretty well in the Sahel region (nothing too extreme). They're comfortable and relatively straightforward to maintain. Of the Japanese 4x4s, they come in behind the Landcruiser and the Nissan Patrol. Outside of southern and eastern Africa, there aren't too many Defenders around (from my experience), so repairs and servicing should be easier.

I can't really judge the Defender, as I've never owned one, but I'm sure plenty of people here can comment on it in more detail. The only Defender I've ever travelled in was a TD5, which could not keep up with the LC 105 in different types of terrain whilst driving through Tanzania.

Even though Mitsubishi's are not often used for the rougher stuff in sub-Saharan Africa, they're definitely capable of getting you to where you want to go. Use the money that you're saving by not buying the Defender to uprate the suspension (Old Man Emu or similar), stick some BFG ATs on, comprehensive service and you're almost ready to go.

Cheers
Joova

Thanks for all the replys,As i said i've already started preping the shogun i have fitted OME shocks and springs,Snorkel,winch as we are traveling alone and with kids better to be safe than sorry,snorkel blacked out the windows,new clutch brake calipers and pads wheel bearings, exhurst full filter change,duel battary system new bushes all round new u/js on the props and retro fitted air con.So i know it's quite sound but my worry is if say the head gasket is to go i know i could fix it but getting the parts will be a problem out side ZA Namibia and Kenya thus when i got offered the landy i got thinking.I'm going to fit KM2 tyres to the shogun if we go in it i wanted coopers but i can't get them as i'm working in italy at the moment and they just don't sell them here.
As for off road i feel quite confident with the shogun as it copes well here (I have 700ha of off raod track ranging from good to very bad so the winch has had some use) and because it's a shogun not a pajero it has rear diff lock as well as central.That said when i compear it to the landy need i say more but it's a 90 so short wheel base and that will always win off road the other advantage with the landy is the wheel size being 16' and the shogun is 15'.The last problem with the shogun is getting a roof rack for it as we have a roof tent for the kids to sleep in,I made one but as is the way with these thing i over enginered it and i felt it was to heavy so i have choped it down so now it holds the jerry cans our ground tent and a couple of other bits so i'm thinking of using roof bars for the roof tent any thoughts on that?.

Please dont post this kind of stuff its not useful at all.

Any car is just as reliable as how the owner takes care of it.

Servicing a defender is childs work with the right tools which are all very basic and a properly prepared defender will last just as long as a shogun would in the field. Both good cars but one is made for an rural setting with a dealership or parts link and the other is made to be able to run on a shoe string in the middle of no where.

There is a hell of a lot of serious problems with a shogun that could go wrong compared to the defender and even then finding parts for it would be a nightmare.

Shogun or LR?
 

I don’t have an axe to grind either way, not having a preference for either make.

From your description you have pretty much sorted the Shogun but maybe more importantly you now “know” it. I.E. any new noises, vibrations, creaks, groans etc will be obvious to you. Same can’t be said of the LR. Even though you say you know LR’s you don’t know this one as you know the Shogun. You have spoken about head gasket/parts availability. Does that mean the Shogun you have has an engine prone to head gasket failure? A spare head gasket kit is no big deal to take with you surely? The Shogun also has age on it’s side.

Also why do you think 16 inch wheels are an advantage? 15 inch has an advantage over 16’s in that you can fit larger/higher profile tyres for the same overall diameter. Result being increased volume of air which allows you to air down to a lower psi without compromising tyre integrity. If it’s replacement availability thats a different story.

That is the thing i was thinking about the availability of 16 inch tyres as 16 inch is more common.it's not a big worry though.As for the head gasket they are a weak point on shoguns and often lead to the hole head having to be replaced which could be a problem.The one good thing i have on my side is time as we are traverling as long as the money lasts so i'm talking to parts dealers to see if they can ship parts to me if needed and i think i'll go from there.

We've sent all sorts of parts to people travelling all over the place. The world is a small place when you're talking about shipping parts!

Cheers,
Matt

just use the one you know best and are going to be the most comfortable in -
You will be driving it and enjoying yourselves and the trip for a much larger proportion of time than you will be fixing anything - dont plan the entire trip around failure!

parts for mitsubishis seem pretty well available in Tanz, kenya, Uganda anyway and you can get some fairly random stuff quite easily.

the bearing in a small tensioner pulley for one of the engine belts disintegrated on my 16 year old Isuzu engine in kenya - walked into a small spares shop in nairobi and the guy pulled one of the shelf behind him.
I've also met a couple of others doing the long trip in Shoguns, so you're in company.

Thats good to hear about the parts it is my only real worry i plan on doing more fishing and living than fixing the truck but you never know what can happen and if all dose go wrong then we'll get a truck down there and carry on as long as we can