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Preparing a Land Rover Discovery for Tunisia
After an abortive trip to Morocco last year, we are preparing for a trip to the Tunisian Sahara in October 2010.
My car is fairly well prepared but we are making many more mods over the next few months. I have detailed some of these and I will be adding plenty more on my website (address in signature below). You are welcome to comment and ask any questions. I shall make the articles as detailed as possible to show how things were fitted, where they came from, how they were made and how successful they were. In addition I will be running a 'countdown blog' until we leave on the 2nd October 2010 and then updating it remotely during the trip. Many of the ideas and mods have come from things I have seen on forums and other personal websites. This site is my way of giving something back to the online community. Ralph |
Your Morocco Blog
Just read your blog re. Morocco 2009 Ralf
You and your wife are hero’s:clap::clap: The fact that you can venture out of the house at all is a miracle after your last attempt never mind planning a Tunisia trip. I guess you must have used up all the bad luck by now though, so it can only get better! Seriously I’ll be very interested in your next trip, I’m now pondering Tunisia rather than another Morocco trip. Do you have a route planned? Russ |
Tunisia
Russ
Thanks for the comments. Yes our Morocco trip was a bit of an experience:(:eek::frown: still, we leaned a lot and it will set us up for Tunisia. It took a while before Belinda even considered another trip but Peter of Atlas Overland did a brilliant sales job at Newark last year ad now she is all for it. Our planned trip/route can be seen here: Tunisia 2010 We are joining the Atlas Overland tour commencing on the 7th October in Marseilles. There are still some spaces if you're up for it? I shall continue my blog and adding more stuff to the websites as time goes by. Cheers Ralph |
Hi Ralph
Have just read about your Morocco trip. Excellent advert for Toyota! Also saw the pics of Granada Fiesta.....interesting to see the KKK in Spain. Mark overlandcruiser.net |
[quote=ilesmark;281838]Hi Ralph
Have just read about your Morocco trip. Excellent advert for Toyota! quote] Nah! You would never have that much fun with a Toyota:wink3: and besides, rumour has it that even Toyotas break down occasionally. At least my throttle and abs brakes work okay :biggrin3: |
'Fun'?
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Why else would we put ourselves through all that? Although, I must admit, it didn't seem like it at the time:( |
Bloody Hell......
Just read your Morocco blog........ Good luck with your future plans.... Cheers Matt |
Cheers Matt
Hopefully the next one won't be so 'eventfull':( I'll keep a running blog leading up to and during the next 'adventure' in October. |
Website updates
Just to let you all know that I have added some more info to the site as well as maintaining my blog.
Some articles are still 'in progress' Full length boot storage system Built in fresh water system Solar panels and boot security Fitting a Hannibal Awning on a Safety Devices Roofrack I hope these are of interest. There is plenty more to come including: Howling Moon tent write up GPS Tracking with Spot Rooflight and work light wiring Servicing and engine, drivetrain and brakes overhaul Spares list Tools list Cheers Ralph |
Love the solar panel idea. I am thinking of boarding over my Defender boot space windows.
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I glad you like it.
The panel I used have now been superseded by a new model which is slightly more powerful (7.75W). I didn't use them because they have changed the shape and they are now rectangular (484 x 258 x 14 mm instead of 375 x 360 x 26 mm). That means that they wouldn't fit in the window space I have. However they should fit behind a defender rear window easily. They do say that you should work out what power consumption you need from a solar panel and then double it to get and accurate figure of what to fit. At full power these units combined could give 1Amp into the system. The reality will always be less because they are on opposite sides of the car and are sitting vertically. If I get 0.5W then I will be happy (that's each unit running @ 50%). The Engel takes about 2.5A to run as well as any other electrical bits which may be on. So these aren't going to make a huge difference, but they will make some. Starting and running the engine for a short while every other days doesn't seem like a big problem and we aren't likely to stay in one place for more than a few days at a time anyway. The panels I used are very simple to connect (all plug and play basically) and have reverse current protection so you don't need a controller with them. It just seemed like a bit of dead space that could be put to some use. |
Out of curiosity, who makes the solar panels?
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Their actually made by Sunsei which is a subsidiary of ICP. Website here:
SE 500 Solar Trickle Charger Cheapest place is here: Sunsei SE-500 Solar Panel - Machine Mart |
Solar panel update
For those that are interested I have an update on the solar panels.
Unfortunately one of the 7.5W panels I had fitted failed miserably (it overheated and melted) and so I had to get it exchanged. Again, unfortunately they were not able to get a direct replacement which meant I had to have the 7.75W models (the company did replace both of them so that they matched). Initially I thought that the new model wouldn't fit in the disco window space, but I was wrong. They fit perfectly and, in fact, I think they look better. Once wired in I am getting a consistent 13.9V across the auxilliary battery. http://www.overland-rovers.com/image...r/P5310041.JPG Link to full article here |
Thanks for the update.
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Just in case anyone is interested, we are now back from our trip. A full write up can be found here
It was a fantastic experience and we are now counting down to Morocco in March 2012 ;D Not exactly the M25: http://overland-rovers.com/images/st...sia/TheM25.jpg Wild camping under a stunning sky: http://overland-rovers.com/images/st...a/PA146248.jpg Fantastic sunsets: http://overland-rovers.com/images/st...a/PA166362.jpg My advice to all is; if you get a chance.....GO, you won't regret it. |
Admire your spirit after the Morocco trip which sounded a nightmare. Thanks for sharing.
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2nd Time Lucky
LOL, yes congratulations after reading your Morocco trip report I’m surprised you conjured up the courage to get off your driveway. :clap::clap:
BTW your link doesn’t work. I’m sure you’ll love Morocco next time. I’m trying to get back in 2011 but the deal with my wife is we stay in Auberges this time. Russ |
Thanks for the comments.
Yes the Morocco trip did get some getting over and it is a testament to Peter, at Atlas Overland, that he managed to persuade my wife to give it another go. I couldn't convince her! Sorry about the link, this one should work: Tunisia October 2010 We are now starting the initial planning for Morocco, figuring out what worked and what didn't, what we should have taken and what we shouldn't have and what could have been organised better. Full info will be on the blog over the next 18 months. |
Disco a good overland
Ralph,
After reading your blog about the trip to to Marocco I do have reservations about Disco I as a good overland vehicle. I live in Indonesia and wanted to buy 1996 300TDI from Japan to make it my overland vehicle for here. I would be using it for ocasional dirt road tracking and plan a trip up Sumatra. Reading your blog I have second thoughts about Disco I being a reliable vehicle. I also saw a 110 die in Tunesia, so it does not seem much better. What is you opinion? Obviously you went with Disco I for a reason. Thanks, for the advise. |
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mogindo you cant base vehicle choice on one vehicles performance or you would not go with any vehicle , as they can all have trouble, Any older vehicle is a gamble of sorts , unless you do a full overhaul , and have the ability to do it correctly !
I would say that you need to own and use the vehicle for at least 12/24 months to get to know it and thereby possible faults. |
moggy 1968
In my case it's actually difficult to say how well the panels worked. I had hoped to extend the life of the battery when camped. Unfortunatly we haven't camped long enough to see any benefits. However I am having some trouble lately with the battery discharging (over 4-5 days) without any load attached. I have read about solar panels actually draining a battery when their not charging. The panels I fitted are supposed to be fitted with a reverse current diode but I'm not convinced. I am now looking at fitting a charge controller into the circuit to make sure. In retrospect I would have liked to have gone for better panels. It is now possible the fit a 20W panel in the window space but they are too expensive (£200 each) for me to consider when I haven't 'needed' these ones yet. I shall revisit my solar circuit soon (as we are now preparing for a trip to Morocco in March 2012) and will post more details on my site. mogindo As tacr2man says, you can't base your opinion of all discoveries on the basis of one or two examples. Yes I had lots of problems on the Morocco trip but once the cooling problems were resolved we did a 2700 mile trip through France and Tunisia without any major problems. Also remember that I had done over 100k miles (with much of it offroad in the UK) before setting off for Morocco. There is always the potential for any vehicle (yes even Toyotas) to go wrong. The only thing you can do is choose a good one (whatever make) and make sure that it is well maintained before you set off. In our case we suffered 2 problems which were not detectable (easily) before we set off. Weakend springs inside the fuel injection pump and a faulty cooling system (which was fine in UK temperatures). All the other problems were as a result of the overheating caused by the later. There are plenty of stories of people who have taken discoveries across the world (Peter Crichton, Paul Marsh, and here). There are probably ten times more that have taken 110s. We are now preparing to return to Morocco and will be taking the discovery again. We preferred the discovery over the 110 because of the comfort when travelling many, many miles on tarmac with minimal (if any) disadvantage when off road. However the 110 would probably be easier to 'configure' on the inside for storage. Having seen our guides vehicle, on the Tunisia trip, I would willingly swap the discovery for a Toyota Troopie. Which I would suggest is close to being the perfect overland vehicle. Unfortunately at £40k+ and with the need to import them into the UK, this is beyond my budget. So, to summarise, the discovery IS a good overland vehicle if you prepare it well. But, like any vehicle, you cannot expect to drive them across all terrains, for mile after mile and not expect some problems. |
Having seen our guides vehicle, on the Tunisia trip, I would willingly swap the discovery for a Toyota Troopie. Which I would suggest is close to being the perfect overland vehicle. Unfortunately at £40k+ and with the need to import them into the UK, this is beyond my budget.
You could spend £40k+ and get an immaculate troopie, but they're available for much less. There's quite a few for sale on mobile.de starting at around EUR10k. Nearly all are LHD but there's even a RHD that has come from Australia via Africa. It's German registered so not too difficult to register in the UK either. |
Now that's just not fair:(
I never thought about searching the european secondhand market. Thanks for the link. Perhaps this is something for the future. |
Another place worth looking for mainly German registered vehicles is the ads on www.buschtaxi.de (click on 'marktplatz')
All sorts of kitted out troopies on there. Sorry for making you jealous :oops2: |
Now you're just rubbing it in :frown:
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Alright, no more links. Probably best to leave it now anyway seeing as this is the Land Rover section...don't want to go too far :offtopic:
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On the subject of reliability......
My 1996 Disco 300Tdi has done 280.000 km's. Never has let me down, even with parts not functioning fully it got me home safely. Yes, the odd part has broken, mostly due abuse, driving over very (and I mean VERY) rocky roads. But it's still on it's first clutch........ Greetz, Joey |
I can honestly say that I have never had to replace the clutch in mine either despite the other issues.
Of course being an automatic helps a bit:thumbup1: |
Just to make sure ... the car's an automatic, or are you ? :cool4:
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Preparing a Discovery for Morocco
There have been a few updates on the website (not as many as I'd hoped) but the main one is that we are now in the final stages of a countdown to return to Morocco.
I have made modifications to the boot storage and upper shelf, had 110 front brakes fitted, moved the water tap and done a few more tweaks here and there. We should be getting a new rooftent mattress in the next few days. With only 9 weeks, 1 day, 20 hours and 59 minutes to go (not that we're counting of course:innocent:) the car is having some last minute mechanical work done (new rear discs, new door solenoid, refurbished injectors) and then we will be starting to get her packed. As before I shall try and do a online blog and full trip report as well as running the spot tracker for anyone who wants to follow us. |
Hi Ralph,
Hope every thing works out ok, I shall be dropping in to read your blog after you get a move on. Good luck, and best wishes to lady Ralph also. Gra. |
Ralph I was looking at and admiring your mods , re Mk1 and M2 storage systems . just one point re gas bottles, did you put a drain hose/hole in the bottom of that compartment in case of a gas leakage ? If not please make sure you do , for both of yours safety , I have attended a couple of incidents where gas has ignited in a vehicle , luckily neither with fatal results , but damage and slight injury was caused. :thumbup1:
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tacr2man
Thanks for the concern. The hose which connects the gas bottles to the cooker passes through the side of the box. I deliberately made this hole too large to allow for ventilation. I appreciate the fact that you think that my woodworking skills are so good that additoinal ventilation holes are required:thumbup1:. However, I would guess that, even without the ventilation gap, the tolerences that my skills allow me to work to provide enough 'flexibility' in my construction to prevent a gas build up:redface: Gra Thanks for the good wishes. If it goes wrong this time then I know that our desire to watch the sunrise over Erg Chebbi is just not meant to be:frown: |
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We didn't make it to Erg Chebbi or even Morocco. Belinda became very ill on day one in Spain and spent 6 days in a Spanish hospital. Eventually she was repatriated to the UK and the good old NHS. I had to bring the car back on my own 2 days later. She is now recovering well and we are starting a new countdown for the next attempt. |
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Hope your better half has recovered. G |
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Thanks for the comments guys.
Belinda is doing fine and enjoying a few extra weeks off work. All indications are that she will make a full recovery. Luck is a relative concept: We passed a brand new hospital (literally by the side of the road) just as she took a turn for the worse. Within 6 hours she had a CT scan, X-Ray, Lumber Puncture, blood test and results for them all. Was correctly diagnosed and had commenced IV treatment. Much as I hate to admit it; we would have been hard pushed to have got that in the UK. Especially on a Sunday. A few days later and we could have been in southern Morocco, halfway between Zagora and Merzouga. Need I say more. The rest of the group, that we were travelling with suffered torrential rain and plummeting temperatures (even at Erg Chebbi). The return trip, planned for a whole week) through Spain was beset by appalling weather. During the time back in the UK I have managed to fit a new solar panel and tweak a couple of other annoying things on the car. Atlas Overland are running the same tour in October which fits exactly with Belindas work schedule and over 50% of our food will still be in date. Our travel insurance worked brilliantly (AXA insurance through LloydsTSB Bank account). And finally......I even got a £130 refund and a cabin upgrade from Brittany Ferries for coming back early! Morocco will always be there. Out health may not. See, silver lining for every cloud:clap: Now then just 176 days to go....... |
Hi Ralph,
sorry to hear about your wife, and failing to get to Morocco. Like you say very lucky timing for Belinda. Just to rub salt into the wound I leave the day after tomorrow and am planning to meet up with Matt K in 6 days time. I've been speaking to Matt and he said that many of the routes a very tricky due to all of the rains, so much so that I won't be taking the Landy down Dades gorge this year. To quote him he said he wouldn't do Dades again if you paid him!!! Having been behind him out there he is no fanny when it comes to off road driving so I guess it must be bad. I guess luckily you didn't miss too much. I can't think of much worse than sitting in the driving rain with the crappy landy blowers failing to de-mist the wagon (or is that just defenders) Did you manage to get your money back off Pete? I've bumped into him out there every year for the last 5 years, he is a top bloke. Out of interest why do you go with an outfit and not with others (such as me and Matt or others from the forums?). Genuinely not having a dig, just interested to know, as its so very expensive. I really like the set up in the back of your wagon, great videos on the Morocoo 4x4 forum. Can't say that I have modified mine to the same extent, primarily as I have to run mine as the family car too... all the best to Belinda and I hope she makes a speedy recovery, Guy |
Guy
Thanks for your comments on the car and videos and I'll pass on your best wishes to Belinda. Our reasons for going with Pete are a bit of a long story. On our first trip, in 2009, our (so called) guide left us high and dry with no support or assistance. If you've read the trip report, on my site, you will know that we were beset by problems from the outset and it didn't end very well. As a result of this Belinda swore she would never do anything like that again. However, at the LR Max show at Newark, we got talking to Pete and told him our tale of woe. It was purely down to his 'smooth charms' that he persuaded Belinda to go to Tunisia. As a result we had a brilliant time and Belinda was converted (partially). On that trip we made some very good friends and we enjoyed Pete's company so much that, on the ferry back, we all, en mass, signed up to go to Morocco this March. It was meant to be a re-run/reunion of the Tunisia crew. Unfortunately due to different commitments certain individuals had to drop out but it still left our good friends Nick & Karen and my brother and wife Alan & Morag. With the memory of 2009 still sharp in her mind, the desire for backup and support is still a key consideration for Belinda. Even though our 'holiday' with Atlas Overland didn't start until Tarifa the guys drove with us down through Spain and gave great support when Belinda first started to fall ill. Alex, who works for Pete, stayed with us at the hospital, for several hours, offering support until it was obvious he could do no more. As for the money, Pete is not back from Morocco yet to discuss it. But I hope to 'transfer' any balance to his October tour, or if that's not possible, I'll claim it back from the travel insurance. Either way we hope to travel with him again in October. Would we travel in a small group of friends? Yes I'm sure we will, as time progresses. Certainly I do want to go to the Sahara with my brother (the original plan) and that won't be possible with Atlas because of the timing of school holidays. I've built the disco for travel and there are wider plans than the trips offered by Pete. I desperately want to go to Iceland and we shall do some more touring of the UK and Europe. One day, who knows, even Mongolia could be on the cards. Saying that we love the look of the Carpathian Trails tour and the Arctic Circle trip offered by Atlas. In the short term if Belinda is only happy to travel with an organised tour, then that's what we'll do. Any travel is better than no travel:thumbup1: |
Hi Ralph,
I'm the same as you in that I had to take it softly softly with my wife (plus we had a 9th month old in tow). I then blew it last year by nealry rolling then landy down a mountainside (4 hours of digging and high lift jacking to recover it, plus one night on a mountainside at minus 3). Wife very unimpressed. Pete is a quality guy, and I can certainly see why he gets repeat custom. Probably bump into him out there, I leave on the ferry tomorrow!!! All the best Woody |
Woody
Have a good one. Pete should be crossing the straights on Sunday if I have my dates right. Cheers Ralph |
Hi Ralph,
I guess Belinda has made a full recovery by now? Here's hoping. So, I know you probably still have the ambition for a bit of an intercontinental travel, it's in you, sure it is. But what now? you simply can't just leave the Disc and not think about some decent travel? Will you be planning again? All the best, vette |
Thanks for the good wishes.
We had rescheduled, with Peter, to do the same Morocco trip in October but Belinda is still not fully recovered and it would be wromg to try a trip like that without being 100%. So we have postponed Morocco indefinately. At some point my brother and his wife will go again and we will plan to go then. It could be a few years away but we will make it. After all the initial plan was for us to do the trip together in 2009 and Morocco will still be there in a few years. However you are right about the need for a trip. I don't know what I would do without a countdown clock ticking away the seconds to another journey. So we have decided to go in the opposite direction. Next June we spend 3 weeks driving through Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway into the Arctic Cricle to see the Midnight Sun at the northernmost point on the summer solstice. Once again we will be travelling with Peter and our friends Nick and Karen. It will be a very different experience and we are looking forward to it. So its out with the suncream and shortsleeve shirts and in with the thermals:thumbup1: Only 287 days, 21 hours, 58 mins, 52 seconds to go.........but whose counting:innocent: |
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bier G |
Thanks for the offer but next year is too early for my brother and his wife to return to Morocco.
We have realised that the point of the trip was for us to do it together and so we will wait unitl that's possible. Morocco will always be there. On top of that the deposit has now been paid for the Arctic Circle trip. Only 294 days to the solstaice when we will be 'on top of the woooorrrld':clap: Okay not quite the top but you know what I mean. Morocoo will probably be in 2015 |
Hi Ralph,
This is slightly off topic but I was reading your overland-rovers pages and was wondering how your replacement Landy Ltd engine was going? How many miles do you have on it now? Cheers Paul. 90 300tdi |
It's been over two years since the last post on this thread but I thought that I would resurrect it for a quick update.
We did complete our 5800 mile trip to Nordkapp in the Arctic Cicle without any incident. https://scontent-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hp...12&oe=55D8DD33 and since then we have also travelled to The Faroe Islands and Iceland. https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...9b83266de22417 once again without any serious incident or malfunction. I am currently in the process of rebuilding the interior storage in preparation for a short trip to Eire, Northern Ireland and The Isle of Man. This will be a shake down trip for our main event later in the year. In September we will be driving to Istanbul and into Asia, circumnavigating the Aegean Sea and returning, via Italy up through Europe. I have now linked our website to facebook and twitter for anyone who wants to follow the rebuild and trip reports. https://www.facebook.com/OverlandRovers https://twitter.com/overlandrrover overland-rovers.com |
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