I did it in a Disco
Hey,
I wend down to SA in a disco. Many people envied me for the comfort, and the crew in the big TOY 78 insuated next time they might opt for something like a disco... .
Of the other travelers I met on that trip, I don't think one can say that the disco was more or less reliable then Toyota's, other Landrovers (except the SIII then, they broke down every second pothole) or Nissans (although that patrol did pretty well). Issues I had on the north south trip (+ around algeria...). Fuel cut out valve defect (I had a spare. Can be openend and closed manually if needed). Diff lock linkage shaked loose, 1 flat tyre, worn rear shocks by the end of the trip. (compared to a fried clutch and failing elecric windows (in africa!) on the toys, that's not to bad I think)
I kept it relatively light though, and I drive gently. The 80l tank got me about as far as the Toy 78 with 120 liters on board. You don't really need jerry cans with the disco (although I had one 20l can in the back just in case...).
Along the west coast you'll find spares in almost every country. There are more spares for 300tdi then for 200tdi.
That said, a good Hi-lux can't be bad. They're all over the place in africa. Typical with the NA 2.8 engine though. 2.5 turbo's as we tend to get them here are rare.
;-)
|