planning my first overland vehicle.knowledge required

[taff_jj]

Forgot to ask,

What country/ countries will you be driving through! because that again will be a major factor in equipment and vehicle suitability,

Will you have regular access to clean water. Power. food.

The less access you have or greater distnace without, the bigger your vehicle needs to be, in order to carry this equipment.

[mmgemini]

Ted

You're going to a Land Rover show this weekend. Should you fand many overland vehicles. Look at the well used ones, not the shiny ones, the well used ones have generally done it.

I doubt there'll be many, if any, talks on overlanding and preparation. That's why I suggested an overland show to you.

[taff_jj]

mmgemini Is a very wise man!

Wish i had had a bit more coffee and had thought of that!

[mmgemini]

mmgemini Is a very wise man!

Wish i had had a bit more coffee and had thought of that!

Thank you for making me smile.

I'll be at the Overland show. There'll be plenty coffee at my Defender.

[taff_jj]

Unfortunately i am in the middle of a nasty desert with the air force at the mo,

otherwise i would of taken you up on that offer.

[Dave W]

I think most of the basics have been covered, the only thing I'd add in regard to the RTT "debate" is that, IMV, a RTT moves the bulky but light stuff onto the roof freeing up room inside (and lower down) for heavier stuff. On a big vehicle this is less of an issue but we're planning a 4-6 month tour next year in a 90, in a vehicle that small everything has to justify it's place !

The only downside we've found with our RTT is that it can be noisy in high winds, especially if you park side on to the wind instead of pointing the front of the motor into it. You also need to be pretty agile both to get in and out of it but also to pack it away. Sleeping inside isn't an option for a 90 Not had a problem with bugs/dust on the cover but that may be a design thing as the cover on ours comes off the back and we normally "throw" it off the back from the sides.

We're running a blog that covers our preparations for the big adventure, might be something of use on it...

http://landytravels.com/

I'll know by this time next year if we got it right or not

We're shipping in a container so a bit limited on height, the RTT will ship on a pallet in the container.

[mmgemini]

Unfortunately i am in the middle of a nasty desert with the air force at the mo,

otherwise i would of taken you up on that offer.

Any time you're in the NE.

Dave W

You are also welcome to cross the Tees to visit us.....

[taff_jj]

Any time you're in the NE.

Dave W

You are also welcome to cross the Tees to visit us.....

PM Sent.

Plus to add on to what Dave says, it all depends on what type of overlanding. he admits that space is limited in his 90 which forces his hand in other areas. however if you were to collect your items first and then map your vehicle around that, you will get the best match. that said, compromises will always be made. eg taking a 130 loaded to the gills full of kit just because you have the space, will burn A LOT of fuel and money, plus wear out components like bushes quicker.

[Snagger]

Taff, you won't see ambulances towing aircraft, or Rgt vehicles either. You probably won't see any other Rovers do it where you are, but I used to frequently see Ops 90s towing Pumas, Tucanos or Hawks. The practice may have been stopped by now - I'm talking about 20 years ago, but many of those vehicles will still be in service or recently released.

[mmgemini]

The biggest proplem with overlanding is WEIGHT. generally excess weight. If you try to lighten the load, then try to lighten it even more.

Don't worry. We do carry too much stuff. Although we have twice managed to live for six months out of a Wollf box and a half each. One box for everyday stuff each, one box shared with wet/ cold weather gear in. I still think we could have somehow reduced that.

[CaptCarrot]

Taff_JJ you take care out there, here's to a safe return for you and your Team

My experience of overlanding is take plenty of spare wheels/tyre repair equipment. We were stupid enough to tour the Northwest of Aus with only one spare, which gave rise to a certain amount of angst. We would have been more relaxed and adventurous if we'd had a couple of spares and a repair kit.

Don't know where you're going but make sure suspension is in tip top condition, corrugated roads are exhausting to drive on at the best of times but with flakey suspension it is challenging to say the least.

Water for us was standard military black jerry cans...horrible taste after a few days as usual, you might find the new blue plastic ones better tasting. We supplemented water using a hand operated filtered hand pump but rarely used it.

You'll want to record your trip with cameras video etc....we took a device to that burnt everything to disc and a portable harddrive to reduce risk of losing our treasured photos...build your power supplies around it with plenty room for redundancy.

Security.......Build in discreet hiding places for your valuables secure from thieves as well as water and dust. Make it as difficult to start as possible with hidden switches and false labels etc...

Fuel........there is a formula to estimate off-road consumption......can't for the life of me remember it now though....it's a lot more than you think

As said above....light is right.....hope for the best and plan for the worse....practice camping, get fit and train yourself for the skills you need, tyre changing etc....

Have fun

[taff_jj]

_{CaptCarrot, Thank you}

_{And I deffinately agree about over preparing, which is to say you will think you are over preparing, but god forbid the worst happened, you will know what to do.}

_{With regards to repairs, it is an argument to keeping your chosen vehicle as standard as possible, as standard parts are a lot easier to source/ find that the new fandagled one off's!}

_{Plus a lot of bush mechanics can easily bodge standard spec. try finding a local who knows what that fancy new double extra long thingy ma bobber is, let alone fix it.}

_{Rubber hoses and pipes take a hammering, if it flexes and you have the space, take a spare. virtually every vehicle that has gne on an overland journey has broken a suspension component at least.}

_{The wife was one on Some sort of atkins fad diet, and in the process got water flavouring powder. one teaspoon diluted 1L the point being that water that tastes horrid from those jerry cans can be made to taste a little better with flavour. dry pwder is easier to store than a lot of robinsons. even if you like the taste of plain water and the cans you use are taste free, drinking just water day in day out, makes you sick of water. (ask me how i know)}

_{And bare in mind, if you are going across any desert. do not panic about the sand... any one who has been in a desert will agree, its the dust that gets you. into everything, so do not take anything sentimentally valuable.}

_{I would say on the fuel front always add 10% at least.}

[taff_jj]

If anyone is interested i have found a link to the water flavouring i am using ATM.

http://www.kraftbrands.com/crystallight/Pages/default.aspx#/classic

I am not affiliated in the above Blah, Blah.

But after 4 months of pure water.. the raspberry ice is definately a must.

[taff_jj]

I think the Golden Rule, if you take nothing else away, is

Always have a back up. and check everything at least twice.

Get used to turning things off.

Tell others of your plans and stick to routes and times as best you can.

Sounds simple stuff, but it works.

[jbs]

Has anyone thought about one of these?: http://www.findmespot.eu/en/ A mate of mine has used one whilst onboard a vessel we were looking after-just really so his wife knew he was ok

John

[mmgemini]

Dave W

I've read your post again.

When we've shipped the shipper has supplied to ratchet straps for the truck. Unless you're shareing a container. The RTT will strap to the floor BUT take your own straps as the shipper might only supply four straps.

When you exit the container. Take the straps with you, you've paid for them.

What's the height of the 90 with the rtt fitted. If undr 2.2metres you should get away with the RTT fitted.

[Dave W]

When we've shipped in the past we've always used our own straps (in fact we've always packed/loaded the container ourselves, using our own chocks, straps etc...). We can leave the straps etc.. at the freight handler in Sydney, they're a really good company and the staff know what they are doing. They'll then use them for the return trip if we don't pack the container ourselves for the return. As this will be the third time we've shipped we've now found an agent at the Australian end that we've got confidence in after they "rescued" our vehicles from the incompetent agent we'd used previously. They do a lot of motor sport shipping so are pretty competent (F1, V8s, MotoGP etc...).

The 90 is 2.1 metres without the RTT (including roll cage) and 2.5 with the RTT on it unladen. It doesn't drop much when full loaded, maybe 30mm or so. The suspension is tuned for when it's fully loaded so is a bit stiff unladen but is good (and comfortable !) on the rough stuff when loaded. We did look at a high cube container but the cost was prohibitive. It's only 4 bolts to undo the RTT albeit that 2 of them are a PITA to get to, I can get it bolted up in about 30 mins if the brackets are already mounted on the cage. The shipping agent staff will give us a hand to lift it on/off the vehicle, it's not particularly heavy but is bulky and ungainly to handle. We can get it on/off ourselves at home using a winch and some straps and have "helicopter tape" on the top of the roll cage to allow us to slide it on without damaging the roll cage finish.
http://landytravels.com/2013/03/back-on-the-roof/

[Snagger]

Our stock 2009 90 is bang on 2m. A modern 110 would be higher as their rear suspension is taller than a 90's. A flat rack or bars will get close to 2.2m before you fit the RTT - you'd have to remove it and lay it on edge next to the 90 in the container.