Our Defender Td4 Expedition Conversion

Mike it's all coming along, great to hear.

We are with RACQ, the Queensland version of an auto club. As mentioned, in one and you are covered nationally by the other states version of a club. We upgraded to the top level of break down/road side assist as it offers a fair bit of "piece of mind". From simple inconvenient break down towing to serious accident and loss of vehicle, the top level covers accommodation, replacement vehicle and a whole lot of other stuff.

We have gone for a Satellite phone and epirp as our remote communications. Epirp incase no one can make a call, but can hit a button. And a phone to call the exact person we need to. Normal radio works Ok at night with a good aerial, and we have found it OK for weather updates most of the time. Hopeless during the day reasonably remote however.
A HF radio can solve much of the above but for me I have heard a lot of people have clarity issues. They seem to suffer from feedback a bit. And they are big taking there fair share of cabin space. The other is the are quite expansive as well. The kids don't know how to work one either I'd imagine until they are 10ish.

the winch, the dam winch. If you have an auxiliary battery then you are over half way there. I don't use mine much, but the piece of mind it give me to poke my nose down some beach, river bed, or forested track is well worth the $800 I paid for it.

Water, 115lt of water is enough for most things in Aus. There is boxed water if you find yourself going on some long remote haul. Carry a hose, with a hose and tape fitting. Some places won't let you use theirs to fill the tanks as selfish people have pinched the supplied hose. Plus you can fill from anywhere if you ask or have to do a night run.

Navigation, For me I like paper maps with a simple GPS to cross reference. A small lap top to communicate with the outside world and store digital maps to still cross reference with the gps. I like to read the map and form a lay of the land in my head, not just follow the line on the navman.

Hi All,
After thorough considerations and re-reading most of the thread we have decided on the following last bits:
- hd rear door spare wheel carrier ( Heck-Reserveradhalterung Spare Wheel Carrier, Defender 110 SW, H - Ex-Tec GmbH )
- portable compressor (just not sure which one though, ARB to me seems a good decision)
- hand winch
We are still not sure about and would like to get some last bits of advice:
- rock sliders (instead of the steps the rover came with from the showroom; seems to be good, because it gives some side-impact protection and can be used for lifting in combination with the hi-lift and also winching; problem: added weight to what we have already (2450kgs), and a further 800€, which could be also spent on the road)
- hilift (we do have a bottle jack; the hilift adds another 20kg weight and might not be needed that often ... or am I wrong in that?! + makes up for another 440€ including adaptors, base-plate etc.)
Well, even though these questions - again - probably seem to be stupid ones for most of you, still I/we feel that it's hard to decide whether to include them or not, so it would be wonderful to get some final advice! N. B. that we don't do bush bashing, just want to travel off the beaten tracks, which will also include Cape Your, Gunbarrel Hwy, Holland Track and probably some other more remote tracks!
Looking forward to your ideas, Mike

hi mike, i would forget the hi lift jack as they are heavy, can be dangerous too, and most importantly unless you have the correct mountings on the vehicle to lift from then it is unusable. a good quality high extending hydraulic bottle jack is adequate, weld a V plate to it to fit under the axle tube, take a base to spread the load on soft surfaces, and take an axle stand or even a pair for safety. your vehicle when loaded is going to be heavy; around 3000kgs i reckon all up so jacking it up/ supporting it must be done safely.

standard puma shocks are gas, and like pat says are quite good but they won't cut it with 3 tons to control. (there i go on about shocks again...)


i'd also like to change my comment about winches since i posted all that time back, a hand winch is a waste of time and extra weight, i can just picture you waist deep in a croc infested creek in north queensland for an hour trying to haul you rig along with a tirfor winch. :(. use a good electric winch and plasma rope for weight saving.

jc

Mike, do you own a GPS enabled iPad? That could be a cheap alternate to buying a GPS specific unit. I assume the SIM cards are universal in size so it would be a matter of buying a contract or PAYG. There are several providers of maps with a range of pricing. Memory Map seems to have the least amount of negative feedback. Have a read of the posts on the GPS forum on AULRO. I'd recommend a hard copy Hema outback maps. You will be able to buy regional books. For the outback stuff there is no need for 1:25,000 detail and paper maps never have an IT meltdown.

I agree with Justin, the tufor is a big heavy lump of recovery equipment. Do yourself a favour and go road test one before deciding whether it's the solution you are looking for. Something that hasn't been mentioned in the winch department is the price. A tufor is about $300. A respectable chinese made winch like the Tigerz model is less than $500 with dyneema rope. If you have set your mind on winching capacity, I know which I'd prefer even for a few extra pennies.

I'm watching your list of modifications blowing out weight. It's incremental and I think you will be surprised when you put it on a weigh bridge. You might need to start considering jettisoning non-essential modifications. More weight on the truck in mods, less you can carry of other stuff like clothes, food, water etc. You'll need the 5 of life's essentials before you need rock sliders etc. I own a reasonably modified 110 and if I was to build a touring defender I'd do 3 things: (1) buy good quality shocks (which you have done), (2) fill the fuel tank; (3) throw in a tent and a few clothes and drive out of the city. The standard truck will do what you want of it in spades. Mechanic sympathy and keeping weight down will be the best thing for ensuring reliability.

That all said, well done on the adventure, your truck is well set up and looking a treat. I've enjoined reading this tread. Lots of good ideas and well trodden experience.

ps: I agree with a post a while back about the great ocean road. The road between Adelaide and Geelong is some of the most beautiful landscape you will experience. The sentiment is: not all of Australia's worthy places to see requires dirt roads and corrugations.

pps: You might want to consider temporary storage for non essential items when you are travelling or shipping items ahead from city to city. IE If you plan to take 3 weeks to travel from Sydney to Brisbane stopping at seaside town you won't need heavy recovery equipment, second spare tyre and depending on season, some clothes. Ship that stuff ahead to lighten the load and free up space for surfboards and the sand that you will accumulate. No need to carry everything everywhere.

MLD :)

Sliders can easily be made for a Defender, 50 x 75 RHS with 3mm wall. No point carrying a hilift without them, though you can get adaptors to fit to some wheels. If it was a choice between a hand winch and a hilift I'd prefer the hilift with a plastic base plate, got stuck in a salt lake once and was glad I had it. Winch would have been no use and didn't dare put another vehicle in there to snatch it out.

Hi MLD,
We recently bought a Garmin Montana 600, as we can use that one in the car, for walking/hiking and on our sailing boat! That definitely is worth the money, I think! But, we also want to buy a GPS enabled iPad as an additional unit for navigation, emails etc. HEMA maps are OK and we used them in Oz and they were really worth the money!
Winches: the problem also is that before installing an electric winch, you also need a winch bar, which then adds up weight and cost! Some people advised us to not take hilift, winch and hand winch and spend the money on the road! Well, ...?
Weight: we have put the Landy on a weight bridge, and (empty) it now has 2.450 kgs. We will probably not add more weight to it ... apart from ourselves and the luggage.
All our mods: We have been planning now for over three years according to our special situation. Just to give you some ideas ... here are (some of) our thoughts / ideas:
- We live on a car-free island, so we don’t use the landy for everyday driving, it's a car for touring off the beaten track.
- As we are going to travel in / with it not only during holidays, but also for (at least) one gap year, everything has to be stored well and has to be convenient for a family of four with two small children.
- We wanted to be able to sleep in the car with the complete family, so we decided to go for a wedge-pop-top.
- In case of an emergency, it takes not more than 40 seconds to fold down the pop-top and drive away without having to leave the car (we tested that).
- The pop-top is more stabile in windy conditions (and can be heated from the inside – cold Europe, don’t forget!).
- The additional Oz-Tent in bad / hot weather gives us the chance to put it up, put the children in there with a box of toys ... and then, we have enough time to set up the rest of the camp.
- The foxwing is attached to the car and can be zipped onto the Oz-Tent, which then gives all of us enough space.
As you said it, MHD, the thread simply is exciting and, for us, really this thread and the rest of the AULRO-forum was so much help ... Thanks again to all of you!
Travelling: We have been to Australia before and enjoyed the Gt. Ocean Rd., but – after overcrowded Europe – we are generally looking for solitude, free nature and discoveries off the beaten track! We definitely are planning to include some touristy sights as well, but generally, we want to meet people, be out bush and enjoy an easy lifestyle. ... and we simply love the dirt roads, as they have nearly vanished in (Central) Europe!
All the best and thanks for your help and ideas, Mike

other may disagree, and of course less weight is preferred. But I have found my 130 copes very well at GVM. It seems even though it is maxed out, lower tyre pressures, sensible speed, and Defenders plod make it not a big deal.

Good tyres, shocks, and bushes have much of the unknown taken care of.

Hi All,
got rid of the sidesteps this weekend ... landy looks even better now!
Next bits and pieces are: spare wheel carrier rear door and compressor (not sure, though, whether to get a portable one or make it an onboard compressor with access points on either side of the car)!
What do you think of wheel spacers (3,5 cm on either side). Do they improve stability??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike Walkabout

Hi All,
got rid of the sidesteps this weekend ... landy looks even better now!
Next bits and pieces are: spare wheel carrier rear door and compressor (not sure, though, whether to get a portable one or make it an onboard compressor with access points on either side of the car)!
What do you think of wheel spacers (3,5 cm on either side). Do they improve stability??

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Hi Mike,

Am sure wheel spacer are illegal in Australia so they would be a no.

I just read the whole thread tonight good luck

Gingz

Hi Gingz,
Thanks a lot for the advice ... as we want to stay in AUS for at least one year, this might be a most important bit of information, as the Defender, of course, has to pass the roadworthy test (or whatever it's called)!
Are there any other things you found on this thread and you know that they are illegal in AUS? Would be great to know of those in advance to get rid of them BEFORE shipping the car to Fremantle!
Thanks, Mike