Thread: Our Defender Td4 Expedition Conversion

... aaand more!
By the way, could somebody be so nice and tell me where the trip reports have gone to?? Can't find them anymore!
All the best, Michael
.... found the trip reports ... dunno why I couldn't see them for a while ... Thanks to all who shared their experience, anyway! Will surely help us, when we plan the route for our trip!

Mike,

Pity I didn't see this thread before... I'm from the UK & went touring around Oz & NZ for 12mths in our 110. We also had 2x kids (5 & 3yrs).

Feel free to drop me a PM if you want to have a chat about vehicle prep, packing, family prep, etc... However, what I'd say is 'Keep It Simple'.

Keep the engine, drive train & suspension as standard as possible. It is fine out of the box and it'll make any servicing & running repairs a lot easier while on the trip as the parts will be available anywhere.

When it comes to packing... Keep it as light as possible. The lighter you are, the less stress on the vehicle and the less fixing you'll have to do!!

Finally, get yourself a copy of "The Vehicle Dependant Expedition Guide" by Tom Shepherd and read it.

M

we have done 12.000k trip to kakadu including the bullman track up to Gove and we have also done the cape...

I would have to agree with the others as my car is standard..the only thing I will say is I agree with Justin i.e the shocks...

our car did kakadu etc..including Oodnadatta track etc and it was stock however when we did the bullman track and the corrugations were bad after driving for 10hrs the shocks did fade.

So I would say personally keep the vehicle stock but put a good set of shocks on.

Originally Posted by Mike Walkabout

Hi All,
After a far too long period of silence from us, here the big news:
The biggest conversion-step of our Land Rover has been made and we went for a looong shakedown trip to Scandinavia (namely: Denmark, Sweden and Norway) this "summer" (... wouldn't call it a summer, though ... nothing like Oz! ) ..... ABSOLUTELY GREAT CAR! Attached we have some photos ...
What we have so far:
underbody protection, headlight grilles, bonnet checker plates, snorkel, frontrunner expedition (Defender 90) roof rack incl. carrier for 2nd spare wheel, 120WP solar panel, wedge-shaped-pop top, 255 BfG MTs on Wolf rims, 2'' suspension lift (OME coils, Koni Heavy Track Raid, double cardon), twin battery system, battery management, Engel 45l fridge, 70l water tank, storage system, two "beds" sleeping 2 adults + 2 kids, rear bumper, foxwing, oztent rv 4 (incl. groundsheet and deluxe side panels), + .... a whole lot of other equippment.
What we get next week:
additional fuel tank 45l, separ diesel filter, 2 cockpit lamps, 2 sand ladders incl. holder (right rear window), in/out thermometer
Not sure about:
spare wheel carrier rear door ... is the stock one corrugation-safe or sould we go for a HD version? Do we need a high-lift jack (so far, the stock one seems pretty OK ... might buy a second one just to make sure)?
... so we've got to save up some money for our gap year in Australia ... maybe you'll let u stay
All the best from Germany ... you were a great help for us and we still feel very much at home with you all!
Michael and Juliane

Michael, just for some Aus ideas, check out Mulgo for some 100lt sill tanks. If you want to get a bit remote and not be restricted by fuel stations more fuel the better really. The standard 75 + 45 your looking at wont get you all that far in some areas over here.
For a spare wheel carrier, again Aus design, Rigidige (spel?) here on the forum makes a cracking version. Perhaps the bast and most practical on the market.

Lastly, have you put your truck over the weigh bridge. It's great to have every accessory as they all have a purpose, but some are more necessary than others and a badly over weight truck may be victim to all sorts of annoying failures after 250km of corrugations.

Still nothing looks over done, just things add up very quickly.

I don't have a defender (planning to change that soon) but have done a fair bit of outback touring, one thing I would recommend is a bullbar. If not, don't drive in outback areas after about 4:00 in the afternoon. One collision with a kangaroo could ruin your whole trip.
Travelling alone you may well find yourselves wishing for a winch also, seems like you are aiming for complete independence and the ability to venture wherever you feel like, some kind of self-recovery equipment is then essential.
You won't need difflocks, that's what your TC is for so save your cash.
Long range tank is also on my list of essentials.
Don't miss the Great Ocean Road. Oz is not only red dust!

We are planning on adding 2 or more jerrycans, so that we'll have some additional diesel available ... the sill tanks really look great but are very expensive (at least over here in Europe) ... Sad but true!
So far, we are planning to go without the winch, as it adds more weight and might not be used that much (a good friend crossed Africa three times without using thw winch, the hi-lift and the diff-locks)!
It really is hard to find out which way to go here ... only afterwards we'll really know! Thanks anyway for your help ... CU, Michael

have you thought about perhaps saving your pennies for things like long range tanks..
and perhaps if cheaper here buy them and have them fitted when you come over? just perhaps plan to add the time to your trip to accommodate


I can recommend the 45ltr rear quarter tank...at least to help your range and not to expensive will get your good range especially if your going to carry jerrys as well

Doesn't a long range tank reduce the ground clearance / rear angle considerably?
As we have 12 months to spend in OZ, there should be enough time both to accomodate and maybe also add some extras if they're cheaper.
The 45l rear quarter tank is what we'll get next week.