Serious desert trip with a D1 300Tdi...asking for trouble or AWESOME??

I've done almost 300,000km across northern Australia over 10 years in my 300tdi Defender. A seized alternator bearing stopped me once. That's it. ...as others have said, keeping your vehicle standard is most reliable for long distance touring.. no lift kits, no wide wheels, no spacers needed. Focus on preventative servicing, all hoses, belts, cooling system, bearings, good shocks and new standard size AT tyres. Keep load weight down and take it easy, you'll be fine in your D1. A swag and a mozzie dome. Simple. ...enjoy

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Originally Posted by MrLandy

I've done almost 300,000km across northern Australia over 10 years in my 300tdi Defender. A seized alternator bearing stopped me once. That's it. ...as others have said, keeping your vehicle standard is most reliable for long distance touring.. no lift kits, no wide wheels, no spacers needed. Focus on preventative servicing, all hoses, belts, cooling system, bearings, good shocks and new standard size AT tyres. Keep load weight down and take it easy, you'll be fine in your D1. A swag and a mozzie dome. Simple. ...enjoy

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Agree, if wide wheels and lift kits etc were the go then our ADF vehicles would be all kitted out with them.

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Originally Posted by Roverlord off road spares

Agree, if wide wheels and lift kits etc were the go then our ADF vehicles would be all kitted out with them.

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Haha great point!

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Originally Posted by MrLandy

I've done almost 300,000km across northern Australia over 10 years in my 300tdi Defender. A seized alternator bearing stopped me once. That's it. ...as others have said, keeping your vehicle standard is most reliable for long distance touring.. no lift kits, no wide wheels, no spacers needed. Focus on preventative servicing, all hoses, belts, cooling system, bearings, good shocks and new standard size AT tyres. Keep load weight down and take it easy, you'll be fine in your D1. A swag and a mozzie dome. Simple. ...enjoy

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245/75/16s count as close enough to standard size tyres right? :D

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Originally Posted by Young Angus

245/75/16s count as close enough to standard size tyres right? :D

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I prefer 235/85's on Defender. Taller side wall. ...Not sure what's standard on D1?

235/70/16 is standard on D1s.

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i have 245/75 on mine. it does make a difference. i think what everyone is telling you is leave suspension standard height and tires 235/70 as per factory, if you want to do remote touring that is.

i do a bit of highway driving and some offroad to camping spots etc. so 2inch lift and bigger tires suits me fine and gets me to some fairly hard to get spots.

my braking has been affected by the bigger tire as has my pick up. you need to play with the clutch on take off more so now or you get some shudder and can stall. this has follow on effects on rest of drivetrain. you dont want that when you are 1000km from the nearest person.

i did want to do some touring later down the track, would have been mostly highway touring though so would have left as is. if i was to do outback touring though, id probably change back to factory settings after this discussion.

you seem to still want the lift and bigger tires against what people here are telling you.

Late poster to this thread. However, my opinion, is biased towards go for it. My 96 DI TDI auto has taken me many thousand K's around the country - felt it was going to be hammered to bits on some corrugations and desert roads but its still going well at about 480K km (got it at just over 200). Over the years it has been subjected to a lot of new parts, some needed, some preventative. As others have said, its a really simple, reliable (slowish) machine - (not highly strung and computerised like modern vehicles). But reliability comes with preparation and maintenance.

These are my opinions, others may choose to differ.

Don't just rely on your mechanic's say so that things are all good - a vehicle this old has to be treated with some knowledge. First advice is learn what you can about how it works and what to do if it goes wrong.

Tyres and size - 245/75-16 will give a good reading on the ODO, and will feel the most stock. 235/85-16 look good, have good clearance, but in stock trim the guts of the motor will be ripped away in a head wind or hill. I currently run 15's. 31x10.5 (practically the same size as 245/75-16 but often cheaper. Got 2 sets, AT and MT depending on where I am going, 1 x MT spare. (By the way, the Wrangler Adventure AT's I am running at the moment were fantastic at 20psi in the mud recently).

Temperature. Stock gauge is horribly innacurate (more like complacent), get a TM1 or TM2 or anything else that will tell you the accurate temp of the engine. High temps are the TDI's enemy. Low coolant alarm (Engine Saver) is also a good thing, saved me a meltdown at least once.

Suspension, a couple of inch lift in the springs is OK and will just feel fresher than the saggy stock ones. Don't need heavy duty. Good shocks are a must over hundreds of km's of corrugations, fade comes quickly. I really like my Polyair rear airbags, stop a lot of roll and seem to help both the springs and shocks - best of all they are adjustable to need. Don't have to be rock solid all the time. Make sure ALL the bushings are good, any new stock or poly bush over a flogged old one.

Tools. Do all your home servicing and bits and pieces with the tools you carry in your vehicle kit (at least a couple of times). If you don't have the tool you need its good to find out while you are at home. The nice tool in the garage kit is useless when its on the other side of the country.

Lots of other stuff, mostly available in these pages - read and learn. Have fun. Simon

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Originally Posted by Roverlord off road spares

Agree, if wide wheels and lift kits etc were the go then our ADF vehicles would be all kitted out with them.

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I thought the Perentie was lifted as new, but could be wrong. Happened before.

A second spare, that is the question. If the tyres are 100% and you manage your pressures, is it just excess baggage.

Depends on the chances of ripping a tyre so much it can't be repaired, I guess, or two flats at once. I once got two punctures simultaneously (both rears) near Cooktown.

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