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Thread: 300tdi - how much is "overloaded" when people say don't overload it and you'll be OK?

  1. #1
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    300tdi - how much is "overloaded" when people say don't overload it and you'll be OK?

    I posted years ago about a serious desert trip in my D1 300tdi. Thread here:

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

    Got lots of discussion back then, great stuff! Still have the same car and still haven't done the trip but looks like could be happening soon now as the wife is really into the idea with our little daughter.

    Probably won't be doing extreme off roading, more so overlanding and travel to lovely remote spots and camping and seeing amazing places. I'm sure there will be plenty of driving on remote rugged roads and beaches and other such things.

    I want to put a roof top tent on it too.

    My question is around "overloading" a 300tdi. Mine has dgas and does okay but suffers the same "power of a dead duck" issues that 300tdi's have, but I just don't push it and have an EGT gauge to monitor if things heat up, as well as an engine temp sensor too. It has heavy Black Widow drawers in it, will have a bunch of recovery gear, some tools, has a d-gas tank on drivers side and a 45 litre petrol sill tank on passenger side. As above, I also really want to put a roof top tent on it (maybe around 75kg worth for a bigger one). Pretty much it's what I've got on it at the moment, plus the tent. Will also carry water in a bladder that sits on the rear floor. Maybe a second spare wheel (I have one) on the roof rack if I can lift it up there.

    No idea how heavy this will all be, but it's a bit. When does it become too much and overloaded for this type of vehicle?
    '97 Tdi 300
    5sp manual w/ D-gas, Maxi Drive rear, 245/75/16 rubber, dual batteries, other stuff.

  2. #2
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    I think you may have to define 'desert trip' a bit more clearly.

    There are different types, and they conjure images of heavy soft sand(like say Lake Eyre in near summer time), or Vic Big Desert/Wilderness areas up near Ouyen/Mildura area.
    Soft sand will suck the life out of your Tdi like nothing else, so you'll have to be ready to push it hard in some situations.
    The problem is as, all will know, the tdi doesn't have any low down torque to make up for having chosen a gear, then committed to it, only to find you should have been a gear (or two) lower.

    With a V8(RRC) and TD5(D2) have more low down torque, so doesn't matter as much. And as 'every one said' ... loading it up too much is the same as having less power(or torque).

    For soft sand driving with open diffs, I'm glad I got the auto in my D1.

    But then you have different desert trip types like say running up north of Port Augusta say up the Oodnadatta track or around the Flinders ranges on gibber type gravel tracks and roads.
    Still nice challenging tracks to be had, just different, and then you simply have the steepness of the track to contend with, not the power sapping softness of quicksand.
    The difference is, if you find yourself suddenly in too high gear on the harder but steep gravel tracks, you don't lose momentum and then more likely to get stuck.

    What/where you planning for a desert trip?

    With a young child, and their need for stuff, I'd say keep it less remote and more easy adventure to see some awesome country side .. ie. maintain an easy distance to civilisation for a margin of error.
    You don't want to find out that you didn't bring this, or that, or enough of something that you all may need.

    Nice easy trip that I'm sure you'd love would be: Via Mildura to Port Augusta. Stop to check out Kanyaka ruins, and then onto Wilpena pound, and then head north any way, Chambers Gorge is a nice area, spectacular scenery getting there.
    Head towards Blinman, then through the ranges to come up to either Brachina Gorge or Parachilna Gorge. East to the Highway to get you up towards Marree and then Lake Eyre South .. Lake Eyre North is heavy sand but at least fairly flat so easier going than dune country. I reckon tho, once you've seen the majesty of the south lake, the north lake is just more of the same, just a bit more grandiose .. so balance the difficulty of a trip with the reward.
    The beauty of this area is just the eye candy of the desert, but the ruins that dot the area as you head further north give you that sense of human endeavour and tenacity, and also the feeling of isolation.
    Keep going north through Oodnadatta and as far as (say) Mt Dare/Dalhousie Springs, and depending on time, either head back from there or just a bit further and into NT/Alice Springs/Uluru/Kata Tjuta and then home. And then theres stillmore to see on the highway south from NT too(Coober Pedy, Island Lagoon near Pimba, etc).

    What time of year are you hoping to head off, and how long?
    Arthur.

    '99 D1 300Tdi Auto
    '03 D2 Td5 Auto

  3. #3
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    Off road and in low range, a D1 has plenty of torque in my experience. Just something to consider. I often find people try to do everything in high 4. If speeds are 50kph or lower off road, I'm always in low in mine. Low 5th can get you from 20kph up to 50.

    I'd go lighter weight when off road and doing a long trip in a D1. You don't want to stress it out by having it near gvm and then ask it to do extreme off road. If the off road is not too extreme, maybe even consider a lightweight pod or no 5 trailer to spread the load a bit.
    "Dolores" my '97 model 300tdi D1 and "Donkey" my '20 RE Himalayan.

    Previous: ‘00 D2, '04 110 wagon, '96 D1 and '95 110 ute, plenty of other bikes and cars too :angel:

  4. #4
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    Should have clarified, not looking at any serious extreme off road desert trips with this, more family friendly accessible things. Probably no high sand dune climbing or any of that kind of thing for the sake of it. Not going CSR or any of that nonsense, just things that might take us through some parts with soft sand on beaches and things. Not actually sure where yet, but going to need to keep it family friendly enough and not go toooooo remote (a little remote perhaps) but with the little one we don't want to be too far from things.

    One that sticks in my mind is Oodnadatta Track and through Uluru and that part of the country. Probably over to WA at some point, beaches of Esperence and that type of thing. So there will be sand, but I won't be seeking it out for the sake of testing my vehicle or anything so macho as that.
    '97 Tdi 300
    5sp manual w/ D-gas, Maxi Drive rear, 245/75/16 rubber, dual batteries, other stuff.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by gusthedog View Post
    Off road and in low range, a D1 has plenty of torque in my experience. Just something to consider. I often find people try to do everything in high 4. If speeds are 50kph or lower off road, I'm always in low in mine. Low 5th can get you from 20kph up to 50.

    I'd go lighter weight when off road and doing a long trip in a D1. You don't want to stress it out by having it near gvm and then ask it to do extreme off road. If the off road is not too extreme, maybe even consider a lightweight pod or no 5 trailer to spread the load a bit.
    I'm the same as this, as soon as I'm anywhere near off roading I hit low range and the D1 drives great, I just go up the gears when I need to but I often end up in 4th and sometimes 5th depending how the track is and it still drives really well. High 4 is pretty useless in the D1 as soon as you're anywhere that needs slow speeds in my experience.
    '97 Tdi 300
    5sp manual w/ D-gas, Maxi Drive rear, 245/75/16 rubber, dual batteries, other stuff.

  6. #6
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    If I'm being honest I always toy with the idea of "should I just buy something newer and more reliable" but then I read things and it sounds like my D1 is probably just as reliable as some of the newer options.

    Just gets me worried sometimes when I think about going with the family, I want to make sure they're comfy and taken care of.
    '97 Tdi 300
    5sp manual w/ D-gas, Maxi Drive rear, 245/75/16 rubber, dual batteries, other stuff.

  7. #7
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    a well setup and maintained D1 300tdi is a thing of beauty and function, not to mention capability

    drive to its strengths and it will take you just about anywhere...
    1998 Discovery 300TDi Manual SE7
    1996 Discovery 300TDi Auto
    2012 SZ Territory TX 2.7TDCi

    "Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." -- a warning from Adolf Hitler
    "If you don't have a sense of humour, you probably don't have any sense at all!" -- a wise observation by someone else
    'If everyone colludes in believing that war is the norm, nobody will recognize the imperative of peace." -- Anne Deveson
    “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” - Pericles
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  8. #8
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    They are not a racecar and are pretty noisy but really a modern classic and quite the essence of the what was starting to become last true Land Rovers even down to the A Arm rear end. Cheers

  9. #9
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    I really miss my D1. I agree, in some ways they're the sort of penultimate last simple Land Rover, apart from maybe the TDI Defender, but they're much more comfortable than the Defender.

    I'd still put a lot of effort into keeping it as light as possible, regardless of where I was going. But it should get you anywhere any other vehicle would go, without massive mods

  10. #10
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    My main concern is adding the rooftop tent, and I guess this could add as much as 80kg to the top depending on the tent, but surely this wouldn't tip it over the edge would it? Just concerned with a bit more weight being added up high is all.
    '97 Tdi 300
    5sp manual w/ D-gas, Maxi Drive rear, 245/75/16 rubber, dual batteries, other stuff.

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