An Overlander's Dream

Without doubt, everybody who has an off road car, or at least had the occasion to participate in an off road gathering knows there's something more to the bunch than just the cars and the mud. It's an attitude that brings everyone together, whether it's a Toyota owner, a Suzuki lover or a Land Rover racer, the need to feel free, to enjoy the company of good friends and the chance to tell and hear off road stories. But every now and then, there would be someone who would bring up his or someone else's overlanding adventures. It's the ultimate thing to do, prepare a car for an African safari, have it shipped over and then spend a month, or two, or three or how much your funds would last, enjoying the wilderness of Kenya or visiting Cape Town. Everyone would think this is an expensive and that it's very unlikely that people in their right mind would freeze several months of their life just to go on this kind of trips. So most of us who leave day to day casual lives can only settle for listening to other's adventures and hope that one day it will be our turn, if the wife would be an understanding one.

But what about the car? We will describe now how a proper overlander should look like. The owner of what used to be a 1995 Land Rover Discovery tells us:

"The purpose of the whole deal was to have a car capable to go anywhere and do pretty much anything. We were even joking amongst friends who asked me why in the world did I buy and make such a monster. I would always answer "if there's going to be a third world war, I want to be sure I'll be one of the survivors"

He discovered soft off road almost 15 years ago, and then, almost 10 years later, what proper off road is about. Ever since he got his driver's license he has never driven anything but off road cars, and, as he tells "I want to keep this tradition going". And truly, the choice made was a good one.

"I wanted to build a car for adventure, not extreme off road. I was quite moved when I first saw a Camel Trophy car and somehow that dream stuck with me. Years after that I had the occasion to build a truck that is a lot superior to that one, but always aiming for the best quality in everything that is replaced inside the car, down to the last detail".

The specifications of the Land Rover Discovery could fill up a book, especially since the owner documented and noted down every single part that was changed. The car has been wonderfully modified with everything needed for a trip, after the driver's own creed.

"The car has to be redesigned from the front bar to the rear one, able to be pushed to the limit in any sort of rough terrain and have a simple electric scheme that's understandable by everyone. All modifications have to be done by means of sub-systems and then correlated together, with focus on the wheels because that's where the true lift of the car comes from".

With these thoughts in mind we came down to actually looking at the specifications. In the five years that the Land Rover has been under development, the changes it suffered are of the most drastic ones. The chosen engine was the 3.5 V8i, that would present the wheels with 185 bhp, on top of which an Optima Yellow Top HD Gel battery was fitted, metallic snorkel, changed air and oil filters and exhaust pipe with annexes, changed cam shaft and injectors together with distribution cap. More than this, most of the hoses and pipes have been changed as well as well as various other parts. Since the engine is a crucial element in these kind of situations where the stress on the parts is prolonged, the wear of the parts is noticeable and the chance to replace the part if it breaks, very little.

Going a little distance down, the changes done to the steering and suspension have been many and of important nature as well, of which the Old Man Emu Extra Heavy Duty springs with a 3" lift are an important feature. They come together with OME HD shocks for front and rear as well, HD dislocation cones for both front and rear from Devon.

4x4 accompanied by shocks relocators and changed tendons with a 3° correction, 40% lighter than original ones, Sumo HD front and rear direction bars, Rakeway HD panhard rod with micro-adjustments and polyurethane bushes all around. For recovery, in the case that the car get's stuck, the WARN 9.5 XP (with anti-theft and touch remote), helped by one of the 4 elastic straps and the high-lift with front and rear adaptors should do the trick.

Like any respected off road car, it is equipped with ARB front and rear diff locks, heavy duty KAM drive shafts, flanges and a new half shaft with double cross head, completed with various other important changes throughout the whole system. Accompanying the whole underbody work is a whole family of guards for the protection of the engine ( All Makes 4x4 Extreme HD 7mm thick ), the fuel tank (Scorpion Extreme), front and rear diffs ( QT Extreme ), lights ( protective grills), chequered plates for the inside and outside of the bodywork and many more.

 

Up to this point, the description revolved around what a car could need as far as the technical aspect is concerned. But after all these mods that are mandatory if you want to set on the road, the expedition modifications start. The Disco is equipped with an ARB Rack Deluxe with mesh, ARB wind deflector, Land Rover access ladder for the rear door to the roof, inside dog guard ( which is actually used for stopping the luggage from falling inside the passenger's area ), o – rings keeping luggage tightened, expedition ARB lamp, inspection lamp with prolonged autonomy, 38 litre fridge, jerry cans and jerry can holder system, shovel, saw and axe (Fiskars), Husqvarna chain-saw, Draper Expert tool kit, 2 extinguishers, Term-a-rest matrices for all seasons with DEUTER sleeping bags that would let you comfortably sleep in the Wild Country Mistral car tent (also for seasons ). Continuing the list with less likely items, the expedition rig contains titanium cutlery and dining set, aluminium table, MAC lights and PETZL frontal lights, Tatokna 10L shower, a Vaude 20L reservoir with a tap, all packed in the Wolfpack expedition system boxes. Topping the already huge list, are the communication and navigation systems installed on the Land Rover, like the Garmin Map 267 C GPS with extra memory, all digital maps, Silva compass, 202 Plus Terratrip, Terraligths road-book reading lamp to be used with the Midland 48 excel Multi CB Radio or the Midland and Staub mobile stations. So if by the time I finished describing the unbelievable properties of this machine, there are still some of you who consider that an overlanding trip is something that must be done at least once in a lifetime, we can all agree that it's time to get to work, because there's a lot of mounting and fixing to do before you set off.