Preparing the truck
There is the age old debate of Land Rover vs Land Cruiser, but as Chris Scott says
as long as it has Land in the title you should be OK. Land Cruisers and Toyotas
in general are not popular in the UK and very hard to find - not to mention the
cost. Therefore, the only option for us was a Land Rover, but which one?
We decided we didn't like the Defender as it was a bit too much like a box and a
little bit too utilitarian for our likes. We wanted something that could be used
in the bush as well as be decent car to use on the highways as we are hoping to
keep this car for a few years. Also the name Discovery seemed to suit the feeling
we had at the time.
Finding a decent Disco II was much harder than we imagined but eventually after
a lot of phoning around and driving the UK flat (or so it felt!) we found what we
were looking for. She was in very good condition mechanically never used in anger
off-road and was low mileage (54,000 miles)...and it was red - our daughter's only
requirement.
Next step was finding somebody to do the mechanical work to get the car ready for
the big expedition. Let's say there are a few people out there that you quickly
discover claim to have done this before but upon probing their knowledge about prepping
the car and ourselves you quickly find you know more than they do! What to do? Shop
around carefully! Who would we recommend? Paul Marsh from Footloose 4x4. Paul has
been around the world on expeditions and helped prepare us for our journey and most
importantly prepare the car.
Modifications to the standard 4x4:
- Uprated springs. Initially TJM's were fitted and these were definately not up to
the job so Paul had some custom made to take the load of the car carrying all our
kit.
- Uprated shocks
- Uprated steering dampener
- Uprated brake disks and pads all around (you're carrying loads more weight around
so it pays to upgrade these important safety devices!)
- Complete service, change all oils.
- Modify centre diff to provide diff lock. (Some disco II's have them but ours didn't)
- Fit intercooler (from TD5 alive)
- ECU upgrade from TD5 alive with 30% power boost
- Cruise control
- EGR kit added (from TD5 alive)
- EGT (tells us to remove the lead foot so we don't blow the engine - always a good
idea!)
- Uprated polybushes all round
- Change turbo hoses
- TJM Bullbar which comes with hi lift jacking points
- Fit spotlights (made from plastic to stop rust) Don't forget security bolts to make
sure it stays on the car!
- Wading kit
- 95L to 120L main tank upgrade with reinforcement underneath for rock strikes
- 28L wing tank. (giving us 148L of diesel storage capacity and keeping the centre
of gravity low)
- Safari snorkel
- Patriot roofrack
- Eeziawn rooftent
- Eeziawn awning
- Fit aluminium table under roof rack
- Change wheels and tyres (Steel rims are a good idea but admittedly aren't the best
looking)
- National Luna split charge system with battery monitor
- Remove the double rear seat (leaving single seat for our daughter)
- Engel fridge with jacket
- Drawer system
- Hidden safes in car
- Steering guard
- Diff guards
- Load guards
- 50L water tank
- Water purifier, pump and tap
- Axe
- Decent sound system (and no nothing that will scare the animals away either!)
- Fire extinguishers
- Cobb BBQ
- Camping gaz foldaway cooker
Recovery gear:
- Tree strop
- Shackles
- Snatch blocks
- Fit sand plates under roof rack
- Hi-lift jack
- Goodwinch 9500lb winch. By our calculations that should be enough to pull any land
cruiser out of trouble!
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