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Interesting find. It does have a bearing on the fat vs skinny debate, to the extent that if contact area is purely (or largely) a function of load vs pressure, then the idea that wide tyres necessarily provide significantly more contact area and flotation is bunkum. I hunted high and low for...

The PSI is pretty much entirely dependent on the air pressure in the tyre, not the nominal dimensions of the tyre. I.e. if you have 20psi in any tyre, with a load of 2000lbs, it will spread that tyre over 100 square inches. Of course, what I am saying doesn't hold at the extremes, but in...

IMO, an auto for expeditions (long driving days), but a manual on extremely technical trails. (I find a clutch gives better "feel" than left-foot braking against the throttle on an auto). Autos need very very good cooling for desert travel, in thick sand. But they make life a lot easier!

To the extent that a tyre is a bag of air supporting a load on a hard surface, the size of the contact area of any tyre (on a given vehicle), will be identical, for any given pressure. A load of 1000kg on a tyre at 2 bar (i.e. 2kgf/cm2) will put down 500 square centimetres, and at 1 bar, it will...

Concisely put!

Yes, I'm well aware of Harald's pedigree :) But he has been a zealous fan of the G-wagen from very early days, when axle diff-locks were much rarer than they are now, and the G-wagen's party-piece! Consequently, I believe he still under-states the importance of good axle articulation (the...

All-up weight, around 10 tons... Not nice to get unstuck! Here are two difficult ones:

Interesting viewpoints on that forum, but I couldn't agree with a lot of what was being said, such as: I could see an argument that removing the anti-swaybars might be a bad trade-off in a G-wagen. But quick disconnects don't seem to have any significant disadvantage. Why would they make you...

When someone does something that outlandish, a mixed response can be expected! But yes, there's no need for people to be too obnoxious! Me, I'd like to see it in action!

You're showing your age, Fred :) That's been tarred for nearly 30 years!

Other than making ooh, ahh, noises about it being an exciting and very slick recovery, the interesting part of such videos (at least for some of us) is the discussion of what was done right and what wasn't. Like you, I grew up in Africa, and there is more of a "can do" attitude, bred of...

Yes, for most purposes a ton is a tonne. What requires more consideration when doing assessments in different countries is the difference in safety factors when a bridge is rated in the first place. A bridge marked with a 10 tons limit in Europe or North America will almost certainly be good for...

For sure, a tow strap would be inadequate as an arrestor (though probably better than nothing). The worst scenario, I think, would be the mounting point on the back of the big truck breaking, where all 4 snatch blocks were attached, giving around 30 tons of pull. That would be a big chunk of...

Over here in the UK, at any rate, insurance companies instruct you to tell them if you make significant modifications to the vehicle. Non-standard suspension, body-kits, chip upgrades etc. Basically anything that changes the performance/handling, or the value of the car. If you told them that...

Weird, but this exerpt from the website isn't what I saw on the video! "Once the mud was cleared from the tires and stones were places under the wheels the South Africans alined their vehicles side by side with they start their engines and with the aid of walkie talkies they all engage their...

Chuck Norris is more dangerous than the hooks! Incidentally, did you know he's 1/8th Cherokee? (I'm not talking about his ancestry - the man ate a feakin' Jeep! :))

:xxrotflma Don't you wish it had been a bunch of these? http://www.turtleexpedition.com/images/t534.jpg If I had to criticise what appears to be a pretty professional recovery (esp given the number of people involved!), that would be it. I would have positioned the two winch vehicles as far...

I'm with you on this! Ok, here's a real-life, life-or-death scenario: You're in the middle of nowhere, one of your two trucks is stuck. You've just got things rigged up to pull it out, when some crazy dude appears out of nowhere, with one of those double-hook things. He also has a shotgun. He...

I don't see your point. Yes, the plaintiff can sue whoever he wants. But if your vehicle is insured, and the insurance company is aware of any modifications reasonably pertaining to safety or value, then they are obliged to pay the claims. There's no fraud if they have been informed and have...

What size tyres, and how many at a time? (I mean, is it for occasional pumping up a repaired tyre, or for airing up and down?) For a biggish compressor, I highly recommend the Extreme-air from Extreme Outback. Has croc-clips, and draws 30A, as I recall.