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The 4x4 Hilux still uses six-lug wheels. Truth be told, the Hi-Ace is probably the toughest vehicle on the planet, and puts Land Cruisers/LandRovers/G-Wagens to shame. I've seen them taking mind-boggling abuse as Matatus crammed with 14 people and hammering sideways at speed on corrugated...

Kermit, yes - that's the fresh/recirculate lever. Can't comment on the Hilux AC, as this one didn't have any. I can't imagine Toyota would supply Australia or Namibia with inferior AC though . . .

Documentation? I've seen a few genuine cases of cracking, but no more than the cases I've seen of metal beds developing fatigue cracks. I'd be willing to bet the plastic (actually a fiber-reinforced resin) can flex far more than steel without damage if indeed the chassis is torquing that much.

I'm not sure I'd agree about "throwaway." The plastic bed is an interesting move, but as someone who has put over 5,000 .357 rounds through a Glock 31, I'm hesitant to condemn it out of hand . . .

I have to say, if we were buying a new truck in Kenya right now, I'd look at the Ranger. Not saying I'd buy it, but I'd look at it. In the end I'd probably be swayed by the well-earned reputation of the Hilux. Hiring a vehicle in East Africa with 30,000 km on it gives you far more insight into...

Our work in East Africa over the last ten years has given Roseann and me thousands of miles of opportunity to compare world-market vehicles with what we have available in the U.S. We just spent several weeks with a Hilux double-cab 3.0 turbodiesel while working on a project with the Maasai...

$600? Buy it. At that price you can't lose, even if it's just a shell. If you can't make it fit your truck you can sell it.

Any spacer is going to put extra stress on your wheel bearings and other parts of the front axle, period. You might not experience any trouble, but you are compromising strength - it's simple leverage. I know people who use spacers and have no issues, but I know people who run six-inch lift...

Buy from Viking. Price isn't everything, and Thor Jonsson will give you expert, personal advice and service.

Always use a weight on the rope. Synthetic line can snap back; other factors besides line stretch can cause this. While the line itself might not be dangerous, you're going to have a metal bit on the end which is. If you keep your synthetic line protected from UV exposure it will last a long time.

Kevin, definitely don't even think about changing lockers. Spend your money elsewhere - like on fuel to go somewhere!

It was difficult to measure accurately because we refilled from a lot of jerry cans, but on a 1200-mile loop through Egypt in a heavily loaded 1HZ-powered Troopie, we averaged between 13 and 14 liters per 100k. That included a lot of sand driving, so not bad at all.

Rather than worrying about how 35s would look, I would be concerned about how they would perform. You'd almost certainly run into clearance issues without more lift and/or fender trimming. More importantly, 35s are on the edge for the stock birfields. If you go from 4.11 diffs to 3.70s, you gain...

An H55 on an FJ40 results in a very short rear driveshaft, and some interesting driveline angles at full droop, especially if you have a lift. Consider instead installing an H41 transmission (lower first gear) and 3.70 diffs. You wind up with a more or less stock low range first, and slightly...

Indeed - we'll be back in the same spot next year. In fact, Land Rover's driving course was left intact, so all we'll have to do is fine-tune it and add a couple of features we discussed with them (think rocks and other challenging substrate material). And we can focus on tuning the rest of the...

Yes - Mormon Lake Lodge kindly distributed a few of those for us, sadly without confirming that the official Overland Expo brew is, well, not Coors Light.

You just need about six more months of beard.

Very well said indeed, Sandy and Terry. Having young people such as Jack there is one of the main reasons the Expo is so worth the effort.

Interestingly, one of the ideas Duncan Barbour and Andy Dacey mentioned for next year was a radio class and test on site. The notion of classes for day pass attendees has been floated before, but it would be a logistical impossibility. We have a hard enough time coordinating 80 classes for all...

We're just finishing packing up, and as usual the grounds were nearly spotless. That says a lot about our community. Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who attended, presented, and taught! Rob, the aerial photos were spectacular, and we loved watching you bank around the site with one hand while...