Hmmm you may have a good point there...hadn't considered how often they would have burned down the batteries.:coffeedrink:
In Response to the Congo Thread: A Technical Discussion
- Thread starter vaulter09
- Start date
well at least they didn't have to rebuild the wooden wheels and soak them in the creek heh?:sombrero:
Well Lance this we agree on...being disabled myself I always travel w/ someone else (younger and stronger if possible:sombrero
I used to travel solo but a couple times I almost did not get out with the vehicle and have resisted going w/o someone else ever since. It makes a big difference both mentally and physically, not to mention I have had a lot more fun.:coffeedrink:
Their differential problems were all caused by severe wear, not push starting. They found a chip in the ring gear at some point but chose NOT to replace it. Thus later having an issue. Their internal spider gears were stripped. This occurs from wheel spin as spider gears make up for the variable rotation at the wheels. They easily could have welded these together, thus creating a "spool" and eliminating the need for down time AND it would have resulted in better traction. The usage of a winch would have at least prolonged the diffs. The lack of good battery is a preparedness issue. Seems like a pretty large part of a truck to not have be reliable.
If you have time, it's worth listening to the 90 minute podcast by Frederik and Josephine here
https://expeditionswest.webex.com/e...T=pb&SP=MC&rID=14454227&rKey=e385ed73aed82168
Frederik says several times that, prior to the trip, he was aware of the way locking differentials and a winch can help in difficult driving conditions. The tradeoff was the cost. To pay for the upgrades, the trip would have been shortened from two years to one year. During that second year, F&J visited Japan, Russia, the 'Stans, the Middle East, and east Africa before their trip across the Congo.
https://expeditionswest.webex.com/e...T=pb&SP=MC&rID=14454227&rKey=e385ed73aed82168
Frederik says several times that, prior to the trip, he was aware of the way locking differentials and a winch can help in difficult driving conditions. The tradeoff was the cost. To pay for the upgrades, the trip would have been shortened from two years to one year. During that second year, F&J visited Japan, Russia, the 'Stans, the Middle East, and east Africa before their trip across the Congo.
This is important, not to demean anyone who wheels in the US but its nothing like traveling across Africa on a 1/2 year long trip.
oops...edited that...western Co. Durango to Grand Junction. Sorry to take the wind out of your smart comment. Altho there are great places above Denver.:sombrero:east. colorado? oh like denver area?
seriously.. this is like a bunch of joe schmo basketball fans sitting around bsing and saying how lebron james should've played the game from last night.. we don't really take those conv seriously right?
No one is comparing Co. to Africa....just talking about being prepared for a trip of any kind. And protecting the thing that gets you home.
shahram
Adventurer
My only comment about this trip we're discussing, and the people who did it, and their level of "preparedness" in terms of gear or field repair skill, is this:
I haven't been on a lot of "expeditions", but I have driven very many thousands of miles on very harsh roads and technical trails, in order to see the world around me and have access to places few see.
I did the bulk of this vehicular travel when I was in my twenties and gas was cheap. I drove a tough little 2WD Toyota truck with no mods to speak of, save for a set of all terrain tires and a lumber rack for my surfboards. I camped with crappy department store gear from the '70s, wore t-shirts and jeans, carried no spares, knew nothing of field repairs, and didn't carry even the most rudimentary tools. I had no security measures, no communications, nothing more than a map and a couple of guide books. I had no safety net for failures. I carried a few bucks in a wallet in the glove compartment--I didn't even have a bank account.
Once I was old enough, and had enough disposable income, I found my way into a "serious" expedition vehicle, a venerable 80 series Land Cruiser, and built it to "expedition" specifications. But times have changed, and work is too busy, and family life is too demanding, and it's too difficult right now, to take these months-long hiatuses and drive to Timbuktu or even Cabo San Lucas or Alaska. I'm lucky to get a weekend on a local trail, once or twice a season.
But I'm doing it wrong. A lot of us are--even those of us who have the dual luxuries of time, ability, and superior equipment! If you have a purpose-built expedition vehicle with various fail-safes, communications, suspension and drive-train mods, etc., sufficient time and money to play, and a plan to bail out if things go wrong, then your trip is a foregone conclusion. It might be an "expedition" but it's not an adventure.
Adventure does not come in predictable doses. Yeah, driving your kick-*** expo-vehicle down the Baja, taking sunrise and flexy poser shots to post on the 'net is cool. But the guy who does that same route in a beat-up Nissan Sentra, with a 7/11 styro-cooler, $250 in singles, and whose only support is a pre-paid phone card and whose only spares are an extra pair of flip-flops and a baggy full of leftover surf wax--THAT--is an adventure.
If you came to me today and said "You can drive down the Baja in your old beater Tacoma, eat out of cans and be broke, and have all the time in the world to do it--OR--you can have the perfect vehicle to drive down the Baja, all the spares and kick-*** gear you need, but you only get two weeks a year to do it..."
...well, I'd go for broke every time.
I haven't been on a lot of "expeditions", but I have driven very many thousands of miles on very harsh roads and technical trails, in order to see the world around me and have access to places few see.
I did the bulk of this vehicular travel when I was in my twenties and gas was cheap. I drove a tough little 2WD Toyota truck with no mods to speak of, save for a set of all terrain tires and a lumber rack for my surfboards. I camped with crappy department store gear from the '70s, wore t-shirts and jeans, carried no spares, knew nothing of field repairs, and didn't carry even the most rudimentary tools. I had no security measures, no communications, nothing more than a map and a couple of guide books. I had no safety net for failures. I carried a few bucks in a wallet in the glove compartment--I didn't even have a bank account.
Once I was old enough, and had enough disposable income, I found my way into a "serious" expedition vehicle, a venerable 80 series Land Cruiser, and built it to "expedition" specifications. But times have changed, and work is too busy, and family life is too demanding, and it's too difficult right now, to take these months-long hiatuses and drive to Timbuktu or even Cabo San Lucas or Alaska. I'm lucky to get a weekend on a local trail, once or twice a season.
But I'm doing it wrong. A lot of us are--even those of us who have the dual luxuries of time, ability, and superior equipment! If you have a purpose-built expedition vehicle with various fail-safes, communications, suspension and drive-train mods, etc., sufficient time and money to play, and a plan to bail out if things go wrong, then your trip is a foregone conclusion. It might be an "expedition" but it's not an adventure.
Adventure does not come in predictable doses. Yeah, driving your kick-*** expo-vehicle down the Baja, taking sunrise and flexy poser shots to post on the 'net is cool. But the guy who does that same route in a beat-up Nissan Sentra, with a 7/11 styro-cooler, $250 in singles, and whose only support is a pre-paid phone card and whose only spares are an extra pair of flip-flops and a baggy full of leftover surf wax--THAT--is an adventure.
If you came to me today and said "You can drive down the Baja in your old beater Tacoma, eat out of cans and be broke, and have all the time in the world to do it--OR--you can have the perfect vehicle to drive down the Baja, all the spares and kick-*** gear you need, but you only get two weeks a year to do it..."
...well, I'd go for broke every time.
Ray Hyland
Expedition Leader
This has been an interesting thread to read. It seems very polarizing.
I think F&J had a trip that enthralled a million readers and an adventure they can tell their grand kids about. That's very cool.
Would I do it differently? In many ways, sure.
But that's me. Everyone's trip is just that, it's THEIR trip. Not mine. So I respect both sides of this very polarized discussion.
I have a fun truck, I like it, it's got lots of "stuff" done to it and stuck on it, like most trucks here.
And yet, I have had just as much fun in pretty stock trucks, because shipping mine was not feasible for particular trips. When we explored Timor Leste we rented an old ex-UN hilux, complete with faded UN stickers. It was a bit of a beater, but it survived for the few weeks we were there.
When we were driving across Borneo it was in a rented Ford Ranger pickup. It was newer, but was still stock. Neither of these trucks had a winch or extensive tools, because they were not mine. And yet the trips were fantastic! I am so lucky to have had the chance to drive those places, with whatever was on hand.
There is also a lot to be said for having a stock version of a very common truck, so that parts are easier to find and the local mechanics are familiar with them.
If I was advising F&J before they left, and knew they were broke but (romantic/adventurous/foolish) enough to go anyway, I would probably recommend they bring (and read) the shop-manual for the truck, whatever basic tools that they know how to use, an inexpensive come-a-long with 2 snatch-blocks, a good rope, and a small box of stuff to help them "Macgyver" their way to the next workshop if something broke on the road. (You know the drill, JB Weld, RTV, hose clamps, bailing-wire, etc.) I wouldn't carry a spare drive-train, but basic small stuff that commonly goes, like a u-joint, fan-belt, wheel bearing, etc would go in the little box. I assume they actually had those basic spares with them.
Realistically if it was me driving, I would say my minimum comfortable threshold for a solo jungle trip is a basic winch, plus the bits mentioned above and your standard recovery gear. The novelty of digging has worn off for me, so I like a winch. And if it is way off the map, and there are bad dudes with Ak47s everywhere, I'd probably also bring a sat phone. Just in case.
Ray
AMEN!
miki
Observer
Preparation
Hello. I am new to this thread ....... I have to agree with everything .... I went through in October 2010, road Kinshasa - Lubumbashi 2500 km in 7 days (ended my visa to Congo, I had to fast) but I winch, and the car I was preparing for an expedition to Africa., I had bigger problems. Puncture tires, clogged fuel filter ......... That's all.
:smiley_drive::smiley_drive::smiley_drive:
Hello. I am new to this thread ....... I have to agree with everything .... I went through in October 2010, road Kinshasa - Lubumbashi 2500 km in 7 days (ended my visa to Congo, I had to fast) but I winch, and the car I was preparing for an expedition to Africa., I had bigger problems. Puncture tires, clogged fuel filter ......... That's all.
:smiley_drive::smiley_drive::smiley_drive:
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