Jeep Ecospedition Libya 2009

[fuoristrada camper]

Jeepclub.be just finished an expedtion to the AKAKUS region in Libya.

The challenge was to bring 10 standard Jeep wranglers JK Ultd CRD to one off the most inaccessible parts of the Sahara.
The Jeeps where standard vehicules , only equiped with te camping gear and 4 jerry cans with diesel to have a desert range of 1000 km.
I did the back up with my MAN TGM Overland truck and two Mogs Overland trucks also joined the expedition.

Participants where Jeepclub members( 4 cars) but also salesman and press people with no desert experience ( they flew in by plane towards Sheba)

Why "ecospedition" will some peope think , well the SUV's being pointed by some people , we wanted to prove that some regions of the globe can only be reached with a 4x4 , and that you can make this kind off trip , respecting local population ( we where guided by Touaregs ) and respecting the tracks , the nature ( no litter ) etc. No speed was invloved ( no rally).

We left Brussels ( Belgium) on 22 october to take the ferry in Genova (Italy) towards Tunis. From there we drove to the Libyan border, where our guides were waiting for us.
From Zuara we drove to Ghadames ( the former Touareg capital , city protected as an Unesco World Heritage )
After visiting Ghadames we did a first desert crossing towards Sheba (800 km North -South cross in the Uwbari region)

In Sheba the airplane group joined the expedition and we headed towards the AKAKUS region . In this part of the Sahara , near the border with Niger you'll find the biggest concentration of ancient Rock gravery and rock painting. There is also the famous Arch ( and believe me it's bigger than the one in Moab)
The crossing towards Ghat beeing restricted due to safety reasons in this region near Algeria , we drove back north towards Serdeles in search for petrol and diesel.
But the station was out of diesel so we had to go further north in search for diesel.
All the fuel stations between Serdeles and Tekerkiba where out of diesel so we left the Jeep's at Tekerkiba camp and loaded all the jerry cans in the truck's in search for diesel.
Luckely there was diesel in the next city. So after 1100 km of desert drive we could finally fill up the trucks and the jerry cans for the Jeep's.
The day after we drove to the famous Mandara lakes, but as the truck's couldn't get over the Tekerkiba pass ( dunes to high , sand to soft , and truck to heavy) only the Jeep's did the visit.
From Manadara we drove back to Sheba to put the airplane group back on the plane.
From Sheba the overland group started the long way back towards Europe.
From Brussels to Brussels we did 8000 km in 3 week's.
We had no major technical problems , only one smoked fuse and 3 flat tyres on the Jeep's , one broken Koni shock on the Mg U4000 and a leaking air line on the Unimog U500.

So,as we say : " Only in a Jeep "

More pic's at www.jeepclub.be

 

[charlieaarons]

Interesting about the broken Koni. I had one that evidently was seized solid and eventually broke in Baja. Unfortunately the jagged halves destroyed the inside of a 395 tire. Hellgeth replaced the shock for free!

Charlie

 

[haven]

Spectacular!

How many people took part in the expedition? Tell us more about the supplies and spares carried by the three support trucks.

Given your difficulty finding a supply of diesel fuel, would you still recommend diesel over petrol for travel in that part of Libya?
Or are fuel supplies a hit-or-miss proposition for both petrol and diesel?

 

[fuoristrada camper]

@ Charlie ,
The Koni shock ripped off the valve during a decompression of the suspension.
For me it means that the shock is not long enough , or the suspension travel to long.
Two solutions : longer shocks or strapping the suspension.
These shocks where also provided by Helget , so we are waiting for news.
As this Mog has double shocks in the rear , we took one from the rear to mount in front untill the airplane group arrived with two new OEM shocks in their luggage.

@ haven :

The three trucks beeing "expedition trucks " = equiped as a camper and no real "assistance "trucks as you see them at Dakar , we where a bit limited in transporting parts.The two Mogs where participants and no organisation so the most of the assistance was in my MAN.
At the other hand , my offroad travel experience learned me that the part you need , you never have it with you, that with standard véhicules , witch most of them where almost new or few km's , the risk for a major brake down is limited.

So in my Man I had following parts : for the Jeeps :
all the filters( diesel , oil,atx transmission,airfilters) , time belt , 4 shocks , fuses , relays , air and water hoses ,air flow module, and all the fluids needed ( oil , cooling , ATF etc ).
We had one Star scan with us + satellite phone to get in contact with the home base if needed for diagnose.
Further the usual stuff : duck tape , straps , nuts & bolts etc...
For my MAN ( it was also brand new ) same parts as for the Jeeps but I forgot to take the shocks .And next time i'll take a set of quick connectors to repair the air hoses ( we repaired the Mog's 5OO air line with 2 components glue and a rubber hose and clamps ) He could drive again but it was not 100% tighten.
We also had catering for the first and last week for 22 people.
And the truck is equiped with 2X200liter water tanks and 2 X 300 liter diesel tanks and 6x20 liter jerry cans under the chassis.
In regular conditions we have about 2 weeks autonomy for 2 adults

We did not take extra wheels for the Jeep's , they all had the same tyres size so we could take wheels from one vehicule to another if needed.
For my MAN I have 1 full wheel and 1 extra tyre on the cabin roof .(365/80-20)
The Mog's only took 1 spare wheel each because they both have the same tyre size ( 365/85-20)

The question of fuel :
depending on the tracks you want to do in Libya , you will be needing a desert range of approximative 1000 Km

In Libya everybody drives petrol cars ( unleaded95) only the trucks and the tractors drive on diesel ( and the tourists of course).
Beeing a oil producing country the distribition is " organised" by the governement. But if the dude in charge for the gas station waits untill he's out of diesel to order new , and that the trucks have to do more than 1000 km to provide what is needed , sometimes you'll find empty gas stations.

Last year while scouting , there was diesel in Serdeles but no petrol , this year there was petrol and no diesel , and as everybody goes to the next station , sometimes you get a chain reaction as we had this year.
If you ask the locals what to do, they laugh and say : sit down , wait and see

So what car to drive : difficult to say , there are only a few country's left where fuel is realy cheap and most people drive petrol cars. You'll find trucks all over the world and they all have diesel engines.
Also a diesel car uses less fuel than a petrol car. We had one TJ 4.O l in the group and I had to carry 4 extra jerry cans for him, and he was very happy to find petrol in Serdeles.
The locals mostly drive with a 200 liter barril in the back of their pickups .

The first week and the last week we where with 20 people , when the airplane group arrived we where with 42 people.

Grts

 

[charlieaarons]

.And next time i'll take a set of quick connectors to repair the air hoses ( we repaired the Mog's 5OO air line with 2 components glue and a rubber hose and clamps ) He could drive again but it was not 100% tighten.

I carry all different sizes nylon tubing for air/fuel lines plus nylon tubing mender pieces all different sizes. Everything on the new Mogs is electropneumatic. Also a set of engine sensors (fortunately all temp senders are same part# as are pressure senders) and an ECU and Star system of course. One thing I don't have is spare air solenoids; I haven't figured out yet if there is 1 or 2 or 3 common types that work all over the vehicle for transmission, CTIS, diff locks etc. I do think the air valves will last longer on the new Mogs than older ones since they now come with air dryer/filter for compressed air.

Charlie

 

[Ford Prefect]

Wow, awesome, Really enjoyed that

Wish I could have been on that trip! Sure looks like a LOT of fun!

(By the way we have several dozen arches in Moab, and most are as tall, and most span a significantly wider distance. But that one is very cool!)

Thanks for sharing!

Brian

 

[fuoristrada camper]

@ Ford Perfect

I know ,I've been Jeeping in Moab a few years ago :smiley_drive:

 

[Ford Prefect]

I am very lucky to live about two and a half, maybe three hours (depending on weather and traffic) so my wife and I spend a lot of time down there.