Thought I should say hi

Hi every one 
My name is nick and I have a little red 90 that is my world lol I have had her for the past 5 years and have done so much to her but am going on a change of plans with it and have started to turn it in to a useable land rover one that every time I go out in it don't cost money every time lol I have done a few things like roof rack roof tent winch and bummper starting to build a drawer and has a 2"lift but not sure weather to keep it or not that's were I need help knowing what to get and not what to get any idears hints and tips would really help 
Many thanks 
Nick

Hey Nick,

Various theories on how to kit out your Land Rover, so much depends on what you want during travels. Some just keep their vehicles fairly standard, pile in the camping gear for a trip and go. Others modify the whole vehicle for long range expeditions with roof tents, on board fridge/freezers, heated showers, satnav systems, long-range fuel tanks...etc. My theory is strip down the vehicle to the bare minimum to reduce wieght and a high center of gravity, but accept the trade off in creature comforts.

So if you want to drive to Capetown or Singapore you may want a more 'expedition-type' vehicle. If you just want to hit the Pyrenees or Morocco then you probably don't need all the high-speed gear.

If you ask the guys and ladies on here, you will get lots of opinions on what works and what doesn't. The lesson everyone seems to be doomed to repeat though is after every trip almost everyone starts dumping stuff they thought was essential but never saw the light of day.

Good luck!

Yep. I'm getting rid of stuff all the time now. Losing the roofrack as it hits every tree on every laning trip and has got bent up and the stupid cb aerial gets snapped off everytime. All the surplus camping gear is going, weight is the enemy and we always take far too much stuff, even down to the amount of clothing. Lots of it is trial and error and the more times you go out you'll work out what works and what doesn't. The magazines are very good at luring you into wanting all the shiny bits but to be honest very often you find that you dont and they are actually more of a burden than a plus.

Hi Nick, welcome to the forum!

How the hell do you remember the numbers in your username, hope you've got it saved in a Word file somewhere. Even worse, hope it's not your credit card number for the world to see!!!

The guys are spot on, weight is the overriding factor with 4x4's and their ability to tackle terrain you're likely to encounter when travelling.

I also agree with jellybelly, avoid a roofrack if possible. Anything protruding from the vehicle's body either on top or to the side has the potential to snag on trees, ropes, the luggage straps or bungees of tuk tuks as they squeeze past, the flapping shirts of passing cyclists in the middle of Dehli's rush hour ... you get the picture.

A quick tip folks - after having broken off umpteen CB aerials, I finally have myself a magnetic CB antenna. It has a spring at its base which copes with most things, but if it gets a real whack such as happened laning once upon a time, it will simply unmagnetise itself (is that even a word???) and fall off. Providing the cable is short between the body and the aerial, it can't go far and won't get damaged. 

On the Rangie I had it mounted on the bonnet, so it was in sight at all times - and no it was impossible to jump up through the windscreen as again, it had a short cable so could only move 4 inches even if it moved. A springy, magnetic CB mount, it'll solve all your problems!

Thanks every one got a lot to think about lol as for the numbers it's my old army number lol

Welcome mate!

that's a high army number... mine started 2477! :D

JB:

If it don't fit in a carrier bag, it ain't going.

I often think that it was the Camel Trophy that started this fad of packing Land Rovers (and other makes now) with all the add on gear...especially roof racks loaded with stuff. Everyone saw those vehicles and seemed to think...ahh, that's how its done. I am sure there may be earlier examples, but those Camel Trophy image are everywhere.

I tend to think back to the First Overland crew from Oxford and Cambridge driving their two Series 1's from London to Singapore. Yes they carried a fair bit of kit but there was none of the stuff many see as '' essential' now. Or Tom Sheppards Joint Services expedition from the Atlantic to the Red Sea in stripped down 101s.

I agree 100% gentlemen, although I have to admit that some years ago whilst on a charity-linked jaunt to Morocco where the vehicles - two Range Rover Classics - were made to look more 'overland' by adding roof-racks stacked with jerricans, boxes, etc., just to look more the part in the public's eyes.

In our defence, in conjunction with the trip we were running a guess-the-mileage competition in a 4x4 magazine at the time (Chris Dawson's International Off-Roader if anyone remembers back to the early 90's), so just had to do something to make two very ordinary Rangie's look more like expedition vehicles.

By way of mitigation, I rest my case.

hi folks
 as much as i agree with the statements about taking too much stuff(been guilty of that one inthe past)
you have to take account how many passengers and there needs,espeacially the younger ones who dont seem to understand they are wearing one of ther few sets of clothes when rolling around in that big pile mud/dung etc

and the other point to remember is that travelling is ment to be fun/challenging/adventurous etc but not a chore so take some creature comforts with you otherwise its just hard work!!!!

Good points! In fact I remember when we used to head out on safari when my son was only about ten, I lugged waaayyy more stuff with us back then.

kevinf wrote:

hi folks
 as much as i agree with the statements about taking too much stuff(been guilty of that one inthe past)
you have to take account how many passengers and there needs,espeacially the younger ones who dont seem to understand they are wearing one of ther few sets of clothes when rolling around in that big pile mud/dung etc

and the other point to remember is that travelling is ment to be fun/challenging/adventurous etc but not a chore so take some creature comforts with you otherwise its just hard work!!!!

Take your point about 'creature comforts'. I think the secret is to make certain any luxuries you take can be dual-purpose or multi-functional.

For instance, in a previous post we were talking about boxes to carry gear such as cooking pots & pans. There is no point whatsoever in carrying a box that is so lightweight you can stand on it to reach the roofrack, use as an extra seat around the campfire or utilise as a workbench if needs be. A number of boxes may even form the base for an internal bed.

Tembo has it right. When he slides out a table from the back of his Landy, it is solid enough to use as a work bench as well. Again, it is dual-purpose, that's the way to go.

One issue often overlooked is that technology has moved on (it has really Tom) and many things have become smaller, integrated, and much lighter than they previously were, technology has reduced the weight of everything from gas bottles to fridges, and integration has meant a much smaller combined fridge/freezer has replaced two much larger items. Materials technologists have worked their magic by replacing steel winch ropes with synthetic items, old heavy winch motors with more powerful, smaller, and lighter units with much more tolerance to abuse, old heavy canvas tents (who remembers those) with bulky steel poles for lightweight items with carbon fibre poles.

This has led to both reductions in size and weight of equipment so anyone can carry the same kit, it just weighs a lot less than it used to, and takes up less space so the need for a roofrack is often removed.

Nah, don't remember canvas ... must be an 'old thing'.

Can see what you mean about modern technology and lightweight stuff, but as usual it's all down to what you can afford. However, this has got nothing to do with whether you need a roof rack or not. YOU DON'T!!!

IMHO (oooooohhhh!!!!, getting all modern now) if you can't pack all you need into the back of a 4x4, then you've got the concept of travelling or "overlanding" totally wrong.

It's really easy - go light, go simple.

ahhhhhhhhhhhh yes canvas, at 14 going camping with the boys brigade putting up great big bell tents in the rain, it put muscele,s on your muscele's.

am fitting a roof rack with a slope up to top of van, hopefully to give saving in fuel, so just going to make a platform underneath for some of the chairs and table to go on,

Will post a picture when finnished.

In your case it makes perfect sense as you've already got a 'step' from the cab up to the quadratec box. Filling it in will help as it will deflect the oncoming air upwards, thus helping fuel economy, as well as providing additional storage.

Unless you're going to be transporting something like a canoe, where it's impossible to fit it in the vehicle itself, adding a roofrack to a standard flat-roofed 4x4 doesn't make any sense at all.