NE Morocco 2015 video

Finally got around to uploading the video from our last Morocco trip. Took about 12 hours to upload...did it high def which takes forever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn9tHcHNAxQ

This was our second trip out east crossing the Rekkam Plateau and then down to Erg Chebbi.

Enjoy!

As I posted on You Tube ... "Nice one James! Watched every second, very jealous!!"  Thanks for compiling the video, next best thing to being there.

It's clear from the vid that Steve had shock absorber problems, presumably that's why he headed back, but really can't remember - what mechanical issues did Gary have?

Thanks Tom...

Gary was complaining that his truck was rattling itself apart. Turned out someone had put really stiff springs on the front before he bought it, and combined with his new stiff shocks it made the ride miserable, especially on the rocky sections. Better to get back on the tar before he broke something serious. But he and Steve did the Todra Gorge and some nice mountain drives on the way back, so was still a good trip for them.

Sounds like he turned back the clock to cart springs. No point in coils if they're too hard. As you say, they enjoyed the route back. Good stuff.

Tembo wrote:

Finally got around to uploading the video from our last Morocco trip. Took about 12 hours to upload...did it high def which takes forever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn9tHcHNAxQ

This was our second trip out east crossing the Rekkam Plateau and then down to Erg Chebbi.

Enjoy!

Nice video, very much enjoyed watching it. We had a group that went in 2014 and we are trying to get the group together again for 2016 but a few have concerns about saftey, with all this ISi and Al Qaeda businesses.

Tembo's a mine of information, not to mention a decent bloke. Doubtless he'll be along soon ... pick his brains!!!

Yep...I am never far away. Happy to answer any security questions you have Mike. My day job is as a security advisor to humanitarian organizations who work al over the world, so used to doing risk assessments around field travel and giving advice. If you have any questions, fire away.
James

Just to clear up the problems I faced with the 110.

The previous owner of the truck had fitted a heavy duty bumper with winch on the front and as it was used on a charity rally to Romania the year before the rear springs had also been uprated to carry a massive load of tools and materials needed to build a village meeting place and well.

The trip had taken its toll on the new standard shocks which were fitted and I needed to replace the front two.
A local Land Rover garage which prepares overland trucks and race trucks had a set of four remote resavoir shocks which had been paid for and never fitted to a truck, a deal was struck and I paid the same money as a standard shocks fitted.

On a short shakedown trip before setting off no problems became evident (muddy rutted woodland tracks) however on the corrugations and rocky tracks we were on in Morocco the truck was slowly starting to shake to bits, first the door locks vibrated to pieces then the interior fittings started shaking loose.
On a particularly rough track between Bourdnib and Erg Chebbi I could only drive at speeds of less than 10 mph, after a few hours at this speed my eyesight was blurred and I was holding up the others.

Also the truck started making a strange noise when decelerating which I mistook for either a gearbox or diff problems which after driving for 3 days in low range in soft sand and dunes could of been a tragedy waiting to happen if it manifested later in a remote area on inspection it became evident it was the exhaust blowing by the manifold, DOH !

My other concern was after returning to Spain I had another 6 weeks and many thousands of miles to complete the return trip after picking my wife up in Malaga, I cannot imagine the murde I would have been in if the wife flew into Spain as I was returning to the UK on the back of a breakdown truck.

The truck now has standard rate springs fitted and on a recent trip to Yorkshire with the Land Rover camper guys performed faultlessly over rough terrain and rocks so fingers crossed.

Corrugations, don't you just love 'em? On my little 7,500 escapade from Paris to Dakar, we experienced loads of corrugations en route. Difference was, the Range Rover Classic had been built from the chassis up, so every bolt had nyloc nuts fitted, plus every self tapper had it's very own spring washer. With these precautionary measures, I can honestly say that we had no problems whatsoever from start to finish.

We also managed to make to Dakar with only one set of Armstrong gas magnum shocks (although we doubled up so there were actually eight), plus extra heavy duty springs designed by the team so they were 1" lower than standard specially made by a factory in Birmingham. Pleased to say the combination worked a treat.

All this doesn't compare to your trip of course, just saying that it can be done given enough time, labour and cash.

The point I wanted to make was ... over the corrugations in 'black Africa' as the locals call it (as opposed to the Arab part of North Africa), basically in the Sahel regions of Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea and Senegal, we found that our particular set-up on the RR performed best at about 45 mph. At 40 or under it would shake your fillings out, at 50+ it became downright dangerous as the vehicle would start bucking like a bronco - not good - but at 45, it smoothed out the terrain a treat.

Yep, dangerous things corrugations.

No one seems to have mentioned slightly deflating tires when travelling over these corrugations?

I will say I was glad to hear that it was a relatively simple fix (if maybe a bit expensive). I do find as I get to know my truck better, through dealing with these types of problems, I become more confident in it. Not that nothing else will ever go wrong but more that pretty much anything is fixable.

I don't recall ever airing down just for corrugations, but I suppose it makes sense and would absorb a bit of the vibration before it reaches the suspension. One of the things I love about the desert though is if you don't like the track you're on, you can usually just turn off and make your own, cross country. Harder to do in mountains or jungles!

We found it made a big difference airing down a little. We were all heavily loaded so had to find the correct pressure. No apparent damage was done to the tires. And at least our fillings stayed in our teeth.

To be honest I think part of the problem is we travel light with just the minimum for comfort and as the truck was previously set up for load lugging the suspension never really had a chance.

This was my first major outing in the 110 as previously any long haul trips had been done in my D2, live and learn is the motto from now on if you buy a truck with a brand new front bumper ask the question why ?

As for airing down after we had finished the long road miles through France and Spain I was running the Khumo's at around 20psi dropped from 28rear and 30front. On previous trips I had the luxury of air suspension and only aired down when the need arrived but to be honest the traction control worked faultlessly and I think it impressed other on the trip with the effortless way it couped.

After careful consideration in future if anybody asked what my preferred vehicle would be for a 6000 mile trip with over 2000 miles of it off road I would say go for a 300tdi Discovery on springs probably 85% as good off road as a defender and a whole lot quieter and more comfortable on long road sections.

The best advantage the 110 has is the ability to use the rear as a camper bed down and straight to sleep just about anywhere incognito, well its a bonus to me trying to sleep in the disco was a little inconvenient and if needs must I can always cook in the back of the 110 but prefer not too.

I normally run my 110 on 28psi in the front and 48psi on the rear. On the corrugated stuff I dropped them down to 20psi front and 30psi rear which seemed to work quiet well. Mine was well loaded up. 112 bottles of beer. 15 Lt wine, 60 x 2 lt of bottled water. 5 Jerry cans full of fuel plus all the other camping stuff. I could have stayed in the middle of the  desert for another week; Plus tools and spares. We were all over equipped, we all said next time we will travel lighter.
We had a Discovery 300 tdi in the group which did very well. It bottomed out more than the Defenders and from all the stones and sand that was thrown up several more rust holes appeared. The guy has since got rid of it and replaced it with a Defender 90, 200 tdi which he is getting ready for our next trip.
A couple of the other guys are changing their transfer boxes to Disc ones for a higher cruising speed on the motorways. My 110 sits quiet happily at 70mph on the motorway which I find fast enough. I have improved the sound proofing which has helped. I don't want to change the transfer box as I like having more lower down torque. Especially when in soft sand. The Defender 90 was the only vehicle to suffer a major breakdown. Managed to break the rear diff and a front half shaft which we ended up towing him out of the desert to a garage.

http://land-rover-discovery-1.blogspot.fr/2014/04/day-2-morocco-trip.html

Interesting to note that you had more alcohol on board than water, clearly a man who likes to get his priorities right!

Surely following your advice Tom, 

As if, perish the thought.

Tbh I very rarely take beer these days mainly wine boxes and a couple of bottles of spirits ones that don't need mixers like JD Tennessee honey and Richard which dilutes well with water

What is that stuff you always mix for us? I was trying to explain it to Jess and couldn't remember what you called it.

Gut-rot?

Actually Jess and I were having a nice dinner the other night and finished it off with a small shot of Sambuca. We thought that might be a nice evening tipple at the end of a long, desert day...no mix required and a pretty smooth flavour...if you like aniseed. Would never replace the cardboard boxes of wine and cheap port though...

Do you mean the Pastis (Richard or 45) with 7 up ?
Its ok with water but 7up takes the edge off a little more

Neat it pretty similar to sambuca