Getting away from it all – Land Rover or other?

No problems with a d3 marmoset?

Been lucky, egr been latest problem with mine. Temporary cure with a two pence, now properly blocked.

Would recommend a 2p and pair of pliers in glove box!

Land rover series 2a or series 3 2.1/4 ptrol ……anyone anywhere can fix one of these …..best for expedition

It would appear the Big Orange Bedford is, or at least was, for sale: Clicky.

Anyone fancy a punt?! The price is a bit much for me. I could put a bodykit on a 206cc for that sort of cash…

Land rover series 2a or series 3 2.1/4 ptrol ……anyone anywhere can fix one of these …..best for expedition

If I were to do a long expedition, i’d probably do it on a motorbike – something that can handle a bit of off road and is cheap to buy and run.
I think everyone at one point or another has the big dream of getting away from it all…

No problems with a d3 marmoset?

V8 here 🙂

do you really need a 4wd to get away from it, or is it just the ‘look’ you want? I drove a rwd hiace camper around Australia including hundreds of km of horribly corrugated dirt roads, some silly steep tracks we probably shouldn’t have driven down with no problems. There were obviously places you could get to with a 4wd we couldn’t, but we had a more comfortable and cheaper time in the normal camper, don’t think I could have lived for 5 months in most of the 4wd conversions we saw, but for a short trip I would have liked a 4wd to explore some of the more inaccesible places.

Can’t believe no-one’s suggested getting a bike for this.

dknwhy – Member
If I were to do a long expedition, i’d probably do it on a motorbike – something that can handle a bit of off road and is cheap to buy and run.
I think everyone at one point or another has the big dream of getting away from it all…

I know what you mean Molly, but I can’t drive a bike. I _can_ drive a car. Also, if I wanted to take wife and dogs, space might be a little limited.

Bigjim, good point and it really is something that I’d considered, looking at a lot of van conversions and the Delica type things that are around. The van-types tend to be cheaper to both buy and run, but for what I had in mind when I first posted, a 4×4 would have been preferable.

I gave my friendly, once-local Landy garage a call this morning and asked them the question of which Defender to buy and, whilst he agreed that the best engine for out and out expedition use was probably the 300TDi, I’d be better off buying a late model Discovery TD5, despite the concerns with body rot.

I know he’s right. In fact, I know people on here are right as well (did I really just say that?) when they suggest Landcruisers or Patrols, but the heart is always going to say Defender. I strongly suspect that just a single trip from Cambridge to somewhere like Sennybridge would cure me of that. It would probably just take the trip back from picking it up to do that.

but I can’t drive a bike.

I meant MTB!

Even on teh most awesumz and niche fatbike, I doubt there would be a way to take a wife and two dogs on a road trip.

Yeah there is.

Photos or it never happened.

Tandem, or she can have her own bike. Trailer for the dogs and gear. Done.

Tbh I’d rather cycle through the wilderness than spend days sat in a car being chucked about. And no doubt wishing I was on my bike 🙂

I see where you’re going with this and I applaud you for trying, but heading out for a week long holiday with a non-bikey wife and two slightly mad spaniels on a tandem with a trailer would be the marriage equivalent of suicide.

Even if I could get a decent overland/camper put together out of a Landy, I’m reasonably sure it would take severe bribery to get my wife to come away with me in it. I can see such a vehicle being used for my trips to Brecon and the south west more than anything else.

Seriously, as much as I like camping, the idea of sleeping in a hedge and eating beans just does not appeal to her.

Chuck a tent in the back and shes good to go.
RIP bro

i drove to Timbuktoo with a mate of mine a few years back.

Very jealous. Always wanted to go there,

yep, proper bonkers trip. bought the van for £200, drove it 5000 miles without a single mechanical (50mpg!) crossed 30ft sand dunes (do not slow down for anything) only got stuck once (in a sandy car park) towed out a lada riva 4 times. made it to the festival au desert for free as a special guest of the commander of the mali army whom i met in timbuktoo. sold the van to the airport in Timbuktoo for 800 euros, blagged a lift to the airport in bamako and flew home. all in, the months adventure cost under £1k for me and my mate scott combined

i would never, ever, ever, consider such a trip in a landy i dont care how many sand ladders and shovels you strap to the outside

I drove around the Kalahari desert last summer and the word there was strictly Toyota and the list of reasons why was considerable.

I’d go for a Land Cruiser with the straight 6 4.2, more reliable than the newer 4.5 V8 which do use oil as they age and I can’t say I have noticed lack of power compared to the V8, probably a little lighter weight so almost nothing in it. The work 6 cylinder has almost 400k on the clock, use almost no oil and starts the instant you turn the key every time. We have two newer V8s which go just as well but have gone through a few batteries and generally haven’t been quite as good.

Stick with the skinny standard tires would be my advice! The wider rubber that comes on the higher spec models floats around on mud making it difficult to get any traction and you’re stuck real easy. Same goes for bolting on the engine ARB catalogue, it looks awesome, but then the vehicle weighs 3 tons, drinks fuel and will sink if the ground even looks damp.

As for 4wd, hardly used it at work. If its dry you have more than enough power and grip to get away with 2wd. 4wd handy if its wet and low range for crawling up very steep sections. 99% of the time 2wd will be fine as you will be on sealed or unsealed roads.

http://uktooz.co.uk/
Some other options in here for overland adventures all will take a significant time to complete 🙂

I have lived in the bush in Oz and in Africa.

The real problems on dirt roads are corrugations and mud.

Once the wet season comes deep mud stops everything. A 4wd gets you about 100 yards further into trouble than an ordinary car. If you have one of the Tonka trucks that can cope with really deep mud then you are going to have to tow a fuel tanker behind you because your fuel consumption will be enormous.

The best advice is what has already been said, look at what the locals are driving.

These days probably Toyotas.

In Oz the Australian built 6 & 8 cyl cars were offered with the “country pack” which basically was tougher tyres, higher suspension, and a limited slip diff. And these were what you saw being used for transport around places like Bedourie and Birdsville. 4wds were for following fencelines or mining exploration, and again usually Toyotas.

Mike, that website is a dangerous place to visit. One look and I’m already trying to work out how I can take six months off.

I’ve also just seen what looks to be a version of the deflectograph truck I used to work on in a previous job.

4wds were for following fencelines or mining exploration, and again usually Toyotas.

Very true I had a type 45 Land Cruiser which was the bosses really but I got to drive for 18 months we used to hire a Land Cruiser HDJ79 tray top when we needed, Toyota was all I ever saw in Western Australia in the desert.

I have always wanted a big Zil or Ural truck!

I’d pick my country and find what’s easiest to get fixed while there. If you are going proper mental travel destination theremay not be the best garages available locally. From my experience older vehicle means simpler to fix. Photos may not look as cool on a forum but you keep going.