| Overview |
| Now this is where the money can get rediculous and thousands of pounds spent with very little effort needed, if only we bought a lottery ticket. This is also the areas that can ensure your trusty steed is up to the battering and bruising it is likely to face over the trip. Deciding on what is covered in this section has given me the biggest headache of all the reasearch that has been done, so I hope that what I have mentioned allows you to make a few easier decisions. |
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| Suspension and Steering Damper |
| This has to be one of the toughest decisions of what to go for, followed closely by tyres. The reason I found this the toughest choice to come up with is because of the massive weighting the majority of people and articles put on Old Man Emu suspension. However like everything it is about coming up with the best option for you, based on many different aspects, money being one of these. |
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| If money was endless then I too would not have thought twice about fitting Old Man Emu, it has a massive following and the respect appears to be justified. However it was whilst watching the ‘Long Way Down’ that helped me head in a different direction. Admitedly they were on motorbikes, but they had also upgraded the suspension to Ohlins, regarded as the best motorbike suspension. Unfortunately the name did nothing to help prevent them from breaking during the journey, which happened a few times. This brought it home that even the best can break and nothing is invincible. |
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| A couple of other phone calls to some overland preperation centres gave me further reason to opt for an alternative, as they recommended both Old Man Emu and an alternative which they appeared confident would work well. The choices were then between Britpart and Terrafirma suspension, both similar in price. Britpart is the more widely available product, with Terrafirma being the independent product of Frogs Island 4x4. From having visited the garage for other bits of advice and a free inspection I was pleased that their advice was sound, especially as they come with a 2 year warranty and cover overlanding. They were also running a special offer that made them easily 50% the cost of Old Man Emu, money that could then be spent on other aspects. Therefore the decision was to go with Terrafirma springs, dampers and matching steering damper. |
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| UPDATE: The initial suspension setup (medium springs and standard dampers on the rear) have not sttod up to the job once the vehicle became laden with our kit, even though we initialy mentioned what it would be used for. The springs could not take the weight and the vehicle sat low. After further discussions with Frogs we tried the Heavy Weight springs, which we ended up replacing. This has improved the ride height of the Gweneveer but has meant that the Damper is inefficient for this strength spring. This is still ongoing and therefore am very dissapointed with the initial installation and recommendation provided then and now, considering it is all their own equipment, you would expect them to know exactly what works and doesn't. |
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| Air Filter |
| To prevent us having to carry plenty of spare filters, as these are big on a 300Tdi, we have upgraded to a K&N air filter. This filter is expensive in comparison to a standard filter, however it has a 10 year / Million mile warranty (so basically a long time!), and to ensure it is kept at its best it can be cleaned. This addition will free up a lot of storage space and supposedly improve air flow, though don’t expect to see any difference in how it runs. |
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| Fuel Storage |
| We had originally planned to fit an additional fuel tank that would fit in the similar spot to the water tank and provide us an additional 45 litres of diesel. However the FrontRunner tank had risen in price when first investigated to over £350, not fitted, full expedition tanks are almost double this. It also does not have any form of fuel sender so we would have no idea how much remained until we got down to the standard tank. |
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| If money was no object then we would have gone for the above option, however we have decided to go for the easy option of two more jerry cans (four in total). This provides us nearly the same storage capacity, the ability to know exactly how much fuel we have, and all at £30 for the Jerry Cans. The additional benefit is that if dodgy fuel is picked up then it does not ruin such a large quantity of precious diesel. On the down side is that it means we use up storage space and have to carry fuel inside the vehicle. We will let you know if this ends up stinking too much. |
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| Water Storage |
| To match the fuel tank we have opted for the FrontRunner 44l water tank that installs into the left rear fender of a 110 Defender. This is relatively simple to install, but not as easy as the instructions would lead you to believe. We had difficulties getting the tank into the space as we could not get it past the suspension spring, exhaust and the wheel arch. After plenty of hitting and possibly our twentieth repositioning we found the tiny hole that it can go through! We have had the tank fitted for quite a few trips now and are more than happy with it. Only negative point is that the tap lever seems to be getting a little rusty. |
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| Swing Arm |
| The standard mount for the spare wheel on a Land Rover Defender is to have it mounted on the rear door. This is an ideal place as it does not impeed any aspect of vehicle use, compared to a bonnet mounted tyre that restricts the drivers view. Unfortunately 4x4 tyres are heavy and under conditions when corrugations, pot holes and bumpy roads are going to be a permenant fixture, the hinges on the back door are not likely to cope. |
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| This has meant that we have fitted a Mantec Swing Arm, which mounts on both the body work and most importantly the cross member. Where it mounts was a key aspect as many simply bolt into the body panels next to the hinges, rather than make use of the strength and available holes in the cross member. You should also be careful that many cheap swing arms do not automatically open with the door, instead making you open it first before the door (too much like hard work to me). Where the Mantec use a simple cylinder mechanism to achieve this. Other products are available that only bolt to the cross member, such as Rugged Trail, however these come at a price. |
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| Wheels and Tyres |
| This is an area where I decided to spoil ourselves and opt for the king ding-a-ling of tyres, a set of BFG All Terrain 235/85 tyres. These have a very good reputation as being excellent all round, well made, long lasting (up to 30,000 miles) and very strong construction. They are commonly regarded as having the strongest sidewalls. What benefit is this I here you ask, well it means they can handle running at low pressures and can withstand to flattening and twisting against rocks and ruts. |
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| I would certainly say that they have been a great decision. Since fitting the new boots we have been off road on both mud and rock, not forgetting the tarmac to get there. The difference in their ability compared to the previous tyres is amazing, even though the previous set where after market all terrains. At no point have the BFG’s struggled, or even looked at faltering even though some conditions have appeared tricky for Discovery’s on mud tyres |
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| As with most areas tyres are can be confusing, especially sizes. However the simple way to look at it is that the measurement 235/85 is the first measurement is the width of the tyre and the second is the profile or thickness (from wheel rim to edge). Therefore the bigger the numbers the bigger they are, for example a 235/70 tyre is the same width, but the size from the wheel rim to edge of tyre is less, visually this tyre would not stand as tall. |
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| We have also opted to replace our current steel wheels with some new black 16” steel modular wheels, all supplied by Devon 4x4. Many people would use or keep alloy wheels on as they are lighter and therefore fuel saving. However if you dent alloy wheels you can not easily get them back into shape, where steel you can smack about more to get rid of any unfortunate indentations. As for the black choice, purely cosmetic! However if you opt for black modular wheels and order online, just be aware they have a red go faster stripe, making them look like you have pinched them of the A-Team van |
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| UPDATE: These tyres are great both on and off road, very pleased with them. |