Suggestions for Africa trip mods/spares/tools

Hi

My old classic RR is being driven to Mali on the "Budapest Bamako" rally in January! It's a 5 door, originally a 3.5 petrol, now running a 200TDi.

I'm interested in suggestions for minimum pre-rally service, spares/tool kit and any budget mods I should think about.

Driving will be a mix of tarmac road, unmade (rubble type) road and there are some desert/beach sections - accommodation will be a mix of basic hotels where available and camping. It will be very hot in the day, potentially near freezing at night and very very dusty - so several challenges!

Spares kit I haven't thought about yet, the car has:

• 2" lift & new shocks
• Spal fan
• Front bumper winch
• Light guards, rock sliders, front+rear bull-bars
• Stripped out, carpet, headlining removed, wiring tidied
• Snorkel
• Large AT tyres with two spares on rims
• Hi-lift jack and decent wheel brace
• Large roof-rack with work-lights front + back
• CB radio

Any suggestions? Any more to do to the car with spending lots? What should my spares kit / took kit contain?

Also interested to hear any Morocco / Western Sahara / Mali experiences...

Tubeless tyre repair kit, and compressor . Good kinetic tow rope/ snatch strap. Have the radiator stripped down and serviced/ cleaned out.
Ear plugs as its going to be very noisy with no trim, unless you plan to wear crash helmets all the time . Uni joints, air filters, it goes on and on depends what level your risk assessment plateau is reached. JMHO

Take loads and loads of beads ... they like beads, and little axes, shiny things, and HP sauce to add a bit of flavour when they eat you.

You wouldn't want to be remembered as being tastless.

CharlesY

Thanks the the advice.

Trimless its actually quieter than you might think (especially with stuff in the back on a mat, that's the really rattly bit esp. with the exhaust exit cut though a rear wing...)... all that's left is the dashboard, of course, door panels, some padding over the transmission tunnel and pillar trims.

I've organised a compressor, snatch strap etc. and serviced the winch. The rad service will come soon, the additional Spal fan it already has is pretty powerful and can be activated either via thermostat or on demand.

Tyres -- tubes or tubeless?? What's recommended? Out here people seem to fit tubes inside of "tubeless" marked off road tyres, and the car was like that (tubes inside Grizzly Claws) when I got it?

Decent ATs will be used for this event - I've got two spare rims and plan to take a third spare tyre so I can handle two flats unsupported and up to three ripped tyres.

I guess in terms of spares I'm only looking at things I can realistically do myself with a small tool-set within a few hours, anything more heavy and it can get towed to the nearest mechanic - so I'm thinking a good service before it goes and carrying belts, filters, plugs, oils, hoses and clips, gaffer tape etc..

Any other thoughts / experience?

you Dont fit tubes to tubless tyres, they run cooler without, threfore less stress, more miles. With a tubeless they usually deflate slowly so allows you to reinflate and change when more convenient, eg better surface, cooler time. You can repair without demounting tyre, or in some cases without removing wheel, two spares is plenty, if you start with good new tyres eg BFG AT. Dont overdo the tyres size. saves weight. Wheres out here? Weight is the devil, more weight more stress on vehicle, tyres fuel consumption, bigger tanks and so it goes on. Why the rear bull bar, never heard of a 4x4 being chased , other than a p%^$d off rhino ? weight again ! What lighting , if you intend some night driving? Big horn ? 3/8 drive socket set for smaller sizes 1/2 drive for the bigger ones, set of combination spanners mole grips, pliers screwdrivers HAMMER . Ifcan spare the weight and room , compressor type fridge , a cold drink (non alcho) works wonders ! Experience 13 yrs driving outback OZ

HAVE A GREAT TIME B2B. HOPE TO DRIVE TO S.A FOR THE WORLDCUP.
just a tip you prob wont need but just in case. to get water in the desert, dig a hole and put a plastic sheet over it with a dip in the middle and a cup underneath. overnight condensation will collect under the sheet and drip into the cup.

good eh??

am full of useless s**t!!

Thanks
"out here" just now is Spain
BFG ATs it is going to be -- not too big
what I'm calling the rear bull-bar is actually "a scorpion race bumper" according to the previous owner...looks like a piece of scaffolding running level with the bottom of the rear tailgate... and light guards... was on it when I got it
The lighting is "agricultural work lamps" that again came with it... large rubber housed 100w spot-lamps (used on tractors!) that seem to do ok and aren't too heavy... tabs on the roof-rack suit them and they do the job in the dark so will be handy for any night stages.
Thanks for the advice/experience!

Dont forget sand ladders (PSP is best and cheap)and shovels. Lots of jerry cans (Craddocks 4 for £20). A compass is pretty useful as well. Dont mess up the documentation or it will cost you a few bribes.
Good luck

moz said:

Dont forget sand ladders (PSP is best and cheap)and shovels. Lots of jerry cans (Craddocks 4 for £20). A compass is pretty useful as well. Dont mess up the documentation or it will cost you a few bribes.
Good luck

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Dear Moz.

This month is February.

He said he was going his trip in January.

Let's hope he is still out there and has a satellite internet access.

CharlesY

Maybe he's already on someone's 'menu'

b2b_rr said:

Hi

My old classic RR is being driven to Mali on the "Budapest Bamako" rally in January! It's a 5 door, originally a 3.5 petrol, now running a 200TDi.

I'm interested in suggestions for minimum pre-rally service, spares/tool kit and any budget mods I should think about.

Driving will be a mix of tarmac road, unmade (rubble type) road and there are some desert/beach sections - accommodation will be a mix of basic hotels where available and camping. It will be very hot in the day, potentially near freezing at night and very very dusty - so several challenges!

Spares kit I haven't thought about yet, the car has:

• 2" lift & new shocks
• Spal fan
• Front bumper winch
• Light guards, rock sliders, front+rear bull-bars
• Stripped out, carpet, headlining removed, wiring tidied
• Snorkel
• Large AT tyres with two spares on rims
• Hi-lift jack and decent wheel brace
• Large roof-rack with work-lights front + back
• CB radio

Any suggestions? Any more to do to the car with spending lots? What should my spares kit / took kit contain?

Also interested to hear any Morocco / Western Sahara / Mali experiences...

Click to expand...

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Hi b2b_rr,

You sure dont trust your RR now do you ?
If your only going as far as Bamako then do you think you really need all that extra weight?

Whats with stripping all the headlining out for?

Front bumper winch, How you going to get stuck on a gravel road ?

Do you really know the route you are taking?
There is every chance the only bit of "non tarmac" will be the 120km from the Morocco (Western Sahara) to where the tarmac starts again in Mauritania,
By the way, thats the part, that if you stray too far off the road, you hit a land mine.

The resulting hole may be too deep for a hi-lift, and anyway, there might not be too much RR to hook the hi-lift onto