Protection for off road tour

hello everyone,
I am going on an off-road tour in Europe in a couple of weeks. I need some stuff to protect my Defender 110, There will be lots of river crossings, so will need a snorkel s well.
Can anybody offer advice on to what I should get and recommend makes/suppliers?
It is really only underneath protection, we should not be going anywhere where there is a risk of rolling etc.

Thanks
Derwood

Derwood said:

There will be lots of river crossings, so will need a snorkel s well.

Click to expand...

May be stating the obvious. But make sure the snorkel is fully sealed and working correctly. Amazing how many you see that still let air in at the joints. Plus seal up the ducks beak on the air filter, and do not forget wading plugs.


Cheers

As already said, seal all the air inlet joints, and check them!

I'd add Sumo bars to the steering, or similar. I have paddocks (Steering rods) own brand fitted and simply not had a problem. I'd also add on-board air, or a decent compressor and puncture repair plugs/outfit, so you can be mostly self-sufficient for fixing a puncture.

I'm not convinced about steering guards, I had one on my Disco and it mostly acted like a plough in ruts. I've never bent a steering rod on the 90 without a steering guard despite driving much less carefully and in much 'harder' places than when I had the Disco.

I've only ever used the round style, cheap diff guards and had no issues other than them filling with mud and not letting water drain out! I can see the point of the wrap-around style diff guards but have never used them.

Rocksliders are worth it and if there are likely to be any vee-gullies then tree sliders too, even if only to hold the Landy up when it's almost tipping over! I made my own ..

Derwood said:

hello everyone,
I am going on an off-road tour in Europe in a couple of weeks. I need some stuff to protect my Defender 110, There will be lots of river crossings, so will need a snorkel s well.
Can anybody offer advice on to what I should get and recommend makes/suppliers?
It is really only underneath protection, we should not be going anywhere where there is a risk of rolling etc.

Thanks
Derwood

Click to expand...

Where are you going that requires a snorkel?
I have the 2 types of diff guard on my 110 and although they don't appear to have ever hit anything I was glad to have them for the peace of mind and confidence (perhaps misplaced?) they give when things get knarly. Just finished a 10 day Pyreneean traverse and was happy to have the protection. The steering guard has had a serious bash, so wouldn't agree that they aren't worth fitting. Rock sliders did their job in Morocco but on very rough ground which I probably wouldn't risk again.

As for being self-sufficient for air and tyre repair, I'd agree that if the tracks are really rough you might want to reduce the pressures a bit for a smoother ride but you can get away without doing it (Europe right?, not Sahara - different story there), so you don't need a compressor for that. As for punctures, unless you're venturing a long way from roads - difficult in Europe - a tyre repair place won't be too far away.

As for suppliers, I wouldn't go near Paddocks again despite the apparent bargain prices. The rear diff guard had to be seriously butchered to fit and they couldn't be bothered to respond to my complaint. They even supplied the wrong bolts to fit it (Metric instead of Imperial). Not the frst time I've had issues with them so they won't be getting any more of my cash.

Derwood said:

hello everyone,
I am going on an off-road tour in Europe in a couple of weeks. I need some stuff to protect my Defender 110, There will be lots of river crossings, so will need a snorkel s well.
Can anybody offer advice on to what I should get and recommend makes/suppliers?
It is really only underneath protection, we should not be going anywhere where there is a risk of rolling etc.

Thanks
Derwood

Click to expand...

Extended axle, gearbox and transmission breathers might be worth it.

Take a couple of wheel bearings kit's.

A spare track rod complete

Look at Southtown snorkels they are robust and easy to seal

Water pump

Aux drive belt

And a good aray of tools;
Good socket set, spanners of all the usual sizes, a big hammer, cable ties, hacksaw. Someone a while ago posted a really comprehensive list that it would be worth searching for.

Next year I plan to take 3 defenders to Cape Town and back.

This guy has done it properly;

http://www.oplongdrive.com/

And goes into a lot of detail on his website with prep that he did.

I have fitted wraparound diff guards, rock/tree sliders, steering guard and a fuel tank guard with removable tow bar. Gives me proper recovery points front and rear and removing the tow bar gives the D1 some much needed rear clearance, you probably don't have that issue in a defender though? I'm very much an amateur but I am pleased I went with the steering guard, if I start hitting that it's a good indication I'm stepping outside of my own abilities if not the cars!

Great, thanks for the feedback.
I am heading to Iceland, so lots of shallow ISS rivers etc, depending on how warm it gets.

Looking forward to lots of piccies

Would love to hear more about your plans, Iceland is somewhere I really fancy, never thought of taking the landy!