UK to OZ - Vehicle Familiarisation

dont bother with that faulty one. spare parts cost you between £150-£200 plus fitting and the price of the fridge in the 1st place. thats the second time its been listed, that bloke won it last week. you also dont get the 3year warrenty.

Engel fridges also draw far less power than others on the market. ive read that these can run for 2days without having to start your car/recharge the batt.

G

Had a look at MTS website for Engel fridge and at dimensions of the MT45
40L which has W: 663, D360, H: 508mm. Without measuring 2nd row middle seat as yet – am guessing it is approx 400mm wide – therefore wondered should I fit the fridge sideways? How is fitting arranged? Do I need to purchase split charger first? Or find a fridge with right dimensions to begin with? Probably better off just calling the chap at MTS but thought I'd ask seeing as your all such a mindful of information. Thanks

I have tracker highbacks fitted in 2nd row , in my 110 CSW there is approx 450mm between inside edges of the two outer seats on the dimension you give for 45 engel its plenty of room to fit . with the lid hinge to rear .
This model will plug in to cig lighter, so no need to fit split charge just yet, unless you want too.
If you do then second battery will fit with original battery in locker below passenger front seat if you relocate the first battery.
You will need to fit a 12v plug and socket to take feed from 2nd battery.
You will need to decide at this point what type of split battery set up you want based upon what sort of use you want to make of the reserve battery .
example : do you want to be able to use the second battery as a possible jump start battery, are you intending to fit electric winch, and do you want to run it of either or both batteries? etc
Engel do a fridge hold down kit . I think you could make your own cheaper , as you will need to make a stand for it anyway.
It might be worth cnsidering fitting two more front seats in second row position, at the same time you could make storage under the seats. You could source these from a breakers for a reasonable price. HTSH

check out the X Eng website for their split charge unit. its reasonably priced and i know alot of the winch challenge boys love em. all you need to tie thefridge down are 2 points and a ratchet strap. engels have metal bodies with metal handles at both ends, tie it down from these points and you shouldnt have any problems.

Id suggest you do run a 2nd batt and split charge for peace of mind with regards to flat batts etc. and esp. if your going to be fitting a winch.

G

forgot to add: as stated above. if you do make storage under the rear seats, you could make up some fixtures to hold water or fuel jerry cans. 2 under either seat. that way their evenly distributed (from a weight perspective) low down (centre of gravity) and easy to get to.

G

Cassie what you reading at the moment? I suggest getting a copy of Chris Scott - Sahara overland.

Ok i know your not going near the Sahara, but over half the book is aimed at vehicle preperation with loads of hints and ideas. be aware he doesnt like land rovers though!

Stanfords have it as do many places online. its £20 and well worth it. a must for any overlander.

G

OI Griff I int forgotten your mapping stuff. Just been a bit busy at the moment

Have got a very OLD copy of Sahara Overland with all the prep and considerations - first book I ever bought years ago as part of my thirst - not sure quite the same title or author - will have to have a check when I get home - long time since I've had a look at this book. Because written some years ago, although much still remains valid - no longer convinced that ALL info provided still stands - have been mindful that things move on, new gadgets, modernisation etc. plus one (very experienced) person's view - don't want to rely upon as sole resource. Will check it out tonight and let you know - may end up re-reading to see what's still valid. Meantime - have found useful the more recent and 2 year old+ expedition websites and the vehicle prep undertaken which tends to be included (however, much has been going over my head a bit as A) none of these websites deal with child considerations from vehicle perspective (was told to buy a Toyota at some stage - I remained true to LR - childrens comfort important but there's a line to be drawn! Ha! Reality is that only LR fits the bill for us - not biased at all....... B) I am lacking vehicle expertise and don't understand alot of the mechanical jargon - hell - I'm just on seats, fridges and split converters at the moment and learning from all of you - finding it much better with you people in the mix. Making me think more laterally - that's for sure !!
Back to the fridge - The 40L on a cigarette lighter doesn't sound like the fridge for me - as need to run indefinately even when the vehicle is stationery. OR IS IT!!!!! Cigarette version means we wouldn't be running battery down unnecessarily or forgetting about charge if vehicle stationary at times for long periods (say, we decide to stay in one place for one month without need to move vehicle - we do have a couple of these instances planned to give children (and ourselves) complete break/rest/let feet touch ground. OR DOES IT MATTER AS LONG AS WE MONITOR AND MAINTAIN VEHICLE!!!!
Will digest info more fully, research the MTS Engel models in better detail, and think about final seating incl. storage underneath (plus weight spreading - like that idea), plus split converter.
Am planning to use a winch (stage 3 of my training later this year/early next year (stage 1 - am on basic level off-roading at the mo! Stage 2 - advanced off-roading)). Feel that the winch at this stage is possibly a 'nice to have' - OK - 'want to have' - not too sure - even if don't use - something very tempting even if not for our own use but for buddying up purposes - even UK based - where can exchange for other expertise with fellow travellers/buddys who may need assistance - bit of responsible travel. Without a doubt though remains area I am completely inexperienced regarding at present.

Come to think of - definately can't be the same book as I have - the guy who wrote dealt with Land Rovers and nothing else when I read some years ago. When was the version your're talking about written?

RE frig and cig lighter, many fridges come with cig lighter plug as cig socket is ued for a lot of car accessories , when it comes to finalising vehicle set up that is when you will need to work out wiring set up and how you will power frig. If stopping for extended periods then alternative power supplies will need to be considered eg solar, genset etc

Overland sites good for getting upto date info, and also feedback on vehicle mods that were effective or waste of time/money.

winchs are good area for debate as to efficacy VFM etc

land rovers meets/shows will be useful for looking how kit fits and getting info from actual users as opposed to ''armchair experts''

Aah! Didn't realise cigaratte option was standard.
Feel much more confident now about just going ahead and purchasing fridge now (plus my seats) - just need to have a final check through sizes/options etc.. Might have a couple of final questions re: fridge placement & storage under seats - just want to think about and re-read posts again regarding and be sure have understood everything correctly.
Excited - feel like I've made a couple of very valuable, small but important steps.

Re: winches - agree! Will come back much later in the year with winch questions - once I've got a bit more experience and exposure under my belt. Very grateful and astounded at level of expertise - many thanks.

i suggest you hardwire the fridge in with a switch on the dash. the engels will stay cold with stuff in them for ages when their off, providing the lid is kept shut most of the time. An alt source will be required if you plan on running the fridge for a week without starting the landy. why not just start it up every2days to charge the batts? you can check their state of charge with a multimeter. job done.

chris scott 2nd edition. its been around for donkeys, 2nd edition has improved maps etc.

I suggested you looked at it for storage ideas. water/fuel/foods etc. i think that the basics 75% of things to know still remain the same!

G

redhand said:

OI Griff I int forgotten your mapping stuff. Just been a bit busy at the moment

Click to expand...

No worries bra think i may have sorted a tablet PC and GPS system to. off-road atlas mountains here we come!

GDowg - Yup - I hear what your saying re: fridge. Like the idea of mulitmeter.
As it is - find that due to immobiliser on vehicle - if we don't start of regularly - battery goes dead anyway.
Storage has been on my mind Water/fuel/food/clothes/bedding - have to say have not read a great deal about the reality of this - good point. Most I've read tends to focus on specific equipment (and as I said some goes over my head) - doesn't really deal wth storage/weight loading issues/trade off. And your right - somethings - basics- don't change. Converted - am going to take a little visit to on-line bookstore. Cheers!

Cassie have pm'd you

670 pages! Much about Sahara routes, cars, bikes, camels - no LR - me thinks I might go to bookshop and become one of those browsers and fish a little to determine the detail of this book a little better - I am needing more persuasion. Thanks though.

haha. i got it next to me:

contents:

pages 9-37 planning and prep
pages 43-196 vehicles (inc packing, camping, bush-repairs etc)
pages 207-246 bikes
pages 257-283 camels
pages 287-348 in the desert (inc. water, health, navigation, maps, gps survival and security)

pages 371-417 sahara environment

pages 417-637 routes through morocco, mauritania, algeria, tunisia, libya, mali, niger, chad and egypt...

i put it all in for completeness incase other people were interested in sahara travel. but i guess you will need pages 9-246 also the sections on maps and navigation are good allround advice.

G

Bought my copy ages ago, perfect for my morocco adventure at easter
Might never come back if its too good down there, have most of my gear for the 110 now, will start the big kitting out session this weekend, cant wait.
Will post pics for others to get ideas.

what maps/GPS you taking for Morocco? planning on some off-piste action?

G