Hi All

I am going to be spending several months in Morocco during 2009 on work. Our work is taking clients on adventure holidays on rivers and in canyons. I have decided to purchase a LC VX for a support vehicle and for tranporting gear to and back from Morocco.

I know the ? is a bit like how long is a piece of string. However, we are not doing major expeditions just transporting gear from Marrakesh to the locations we are working at. Clients are transported by hired in transport.

Just looking for a rough estimate for a basic package that will upgrade the LC for what we are doing.

It will need to include

roofracks
bull bar
winch
new tyres
Suspension upgrade? if required
Engine ? What is recommended

We have had kitted out landrovers in the past but the last one got nicked from the front of our office. I had a LC 16 years ago for a couple of years and have decided to try them again instead of more landrovers. They also look great value at present against LR

Thanks for any input

Hi Adventure life

As I'm sure you realise the cost will depend on the make of product that you choose. For guidance this is the costing for what we chose to fitting:

Front runner expedition roof rack £380
ARB Bull Bar £700
WARN powerplant winch with built in compressor £900
BF Goodrich All Terrain tyres approx £90 each
Old man emu suspension upgrade shocks £60 springs £60 per pair

The LC is a heavy vehicle and with a bull bar I would definately upgrade the suspension

Becky

HI

As BMW.Bec said it depends what you want, but there is not a huge amount of difference in price no matter what you go for.

Do you need all the items you mention, winch for example?
Decide then look around for the best deals.

Once you have a vehicle contact:
Julian Voelcker @ Overland Cruisers - tel: 0845 508 6863

Great mechanic and very knowledgeable about LC's.

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ChrisC

Hi,

Just to add to what the others have said (thanks Chris for the plug).

Your standard 80 can do what you want in standard form without any effort so the most important thing is to make sure it is well serviced. You need to budget about £500-600 in parts for getting the axles stripped and fit new wheel bearings, CVs (if required), seals, check the diffs and diff locks, check the brake callipers, fit new pads, etc. Some of the bits can be bought cheaply from Milner Offroad, but you need to pick and choose a bit, reverting back to genuine parts for things like the inner axle seals, inner hub seals, wheel bearings, etc.

If the brake disks are close to needing to be replaced, consider upgrading them - you will be grateful once you start going up and over the Atlas mountains a few times fully loaded.

If you get an automatic - again it makes life easier on the mountain roads, makke sure you fit an extra oil cooler for the Auto box - Kenlowe do a kit for about £124.

Once you have sorted the running gear consider a suspension upgrade - Old Man Emu springs and shocks, a steering damper and then caster correction kit - you can get soome guide prices from the http://www.tbruk.com website.

Like Chris, I would question the need for a winch and winchbar - when I was there last year I didn't see any local tour vehicles with these fitted. Having said that if you feel that you need them, again look at the TBR website for prices - I use them as a main supplier and they are pretty competitive - if you are going for an electric winch, you should also consider upgrading your batteries and possibly even adding a 3rd and a split charge system if also running things like a fridge.

If you can get a roofrack at the price that Becky quotes, jump at it. Normally you can get something like an African Outback one for around £550 and the lower level and then prices go up from them.

Have you thought about what year 80 to get? Or anything else about the car?

__________________
Cheers,

Julian Voelcker
Overland Cruisers - Specialising in Land Cruiser preparation and servicing.

Hi Becky/Chris/Julian

Thanks for the input

Last LR we had had a winch and I think we only used it a couple of times so that is an area where cost could be saved and invested in making sure all the running gear and engine is in the best condition.

I have been looking at a couple of 80's over the last few days. I really cannot get over what value they are compared with LR.

R plate manual £2.9k before negotation. Need a good tidy up but still great value.

I would prefer an auto though as I drive a Merc ML auto as my main car and this year I will be doing a lot of the driving.

I also employ guys who are heavy on gear boxes and I suspect an auto can better handle this? Am I correct in that assumption?

I have read that a 93 year and onwards is better than the 90-92 is this correct.

Overall I am looking for a LC that can provide a reliable heavy duty support vehicle that will work in Morocco/Scotland/Turkey. Needs to pull double axle trailers full of rafts but that should provide no problem. Seat up to 5 in comfort and be able to take the odd bash and scrape.

No rush to purchase as not needed to Feb 09 but would be good to use on some recces in Oct and Dec. I am off to Morocco a week tomorrow for several weeks on a working holiday but flying and hiring when I get their.

Again thanks for input. Although being around 4X4 all my working life I have very little working knowledge of the mechanical side of them.

Peter

Hi Peter,

I personally prefer an auto, it makes the driving a lot easier. I'm not sure of the abuse side of things, the manuall boxes are very agricultural and solid and would take a lot to break one.

Yes you are right, aim for a '93 or above to get the better brakes.

__________________
Cheers,

Julian Voelcker
Overland Cruisers - Specialising in Land Cruiser preparation and servicing.