This thread or qustion of the bikers at Hubb - is also valid for us 4x4 Overlanders specially if we travel inside of the 3.5 ton class:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...lly-need-37855

Many of us dream about a overlanding car with Front bar, winch, rear bar, two reartyre holders, about a really capable Offroad verhicle for our big trip.

We want to add some armor, to add a roof rack, to add stuff above. Yes, we can do that, but then most of the cars are on their legal weight limit, when we finish our buildup.

I tried to write down some stuff you can see on many cars on worldtrips: Just the basics, people on extended trips carry usually more than that, more food & beverage also in this calculations are no clothings and shoes and so on - just the basic stuff....




As you can see, with an fully equipped "highend" offroad equipped car, there is not much weigh left - for passengers and for camping gear.

I suggest strongly that you weight your car bevore you decide what you will add to the bill. Mostly you will see much more weight on the bill than is noted in your car papers.

This way you can load and balance your travel setup more conscious, maybe you can save some kilos with more leightweight stuff.

This weight calculation above is with 5 tyres, to add a 2nd spare will make it worse...

Article in English
4x4tripping: the buildup of the verhicle: Winch, Frontbar, Sparetyreholder

Article in German
4x4tripping: Geländewagen-Umbau Seilwinde, Stosstange, Ersatzreifenträger, Zusatztank

If severall offroad equipment is necessary that is up to you. You can find your offroad challenge in most areas of the world, inside of a radius of 40km. But not everyone search for such a challange during their journey, and need stuff like trail armor, winch, bars and so on.

How did you travel? Did you ever weight your vehicle fully equipped for a trip?

If your start your buildup - weight it, and balance your setup between the axcles, look for a setup who is not too much above And maybe you look for a car, who allows to add more kilos in a legal way.

Surfy

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About Overlanding, Travelogues, Equipment
Trans-Africa over the west coast

The smart way to save weight is to ...... Get a bike and cut the bare minimum by at least 310Kg no to mention the vehicle weight, probable savings of another what 3250 Kg. Fuel savings as well. Easy really, way more fun too!

thankyou for that useful contribution, which is rather useless and completely misses the point, now, if I could just find somewhere to put the kids!!

good post surfy, its shocking how it all adds up, certainly makes you think. I think most vehicles are way overspecced.

A lot though depends on where you are going and what types of roads you intend doing. for example, my vehicle has a winch which is completely uneccessary in the desert, but very useful in the forests of eastern Europe and as a vehicle may be used for more than one type of trip it's tricky to get the set up right. Don't forget though if you are fitting a winch and rear bar you are removing the originals which balances out some (but not all) of the weight gain. I use a synthetic cable rather than wire on my winch which also reduces the weight a lot.

Add a rooftent which a lot of people have as well, thats a fair bit of weight uptop. Like wise a fridge will add a fair bit. even if you buy water as you go you need 20L per person in reserve so for us thats 80kg

It is suprising though how much you can do without, we travelled to the Gambia 2 up in a suzuki Sj, and there aint a lot of room in that!!

I travelled in Africa with a couple in a LWB Land Rover Defender who were finishing a RTW trip with no real modifications and minimal luggage. Their vehicle was basically standard with a roof tent, roof rack with spare wheel and a few jerry cans.
Their luggage was carried in plastic boxes strapped down in the back, 2x20 litre water carriers and that was about it. The jerry cans were filled where diesel was cheap such as Iran or when it might be needed, outback Australia and the Sahara, the owner told me that by not carrying excessive amounts of fuel and water he had not needed to upgrade the suspension which lasted the whole two and a half year trip with nothing more than new rubber bushes two months before the end. He also said that the other 4WD owners he had spoken to who had extra fuel and water tanks plus other weighty and expensive extras had a lot more suspension problems.
My own experience on two wheels is similar, a lighter load causes less suspension and handling problems, for me anyway less is preferable.

Basic physics really

I'm just amazed at the unnecessary "stuff" people feel complelled to add. Alot being poor or unknown quality so it's money down the drain as well as added grief.

Below is a photo of our completely standard G Wagen, fully laden with enough stuff for 3 people on a 6 month trip. Note the more or less zero sag on the (as I say completley standard) rear suspension.

Attached Thumbnails

 

A defender 110 has a relatively good pay;load to gross weight ratio , but I have always considered that it is a two person vehicle for extended travel , especially in areas of limited water etc . The same would prettywell apply to L/crsr (full size) . So many vehicles get moaned about when they are clearly abused , from a weight point of view . The military always specify a reduced payload for off road use , for obvious reasons .

totally with you there Mark, I have always travelled with minimal kit.
Fuel estimate +50%
water estimate +50% (with emergency reserve)
small tool kit. 2 spare wheels (probably the biggest extra single weight, but I have had to use both in quick succession)
tools, just the basics
bodging kit
spare hoses and belts
oils
ground tent
buy local food but carry some ratpack type food for emergencies
footpump
compressor (if you don't have one, you tend to be reluctant to air down when you should and get stuck)
each person is limited to one medium size soft bag for clothes (soft bags pack better)
recovery ropes (one snatch, one tow)

On this trip



each vehicle was carrying about 3/4 ton of school books. In addition to that we had to carry all the personal kit, tools spares etc for our team of 4.

By using 2 vehicles the same we could divvy up spares. each carried a shovel, but we had a shared set of waffle boards and other kit. Note the shitty roof racks!!

It could be argued that the only really essential kit, is fuel and water! especially with 2 vehicles the same

Boarding school

Oh I was ahead if you there!
Unfortunately the fees would eat into the travel budget too much

No hard and fast rules, my setup is perfect for me and the way I like to travel

After riding around South America 2up on a DR650 going back to camping in the D90 is total luxury for 2 people!!!

For our 6 month Africa trip, fully loaded tools, spares, 2 extra diesel jerry cans and the 66 litre water tank full, food, gear, roof tent, fridge, me and the missus on board we were ~300kgs under the GVW.

I already had the winch, bull bar, roof rack, under body protection, hi lift jack and all the usual recovery stuff on the 90 before I decided to overland in it.

We used light weight cheap camping gear (and a roof tent ) and didn't take any guff. Keeping the weight to a minimum reduces load/strain on the drivetrain, reduces fuel consumption and improves off road ability, but there's no point in paying the extra costs overlanding with a 4x4 and being uncomfortable! strike a happy medium between weight and comfort.





Set up on the coast in Ghana

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Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca

have to say griff, I always fancied the idea of overlanding in a soft top 90 with the screen folded down and door tops off, really cutting it down to basics, but the missus moaned it would mess her hair up!

Yes I used to do that........but with a 50 cals and GPMGs bolted on the Rovers - the novelty of being exposed to the elements soon wears off after a few hundred miles!!!


I did also drive my 1954 Series 1 around like that when I was 17 - but kept the lower doors on, was great fun, but I must have looked a muppet in the UK winter driving around in a ski jacket, gloves and goggles, the only things keeping me from freezing to death being a fertilizer bag behind the grill and the Smiths heater blowing hot air over my legs - Happy Days!


These boys did it the hard way:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmigIfRawGw

__________________
Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca

I travel with a fair bit of weight at times. I had better than standard shocks and springs to help manage it.

The key is just to drive slowly. I am surprised at how fast some overlanders drive.

Ah yes, Tom Shepherd, the man who spent years enjoying driving freely around the desert, but is now pushing to have access restricted to those who can afford expensive permits!