Hi all, apologies for posting this outside 4x4 zone but thought bikers may also have some suggestions. Need some advice about sourcing 4x4 equipment in South Africa. Have just crossed over to the dark side and bought ourselves a 4x4 for our next trip, and were originally planning on driving down east coast to then ship back to UK. However have now realised the expense of 4x4 equipment in the UK, and that on our limited budget we might save ourselves some money buying the few items we want in SA, where much of it is made.

So with a ro/ro quote sounding reasonable, we are now considering shipping out to Durban to get a roof tent, fridge and roof rack and drive back via the east coast. However, we have not had much luck finding definite prices for this sort of kit online, and have not yet had any luck with getting responses to our emails. Anyone have personal experience with buying equipment cheaper in SA, or any definite prices on things life Howling moon or similar roof tents, National luna / Engel fridges? A reliable website with prices posted or an email address?

Cheers in advance!

Mark and Allison

Greetings guys,

I live in South Africa and have been kitting out vehicles, and helping people to kit out vehicles for a few years now.

I can give you two email addresses for specialized gear:

4x4 Megaworld in Menlyn, in Pretoria belongs to a friend of mine: Louis, with email address: 4x4megaworld@mwebbiz.co.za Tell him Dawie referred you. They are agents who stock a lot of the well known brands and Louis is honest, efficient and fair priced.

A good website with prices is FRONT RUNNER 4x4 :: Roof Racks, 4x4 Accessories South Africa, Rooftop Tents, Car Fridges, Extra Fuel Tanks, Winches, Towbars. You can email Monique@frontrunner.co.za. Tell her Dawie with the Red 80 series Cruiser refered you. I have spent much money with them as they manufacture their own stuff.

For every day stuff like sleeping bags, chairs, tables and things like that, we have a "superstore" called Makro. (Makro) Their 4x4 section is great and cheap! We also have a company called Outdoorwarehouse (Outdoor Warehouse) with great things.

Roof Top Tents I would reccomend either the Featherlite or Eezi awn. Howling moon is heavy, expensive and is over rated.

My honest advice would be to start your shopping at Decathelon. Anything imported into South Africa is more expensive here than in the UK. So GPS's, sleeping bags, technical clothing and things like that would be cheaper there. Stuff that gets made here is a lot cheaper and labour is cheap. So servicing your vehicle, new suspension, tyres and stuff like that would be cheap here.

For comprehensive insurance as far North as Kenya, have a look at High quality restaurant menu design and print on best quality paper, offering solutions for all conceptualization and you can get a carnet from the AA of South Africa for your vehicle. I was planning on buying the UK, shipping here and doign what you're doing. My wife is from the UK and the AA of SOuth Africa agreedto give us a carnet. They aslo charge only 200% for Egypt and not 800% like the RAC. Even if the vehicle is UK reg.

My own Website, www.pictureafrica.co.za, has lots of usefull info on Southern Africa.

Don't hessitate to fire questions at me if you need more info.

__________________
Dawie du Plessis
www.pictureafrica.org
www.photographersa.co.za

I have 1 thing to say about Megaworld !

THEY ARE GOOD, AND THEY HAVE EVERYTHING YOUR HEART DESIRES !

Also a big branch in Cape Town Paarden Island, very convienient to get to.

'vette

Mark and Allison,

We spent about 2 weeks getting stuff for our Land Cruiser in Cape Town before departing. I don't know how much equipments cost in U.K. but it's not cheap in South Africa either. You could probably get a good price on roof rack and roof top tent made locally (I did not need these) but the fridges are really expensive now.

The best deal we found (and ended up buying) was a Camp Master 40 Liter with Danfoss compressor at Makro for 4500 ZAR I believe. We had an issue with it in Botswana (clogged filter) but found a great place in Maun and got it fixed for about $90US. No problem since.

We also bought 4 tyres (BFG A/T) for about $200US each.
We were unable to find sand ladders.

There are not that many vendors (at least in Cape Town):

-4x4 Megaworld
-Outdoor Warehouse
-Makro
-Safari 4x4

On the other hand servicing is indeed not too expensive.

Let us know if you have more questions!

Christian
www.2aroundtheworld.com

4500ZAR isn't too bad for a fridge. Works out at a bit less than AU$700 and you wouldn't find a new 40l fridge here for that price. Standard shop price on a Waeco is about a grand, Engel more. Is Camp Master a SA brand? Not heard of them before.

BFG ATs are about the same price as here in Aus. I just paid AU$270 (US$220) but BFG had an offer on with a free $300 compressor with a set of 4 tyres

Think it just shows that as others have said buying locally made equipment in SA is cheap, but the international made gear is more expensive.

We have 3 locally made fridges. One is Campmaster which is Stainless Steel Box with some fancy compressor, the other is Kellerman which is the same idea and the other is Snowmaster which is mostly freezer with little fridge compartment. They are all in the R4 500 range for a 40l ish.

We have National Luna (Not sure where its made) which is 40% more expensive than anything else.

My experience: I have a 60l Engel Combi (40l fridge, 20l Freezer) because it has a 3 year guarantee, it is efficient on power and has a great name for being a great product. 40l Engel will cost you R6 000 at the moment.

So seriously... for an extra R1 500, which is less than what it costs me to fill my longranger tank, I would go Engel and sleep better at night.

Just so you know: BFG Muds are not availible in SA at the moment. Michellin's standard answer is 6 to 8 weeks and has been for about 3 months now. All Terrains are freely availible, but I am not convinced of their efficiency in Africa.... A 265 75 16 (Standard size for Land Cruiser 80) of eiher will cost around R1900 per tyre. Dunlop's Cooper STT's which is also a mud tyre is pretty much the same price and is availible. http://twt.co.za/live/index.php is a franchise dealer for tyres you'll find all around the country if you want to ask questions.

__________________
Dawie du Plessis
www.pictureafrica.org
www.photographersa.co.za