Table of contents for January 2017 in SA4x4

It’s that time again – a new year, when you can sweep out the stuff you didn’t like about the last one, and pledge to make this one healthier, wealthier, wiser, and all those sorts of feel-good things. Of course, we could also be hoping for honest politicians and pigs that fly. What those inclined to travel and to explore can expect this year, is far more bakkie choice. Hard on the heels of the recently launched and continuously improved Ranger and Everest from Ford, and the evergreen Hilux and Fortuner from Toyota, are the new and very exciting Nissan Navara, an all-new Mitsubishi Triton, a facelifted and refreshed Volkswagen Amarok and another revision to the Isuzu KB range. Then, for 2018, there’s talk about a new BT-50 to emerge…

LIGHT FANTASTIC HELLA Value Fit Design Series Light Bar 11-inch and 31-inch If you’re keen on nocturnal adventures, you’re going to need a decent off-road light. HELLA offers a powerful LED light strip which is designated strictly for off-road use only. The LEDs are arranged behind two different types of lens, creating a light bar that has both reach and spread. The light strip comes in an 11-inch 289mm (L) x 90mm (W) x 65mm (H) 60W option, with a combo beam that produces 5400 RAW Lumens and 3077 effective Lumens. It also comes in a 31-inch 797mm (L) x 90mm (W) x 65mm (H) 180W option with a combo beam that produces 16200 RAW Lumens and 8500 effective Lumens. Mounted behind your bull bar or on the roof of…

I am often flabbergasted when a person tells me that he or she has never been to Namibia. Some people may have flown into places like Windhoek or Walvis Bay on business, but never gone by road and on holiday. Some others, in the 50 to 65 age group, may have been to the northern parts of the country as soldiers during the “total onslaught” years, but never anywhere else. Then you have those poor souls who have not been to Namibia at all...never ever. This is what I find difficult to comprehend. It is such a gem of a destination with so much to offer. And it is relatively close to all of us, no matter where you live in South Africa. I stopped counting my visits to Namibia…

We were winding our way into Lesotho on our first drive with the new Bridgestone Dueler A/T D693 III, which would put them to the test on every terrain from rock, gravel and tar to mud. Standard fitment on the new Fortuner and Hilux, the D693 III is Bridgestone’s latest foray into the all-terrain market and the third iteration of the Dueler name. As the tyres spun and rocks tumbled under my wheels, the philosophy of the new Duelers began to make sense. Increased wet and dry performance on tar is of paramount concern, but Bridgestone didn’t want to lose any off-road performance. The balancing act between dirt- and tar performance comes down to compounds; and, in this respect, Bridgestone has decided to boost the D693 III’s silica content for…

PREMIUM R5000+ ARB CKMTP12 TWIN PORTABLE COMPRESSOR Hose style: 6m hose Pressure gauge: No Battery connections: Crocodile clips Motor cooling: Air- and fan-cooled Max current draw: 50A Duty cycle: Continuous Air flow (litres per min): 174.3l at 0 bar/131.7l at 2 bar Recommended max pressure: 10.3 Bar Weight: 12.5kg (estimated) Length/Width/Height (mm): 190/480/340 Warranty: 2 years Accessories supplied: Plastic case Retailers: 4x4 Megaworld, Safari Centre Expect to pay: R7600 ARB CKMP12 HIGH OUTPUT PORTABLE Hose style: 6m hose Pressure gauge: No Battery connections: Crocodile clips Motor cooling: Air-cooled motor Max current draw: 32 amps Duty cycle: 30 minutes Air flow (litres per min): 75.1l at 0 bar/61.6l at 2 bar Recommended max pressure: 6.9 Bar Weight: 3.3kg Length/Width/Height (mm): 208/440/238 Warranty: 2 years Accessories supplied: Plastic case, extra nozzles Retailers:…

CHARGE CONTROLLERS We have discussed how photovoltaics produce power, and how to calculate power draw, but there is more than that to a solar system. Apart from the batteries (more on that next month), you will need a charge controller. This is because the brighter the sunlight, the more voltage the solar cells produce, and excessive voltage could damage the batteries. A charge controller is used to maintain the proper charging voltage on the batteries. As the input voltage from the solar array rises, the charge controller regulates the charge to the batteries, preventing any over-charging. MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKING Most multi-stage charge controllers are Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) types. I would recommend using one of these regulators. However, the newer Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) controllers are even better.…

This trail listing is designed to be an easy reference guide to trails in and around South Africa and southern Africa. All trails have been rated by their owners according to the grading system alongside. We recommend you phone the trail operator to check conditions as weather and other factors can easily change a trail’s difficulty rating. COOPER TIRES SOUTH AFRICA wants to promote your trail, and has offered to pick up the advertising costs. So, if you are a trail operator, this is a great chance to get 4x4 owners driving your route. To include your trail in this listing, or to update or amend any details, simply send all the required information to editor@SA4x4.co.za, or phone SA4x4 (021 702 4200). In addition, if you think a trail should…

Craaaaaak dddd…!’ A tremendous crunching noise seemed to be coming from the back of the Pajero somewhere. What the hell was that? It sounded as if the Conqueror trailer hitch had torn loose. It couldn’t have… I was crawling along in four-wheel high, first gear! When I jumped out and rushed to the back of the Mitsubishi, I could see nothing at all wrong with the tow hitch, although it looked a bit low on the deck. By this time, Phillip de Vries and his crew had pulled up behind me on the rocky rutted track. After one look from Phillip, he burst out with, “Engelsman… your back wheel is completely stukkend!” The sidewall of the Pajero had been ripped to shreds. However, Phillip and the manne in his 4x4…

When the guys from Ironman4x4 invited me to join them on the Lebombo 4x4 Eco Trail, the word “yes” was out of my mouth in an instant. Who wouldn’t want to spend four nights exploring the eastern boundary of the Kruger Park with no fences and no people – just us, nature, some fresh air and over 500 kilometres of beautiful dirt roads? Our team consisted of seven guys: Mic van Zyl, Deon Anderson and Quinton Ebersohn from Ironman4x4 SA; Carl Rogers from Autoquip; Adam Craze from Ironman4x4 Australia on his first trip to Africa; me, representing SA4x4, and my partner-in-crime and back-up photographer, Jaco Erasmus. Day 1: Crocodile Bridge to Mlondozi Camp The route starts at Crocodile Bridge in the south of the park. We were met by our…

“We were surprised to find ourselves paying (in US Dollars) for the number of days we would be spending in the park, as opposed to the number of nights” We were acutely aware of the moment we crossed into Tsetse fly territory. Michael and I were standing outside the Cruiser in the light of the afternoon’s smokey-orange setting sun in South Kafue National Park. We were waiting for a zealous spray of Doom to take effect in the now sealed cab of the Toyota. Fortunately, we had purchased a new can in Livingstone after we had emptied a cylinder in our tent the evening before. This was after nearly inhaling the fluffy tide of mozzies intent on our blood on the banks of the Zambezi. Now, however, we were slapping…

One of those tools you should never travel without is a 12V DC compressor. Apart from the obvious tyre-inflation purpose, compressed air can be used to re-bead a tyre that’s come off the rim, aid in a puncture repair, pump an air mattress, engage air-locking differentials and (if you have an air receiver) even operate power tools. The humble air compressor comes in a massive variety of shapes and sizes, from your cheap-as-chips China-made single piston unit to the high-output twin piston setups from premium brands. Prices vary massively, as does performance. Depending on your application, an el-cheapo pump may be fine, but bear in mind that most of the cheaper units may take up to 10 minutes per tyre to inflate it from flat to the recommended road pressure.…

It was an occasion, the meeting of the Babanango Old Trucks Society: those of the Realm of Real Men, those scared of nothing - not hard bed, spitting snake, stormy night, or evil eye. As tradition demanded, the gathering was held in Stan's Bar at the Babanango Hotel, that haven on the road between Nqutu and Ndundulu in distant Zululand. It was dark outside, and cold; and mist wafted among the great trees in the yard. Bros was there and Mr Gemoer and Wonsok and Wife and Kaz and The Woman Who Caused All The Trouble and The Haggis and Thomas the Hun and Stinkie Lemmers, and some others. They were drinking Doctor Bhepimbuzi's Vusinduku, a local distillation; it was mixed with mango juice and gin. "Good stuff," said Bros.…

BRENDAN PRETORIUS 2007 JEEP SAHARA 3.8L MANUAL Age: 38 Occupation: Production manager; 4x4 and aviation freak. Modifications: 3.5-inch Rubicon Express Super Flex lift kit, BDS Quick Disconnects, Advance bumpers front and back, pipe doors, cut fenders, 33-inch Gripmax mud terrain tyres, cargo net, flood LED spots, Osram Daylighter headlight globes. Future modifications: Change gear ratios, 35-inch muds, LED headlights, snorkel. Dream vehicle: Jeep Brute, 4.5-inch super flex lift, 37-inch mud terrain tyres, 5.7-litre Hemi motor swap. Most memorable trip: Most of the 4x4 trails I have done (always exciting to see what your rig is capable of); Bilene, Mozambique; and Camp Jeep in the Drakensberg. Planned trips: Okavango Delta in Botswana, through Chobe to Victoria Falls, into northern Mozambique, down the coast and into Kruger National Park. I never leave…

The GPS showed that the Coke can was about half a kilometre straight ahead of where we were, but the afternoon heat had made the dune sand soft and treacherous. After the second unsuccessful attempt to go straight up the windward (the more gradual) side of the dune, we had to find a way around it. We were in a Dakar Rally race-ready Nissan Navara, playing not far from Walvis Bay in the giant sandpit that is the Namib Desert. And, after a few days of racing up, down and sideways on dunes, deliberately getting the vehicles stuck, digging them out and even jumping them, it was now time for the final challenge. Our Namibian hosts had hidden a few cans of Coke in the desert and brought back the…

I’d heard that this notorious pass was named after a certain ‘Van Zyl’who had made his way through these rocky mountains back in 1920 with a crew of 120 Herero men and a Model T Ford - or so the story goes! But I found the following in the Gondwanaland Collection website a lot more plausible (www.gondwana-collection.com). This tells us that, in the 1940s, Ben van Zyl senior (Oom Ben) was appointed Commissioner for Bantu Affairs in Opuwo, tasked with building roads and drilling boreholes for the Himba people. In 1960, he decided to establish a route which followed a cattle path across to the Marienfluss. He had two government vehicles on hand: a three-ton Chevrolet truck and a tractor with trailer. With a group of 20 men, Van Zyl…

Five of the seven off-road trailers making up the Conqueror range were used on this 6000km trip – the Commander, Companion, Comfort, Conquest and the Courage. I know I ‘earned’a rep for destroying tyres on the trip, but my day job is towing and writing about caravans and trailers. So, here goes. The Conqueror range of trailers is just seriously tough, easy to set up, and comfortable. Finish and klaar. How did the guys at Conqueror get to their current state of the art? They started off designing and building trailers for the military, and later branched out into the off-road camping and safari market. Africa is a harsh environment and hard lessons were learnt. Firstly, the chassis is the backbone of any off-road vehicle. Hence all the products in…

Like Sani Pass in Lesotho, or the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park further west, Baviaanskloof is somewhat of a rite of passage for any South African 4x4 enthusiast. The protected nature reserve is home to one of South Africa’s most diverse biomes of flora and fauna, thanks to rivers that flow year-round, and large altitude changes. But if – like us and many more over-landing locals – you’ve been through the Baviaans main drag and are in search of a new adventure in this spectacular part of the hidden country, then there is an alternative. Enter Doringkloof 4x4. Resting in the heart of the Baviaanskloof, this trail is on a working farm overshadowed by the giant Kouga mountain range, which towers above the land from every angle. If you’ve been through the…

To test yourself, the Isuzu KB, and the Trailblazer range to its limits, the Isuzu Off-Road Academy offers a variety of courses to suit your needs. The academy aims to teach existing and prospective owners exactly what their vehicles are capable of while educating drivers on how to operate the 4x4 systems when venturing out on their own. Off-road driving techniques in a variety of conditions (including sand, mud, cross-axle situations and emergency recovery procedures) are covered, aiding safe exploration through our country. Various courses are available, ranging from a half-day course to familiarise drivers with the vehicle's 4x4 systems, moving on to a full-day and an advanced two-day course. Though based at Gerotek near Pretoria, the Isuzu Off-Road Academy can offer training in other major centres, whether or not…

This was not an entirely fair test. On one side of the ring, the battered remains of a cheapie that had rattled off every casing, and the on-off switch, after being subjected to a year of hard work. This version was originally supplied with a cigarette-lighter plug, since modified to use crocodile clips. Like other single-piston units, we estimate it produces 36 litres/ minute of pumping power. On the other side of the ring, a relatively new twin-piston unit from Off Grid, supplied with heavy-duty cabling, a decent hose line and rated at 160l/minute. Our real-world test involved pumping a BF Goodrich KO2 265/75 R16 tyre from zero bar (flat on the ground) to 2 bar. The result? Cheapie: 6 minutes 21 seconds. Off Grid dual head: 2 minutes 10…

The development of the vehicle destined to become the first authentic Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP), and which also pioneered the MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV) concept, started in 1974 when the SA Defence Force (SADF) received its first order of the Unimog model 416/162. Like its Unimog donor, this vehicle was also born from necessity, as the SADF urgently needed a machine to protect troops and to counter the landmine scourge in the so-called Border War. Being at the forefront of anti-landmine technology made this vehicle a very interesting derivative in the ’Mog’s history, much along the lines of the Thyssen Henschel UR-416 Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), built in 1969 for export from Germany. Development of mine-resistant vehicles was already on-going before the arrival of the Unimogs, the first incarnation being…

WINNER WILL KENT Kent took his family on their first outing to enjoy the stillness of the Karoo using his 2014 Toyota Fortuner 3.0 D-4D, which is kitted with OME suspension and BF Goodrich K02 tyres. Here, the family enjoy a spectacular winter sunset from the hollow of a dried-out river bed. REYAAZ JACOBS Photographic evidence of the Abominable Snowman has finally been debunked. Turns out it was just Reaaz’s stock standard 2015 Ford Everest coming down a snowy Sani Pass in July 2016. PETER COLE On the way to go ballooning over the Namib Desert, Peter stopped his 2015 VW Amarok TDI 4Motion next to some boulders that make his bakkie look like a toy. After this picture, Peter continued through Namibia, ending in Etosha. DYLAN MEYRICK Accessing areas…

There’s no point in driving around with your roofrack/rooftop tent if you’re not on holiday. Save fuel (and wear & tear) by installing a Fredlin hoist. This proudly South African product solves the problem of where to store your roofrack/ rooftop tent, canopy, or even a sports car hardtop: up and out of the way! The Fredlin hoist fastens securely to your garage roof or carport, is easily installed and can be operated by one person. TO ENTER One Fredlin hoist will be given away every month to the lucky reader featured in Me & My 4x4. Simply send a photograph – 1 MB or larger – and the answers to the categories shown above, to editor@sa4x4.co.za. Vehicle and driver must be featured together in an off-road setting. (No driveway…