Table of contents for August 2017 in SA4x4

Tough times call for new ways of doing things. A few years back, an annual overseas holiday would be on the cards for many families - two weeks in Europe, or a tour of the States. With the Rand tanking against the big currencies, that holiday for a family of four or five suddenly looks far less appealing financially than equipping yourself with a proper 4x4 and a set of basic overlanding gear that will last for many years, enabling your family to travel all over Africa on more regular getaways. It’s not just about the money, either. It’s said that families who camp together, stay together, banking along the way incredible memories of places that took some driving to get to – not just amassing a series of short,…

SPEC KING PAJERO SPORT All new for 2017, the long awaited Mitsubishi Pajero Sport will be launched in South Africa towards year-end with a brand-new engine, gearbox and chassis, to challenge the Fortuner head-on. As far as the spec sheet goes, the new Pajero Sport may have what it takes to dethrone SA’s SUV king. All-new styling is a result of a ‘form follows function’ approach so as not to impact on the Pajero Sport’s rugged nature and off-road capability. LED headlamps and daytime running lights illuminate the road while the ‘shield’ grille gives the mid-size SUV an impressive stance. Available with up to seven seats in a spacious cabin, the Sport has been designed with a more luxurious interior feel, more space and more refinement. Safety was also a…

Scientific name Haliaeetus vocifer Afrikaans name Visarend I think if you walked up to anybody in the street and showed them the picture of an African Fish Eagle, he or she would probably recognise the bird. It is probably one of the best-known birds of prey on the planet: its extraordinary fishing style and unique yelping call must have been seen in wildlife documentaries by millions of television viewers across the globe. That said, the image on this page may not be very recognisable, as it is of an immature bird which looks nothing like the adult. You would also be forgiven for mistaking this juvenile bird for an immature Osprey, which is slightly smaller, but also a specialist fishing raptor. The African Fish Eagle occurs all over Africa from…

We stayed in the Augrabies area on our recent trip up to Riemvasmaak, partly to see the falls and partly because I had been unable to contact anyone at Riemvasmaak. I knew there was accommodation there, but phones and emails had gone unanswered. I thought March would be a relatively cool month, but it wasn’t. Each day was a scorching 40°C or more. I spoke to one of the locals about the overwhelming heat, and was told that it was actually relatively cool - in the peak of summer, temperatures in this area can go over 50°C. Now, that’s hot! It’s an hour-and-a-half from Augrabies to Riemvasmaak - the road starts off as tar and then changes to gravel. Riemvasmaak is a small, dusty settlement, too small to be called…

Land Rover may have ended Defender production at the beginning of 2016, but their popularity and prices have continued to soar. The 2017 Defender Trophy held in the Limpopo province provided ample proof of this. Twenty competitors and five support Defenders of varying configurations (and with every accessory imaginable) lined up at the Copacopa Lodge start, which is only a few kms from the Punda Maria Gate of the Kruger National Park. Here, the vehicles were stickered up to the max. While most of the competitors hailed from South Africa, Richard Bennett and wife Jacqueline had travelled all the way from Perth(fontein) to take part. At the start, we were treated to a masterly display of drumming and dancing by the Venda people. Their endless energy and colourful clothing ensured…

It is easy to be swayed by luxury, and for the last few days I have willingly immersed myself in the supremely comfortable Kia Sportage 1.6 DCT GT-Line. For a smallish SUV, it even qualifies as sumptuous. My initial reservations about the oomph in a 1.6 were pleasantly dispatched. When you’re on the road, the seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual gearbox changes are almost imperceptible in their smoothness. The vehicle is packed to the hilt with accessories and features. And don’t be misled by the 1.6-litre TGDI turbo petrol engine; it produces a very healthy 130kW at 5500rpm and enjoys 265Nm of torque. These are pretty impressive performance figures, considering that the power output is matched by the 2.0-litre VGT diesel derivative (though it does offer a healthier 400Nm dollop of…

When hitting the trails, it’s often imperative to deflate your tyres to a variety of lower pressures to suit the terrain. Unfortunately, this is a real pain in the tube, especially when you have to pump each tyre back to the original pressure when returning to the bitumen. The InDeflate system tries to take the pain out of this task, or at least some of the pain, by connecting two tyres together using hoses linked by a common valve. By opening the slide valve on the InDeflate unit, you can release air from two tyres simultaneously. Conversely, when the link valve is closed, a pump can be attached to the InDeflate which will pump up two tyres at once to the same pressure. The whole contraption is made to an…

DARE TO DIY I take my hat off to Marc Nussey for his letter published in the June issue of SA4x4. He has hit the nail on the head. I have sent numerous letters to various mags over the years about the pricing of vehicles and accessories. This became more urgent when I had to reassess my life’s views and expenses when my work contract dried up earlier than expected. I eventually found a 2006 Toyota Prado at a relatively good price (R200k), after being forced to sell my Land Cruiser 70 Series pick-up. As Marc mentions, making and installing all the extras yourself does save money, although it may take some time. I fitted most of the extras to my Land Cruiser pick-up myself, apart from things such as…

BUNDU BASHER Bushco No Loop Bumper for Hilux Revo Improve the approach angle and toughen up the front of your Hilux Revo with the No Loop Bumper from The Bush Company. This locally-built front-end protector is available in either 3mm steel or 3-4.5mm vehicle grade aluminium, and weighs less than 20kg. Designed for maximum air flow, it features jacking points, is winch compatible and includes LED indicators and LED high beam focus lights. R19 995 Tel: 010 010 0060 www.thebushcompany.net AIR UP # 1 & 2 Flo Max & Flo Max Pro air compressors Off-road travel can be tough on tyres, and many terrains are best navigated with lower tyre pressures than you would run on the road. Once you are ready to hit the bitumen for the…

Riding a donkey has never really been high up there on my bucket list, but I guess that when you are in Lesotho, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” is very fitting. So there I was, camera around my neck, ready to mount my trusty steed and begin our Donkey Pub Crawl. But let’s backtrack a little… Waking up at four in the morning is something that I will never get used to, or be a fan of, even after having been in this job for nearly ten years. This time it was slightly different: it was the first official SA4x4 tour, and we would have twelve avid adventurers with us on our five-day Lesotho Mountain Kingdom Adventure. We had packed everything into the Cruiser the night before…

There are four basic priorities in any survival situation: food, fire, water and shelter. (Some people consider first aid as being a fifth, and signalling a sixth). How you prioritise these will depend on your environment at the time. For example, if you find yourself stranded near a cave with a river running alongside it, then shelter and water are not high on the list, but food and fire will be. On the other hand, if you are stranded in the middle of the desert, water and shelter will be more important than fire and food. I am sure you can see how things work. In a situation where your vehicle has broken down, and you are stranded in the desolate middle of absolutely nowhere with no shade, and it…

One of the greatest advantages of experiencing new 4x4 tracks is the taking of roads less travelled to get there. And the back roads from Bot River to the Karoo National Park, via Sutherland, certainly made a worthwhile detour. On our first day, my travelling partner, Lionel ‘Tau’ Williams (his Setswana nickname, meaning Lion, will be explained later) and I got off the N2 as quickly as possible and made for Swellendam on the Klipfontein dirt track. From there to Sutherland, we chose dirt tracks wherever we could, losing ourselves in the world behind the scenes - passing through towns and waypoints such as Suurbraak, Gysmanshoek Pass (a Grade 1, 4x4 track, especially after heavy rains), Brandrivier, Ronnie’s Sex Shop, Plathuis, Hondewater and Laingsburg. But the most pleasing and scenically-spectacular…

I think it all started at a very young age when I landed the role of spanner boy helping my father repair a blown gasket on our Austin Somerset. When I was in Matric, I inherited my mother’s 1952 Morris Minor 850cc and broke the crankshaft not long after first driving it. At that time engine conversions on these Morrises had become popular and I persuaded my father that it was less costly to change the engine than repair it. He agreed to the conversion and we took the Morris to Colin Brockelbank, who lived down the road from us. Colin had started his own auto electrical repair shop at the time, and had already done a Cortina engine conversion on his wife’s Morris. He was somewhat skilled in these…

Chances are that the stock suspension on your 4x4 is not ideal for your needs, whether you tour fully loaded along hundreds of kilometres of corrugations, take your rig to the trail, or simply fetch your kids from school… Here we touch on some of the basic jobs of a shock absorber, describe the different designs, and take a look at new technologies now available. Fact is, without a shock absorber, a vehicle would sway wildly from side to side as it bounced uncontrollably on its springs. Shock absorbers also prevent bouncing of the tyres and wheels (since these are directly linked to the spring movement), to provide a stable platform for the vehicle to rest on. In other words, most importantly for safety, a shock absorber must maintain consistent…

“This is why I’ve been coming to EG for the last ten years!” Andy James screamed out of the darkness. “For this fish!” It was just after sunset and the two of us had been throwing ‘last casts’ for the past 40 minutes, all in the hope of hooking one of the trophy trout for which this area, and this farm in particular, is legendary. When I wanted to take the new Nissan Navara on a trip to see what all the fuss was about (it was awarded the International Pickup Award in 2016) I phoned a mate whom I knew had been trying to coax one of East Griqualand’s leviathan trout into his landing net for years, and who had built up an exceptional knowledge of where to go,…

Basics Dates: 2 – 19 September Cost: R18 500 per person Includes: Accommodation & Park Fees, Dinner Daily Excludes: Fuel, Drinks, lunch, border fees Distance covered: 5800km Tour highlights: Two of Africa’s best game parks, Lake Kariba, superb game viewing Tour details Mana Pools National Park is synonymous with the Zambezi River, elephants, lions, remoteness and wilderness. This unique park is a World Heritage Site based on its wildness and beauty, together with its wide range of large mammals, over 350 bird species, and its aquatic wildlife. The name “Mana’’ means “four” in the local Shona language. This applies to the four large pools inland from the Zambezi River. These pools are the remnants of oxbow lakes that the Zambezi River carved out thousands of years ago, as it changed…

John Gaisford’s article on the role of Land Cruisers in the prospecting and exploration side of the mining business (SA4x4 June 2017) parallels my experience of Land Cruisers as workhorses. I have been involved in underground mining for more than 40 years. In Canada and Australia, I worked at open pit mines and underground mines that used wheeled and tracked vehicles for operations. Every underground mine has an adit (from Latin aditus) where you enter the mine, and then you drive in a spiralling tunnel and long straight ramps, up or down, to the work places. Once you arrive at your workplace, you park your vehicle in a safe place (i.e. where it won’t be run over by a bogger or an underground truck), take your equipment to the fresh…

For most of us, a late model, bog standard Rubicon would be more than sufficient as an off-road toy. For Anel Lewis, this obviously isn’t the case, and having a father who owns one of SA’s biggest 4x4 accessory stores means that ‘standard’ simply isn’t good enough. The jeep went through a full transformation using bolt-on kit that you can find at any LA Sport store countrywide. Built under Anel’s expert guidance, the Jeep fits the requirements of someone who wants a weekend toy that is epic fun to drive, far more capable than standard, and yet also practical as a daily driver and overland rig. LAS has equipped this Rubicon with gear that should satisfy almost anyone, but, for some reason, we feel Anel wants even more... Sump Guard…

Old Man Emu BP-51 The BP-51 (Bypass 51mm bore) shock from OME is an internal bypass design and has been four years in the making. It offers all the benefits of an external bypass system without the cumbersome piping on the outside of the shock. For this reason, the BP-51 can fit inside a coilover suspension system. BP-51’s are adjustable for both compression and rebound damping and are vehicle-specific, to match perfectly the traits of each vehicle they’re fitted to. Thanks to the bypass passages, tuned progressive damping can be achieved, reducing bottoming out while providing a soft, plush ride during normal use. The BP-51 shock offers full race technology to the everyday user. It is fully produced by ARB in Melbourne. The materials used are the latest high-tech aluminium…

Kevin Barnes A true Discovery believer, having owned one of every generation, Kevin says his D4 has done many miles off the tar – pictured here midway through Etosha during the wet season. David Sampson Have Ranger, will play. Here David takes on the dunes near Swakopmund in his 2016 2.2-litre 4x4 example of the T6, which he says did well in the sand. Jay Hall While on vacation in April in his 2014 Fortuner 4x4 auto, Jay took on the winding hairpins of the Ouberg Mountain Pass between Sutherland and the Tankwa Karoo National Park. The vehicle is stock, apart from a set of tough BF Goodrich KO2 all-terrains and a full complement of Front Runner overlanding kit. Axel Cartwright Axel and his girlfriend Cayley stopped to admire the…

Age: 35 Occupation: Pharmacist Modifications: Camil coilover front shocks and rear suspension, Load Hog helper springs (made a huge improvement when heavily loaded), TJM bull-bar, Alu-Cab bash plate, rock sliders, KC spotlights, Eezi-Awn awning, DIY six-ammo-box drawer system, Alu-Cab canopy with slide-in table, 55-litre water tank, 55-litre Snomaster fridge-freezer, modified roof carrier, Hannibal Impi clamshell rooftop tent, DIY snorkel, National Luna dual-battery system, 160watt solar system, Autoarmor tinted windows. Future Mods: LED light bar to replace KC spotlights. (One spotlight was damaged after a three car pile-up in peak-hour traffic. Only my number-plate holder broke off and the spotlight bent, whereas the woman in front of me had R70 000 damages to her BMW. The bull-bar saved me.) Will also fit an Alu-Cab clamshell tent, winch and rear wheel-carrier. Dream…