Table of contents for July 2019 in SA4x4

This is the second instalment of a two-part guest column by Henk Vallentgoed of the South African company Securetech, in which he debunks some braai-side myths about recovery gear and discusses the essential things that you need to know. (Read Part 1 on our website, www.sa4x4.co.za) Remember, always buy the best kit you can afford, and seek professional advice to ensure that it is properly certified and up to the recovery tasks you are likely to encounter. Practise how to use your recovery gear in a safe, controlled environment, and when you do hit the trail with your mates, set ground rules so that you know how to work together, and have a plan in place for an emergency situation. Rated recovery points Rated recovery points on most 4x4 vehicles…

What a blast! If you are a fan of spirited off-road driving, there is much to like about Ford’s just-released Ranger Raptor. The Raptor has been elevated to a performance class of its own by the Aussie engineers who did the development work, and it’s the closest we are likely to get to the iconic Stateside F150 Raptor. I can’t think of any other locally-available production four-wheel-drive vehicle that offers this kind of poise and balance at the price. For a load-carrying bakkie, rated slightly lower than a standard Ranger, to carry 607kg and tow 2500kg, its ride quality and ability to soak up both the big hits and stuttering corrugations is hard to believe. Launched to the media at Goera Pan outside Upington, where the Dakar racing off-roaders do…

This month’s gallery is a celebration of the 13 winners who achieved the most likes on their #SA4x4OverlandImages submissions in their respective months. They each won themselves a camping gear hamper from Ironman 4x4. You’ll have to wait until next month to find out who our panel of judges has chosen as the top two from the full list of competition entries! @SA4x4 #SA4x4OverlandImages THE FUN’S NOT OVER Be sure to keep submitting your best pictures using the hashtag #SA4x4OverlandImages. There may not be any prizes up for grabs, but we would still love to share your pics on our page.…

When Gustav and Annelise Marais came across this all-aluminium game viewer body built by Alu-Cab, they knew that they had found the perfect truck-body for their family camper vehicle! The Marais had dreamt of owning a motorhome for years, but the cost of these vehicles is high. They also wanted a 4x4-capable motorhome that could easily go places where standard motorhomes with low ground-clearance and 2WD drivetrains cannot. The other issue was that most truck-chassis based motorhomes are usually only homologated for two: driver + one. So, unless you purchase a double-cab truck with a big price tag (and consequently give up a lot of potential accommodation space), where do you put the kids when you are on the road? When they located this game viewer body at a truck…

All Terrain tyres and especially Mud Terrain tyres are difficult to fit and not always easy to balance. Choose your tyre outlet with care. Twice now I have had a fitment centre damage a new wheel due to inexperience and even lost a brand new tyre. Having the correct equipment to balance these heavier Light Truck tyres is essential if vibrations and plenty of return visits are to be avoided. My choice was Point S Multi-Tyre in Boksburg, who have a specialised “Road Force” balancing machine. Tyres are not completely round, and slight material variations mean they might perform slightly differently under load. The Road Force balancer first uses a standard spin balance, then applies up to 650kg of pressure from a roller to simulate vehicle weight, enabling the optimum…

A PINCH OF SALT I recently followed an interesting Facebook thread regarding tyre pressures in the Tankwa. Some people were sure that you have to air down, and others claimed that they had never aired down and had never had a puncture. Needless to say, it spilled over into a debate about tyre manufacturers, and which one is best. The question is: who do you/ should you believe when asking for advice on your 4x4? When I got my Jeep in 2016, I was new to the 4x4 scene and I had a lot of questions. I still do. The good news is that an answer is never hard to find, what with Google, 4x4 Forums and magazines, Youtube videos, Facebook pages and WhatsApp groups. The bad news is, if…

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY SPORT Sporting Update Land Rover’s replacement for the venerable Freelander 2 has been met with critical acclaim and impressed us no end when we drove it in July 2015. As time and the rivals have moved on, it’s now time for the mid-cycle refresh and update of both the interior and exterior. New lights at the front and rear as well as a sleeker new bumper are the most notable visual updates from the baby Disco’s predecessor yet underneath, it’s all new. Sharing a chassis with the latest Evoque, the Disco Sport is more rigid and offers a more cosseting ride than ever, according to Land Rover. Inside, the Touch Pro infotainment system seen on the larger Land Rover siblings is now standard fare, bringing the Disco…

A few weekends ago we had the pleasure of once again travelling to the Tankwa Karoo. The Tankwa is a very special place for us. It’s where my fiancé Simon and I had one of our first Rolbos Overland adventures, which led to me penning our first blog and the two of us becoming full-time explorers. This time around we decided to try something new and travel along the Old Postal Road. Our final destination was a campsite called “Die Mond” situated on the banks of the Groot River. We left promptly at 06:00 on a Friday morning, taking the N7 out of Cape Town to Clanwilliam. We made a pit stop, had some breakfast toasties and then took the R364 towards Pakhuis Pass which connects to Calvinia. This pass…

Usually when you hear a 4x4 oke talking about a Renault, he’s laughing-off the little Duster, completely oblivious to just how well it performs on hectic trails. This year, however, Renault has added another 4WD model to the fray, in the form of the second-generation Koleos. As you can probably tell, it shares a platform with the Nissan X-Trail, although, in our opinion, it’s a far better-looking package from every angle, and is indeed a huge improvement on the slightly awkward first-generation Koleos. This specific platform is called Common Module Family (CMF) – D, and it optimises manufacturing by having five interchangeable sections, ranging from the chassis to the cockpit. On the outside, though, Renault has added panache with plenty of chrome inserts, soft curves, and artsy 18-inch alloys. The…

What Pon Steyn Motors offers their clientele is an exacting build that starts with a complete strip-down of the vehicle to its individual components. It’s a time-consuming, complicated process; but, by the time a restored vehicle leaves the workshops, every nut and bolt will have been inspected or replaced (mostly with stainless steel items), the engine, transmission and driveline overhauled, and the brakes and suspension upgraded. For US clients, apart from being converted to left-hand drive, the only rule is that the engine and chassis VIN numbers must match for export. However, after it lands, the clients can do with the vehicle what they like. More often than not, they’ll chuck out the old 3.5-litre small-block Rover V8 in favour of something much more powerful, and hook it up to…

The legendary escapades and adventures attributed to Colonel ‘Mad Mike’ Hoare have finally been given their place in history with the launch of an official biography. Written by his eldest son Chris Hoare, who obviously had unique access to his father’s life, his book ‘Mad Mike’ Hoare: The Legend is now available in bookshops in South Africa. This was a man who in the 1950s pioneered 4x4 expeditions to areas where no roads existed, and who led expeditions into the Kalahari to find the infamous ‘Lost City’, among other swashbuckling escapades. His notoriety was cemented in the Western World, when in 1964-65 he led 300 ‘Wild Geese’ across the Congo to crush a rebellion, rescued 2000 nuns and priests from certain barbarity… and took on Che Guevara. Schooled in England,…

THOMAS FREISS 1997 Land Rover Defender TDI Occupation: SA certified and registered Tour Guide Modifications: Lifted suspension (Terra Firm front, Monroe back), heavy-duty rear shocks, heavy-duty rear axle, water tank, long-range fuel tank, drawer system, dual-battery system with foldable solar panel, outside shelf system, Hannibal awning, Hannibal rooftop tent, National Luna fridge, bull bar, Safari snorkel, bash plate, Madman engine control system, tyre pressure monitoring system, under-console safe, rock sliders, xenon headlights, spotlights, bonnet box for recovery gear, airjack. Future modifications: OME suspension Dream car: This Landy is my dream vehicle Most memorable trips: A five-week, 14 000km trip through Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia, with lots of fantastic landscapes and wildlife experiences Planned trips: Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda – 2020. I never leave home without: GPS with Track4Africa…

Given that 21 June was ‘World Giraffe Day’, I thought that this would be a great opportunity to share something about these iconic animals with you. The giraffe – the name is believed to be derived from the Arab word zarafa meaning ‘fast walker’ – has captured the human imagination for millennia. The Roman poet Horace opined that the giraffe’s unique appearance resembled that of a camel with leopard markings, which (together with its Arabic name) gave rise to the scientific title Giraffa camelopardalis. “How Giraffes evolved their long necks has been the subject of debate dating back to the early days of evolutionary theory” The earliest human association with giraffes is recorded in the 9000-year-old rock carvings of northern Niger. The forebear of the two extant members of the…

Outdoor cooking demands a special kind of rugged pot. It needs to be versatile, easy to clean, and have the ability to take repeated knocks when being transported. On top of that, the pot or pan must take up the minimum of space and be as light as possible. Most hikers will talk up their featherlight set of stacking titanium thimbles; but, when you are in a vehicle, and cooking for four or more people, your priorities are different. That’s where the Smartspace Cookware range enters the frame. We recently field-tested the 10-piece Stackable Pot Set, and the Smartspace Frypan, which are of heavy-duty cast aluminium construction (with 3mm walls), and feature a sturdy non-stick Teflon surface coating. There are several things that stand out about this cookware range. First…

Wide, open spaces. Dark, humid jungles. Throngs of game. These are all things we immediately associate with Africa. Pop culture has imprinted a vision of this continent on our minds, but if, like me, you’re lucky enough to live in this remarkable place, you’ll know that there’s a whole lot more to it than that. So diverse is this region, that the Kalahari description doesn’t even cover one type of habitat. If I discovered anything during my exploration of Botswana’s heartland, it’s that I should never again assume anything of Africa. The ‘Dark Continent’, as it was once ignorantly known, will take what you think you know - and invert it entirely. And, if you’re not careful, it’ll devour you, too. The long haul While we are incredibly privileged to…

When BMW South Africa drops you a line asking you to join them for some dune driving in an X3, you might be a bit reluctant at first. The 4x4 community views BMW’s off-road capable offerings with healthy scepticism, and you won’t find an X3 or X5 off the beaten track that often. Historically, there have been a few simple explanations for that: minimal ground clearance, lack of off-road tires, poor underbody protection, and an off-road system more geared towards icy European roads than rocky African adventures. BMWs have, thus, always been relegated to the bench when it comes to tackling truly testing off-road trails. In 2019, however, things have changed. You see, the metallic brown X3s stationed up in Namibia aren’t ordinary Beemers. They’ve been raised, fitted with Michelin…

By now a well-established event on the South African 4x4 calendar, the Spirit of Africa is a chance for two-person teams from southern Africa to test their precision off-road driving skills to the limit at a game farm outside Mbombela (Nelspruit), and gain a chance to participate in the prestigious international finals. Over 25 elimination rounds, starting in April, more than 400 teams are whittled down to just 20 of the best-scoring teams. These then go on to compete for top honours at the International Spirit of Amarok Trophy which takes place in August, against teams from countries as diverse as Australia, Germany, Russia, Taiwan and Denmark. The brainchild of local rally legend Sarel van der Merwe, who started the concept in 2004, each team is tested to breaking point…

From ashes to ashes, dust to dust. You’ll rise again, in this I trust. This timeless doggerel from Kev Elmer somehow accurately describes a clanking Land Rover workshop we visited recently. As the poem implies, what Pon Steyn Motors does is take tired old Landies from the breaker’s yard, and bring them back to life better than new. Pon and Piet Steyn first set up their family business (then known as ‘Steyn Motors’) way back in 1983. In 1994, the two brothers went their separate ways; and Pon purchased the new shop at the base of Sir Lowry’s Pass outside Somerset West in the Cape. Pon’s son Arno Steyn joined the management team in 2010, and set about using the family’s 60 years of management expertise to grow the business.…

For some customers, the perfect 4x4 is not enough. Pon Steyn Motors has the answer for these clients: a genuine six-wheel drive. These 6x6 Land Rover creations start out like other projects - with a donor vehicle that is stripped, stretched, and re-engineered. In this example, a 110-inch Defender chassis was stretched by 1050mm by welding in a second rear-chassis section from another donor 110, and reinforcing the result with an additional cross member. New drop-down links and upper link ball joints were added, along with the upgraded coils and shocks. To get power to the rearmost axle, a specially designed housing connects a propshaft from the middle axle to the rear, via a custom-built, air-operated transfer case and propshaft. The rearmost axle acts as a trailing, non-powered axle most…

Your wheels and tyres are your vehicle’s feet on the dirt. The tread type, tyre and wheel size, and potential changes to track width all play a role in your vehicle’s ride, handling, comfort and traction. The standard issue tyres are typically specified to optimise fuel economy and offer a smooth ride, plus good grip on mainly tar surfaces. When the same vehicle is used more often for overlanding and off-road purposes, those needs change. There is a dizzying array of tyre choices to be made. As an off-roader, bear in mind you want stronger sidewalls and more grip. That means chunkier tread, and because you are also likely to go wider and perhaps taller than the standard issue tyres, this implies sacrifices in terms of more road noise and…

Jaco Brits Jaco has really hit the aesthetic sweet spot with this magnificent shot of his Isuzu KB300 in Luderitz at sunset. Wow! Artur Fonseca Artur’s Mazda Drifter seems to have drifted its way onto the dunes at the Orange River Mouth without too much fuss. It’s kitted with a rooftop tent, roof rack, and some proper tyres! JJ Jacobs We’re seeing more and more 4x4 motorhomes these days, and JJ seems to be putting this Iveco Daily 4x4 Camper’s AWD system to full use in Moremi Game Reserve. Terance & Carol Preat How’s this for a dynamic duo? Terance and Carol customised their Jurgens trailer to match their Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. The Jeep is fitted with an RGM supercharger and an air suspension system, perfect for this adventure through…