Table of contents for January 2020 in SA4x4

Eddie Fisher’s letter in December’s edition makes interesting reading, but I must question the conclusion that the Ford Raptor wins the Width to Height ratio. If ‘Higher is Better’, then the Nissan Navara at 1.14 is way better than the Raptor at 1.08 – or any of the others. Overall, without any weighting of the three factors considered, it seems that achieving best ‘Height to Width’ result and second-best in both ‘Length to Wheelbase’ and ‘Power to Weight’ makes the Navara the best overall choice. Just saying... Mike Meyer Hi Mike, our apologies – a typo slipped through when we inputted the table. The Raptor is the wider vehicle, which gives it the stability needed for higher-speed gravel travel. - Ed…

The very first article I wrote for SA4x4 was way back in a distant time, and it covered the subject of snake bites. In that article I detailed the technique universally endorsed as the first-aid treatment for snake bikes: the Pressure Immobilisation Technique. I’d like to bring that article up to date, as there have been advances regarding the first aid treatment of snake bites. It has to be done properly The problem with using the Pressure Immobilisation Technique is not only carrying enough compression bandages to apply to the bite but, more importantly, applying them properly. I was taught how they should be applied by a first-aid responder, and a medical doctor, but it took me about six or seven attempts before I could apply them at a pressure…

When my dad asked me to join the Samurai Driving Academy at Bass Lake for a day of 4x4 fun, I was super excited because I love watching people off-roading for the first time. In this instance, I expected to see only one novice, a wonderful lady called Elna Deysel, who I was told had no prior 4x4 experience except for being a scared passenger. So you can imagine my surprise when I realised that the second novice was myself – an 18-year-old laaitie who barely has his licence and couldn’t always pull away without stalling a few times! To say that I was nervous was a huge understatement. My nerves were quickly put at ease by our instructor, Alan Pepper, who is probably the calmest person I’ve ever met.…

There are myriad all-terrain tyre choices out there. As an overlander and 4x4 enthusiast, you want to ensure your purchase hits the sweet spot between toughness, longevity, and price. But what really is tough, and how do you know how the tyre will perform for your specific needs? First up, you want to be honest with yourself about where the tyre will be used. Bombing the occasional sand dune on weekends and using the vehicle during the week to commute and get kids to school is one thing. It’s not the same as being a regular 4x4 trail driver and overlander traversing 60% rocky gravel roads with a load close to the vehicle’s GVM. All-terrains mark the popular middle ground between beefy (and noisy) mud-terrain tyres and the more road-oriented…

Hilux fans and owners came out in full force on Saturday 9 November, when Ironman 4x4 SA hosted their first-ever Hilux Day at the company’s flagship store and head office in Alberton. There were 48 entries and vehicles ranged from the newest Legend 50 to the oldest Solid Front Axle (SFA) pioneers of the breed. SA4x4’s Anton Willemse was one of the event judges, sorting through three classes of entry: Daily Driver, Overlander, and Competition Vehicle. This was to ensure that all the vehicles in different classes could compete against each other. One of the standout entries was an overland-kitted 3000d Hilux with almost 1.5 million kilometres under its belt. According to Willemse, the owner bragged that his 3000d wasn’t an old mule at all, but was capable of doing…

With weavers’ nests bobbing over tranquil waters and towering oaks swaying in the breeze, the Mkomazana Mountain Cottages are a nature lover’s paradise. Situated at the foot of the legendary Sani Pass in KwaZulu-Natal, they are perfectly placed as a kick-off point for a 4x4 adventure into Lesotho. That said, whether it’s adventure or serenity you’re looking for, Mkomazana has both in spades. Nestled between a hillside and the Mkomazana River, the homestead was originally a trading station in the 1800s. Today the self-catering establishment boasts three spacious six-bed houses and two smaller two-bed cottages that exude country comfort and charm. Coot Cottage is situated nearby one of the dams, where guests can enjoy the abundant bird life on offer. They may even spy the baboons who visit the area…

DUSTER MAKES MABUA & BACK! Mabuasehube is a rare jewel in the southern Kgalagadi that has lured me back at least a dozen times. The name itself evokes images of mystery and beckons the adventurous to experience the barren wastes of Botswana. Having made my previous journeys in my V8 Defender, V8 Discovery, and a 3.0-litre Toyota double cab, I was interested to see if my recently acquired, versatile little 4x4 could cope – a Renault Duster. My fellow travellers were in a 3.0-litre Ford diesel 4x4 bakkie, a 4.0-litre Toyota Land Cruiser, and a 3.0-litre Toyota Prado. Quite tough opposition! Having slept at Kuruman, where we all met, it was a good drive to Tshabong where we fuelled up before hitting the road. When we reached was deflate and…

Although this is a cheeky misquote from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it is so apt when applied to the subject of this month’s article – the Dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula). What this southern African small carnivore might lack in stature, it surely makes up for in attitude! A Dwarf mongoose weighs between 210-350g on average, with a maximum shoulder height of about 7.5cm and a total length (including their tail) of 35-40cm. The Dwarf mongoose is the smallest of the family Herpestidae (derived from the Greek herpestes, a creeper – likely referring to their way of scurrying through the bush) and is highly social, living in cohesive groups of three to 30 individuals. Within each business – the collective noun for a group of mongooses – there is a…

Recovery tracks have a long history. In fact they probably go back as far as the advent of wheeled vehicles, in one form or another. Early explorers in the Namib resorted to wooden planks and plane tyres to get their thin-wheeled trucks through the soft sand. Certainly, today’s tracks can trace their origins to the heavy perforated steel sheets called Marsden Matting, which the US army used from around 1941 to build stable landing platforms in the mud for planes and armoured vehicles. The next development of the Marsden Matting, also called PSP for Perforated Steel Planking, was the use of lighter aluminium alloy instead of magnesium steel, and these were called PAP or Perforated Aluminium Planking. This was the stuff adopted after World War II by overlanders who saw…

FISKER OCEAN Vegan van Apparently SUV , has announced plans to introduce a 483km capable, $40 000 all-electric SUV offered through an app-based leasing programme. Fisker claims the new Ocean will be the most sustainable SUV on the market since it uses recycled and eco-friendly materials like vegan leather, carpets made from recycled fishing nets, and faux suede. Available solely with an 80kwH lithium battery, the range is extended thanks to a large roof-mounted solar panel that Fisker claims will alone provide up to 1 000km of driving per year, depending on conditions. Production is planned for late 2021 though the timeframe isn’t set in stone. ISUZU D-MAX Built in SA Confirmed by Isuzu Motors Japan, the latest iteration of the D-Max will be built at its Straundale plant in…

With my passport stamped (and later signed by myself), we continue south on a severely overgrown motorbike track through the jungle. We continue south on a severely overgrown motorbike track through the jungle. For kilometre after kilometre both vehicles tear and scrape through the tangle on both sides, and when I snag a guard flare on an unseen tree stump it tears in half, almost completely coming off. I repeatedly ask locals on foot if this is the correct way, and a young boy aged fifteen climbs aboard for a ride into the bigger town. He assures me we are on an actual road, and I feel certain I have never seen a road anywhere on earth as small as this. When we finally reach the East-West road children again…

Most people probably think engine components that rotate or reciprocate at high speeds, most notably pistons and big ends, are the hardest-working parts of a 4x4, but in truth tyres are subjected to far more variable impactors on a day-to-day basis and even more so when it comes to the adventure overlanding fraternity. While tyres may look pretty simple and basic compared to modern powertrain components, they hide an amazing array of very sophisticated and ever-evolving technologies. Given the vast array of tyres on the market, deciding on replacement tyres for your 4x4 can be a daunting task. Three tyre-sizing systems are used by vehicle manufacturers that are fitted to today’s light trucks and sport utility vehicles: Euro-metric, P-metric and LT-metric. Euro-metric and P-metric tyre sizes were originally designed for…

Rassie Kotze This beautiful photo of Rassie’s 2018 Toyota Hilux 2.8 GD-6 was taken in the Swartruggens area. His bakkie is fitted with Bilstein shocks, Onca front bumper, Eezi-Awn Series 3 RTT, and runs on A-Line Dagger wheels with Cooper AT3 tyres. Edward Bath With enough lights to turn night into day, this Land Cruiser 200 Series has a very menacing face. It features Old Man Emu BP-51 suspension, a Front Runner rooftop tent, and Takla seat covers. The photo was taken on the Makgadikgadi salt pans in Botswana. Odette Wessels Odette’s 2.4-litre Puma Defender looks like it is ready for any situation. It has a roof rack, high-lift jack, and Goodyear Wrangler rubber. She snapped this image at Potjiespram, in the Richtersveld National Park. Kobus Botes Is this a…

The leaf versus coil debate has been going on since Land Cruiser 70 Series drivers got jealous of the comfy ride in coil-sprung Land Rover Defenders. We joke, but both leaves and coils have a range of benefits and drawbacks that suit different vehicles and needs. How you value these attributes could affect your next choice of vehicle… The task at hand Your vehicle’s suspension system is possibly the hardest-working, least understood, most abused and under-maintained aspect of your rig. The average bakkie is expected to safely carry a ton, but remain comfortable and stable when empty on the school run. Suspension needs to be flexible enough over rough terrain to keep all four wheels planted while in an axle twister, but at the same time contain body roll when…

Having read about it over four years ago on a forum one evening, the Namakwa Eco Trail has been eluding me ever since. While living vicariously through the photographs of others’ adventures is better than not at all, we simply had to go ourselves. Through all my travels with SA4x4, no other trail in South Africa promised to be so remote, long, and beautiful, so off we went, hunting silence. The route technically starts along the N17 highway at a tiny settlement called Witbank on the Orange River near Pofadder. Instead of this standard direction, we decided to do the trail backwards, beginning on the coast at Alexander Bay. From there we’d pick up the narrow tweespoor track that characterises most of the trail and follow the backs of old…

Day 1 Cape Town to Springbok Caravan Park Distance: 561km This took us all day thanks to getting a late start, due to booking a slot at Safari Centre to get our new rack and rooftop tent fitted. We only got on the road at around midday. The drive to Springbok is straightforward and the campsite offered decent facilities. Day 2 Springbok to Brandkaros Resort (Alexander Bay) Distance: +-325km We missed the turnoff at Steinkopf and due to the GPS’s reluctance to make a U-turn, we followed it for about 60km before realising our mistake and back tracking. On route, Port Nolloth is a very pleasant surprise, and we were very happy with our fabulous campsite near the derelict town of Alexander Bay. Day 3 Brandkaros Resort to Eksteenfontein (trail…

When you think of Kaokoland in the far North Western corner of Namibia, your mind fills with images of vast open spaces, long, dusty gravel roads and dry riverbeds. Definitely a land of thirst, in need of water, you would say. However, at the right time of year you can see a completely different side of this desolate wilderness; one that involves spectacular thunderstorms, flash floods and burst riverbanks. This is the face of Kaokoland that we saw on our recent 16-day tour to the area – and it certainly made for an exciting adventure. The Trans-Kalahari highway through Botswana is always predictable and boring. Still, it needs to be endured in order to reach the Buitepos border post into Namibia, which is just below the cartographer’s ‘step’ on the…

As a family we are keen campers and have been working on our camping setup over many years. We started in a second-hand canvas tent, progressed to a new canvas dome tent with extension and gazebo, and about four years ago purchased a used Imagine Comfortvan off-road caravan. The Comfortvan not only brought a new level of ‘luxury’, it also offered independence as we had onboard batteries, water tanks, and a bathroom. One of our dreams was to be able to stay multiple nights ‘off the grid’ at a campsite of our choice. However, this was going to require the addition of some form of power generation source. Since we already ran our home off solar power I decided to go the solar route and purchased a second battery, a…