It is all coming along nicely now. A couple of things, Their appears to be a fashion that has developed over the last few years towards short bridging ladders / sand ladders. I am not quite sure why that is but I would have thought shorties would be far less effective and might not be long enough to get a run going before having to stop to start over again. The other concerning the bridging ladders is recovery of the same. I should imagine that short ladders are more easily lost because they have a tendency to bury under the slime or sand what ever they are being used for. Years ago these things used to be manufactured from steel or aluminium pierced planking, so plastic is lighter but may flex more possibly so it might be e reason for reduced length but it may be because more people travel on expedition but then can not find anywhere to put longer versions. I do not know what the current advice is. In the past some have attached some sort of tell tail that floats above the immersed ladder short rope or even longer attachment to allow the ladder to follow the vehicle, so avoiding the necessity of a long walk back or a short one that might prompt getting stuck again.
The other thing that struck me was the lamp brackets, very useful and strong but also could cause tremendous personal injury. Not sure on solution exactly but rounding the corners might be one and linking them together with something a little blunter and person/animal friendly. Perhaps a length of angle iron/aluminium blunt side forward linking them might be the easiest and fastest solution. Could always add some padding wrapped in white reflective tape. Might make all the difference and reduce attention for scrutiny.
White is the best colour for vehicles I believe for hot days and climates and the mounting of a panel on the bonnet very sensible solution to reduce reflective glare. It reduces glare from strong sun and other vehicle lights or even ones own additional lighting if mounted high on the roof, less fatiguing on long days. It is not bulky or heavy and is an ideal solution, frees up some roof space too. BFG AT KO2 are very strong and robust will take knocks and stone abrasions in their stride far better than many other easily available tyres. Snorkel is good reducing the ingestion of dust and water. I would like and have use one of those, not sure about the dust here but water can be a great problem in wet Wales flooded fords and emersed roads. Keep us informed.
What an awesome message, thank you KoB
Recovery Tracks: I agree with you on the shorties, I have never actually used them. My thinking is, short tracks for self recovery are better than no tracks as I dont have the place to fit full length ones.
I have however extensively used and tested the standard full length ones throughout my adventures around sub-Saharan Africa. They work amazingly and the Maxtrax branded versions are internally reinforced so quite strong. They also double as a spade as can be seen in this funny little clip -
VIDEO - the Mrs and I share the work when it comes to a self recovery, she does her side and I do mine. In this case I dug quicker and quickly took a video. We got very very stuck in thick sand and tracks that are truck width as they are primarily used by military trucks, Unimogs etc. When you purchase a set they come with a strap that you attach to the tow bar ball so when you drive off they are dragged along for easy recovery of them.
They also serve a fantastic purpose in leveling of the vehicle for flat sleeping.
Lamp Brackets: You make some valid points there, I will put some thought into this - it never crossed my mind actually as we don't really think about that when fitting the bull bars to our vehicles in Africa.
I like
white colour on an expedition vehicle, it works with my tyle when kitting out a car for an expedition.
The
bonnet mounted solar panel is switchable, between charging the starter battery on extended stops and contributing to the overall roof installed solar system. There will be 3 x 175W Solar panels installed on the roof + the 120W panel makes for a quick charge on the battery
I had BFGs KO2s on my Discovery 4 and loved them, when I sold the disco and replaced it with the Hilux I also fitted BFGs and hated them. They didnt match well with the Hilux. On the van so far they seem to be a great match and durable too. The EU version of the BFGs KO2 is different to that in Africa, in EU its a softer compound and they are all season tyres. so time will tell on how they settle in with the van.
