What items do i need for backroad/4x4 driving

[andre66]

Hi folks,
This is my first 4wd vehicle so i want to stock my van with the items that i will require to ensure a safe trip. I know a few things such as a first aid kit, tow straps,shovel, but what else would be good to purchase?
I am also planning on the skid plate that is being made by some great members of this site.
Thanks
Andre

[Mystery Machine]

Where do you stop is the problem??

When building an off-road ready L300 (I've done a few now!) the first thing is to remove ANYTHING you don't need. First to go on all of my ones has been the complete AC system which saves a good 50kg in weight and also clears a LOT of room for ground clearance and moutning stuff under the vehicle.

Probably the most important thing though is good wheels/tyres (tyres especially)

I don't know what you mean exactly by off-road driving? Logging roads or more extreme stuff?? What you do exactly can often dictate which route you go with the prep of the vehicle.

I'll always fit 31' mud terrains on 7" or 7.5" wheels (steel preferred for durability/strength), crank up the torsion bars, cut down the upper bump stops and put some 2" shackles on the back. Chop out the front arches (fenders/wheel wells??) and you're good to go! I've actually nicknamed this set-up the 'Canadian Lift' in tribute to my good buddy's Adrock, Josh and Docsavage who all run this set-up (excpet for Doc who has recently gone high altitude!) and it really suits the vehicle, is ideal off road and is pretty good on the wallet/bank balance too!

Give me more info on what sort of 4x4 driving you intend to do and I'll give you some more pointers?

If doing anything which I would consider '4x4 driving' NEVER do it alone! Tow straps are about as much use as a chocolate coffee mug if you get stuck on your todd! Logging roads are one thing, but 'off roading' should always be done with at least one other vehicle.

There are loads of things you could take, but you seem to have covered some of the essentials. There are also common sense things like making sure you have a mobile with you, letting someone back home know the route you are taking etc....

A basic range of tools is also good - wrenches (10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 17mm & 19mm) and some sockets in the same size too. Pliers, screwdrivers etc....

A spare fuel can (filled and strapped down safe)

Food and water - even if you are going out for a few hours - what if you get stranded in the middle of deliverance country? Keep yourself fed and watered.

Maps of where you are going (with routes drawn on them in advance)

The list goes on - but it doesn't have to cost to have fun ......I can vouch for that!

Get back to me with more details and I'll write you up a comprehensive list of what I would recommend doing to a Delica....

[Green1]

There are also common sense things like making sure you have a mobile with you

just remember that most places you might off-road don't have any cell coverage, so a mobile phone won't do you much good (I'm not saying not to bring one, just don't be surprised if you get stuck in a dead zone!) Amateur radio, or even CB are possible alternatives that may work when the cell doesn't (no guarantee though!)
If you simply MUST be in contact, the only way to go is satellite phone, but those are mucho $$$

, letting someone back home know the route you are taking etc....

This is the single most important thing to do EVERY time you head out! I volunteer with Search And Rescue, and I can tell you one thing for sure, no search can be mounted if we don't know where to look!
make sure that someone reliable knows where you are going, when you'll be back, who you are going with, what vehicles and supplies you will have with you, what you're wearing, and what your experience level is. This is the only way anyone will ever come to your rescue if you don't return on schedule.

[jessef]

I agree with Bruce and Green1.

Your question is also very broad.

Where/how far will you be going ?

As an extreme example here is a post I made about long distance travelling off the beaten path.

Jesse

I've done over a dozen 1-3 month long excursions south of the border in the past decade and loved them all. Learned a lot as well as anyone would travelling.

This one's a longer trip and I'm definitely using my experience travelling, mechanical knowledge and advice/guidance from others for this trip.

I'm doing a 6-month (at least) long expedition from Vancouver to south america tip and back up the eastern coast in the Delica.

Things I am going to prep it for over the next 6 months :

2" Lift
fabricate steel armor underneath from back to front of the entire Delica in the sensitive areas
manual locking hubs on the front
LSD in the rear stock
4" Backspacing rims (wider stance but not too wide)
Corner to corner full length roof rack with spot lights all around
WVO and spare diesel tank in place of the stock exhaust
2.5" exhaust out the side w/ pyro gauge
Removable rear ladder so people can't have easy access to the roof gear
100-150 L fresh water low-profile(flat/wide) marine tank
back to front length awning
Rear fold out spare tire carrier / diesel cans / hilift jack
hydraulic winch 10,500 lbs on carrier bolted/welded to frame
better spot lights up front
camperize the interior
Two hidden compartments that can only be opened via 2-stage pulley/button system on opposite end of Delica(holding cash/original travel documents)
Iridium sat phone $700 for 6 hrs of anytime/anywhere on this planet talk time good for one year
Lots of spare parts
four cv shaft assemblies
brake parts to replace the entire enchilada hub to hub and a few spare sets of pads front to back
fuel/oil filters lots of spares
cleanable K&N air filter with oil
2 sets of plugs
rad hoses at least 2 sets
spare fuel hoses/lines, clamps, fittings, etc..
spare bulbs all around
2 full size spare tires
tire repair kits (not the cheapcrappytireones)
small generator
small solar panel and lipo's packs to charge
good inverter
all in one dvd/mp3/ipod/usb car deck with a fabricated cheap tape deck snap on cover to hide the real guy underneath when not in use
decent speakers

i've got a long long list. this is pretty much the gist of it for the delica itself.

Not everything I've listed is a necessity, but I'm planning on being as much self-sufficient as I can, hence the multitude of spares and extra's.

One of the major major points I'd like to make though :

Bring the right tools for the jobs you are going to perform. Any mechanic can tell you that having the right tools makes all the difference in the world when it comes to repairs.

hope this helps

Jesse

ps. if you're not a mechanic or have zero to little mechanical knowledge, I suggest either learning from someone you know or maybe a small online/local course. I plan on working/sweating underneath/ontop of the Delica along the way and back quite a bit. It's a given.

I've logged over 780,000 km's on an 86 Jeep Cherokee that has seen more mex than canada. 1/2 that km's on an old VW bus south and back a number of times. Cross country end to end trips in a 95 Subaru wagon. A handful of trips in other people's vehicles.

One thing I can say is that not one single trip (2-3 months tons of driving) went without having to do some kind of mechanical work and it's something that I strongly suggest you prepare for especially a trip like the one you are describing.

[andre66]

Thanks for the responses guys, seeing as how i am new to this type of vehicle it is not going to be anything more difficult than logging roads this spring/summer.
At the most i will be camping out for two nights at a time but i will generally be out for single day drives on the logging roads.
Thanks
Andre

[The Pinkfingers]

Tow straps are about as much use as a chocolate coffee mug if you get stuck on your todd!

erm... ... huh? Stuck on your todd?

[jessef]

For logging roads and mild wheelin' -

If traveling with others :

Cell phone
Good spare tire and jack
can of diesel depending on how far you're going

If traveling alone :

Cell phone
Good spare tire and jack
comealong/straps
shovel
flashlight/matches/1st aid kit/etc.. typical stuff
can of diesel depending on how far you're going

Regardless if you're traveling alone or with company, always let someone else know.

Just like Green1 said

"make sure that someone reliable knows where you are going, when you'll be back, who you are going with, what vehicles and supplies you will have with you, what you're wearing, and what your experience level is. This is the only way anyone will ever come to your rescue if you don't return on schedule."

Really a Delica is no different than a 4runner or Jeep or any vehicle you're taking offroad.

Treat it as such and use your best judgment when wheeling alone.

Jesse

[mararmeisto]

Tow straps are about as much use as a chocolate coffee mug if you get stuck on your todd!

erm... ... huh? Stuck on your todd?

Ya, Bruce - what is that? Ain't NEVER heard that one before... I'm imagining it's quite witty, but without the reference, it sounds a bit risque

[Mystery Machine]

Tow straps are about as much use as a chocolate coffee mug if you get stuck on your todd!

erm... ... huh? Stuck on your todd?

Ya, Bruce - what is that? Ain't NEVER heard that one before... I'm imagining it's quite witty, but without the reference, it sounds a bit risque

Sorry guys – I forgot where I was there for a minute and I sometimes forget that things don’t always translate for guys? I do try my best to keep things understandable (wrenches, fenders etc…..all terms which we don’t use over here) but I guess some things will occasionally slip through??

This is quite a long explanation, but it might be needed because this can be quite a wierd concept to get your head around if you've never heard it before??

I remember many a night spent laughing with Adrock over our use of what we call 'Rhyming Slang' or to be more precise: Cockney Rhyming Slang. Some of you may have heard of it and Adrock found it highly amusing!!

It’s a whole language of its own which derived from an area in East London (where I grew up actually!) where words are substituted for another one that rhymes with it.

Two of the most commonly known around the country (you could call them clichés) are for ‘phone’ (dog & bone) and for ‘stairs’ (apples & pairs) and might be used in a conversation like this: “Run up the apples & pairs love – I left my dog & bone in the bedroom”

Anyone who uses rhyming slang properly will actually drop/remove the rhyming word from the sentence, so in true rhyming slang, the above sentence would actually be said like this: “Run up the apples love – I left my dog in the bedroom”

Who came up with/chose the word pairing isn’t really known, it was a language developed by the poor people in Victorian times (specifically in E.London) so that the upper class couldn’t decipher what they were saying.

To anyone outside of England, it’s a mad, stupid and pointless concept, but to us Brits, it’s a part of our culture and something used more often than we sometimes realise in our everyday language! I use it most days without thinking because I was brought up with it.

Often in Victorian times, people ‘lent’ their name to rhyming slang, so a lot of it is made up with names like this:

Rosie Lee = Tea - “anyone want another Rosie?”
Ruby Murray = Curry - “I took the wife out for a Ruby last night” Famous Victorian singer (see below for true translation!)
Jimmy Riddle – Piddle (urinate) – “pull over…I need a Jimmy”
Todd Sloane = Own - “I wouldn’t want to be left on my Todd again” Famous jockey


In true rhyming slang this would actually be “I took the trouble out for a Ruby last night” – trouble being “trouble & strife”

So there you go – Todd = being on your own!

There are some modern twists too, for example Britney Spears = Beers “who’s turn is it to get the Britneys?” or Ayrton Senna = Tenner (£10) “you still owe me that Ayrton I lent you last week”

I won’t go on anymore, but hopefully that explains what I was trying to say??

Look up cockney rhyming slang and have a laugh at some of the translations. It makes perfect sense to us, but I don’t think the rest of the world gets it?? There are hundreds and hundreds of slang words - I've only mentioned a tiny few....

[Green1]

Sorry guys – I forgot where I was there for a minute and I sometimes forget that things don’t always translate for guys? I do try my best to keep things understandable (wrenches, fenders etc…..all terms which we don’t use over here) but I guess some things will occasionally slip through??

What I find interesting is that I was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with parents from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and in fact the past several hundred years of my ancestry is entirely within North America. Yet I have no trouble whatsoever understanding you Bruce, or any of the other posts I've read on mdocuk (where it is I who need to try to remember to do some translating)

It is however funny that people think we speak the same language, you think you have trouble communicating with us, you should try talking to Americans some time, their language is even further from yours (I had an interesting conversation about that actually a couple of weeks back with a fellow from Florida)

[The Pinkfingers]

This is quite a long explanation, but it might be needed because this can be quite a wierd concept to get your head around if you've never heard it before??

I remember many a night spent laughing with Adrock over our use of what we call 'Rhyming Slang' or to be more precise: Cockney Rhyming Slang. Some of you may have heard of it and Adrock found it highly amusing!!

It’s a whole language of its own which derived from an area in East London (where I grew up actually!) where words are substituted for another one that rhymes with it.

Two of the most commonly known around the country (you could call them clichés) are for ‘phone’ (dog & bone) and for ‘stairs’ (apples & pairs) and might be used in a conversation like this: “Run up the apples & pairs love – I left my dog & bone in the bedroom”

Anyone who uses rhyming slang properly will actually drop/remove the rhyming word from the sentence, so in true rhyming slang, the above sentence would actually be said like this: “Run up the apples love – I left my dog in the bedroom”

Who came up with/chose the word pairing isn’t really known, it was a language developed by the poor people in Victorian times (specifically in E.London) so that the upper class couldn’t decipher what they were saying.

To anyone outside of England, it’s a mad, stupid and pointless concept, but to us Brits, it’s a part of our culture and something used more often than we sometimes realise in our everyday language! I use it most days without thinking because I was brought up with it.

Often in Victorian times, people ‘lent’ their name to rhyming slang, so a lot of it is made up with names like this:

Rosie Lee = Tea - “anyone want another Rosie?”
Ruby Murray = Curry - “I took the wife out for a Ruby last night” Famous Victorian singer (see below for true translation!)
Jimmy Riddle – Piddle (urinate) – “pull over…I need a Jimmy”
Todd Sloane = Own - “I wouldn’t want to be left on my Todd again” Famous jockey


In true rhyming slang this would actually be “I took the trouble out for a Ruby last night” – trouble being “trouble & strife”

So there you go – Todd = being on your own!

There are some modern twists too, for example Britney Spears = Beers “who’s turn is it to get the Britneys?” or Ayrton Senna = Tenner (£10) “you still owe me that Ayrton I lent you last week”

I won’t go on anymore, but hopefully that explains what I was trying to say??

Look up cockney rhyming slang and have a laugh at some of the translations. It makes perfect sense to us, but I don’t think the rest of the world gets it?? There are hundreds and hundreds of slang words - I've only mentioned a tiny few....

Phew. Can't mess those up or you could get in some Barney (Barney Rubble = trouble... erm, which equals wife... which... oh dear).

[elbosque]

A tow strap is useless unless someone is likely to come along to give you a tow. By the way a tow rope and a snatch strap are two different items - even though they may look the same. A tow rop has no elasticity which is a good thing when winching. A snatch strap (aka recovery strap) has elastisity and stores kinetic energy. The recovery vehicle takes a bit of a run with the strap loose. The energy stored from when the strap goes tight is then applied as additional energy from that provided from the tow vehicle. Okay, now back to the topic....

First you need to have your delica outfitted with proper recovery points on the front and back on each side. You will need to have self recovery equiptment like a winch and a winch kit (shackles, line dampner, etc). If you can't afford that or would rather go lighter, you should have a Jackall (there are others like Highlift and Farm Jack - but are not as good) and a couple heavy duty "come alongs". You will need a tree protector and recovery strap and tow strap. You should have about 20' of 10,000 lb cable. You should also have about 6' of heavy chain and an assortment of shackles, hooks, and pullies.

Probably the most important thing to do is to join a 4x4 club to learn how to do recoverly safely and how to 4x4 safely. Recovery accidents can be deadly at the worst and at the best cause substancial damage.

This is a must view overview from down under on utube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2NTiniZcrQ

[jessef]

Probably the most important thing to do is to join a 4x4 club to learn how to do recoverly safely and how to 4x4 safely. Recovery accidents can be deadly at the worst and at the best cause substancial damage.

I can't stress this point enough as well.

Recovering a stuck vehicle can be dangerous if not downright deadly depending on the situation and how it's executed.

Jesse

[Erebus]

make sure that someone reliable knows where you are going, when you'll be back

Let me repeat this. Also, make sure you clearly tell the person, "If you don't hear from me by XX:XX o'clock, call 911 and ask for search and rescue." Green1 and I have had situations were the contact person waited 24 hours or more after the person was supposed to be back before calling for help, thinking "I'm sure he's fine, he just hasn't phoned."

If you are hiking, and you aren't sure which trail you plan to take when leaving home, at least tell your contact where you will park the vehicle. Then, before you leave the vehicle, decide on the trail, leave a note in the vehicle giving this info, then STICK TO THE PLAN as much as you safely can. That way, when SAR and police open your vehicle, they will find out where you are going.