Custom build - 2020 Westfalia Club Joker 4Motion - Offroad build thread

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

New Hess Rims and Delta 4x4 Loder AT #1 18 inch tyres. I got an amazing deal on these (wholesale) as my mechanic is interested in testing these tyres for his new Discoverer offroad rental vans. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, I still love the Falken Wildpeak AT's. However this was a deal I couldn't pass on, and with a load rating of 118 they are much more suitable for my Falcon Heavy van at 3.3-3.5 tonnes.

So far I have only driven them in the city and up the mountain pass and they are just a little bit noisier than the Falkens. Definitely not loud like BFG KO2's!

 

[Californication69]

The rims spell out
V
W

Clever stuff !

 

[kave]

Thank you for an amazing thread. I have in fact considered replacing my Beach with one like yours.
Have you seen this rear carrier? It seems to solve many of my problems at the moment. Eye watering price though:

Gear carrier | SKEP

The Jacquard® equipment carrier is SKEP's iconic product, invented and developed by two van-loving engineers, to meet all your carrying needs. The Jacquard® supports up to 200kg of payload, its arms open to 180 degrees, and it's modular and approved.

en.skep.life

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Thank you for an amazing thread. I have in fact considered replacing my Beach with one like yours.
Have you seen this rear carrier? It seems to solve many of my problems at the moment. Eye watering price though:

Gear carrier | SKEP

The Jacquard® equipment carrier is SKEP's iconic product, invented and developed by two van-loving engineers, to meet all your carrying needs. The Jacquard® supports up to 200kg of payload, its arms open to 180 degrees, and it's modular and approved.

en.skep.life

Yes, I’ve seen that at a shop in Switzerland. I prefer having more storage with my box, and if I need to mount bikes I have my Thule with a swing away arm in addition to make things easier and so the handlebars clear the box.

I can mount everything else on the airline rails I installed on the side of the roof.

Thank you for the kind words! It’s been a long project and everytime I think “I’m done” something else comes along to mod!!


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[Kayleigh]

@Webbah_in_Switzerland Your Joker really is maxed out with cool kit

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Thank you for an amazing thread. I have in fact considered replacing my Beach with one like yours.
Have you seen this rear carrier? It seems to solve many of my problems at the moment. Eye watering price though:

Gear carrier | SKEP

The Jacquard® equipment carrier is SKEP's iconic product, invented and developed by two van-loving engineers, to meet all your carrying needs. The Jacquard® supports up to 200kg of payload, its arms open to 180 degrees, and it's modular and approved.

en.skep.life

MFT backbox + Cali bike rack would be a cheaper option…but depends on what you need to carry.

 

[The Merle]

New Hess Rims and Delta 4x4 Loder AT #1 18 inch tyres. I got an amazing deal on these (wholesale) as my mechanic is interested in testing these tyres for his new Discoverer offroad rental vans. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, I still love the Falken Wildpeak AT's. However this was a deal I couldn't pass on, and with a load rating of 118 they are much more suitable for my Falcon Heavy van at 3.3-3.5 tonnes.

So far I have only driven them in the city and up the mountain pass and they are just a little bit noisier than the Falkens. Definitely not loud like BFG KO2's!

View attachment 138201

I see you ditched them stick on panels and went for one in the place where I had on my bronze joker. Love that it lifts up at angle bet it works a million times better and doesn’t overheat like the crap stick on, did you manage to remove them ok?

Wheels look good.

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

I see you ditched them stick on panels and went for one in the place where I had on my bronze joker. Love that it lifts up at angle bet it works a million times better and doesn’t overheat like the crap stick on, did you manage to remove them ok?

Wheels look good.

It wasn’t hard, but took some elbow grease. Took probably 1.5 hours to clean it all up and prep.

Thanks!


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[kave]

MFT backbox + Cali bike rack would be a cheaper option…but depends on what you need to carry.

View attachment 138219

In fact I already are using an even cheaper option. A Thule 929 with alu toolbox:

However, filled with wine, olive oil etc from our trip to Italy/France its really heavy to tilt down and up for access to the fridge in the boot.
I have bought a Scooter, Kymco People S that I would like to have with me without using a trailer so I am researching options to carry it.

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

In fact I already are using an even cheaper option. A Thule 929 with alu toolbox:

However, filled with wine, olive oil etc from our trip to Italy/France its really heavy to tilt down and up for access to the fridge in the boot.
I have bought a Scooter, Kymco People S that I would like to have with me without using a trailer so I am researching options to carry it.

Yeah, that’s why I bought a swing away arm. This way you don’t need to tilt down, but you swing the box or bike rack away to the side.


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[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

In fact I already are using an even cheaper option. A Thule 929 with alu toolbox:

However, filled with wine, olive oil etc from our trip to Italy/France its really heavy to tilt down and up for access to the fridge in the boot.
I have bought a Scooter, Kymco People S that I would like to have with me without using a trailer so I am researching options to carry it.

This one I have:

SpaceMaker der Adapter für deinen Fahrradträger | pick-up-and-go

Mit dem SpaceMaker können zwei Fahrräder einfach 90° weggeschwenkt werden und bieten so vollen Zugang zum Heck deines Fahrzeuges.

www.pick-up-and-go.ch

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[Ch1pbutty]

In fact I already are using an even cheaper option. A Thule 929 with alu toolbox:

However, filled with wine, olive oil etc from our trip to Italy/France it’s really heavy to tilt down and up for access to the fridge in the boot.

The MFT backbox comes with an optional long removable pole , that slots into the rack between the back of the box / back of van, that acts as a lever to overcome the heavy tilt….it should come as standard with the rack really!

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

The MFT backbox comes with an optional long removable pole , that slots into the rack between the back of the box / back of van, that acts as a lever to overcome the heavy tilt….it should come as standard with the rack really!

Yeah, I have that too but found the swing away to be a much better solution. Especially when the box is full loaded or if I have 2*30kg e-bikes on the rack.


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[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

The MFT backbox comes with an optional long removable pole , that slots into the rack between the back of the box / back of van, that acts as a lever to overcome the heavy tilt….it should come as standard with the rack really!

The other reasons were for clearance due to the box on the rear hatch for handlebars of bikes and more importantly ground clearance and angle of approach when off-roading. Best seen in the photos below. Perfect fit!

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[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Photos from an amazing training course at UltraTerrain in Germany last Saturday. I didn't want to pollute the "view from your van" thread so putting them here. Definitely worth taking a course to see how capable the T6.1 (or whatever variant you might have) 4Motion really is.

 

[wildslammer22]

Photos from an amazing training course at UltraTerrain in Germany last Saturday. I didn't want to pollute the "view from your van" thread so putting them here. Definitely worth taking a course to see how capable the T6.1 (or whatever variant you might have) 4Motion really is. View attachment 139090View attachment 139091View attachment 139092View attachment 139093View attachment 139094View attachment 139095View attachment 139096View attachment 139097View attachment 139098

That looks like great fun!

How did your van do compared to the trucks and the Man TGE - not fair to compare it to the Jeep?! Looks like you were on the limit of your brake over angle!? I’m always surprised how capable the Transporter is given the limitations in ground clearance and axle articulation.

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

That looks like great fun!

How did your van do compared to the trucks and the Man TGE - not fair to compare it to the Jeep?! Looks like you were on the limit of your brake over angle!? I’m always surprised how capable the Transporter is given the limitations in ground clearance and axle articulation.

My van was able to manage every part of the track that the others could. I was truly impressed. The Man didn’t do so well, but this was mostly due to him having the wrong tires. He was hopeless in sand and deep stone gravel. Had to tow him out 3 times.

I was very happy I had underbody protection. I was mostly on the medium height setting of the air suspension to have some travel in the dampers, and forgot to switch to high on one of those steep angles and did rub a bit. Lesson learned! And the protection did its job.

There was one section though that the instructor forbid both vans to travel. My mechanics Hilux was incredible. It was a deep angle into a pit that was a few meters deep with a near vertical exit. The jeep almost rolled as he pitched it onto one wheel and hit the brakes.

I have all this in videos. Wish I could share them!


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[wildslammer22]

My van was able to manage every part of the track that the others could. I was truly impressed. The Man didn’t do so well, but this was mostly due to him having the wrong tires. He was hopeless in sand and deep stone gravel. Had to tow him out 3 times.

I was very happy I had underbody protection. I was mostly on the medium height setting of the air suspension to have some travel in the dampers, and forgot to switch to high on one of those steep angles and did rub a bit. Lesson learned! And the protection did its job.

There was one section though that the instructor forbid both vans to travel. My mechanics Hilux was incredible. It was a deep angle into a pit that was a few meters deep with a near vertical exit. The jeep almost rolled as he pitched it onto one wheel and hit the brakes.

I have all this in videos. Wish I could share them!


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Maybe a Dropbox link or similar - would love to see. It’s sounds epic and great to hear how well your van did. Did you need the locker for the gravel - if you have it fitted that is?!

BTW how much extra height do you have with the air on its highest setting? I reckon on my Bilstein set up with the AT’s I’m sitting around 80-100mm over stock ride height.

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Maybe a Dropbox link or similar - would love to see. It’s sounds epic and great to hear how well your van did. Did you need the locker for the gravel - if you have it fitted that is?!

BTW how much extra height do you have with the air on its highest setting? I reckon on my Bilstein set up with the AT’s I’m sitting around 80-100mm over stock ride height.

Ah, great idea! I’ll upload them to protondrive and share a link shortly.

I did use the diff lock on a few occasions in deep gravel. I maybe should have used it in a section with puddles and opposing pits but was concerned with heavy articulation and the diff lock affecting the drive shafts. 4motion did its job well once I trusted it, but I was slipping initially. You’ll see in the vids.

I’m guessing I am closer to 80-90mm due to the fact that I replaced the rear airbags with dual bags from single to increase the load rating.


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[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Maybe a Dropbox link or similar - would love to see. It’s sounds epic and great to hear how well your van did. Did you need the locker for the gravel - if you have it fitted that is?!

BTW how much extra height do you have with the air on its highest setting? I reckon on my Bilstein set up with the AT’s I’m sitting around 80-100mm over stock ride height.

Link to videos below. No need to download them. Just use the hamburger menu and choose preview to watch in the browser:

Proton Drive

Securely store, share, and access your important files and photos. Anytime, anywhere.

drive.proton.me

 

[wildslammer22]

Link to videos below. No need to download them. Just use the hamburger menu and choose preview to watch in the browser:

Proton Drive

Securely store, share, and access your important files and photos. Anytime, anywhere.

drive.proton.me

That looks so much fun and some great vids of your van doing what you built it to do

 

[kave]

Nice videos. Here in Sweden ”terrain” driving usually boils down to accepting deep scratches of the van due to all smaller tractor roads have vegetation very close by. So I would very much like to go to the alps with the van some day testing it out on the passes there, would be nice to organize something like this:

Westalps = @busfreiheit

See Instagram 'Westalps' highlights from larsen‘s adventure (@busfreiheit)

www.instagram.com

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Nice videos. Here in Sweden ”terrain” driving usually boils down to accepting deep scratches of the van due to all smaller tractor roads have vegetation very close by. So I would very much like to go to the alps with the van some day testing it out on the passes there, would be nice to organize something like this:

Westalps = @busfreiheit

See Instagram 'Westalps' highlights from larsen‘s adventure (@busfreiheit)

www.instagram.com

Check out this video from the West Alps and Terranger. I'd love to do this! Sorry, it's in German but you can use the CC translation to English on youtube (I have to do that as I don't speak German either)

 

[kave]

Since my motorbike in the alps days I have so many routes inte alps. Here is a friends photos:

Alpbus, september 2007 - Beemer-Biker

This gallery hosted by SmugMug; your photos look better here.

beemer-biker.smugmug.com

We might organise a small group together in september next year (too busy this year).