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Taking my California to Sierra Leone

Guy d

Guy d

VIP Member
Messages
31
Location
Dorset
Vehicle
T5 SE 140 4Motion
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My daughter spent a year in Freetown working at the children's hospital and has been back since.
We visited her during Easter.

A fascinating country. Will follow you on Polar Steps.

Good luck

Alan
 
My daughter spent a year in Freetown working at the children's hospital and has been back since.
We visited her during Easter.

A fascinating country. Will follow you on Polar Steps.

Good luck

Alan
Thanks. It’s quite a trip for the wagon -and me- but all fascinating.
 
Interesting journey. What did you do to prepare your van, and are you still convinced it is an appropriate vehicle for the conditions? Is the ground clearance sufficient and does the vehicle attract the wrong sort of attention?
 
Interesting journey. What did you do to prepare your van, and are you still convinced it is an appropriate vehicle for the conditions? Is the ground clearance sufficient and does the vehicle attract the wrong sort of attention?
There are a number of things I needed to do to make suitable. There are also a number of frustrations I have not yet resolved. But to make it capable of travelling pretty much anywhere I have seikel suspension fitted as well as underbody protection (the complete kit) fitted by Volkstrek/in Aberystwyth

Volkstrek also fitted reinforced two points on the front if I need to be recovered The weight and the underarm reduces the ground clearance slightly but there is still enough room to fit BFGoodrich tyres on steel wheels.

The tires (245/65 r 17) are heavy and too big to fit in the spare wheel recess! Thereforethe spare goes on the bike rack on the back . You can buy rear wheel carriers from various bars but they are very expensive so I made one using dexion angle and a Land Rover discovery two spare wheel carrier Also on the back rack I have mounted a pellibox This all starts to weigh quite a lot but is within tolerance and no heavier than for mountain bikes. Nevertheless I have upgraded the gas struts again done by Volkstrek which perform well except in very cold mornings


I have also had a rear bumper manufactured carry two Jerry cans. It is detachable and welded to the tow hitch and stabilised with two bolts into the frame behind the bumper

I made a lower profile stronger pair of roof bars on which I carry a spare tire but not much else as I’m worried about the powered Roof.

Finally I have a small rack on the bonnet to carry waffle boards

Internally I have removed the bed as it insanely heavy and consumes usable space . Instead I have made A plywood lining and use stackable cases to form a single bed using a seat back and seat base (both made by me) . This gives me much more storage in the single bed is good. Only two problems are there no seat belts on the back and the rear bench is slightly high for a tall person

Other minor modifications include an extension an other minor modifications include an extension for the 240 v and 12 V power supplies , Window tinting, lightbart on the front and in magnetic brackets on the side for led lights

And that is about it!
 
There are a number of things I needed to do to make suitable. There are also a number of frustrations I have not yet resolved. But to make it capable of travelling pretty much anywhere I have seikel suspension fitted as well as underbody protection (the complete kit) fitted by Volkstrek/in Aberystwyth

Volkstrek also fitted reinforced two points on the front if I need to be recovered The weight and the underarm reduces the ground clearance slightly but there is still enough room to fit BFGoodrich tyres on steel wheels.

The tires (245/65 r 17) are heavy and too big to fit in the spare wheel recess! Thereforethe spare goes on the bike rack on the back . You can buy rear wheel carriers from various bars but they are very expensive so I made one using dexion angle and a Land Rover discovery two spare wheel carrier Also on the back rack I have mounted a pellibox This all starts to weigh quite a lot but is within tolerance and no heavier than for mountain bikes. Nevertheless I have upgraded the gas struts again done by Volkstrek which perform well except in very cold mornings


I have also had a rear bumper manufactured carry two Jerry cans. It is detachable and welded to the tow hitch and stabilised with two bolts into the frame behind the bumper

I made a lower profile stronger pair of roof bars on which I carry a spare tire but not much else as I’m worried about the powered Roof.

Finally I have a small rack on the bonnet to carry waffle boards

Internally I have removed the bed as it insanely heavy and consumes usable space . Instead I have made A plywood lining and use stackable cases to form a single bed using a seat back and seat base (both made by me) . This gives me much more storage in the single bed is good. Only two problems are there no seat belts on the back and the rear bench is slightly high for a tall person

Other minor modifications include an extension an other minor modifications include an extension for the 240 v and 12 V power supplies , Window tinting, lightbart on the front and in magnetic brackets on the side for led lights

And that is about it!
Interesting journey. What did you do to prepare your van, and are you still convinced it is an appropriate vehicle for the conditions? Is the ground clearance sufficient and does the vehicle attract the wrong sort of attention?
With all the weight ground clearance is just sufficient but not the for the worst and I am nervous of muddy roads further south but if I get stuck my load is modular and can be easily taken out.

I do not attract too much attention because it looks like a very normal van!
 
I really like the Pelibox on the closed bike rack. How did you secure the box and lock the rack closed?

Really inspiring trip. Have a safe journey and a great time!
 
Interesting journey. What did you do to prepare your van, and are you still convinced it is an appropriate vehicle for the conditions? Is the ground clearance sufficient and does the vehicle attract the wrong sort of attention?
It is not a bad vehicle for the job. Good things relevant to California are very handy but those clever people in Germany who designed it obviously spent no more than a weekend of it!
 
I really like the Pelibox on the closed bike rack. How did you secure the box and lock the rack closed?

Really inspiring trip. Have a safe journey and a great time!
The pellibox Is very secure and has holes for padlocks, and I mounted it on a dexion frame with long boats through the plastic reinforcement at one end to the Dexion at the other
 
Brilliant. Following you now on polarsteps as well imho, the Cali is a very good vehicle for overlanding. Just needs to be treated well. Enjoy

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
Amazing.. just checked out your blog. Given some of the terrain you may encounter, interested to know if that a 4 wheel drive or regular Cali? Happy travels and thanks for sharing.
 
Amazing.. just checked out your blog. Given some of the terrain you may encounter, interested to know if that a 4 wheel drive or regular Cali? Happy travels and thanks for sharing.
Has to be a 4MO. It has been debadged, but if you look at some pics on Polarsteps, there is a 4WD sticker on the side, just under the side mirrors. :thumb
 
Brilliant stuff, great to the boundaries being stretched in a California
 
Mine is 4motion and 2wd wouldn’t do it. But 2wd driven properly and the write tyres etc would still go most places at less cost and less to go wrong. So don’t write them off. The big issue as always is weightAd if becomes a bit of a vicious ircle. The. More adventures you are the more kit you need, the greater weight you carry, the more likely you are to need to use it etc. A bit of me says an empty fiat panda 44 airhead no kit is the answer!
 
I like the idea of the Fiat Panda - simple is good, once considered that sort of thing with a Citroen 2CV.

The 2wd is more effective than it is often assumed - we did the Pan-America Highway with a Cali Trendline (the German market basic version) 2wd and only got pushed out of trouble 3 times - not bad out of 28,000 miles.

Your adventure is giving me ideas!

flyingQ
 
I like the idea of the Fiat Panda - simple is good, once considered that sort of thing with a Citroen 2CV.

The 2wd is more effective than it is often assumed - we did the Pan-America Highway with a Cali Trendline (the German market basic version) 2wd and only got pushed out of trouble 3 times - not bad out of 28,000 miles.

Your adventure is giving me ideas!

flyingQ
You need to remember that Peugeot 404 then 504 What is the standard vehicle and all that people could get a hands-on. The Toyota is of course picketers as I’m in the other pic up
There is a lot to be said for two wheel drive and I me t people who drive pick ups
And I have met people who routinely have two wheel drive routinely selected when they could have four-wheel-drive ando in deep sand, arguing that it has Less likelihood of digging in
 
Brilliant stuff, great to the boundaries being stretched in a California
Strangely, I thought I would come across more of them but I’ve seen hardly any at all when I’ve been out here. This might be because they’re expensive but more likely because they’re driven by people who don’t do adventurous things anymore!
 
This photo may not look like very much, but it is one of my favourites. In the morning we were parked in the dunes and I just thought I so let’s give it a go. And it just Cruised up this dune without any problem whatsoever. If I had another vehicle with me, I would’ve gone further and I think I would’ve been pretty impressed. A wonderful machine

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373C4C3A-C6C1-4E0E-8157-1DFFBE4B3FF2.jpeg
 
Sorry. Too many fingers and thumbs. The second photograph of the sea is a mistake
 
We’re enjoying following your amazing journey on Polarsteps (even if you do refer to your Cali as a car!) and are looking forward to hearing whether you get to Guinea. Great cause too. Good luck.
 
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