1974 FJ40 back at the Sahara and dunes story

[flx]

Thank you for showing us all this, its a great mini fake vacation for all of us i think, we get to dream a bit of somewhere else doing what we all love to do.

I know you have guides but how in the hell are you not getting lost out there, or do the guides just not tell you when they dont know where they are

GPS are great for that

Keeping the trajectory toward where we go isn't that hard (Sif Es Souane, then West toward the border, then North). The difficulty is at macro level to open a track that isn't leading you in a hole trap, where all vehicles can pass, and that still get you in the direction you want.


On the map I used 1 color per day and added points for the first day café where we stopped for lunch, the Lake Erreched, and Sif Es Souane.
In current story progress we are in the middle of the orange line.

As you can see, not all days are equal in term of progress, mechanical issues and dunes difficulty can limit the progression quite a lot, 20-25km a day for the most southern part.
And we got lucky, no real mechanical issues except a few tires problem.

 

[bj70bc]

nice

 

[flx]

Time to go again!

Just in case of any doubt, the guides also get stuck x)

Almost up there

 

[flx]

As we are approaching our camp spot for the night, after a long day, it's the moment we start making little mistakes.

I start by getting stuck in nothing, if I had correct inertia and gear (not 2 high...) I shouldn't have any problem getting up that, so the KDJ120 takes a parallel line to come in front of me and pulls me.

A bit impatient and willing to play the KDJ150 also go for a parallel line... and falls in a trap hole.

Sand is very soft making it impossible to get traction upward at all, and in the rear it's too steep so the hatch is hitting the sand and blocks the vehicle... It can't move at all. This is what we call a Toyota trap.
If you were to be by yourself in something like that you would probably be good for hours of digging before to self recover...

To try to get it out we go with the big winch on the HZJ78 and a pulley.

As you can hear the winch is really getting a hard time, the KDJ150 only moved a few inches in the 2nd try... But those few inches were enough to allow the 150 to start a maneuver rearward and turn in the hole to get out.

 

[bj70bc]

 

[charliemeyer007]

You need a tow rope bridle to a sand worm. So I understand a tire can throw a little sand but to continue to allow that to happen only digs you in/down, not out - but what do I know.

 

[flx]

Finally time for the camp !

If you want to take a shower there is nothing simpler, when we arrive in the gassi for the night, you call it in the radio and instead of heading for the camp placement you drive away in a corner of the gassi or behind a sand patch and off you go.

Oh and if anyone wondering, we can walk bare foot on top of the dunes but in the gassis we never do, they are filled with those plants seed that we name "dontleaveme" because they stick very strongly to your foot if you walk on them
(Those seeds use the camel feet to move from a gassi to the next.)

As last night was quite cold I try to install my tent close to the campfire but I don't have much hope for this at this distance

 

[flx]

You need a tow rope bridle to a sand worm. So I understand a tire can throw a little sand but to continue to allow that to happen only digs you in/down, not out - but what do I know.

Yes for sure, he was probably giving it too much gas but the idea here was to assist the winch while the vehicle was being pulled.

 

[flx]

Oh and some pics of sand bread making.

(note that for a group like us they carry a little gaz stove where they make most of the bread every evening and morning)

In exchange we made chestnuts =D

Sand bread was absolutely

Oh and as it's post about food, the main plate of this evening, couscous

 

[bj70bc]

How is it that you aren't chewing on sand with that method of bread cooking?

 

[flx]

How is it that you aren't chewing on sand with that method of bread cooking?

They wait for it to have developed a crust on the outside and remove it very abruptly while still burning hot, keep it vertical adn hit it to make all the sand fell off.
This particular bread didn't had any sand crunch at all!

Now, in the past I already ate sand bread at other opportunities that was quite crunchy!
But to be fair any food can be crunchy in the desert... any little bit of wind will bring some. And when you have a big sand wind like the first day your mouth is permanently crunchy, even before you put food in your mouth

 

[bj70bc]

i may have to try this method in the future

 

[charliemeyer007]

Spice

 

[flx]

Start of the 4th day, and the night was cold!!

Probably around -5°C (~20°F)

Was a bit at the limit of what is possible with my little swag tent, I was quite ok in my sleeping bag but damn every breath would freeze my lungs.

Dunes are frozen in the distance and sparkle (very hard to catch on picture).

Hopefully, the fire + the sun help to warm ourselves the morning.

Obviously I need to fill-up again before we start the day...

 

[flx]

We are just starting the day, climbing on a door and the guide get stuck in a hole... as we set our tire pressures hot, when cold the morning (and particularly this one) the actual pressures can be very low and we have to be careful the time the tire warm-up. Here with the sharp turn at the bottom of the hole, the guide unbeaded his right-rear tire.

Note the frost on the sand still there

First trying to dig the tire out and fix re-bead the tire.

Which again didn't work, so wheel change it is.

 

[flx]

Little winching action to pull up the FJ40 that got bogged in sand.


Obviously drone was up to catch me

Now I need to catch up with the group.

 

[flx]

Try1


Try2

This is where we notice the exhaust silencer clamp got loose again and the exhaust leak at the manifold side is back...

Probably when I got bogged down and the sand pushed the exhaust up...

This time we decided to hack a wedge from a tomato can so the clamp isn't moving anymore and stay in place.

Except for the slight bbq smell for a few hours this fix worked well and held in place for the entirety of the trip.
TBH will probably stay in place until @red66toy decides to reproduce this clamp


During that time some can rest xD

 

[red66toy]

Try1


Try2


View attachment 3825764

This is where we notice the exhaust silencer clamp got loose again and the exhaust leak at the manifold side is back...
View attachment 3825766
Probably when I got bogged down and the sand pushed the exhaust up...

View attachment 3825780

This time we decided to hack a wedge from a tomato can so the clamp isn't moving anymore and stay in place.
View attachment 3825781
View attachment 3825782
View attachment 3825783

Except for the slight bbq smell for a few hours this fix worked well and held in place for the entirety of the trip.
TBH will probably stay in place until @red66toy decides to reproduce this clamp


During that time some can rest xD
View attachment 3825788

Such an awesome trip!!! Living your best life.
Ooh! Thanks for the reminder! I modeled that mount, let me get back on looking into getting it made.

 

[pb4ugo]

This looks like a great trip. It appears you're out in the middle of nowhere. I'm surprised you guys don't use a ratchet strap around the circumference of the tire to help reseat the tires bead on the rim. I've blown many tire beads off rims in the past and it works great and I don't have to remove the tire or use the spare.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Try1


Try2


View attachment 3825764

This is where we notice the exhaust silencer clamp got loose again and the exhaust leak at the manifold side is back...
View attachment 3825766
Probably when I got bogged down and the sand pushed the exhaust up...

View attachment 3825780

This time we decided to hack a wedge from a tomato can so the clamp isn't moving anymore and stay in place.
View attachment 3825781
View attachment 3825782
View attachment 3825783

Except for the slight bbq smell for a few hours this fix worked well and held in place for the entirety of the trip.
TBH will probably stay in place until @red66toy decides to reproduce this clamp


During that time some can rest xD
View attachment 3825788

I’ve done a similar fix on a 70 Series using part of a soda can to shim a deteriorating battery terminal. Gotta use your head for creative repairs sometimes!