2 Diesels, 4 Continents

[mailking]

if someone wants it bad enough they show up with a wrecker and off it goes.

but seriously
get a big dog and you don't even need to remove the keys.

well

it works for me.

Yeah, get a dog, Karin-Marijke will love that!, but for us that is not an option....

 

[SNLC]

if someone wants it bad enough they show up with a wrecker and off it goes.

but seriously
get a big dog and you don't even need to remove the keys.

well

it works for me.

agree...and a small dog that will take your hand off also works! With many months on the road in Mexico and Central America I never once had a problem, a lot of that due to my dog. I also put signs in the windows in englisha nd spanish that say beware of dog.

To take a dog with you on a trip like this though takes special preperation and also consideration for the dog as you travel.

The locks look solid, seen them used before. Thing is most people are just going to toss a brick through the window and climb in. At that point the lock is useless. Tinting windows helps a lot, obviously to reduce what people can see in the truck but also because they will be harder to break.

Just don't leave anything out in sight, use a steering wheel lock, a good one and you will be fine. If you make things available to thieves they will steal them. For vehicle security you cans imply pull the coil wire or better yet install a valve in your fuel line you can turn off. Turn off the fuel line when you park it. If somebody starts the truck they will get 100ft and it will die so they will think it is a problem with the truck. Cleaver security measures work better then brute force.

Being an old 40 series I don't think you will have many problems unless you leave stuff out in plain sight. You are going to be low key in that truck, much more so then a lot of people who do these trips. Lock boxes for the cargo area are a go though too.

Oh and in case it has not been mentioned, make sure you have the orange triangle and fire extingusher. Required by law in some countries and used as a way to bribe you by the cops. Not to mention how much fun it is when the cop with a huge gold tooth smile asks to see it thinking he is getting $50 and you turn that smile into a frown when he sees you have them!

 

[esh]

It doesn't keep people out, but a lock on the transmission or tcase is some nice security. They used to be sourced in the UK, but I think have become more common. An example- Suffolk Lock

 

[1tontoy]

Excellent advice!

agree...and a small dog that will take your hand off also works! With many months on the road in Mexico and Central America I never once had a problem, a lot of that due to my dog. I also put signs in the windows in englisha nd spanish that say beware of dog.

To take a dog with you on a trip like this though takes special preperation and also consideration for the dog as you travel.

The locks look solid, seen them used before. Thing is most people are just going to toss a brick through the window and climb in. At that point the lock is useless. Tinting windows helps a lot, obviously to reduce what people can see in the truck but also because they will be harder to break.

Just don't leave anything out in sight, use a steering wheel lock, a good one and you will be fine. If you make things available to thieves they will steal them. For vehicle security you cans imply pull the coil wire or better yet install a valve in your fuel line you can turn off. Turn off the fuel line when you park it. If somebody starts the truck they will get 100ft and it will die so they will think it is a problem with the truck. Cleaver security measures work better then brute force.

Being an old 40 series I don't think you will have many problems unless you leave stuff out in plain sight. You are going to be low key in that truck, much more so then a lot of people who do these trips. Lock boxes for the cargo area are a go though too.

Oh and in case it has not been mentioned, make sure you have the orange triangle and fire extingusher. Required by law in some countries and used as a way to bribe you by the cops. Not to mention how much fun it is when the cop with a huge gold tooth smile asks to see it thinking he is getting $50 and you turn that smile into a frown when he sees you have them!

 

[SNLC]

So call me a paranoid American, I'll accept it, but I do feel that I am better than most (I bet we would all say that

ok, that's enough, will stop being paranoid. Although, as I said earlier, I feel that I am just being prudent and trying to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

Hey man...yeah you are being paranoid. I mean vehicle security is one thing and should be something you do but no need to go overboard. By taking this truck south of the border you are taking a risk, face it. If you are not ready to lose the truck and everything else do not go. Having said that no need to worry about such things. You already ahve most bases covered and then some, maybe tint the windows and install the fuel ine valve like I suggest.

This IS an old truck, you will blend right in once you are south of Mexico! That is except for the RHD thing and your license plate. And BTW you should know, you can not take a RHD vehicle in El Salvador in CA or Peru in S.America and there may be more countries.

As far as personal security and things like car jacking, again you are worrying to much in this old 40 series. But, I carried a large can of bear spray between my seats at all times. Besides this I have various weapons stashed through my truck, such as; lead headed club, a gaft, spear guns, machete, Rambo knife and so forth. Never once did I have to brandish any of these weapons. FYI, leave guns at home if you plan to take them, they will land you in jail very fast.

I drove my 2004 Taco to Panama and back 2x from Wyoming. The truck was decked out with a super charger and many other mods, I had $40k in the truck and on top of it I had a 16ft bright red kayak and a stack of surf boards. First trip I spent 13 weeks on the road doing 15,000 miles in that time and living out of my truck all but 2 weeks of that. I did 80% plus of the trip solo. I did all the things you shouldn't do...drove at night many times, went to areas people say are unsafe, got drunk with the locals, boondock camped alone in Baja, got rear ended in San Salvador and all kinds of other stuff. I had a few close calls but nothing serious other then police trying to frame me in Acapulco and a border officer at the Mexico/Belize border stealing my cell phone. All my problems were with border officers or cops, with only a few instance with locals that got hairy because I was doing s*** I shouldn't. I sat around in El Salavdor drinking beers one night with MS13 gangsters and walked away from it no problems. A lot of this comes down to how you carry yourself, handle yourself and if you show respect to people.

Your biggest abrassive interaction is going to be with the cops and border officers and once out of Central America that should mellow out big time. The exception might be local surfers if you plan to surf your way south. It is rare but sometimes they do not like gringos coming to their breaks.

I wrote a very detailed and long blog after my first trip. I was very inexperienced on this trip when I started out as I had never traveled in other countries this way.

Here is the blog....you will find much good info in there, first hand;

Rocky Mountain Patrol & Offroad • The Ultimate Road Trip! |

And Coen posting here in your thread has been on the road in his old Cruiser for many years. I don't think he has many problems with people stealing his stuff.

 

[24vRHD]

I certainly agree. By putting locks like these I certainly have changed both the look and feel of the truck. But I hope it is effective and it was certainly quick and dirty. Had I known about those more elegant locks I would have tried to make them work.

But we only have a small amount of time and we are doing the best we can to get everything ready. The important part is the trip is happening

Crushers is absolutely right, there is little you can do to defend against a tow truck or a car jacking.

My father enjoys riding around in the passenger seat of the RHD truck reading a paper. To the outside world in the Americas it looks like the driver is reading a paper and he gets lots of frightened looks as we roll by.

Of course it would be even more incongruous if there was a giant dog sitting there

 

[24vRHD]

We will only be driving as far North as Colombia and I suspect we will fit in nicely aside from the roof-top-tent. I had planned on driving through Peru and this is the first that I have heard that RHD vehicles won't be let in. I have heard that is true for Costa Rica.

I have spoken to a few people who have driven RHD through Peru. Apparently the issue arrives when you try and ship a vehicle in rather than drive through a land border. Looking around online I certainly see what you are saying about the vehicle needing to be LHD to import it to Peru, and this rule is rather new. It also says you can't import a vehicle older than 8 years but again that doesn't seem to apply to those that are just passing through.

Coen you are LHD if I recall but I have noticed that you have also avoided Peru, any reason for that?

RMP&O, thanks for the heads up, going to be tough to get to Colombia if I can't pass through Peru!

 

[24vRHD]

Quick Update

So we are at less than 2 weeks until load-out. Still a lot of heavily work going on obviously.

Here is a pick of the hoist shackle recovery point that has been added and the welding that backs it up.

Also some serious fabrications for the 2nd alternator mounting bracket.

The Diamond Rax Roof Rack and Cascadia Vehicle Tent will be mounted shortly.

We have also ordered new wheels with 2.5in of spacing. We are of course worried about rollovers with all the extra weight on top. Since we are going to be moving to pizza cutters we have decided to space out the footrpint a bit.

 

[24vRHD]

Here is a view of the security deck we built in the back (mostly to keep things out of sight, but also to slow down someone who is going to smash and grab.)

This is the 12V house bank (Wired in Parallel) and our air compressor for the on-board-air.

An inverter will also be heading in there. Still some painting left to be done.

 

[deebee]

This is the 12V house bank (Wired in Parallel)

How are you re-charging the house batteries? External 110volt charger, or set up to charge as you drive, like an RV?

 

[24vRHD]

Greetings Deebee. We have mounted a 2nd alternator. Our truck is 24V so we have installed a 2nd 12V alternator dedicated solely to charging the house bank.

Another option is to install a 24v to 12v Dc to DC charger. You can find stepdown transformers for cheap, but a true DC to DC charger can cost anywhere from $100 to $1000 depending on what features and size you opt for.

 

[driver5155]

subscribed

 

[24vRHD]

Puttin' it together

So a lot of work over the long holiday weekend.

Radiator was rebuilt, re-painted and re-installed. Bars on the front were modified to accommodate the 9,000# Ramsey. (Plus some vinyl stickers to big-up our website

Special mounts to support the Hi-Lift as well.

The Hellas were put on (Yet to be wired up and still waiting for 24v bulbs)

DiamondRax Roof rack is on.

Still pending:
Roof Top Tent coming up shortly.

We bought some big truck (think 18 wheeler) STT (Stop turn Tails) 24V LEDs that will be mounted up high in the back so people can see us clearly while driving in dust.

Ordered new wheels with a wider spaceout to give us the same wheelbase as we will be switching to 31x10.5 BFG MTs which are shorter and narrower than the 33x12.5s that are currently installed.

and well, actually there is still tons to do of course. The truck ships on Dec 5 from Boulder to Houston where it will be containerized and then loaded on a boat for the ride down to Buenos Aires. Whatever dosen't get done now, will have to get done down there.

I'll keep the pics coming!

Question, why does everyone always blot out their license plate? I did it because there is a good chance I'm missing something obvious but I'm really not sure what the harm is in seeing someone's license plate number on the internet is. Am I missing something?

 

[24vRHD]

Looks like the tent made it on.

My Cousin also made an aluminum tray for the front of the rack to hold things in place so they don't have to sit on the roof. (Cooler, Jerry Cans etc)

Great work Rob!

 

[DanS HJ-45]

Very cool! I wish I would have seen this earlier, I'd gladly lend a hand if it were needed.

I'm sending you a PM, BTW...

Dan

 

[24vRHD]

Tent is in

So the tent is Installed and looking good. Also in (but no pics yet) are the new Wheels (with wider spaceout) + 31" x 10.5 BGT MTs installed. New TREs from Australia installed and aligned by the steelership. Reports are in that the truck is running and driving better than ever. Very exciting! Here is a pic of the tent (old wheels)

 

[mailking]

Coen you are LHD if I recall but I have noticed that you have also avoided Peru, any reason for that?

Too many North American tourists...

No serious, we don't follow a strict plan, and because the upper part of this continent is so wide and has different climates, we try to be in the right place on the right time. But as always, things (or the people we meet) get in the way of effective planning. We have given up effective planning a long time ago, and only stick to the near future and that suits us fine. Peru will be waiting for us!

A note on the RHD vehicles: there is a big difference in importing and temporary importing. We have read people being denied access to Chile and Bolivia, but I also know friends that have driven their RHD trough these and Peru. So it all comes down to who is in front of you at the border and how you play the game. Relax and you'll do fine. Don't you take no for an answer and search for alternatives. But remember, don't loose your temper and always put up a smile. Most important: enjoy!

 

[24vRHD]

Thanks for the advice Coen, I think (hope) we will be fine too, and if not, well, the adventure is going to be that much more interesting.

So, the truck has left Colorado and is currently on a car carrier headed for Houston.

She was 7' 10" with the RTT installed. We had to remove the ladder so it would fit in the 20' shipping container (Which I am told has an internal vertical clearance of 7'10" We are 7' 8" at the moment. I hope it fits in the box

Ok, please enjoy these two sendoff pictures. I really can't say enough about the work my cousin has done and the truck is looking quite iconic. Couldn't be happier. The 31" MTs look great on the new black wheels. You guys will also enjoy the Stop/Turn/Tails up high on the back.

Assuming all goes well on the trip this will prove (what we all already know and has already been proven) that these LCs are expedition ready. Probably wasn't the most interesting build thread because well, all we did was bolt some things on.

Fret not, it will continue once the truck reaches Buenos Aires Next month.

 

[mailking]

Looking good!!!!

Adventurous greetings,
Coen

 

[RiverRatMatt]

Looks great, I love those rear lights!