Road trip to South America

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SkiLyft

Likely thinking about skiing
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Spokane, WA
I've been considering a road trip down south in my hundred... Aside from the technical aspects of outfitting my 100 for that trip (there are other treads that cover that) has anyone else ever attempted/done a similar trip?

What are the roads like/ how manageable is a trip like this?

Is safety an issue?


Sent from my iPhone, please embrace the typos
 
I am in the midst of saving up for this trip. And outfitting the 100 of course. The above link is the only 100 that I found that at least started the trip. Expedition Portal is a great website. I have read the reports of a couple of 80's that made the journey...and other various vehicles.

In my opinion, this type of trip is what the 100 series excels at. Miles of corrugated roads, the occasion muddy road, the occasional river crossing, and maybe some rocks here and there. Invest in good tires, skid plates, and maybe some extra fuel capacity, and go! Of course, I need to take my own advice instead of dreaming of the uber-world traveling UZJ100.:rolleyes:

DO IT and tell us about it! I won't be far behind!
 
you could be the first 100 to cross the Darien Gap!

Immortal fame!! :)
 
Ahh I know! I feel like it would be such an amazing trip! It's moving on my short list of things to do in the next five years.

My plan is to:
-upgrade my fuel capacity
- is Jerry cans the best option?
-tires

And as far as skid plates go what all is involved?


Sent from my iPhone, please embrace the typos
 
It depends on how much extra fuel capacity you want. If you are talking only 10-15 gallons, I would go with Scepter military fuel cans on a rear bumper (or at the worst, a roof rack). If you are talking 20 gallons plus, you are looking a subtank. But then you have to relocate your spare tire. The dead nuts cheapest would be a couple of Scepter cans in the rig or thrown up top. About a $200 plus hardware. Otherwise, you can go into the 2k+ range with a subtank and all the plumbing.

Tires, go with something strong and not too tall. The tires Michelin makes for desert driving in Africa are ideal, but we can't get them here. Best bet would be a 31" to 33" all terrain. I went with Toyo M-55 in the 255/85R16 size...about 33" of 10 ply goodness. Nice benefit is they have a great footprint aired down...not so nice...20lb's more per tire than stock. I posted a couple of pics on the 'What have you done to your 100' thread...

Skidplates are six or half a dozen of the other. Aluminum skidplates are light but expensive and don't hold up well to dragging your 100 through rocks. But you really shouldn't be doing a ton of that driving down to South America. Steel skidplates are cheaper but weigh a lot. But they are super strong as well. I have steel skids from BIOR...overkill definitely. I may have to trade them out depending on how the 100 builds out and the final weight of the rig. Shooting for 7200 to 7500 pounds max.

Watch the weight of the truck...many of the fully built rigs on here, when loaded up for travel with people, gear, and gas, weigh over 8,000 pounds. That is significantly over the GVWR of the 100...they handle fine, but gas mileage goes down and the rate of parts breakage could go up.
 
Skids are nice for piece of mind but generally unnecessary unless you plan on doing some rock crawling along the way.

Make sure you have a way to lock up anything on the outside of your truck. Gas cans, spare tire, etc.

Select a common tire size so that replacements will be easy to find if needed.

Good luck!
 
you could be the first 100 to cross the Darien Gap!

Immortal fame!! :)

I just looked up this route... that might be a bit beyond what I am trying to get myself into. Haha I'm not thinking about turning my 100 into a tank... (at least not yet)

Thanks for all this insight, guys and keep it coming.
 
If you want any info on the journey, email me. I started in Seattle in May (actually I started in Queensland Australia in March, but my snorkel wasn't long enough to drive the first bit to Seattle !), went up to Prudhoe and Inuvik etc, and then came down through central America and am now in Ecuador, heading to Tierra del Fuego. I am in a Troopie with a diesel V*, twin 90 litre fuel tanks, and 50 litres of water. Plus plus plus. Big fuel tanks are a saviour down here as you can fill up when YOU want (price and quality wise), and can go bush whenever you want. Be prepared for a LOT of very twisty roads at high altitude - We only made about 150 kms the other day and drove for 10 hours !! Butt scenery made that speed just right !!
You can see more abut my vehicle and preparations I did to it for the trip at my blog. I can't post my blog address on here yet but if you google Giles Cooper Alaska you will find my blogs. Happy to chat about any questions or ideas you might have.
PS Don't ship to Columbia - Central America was amazing. Oh, and learn Spanish before you come - It really helps you get along.
Giles
 
We start our pan Americas trip in Spring 2016 and I'm kitting out my truck on the UK site below. I have gone for the large sub-tank rather than extra cans - but this is a personal choice - I don't like too much weight on the roof, don't like fuel inside the truck and the extra tank at 122 litres plus 55 litres of water has a very low CoG. Jerry cans are better if you like de-mountable weight (as I do) but I've compromised on this occasion.

http://www.landcruiserclub.net/foru...dgehog-LC100-build-thread?p=409684#post409684
 

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