A good off-roader for desert driving

[bibblybobbly]

It's been a dream of mine to take an off-roader out to sandy deserts, for periods of a couple of days at a time, and camp in the back. I want to go searching for scorpions with a UV light at night.

What would be tough enough for this kind of punishment? I've always loved the look of Land Cruisers, especially the J80s. Are these too old and decrepit now? In general, I have a kind of superstitious faith in the strength and reliability Japanese SUVs. Not least because you seem to see a lot of those guys in Dubai bashing dunes in Land Cruisers, Nissan Patrols etc.

Will I die?

[GravelBen]

You have the answer there already - Landcruiser or Patrol/Safari.

Both have their relative pros and cons but they're about as tough as each other all round, pick whichever you like best. I prefer the Nissans personally.

[bibblybobbly]

Thanks, that's good to hear. I have always thought Land Cruisers were sexy as hell. Nice to have an excuse to buy one. There's nothing I love more than a reliable, well-built, durable car. Even more so than a high-speed car perhaps.

I've never really done any off-roading though. How best to learn and prepare for this adventure?

Tyres etc.?

Edited by bibblybobbly on Friday 11th March 17:31

[Bill]

Where are you? And what are the desert conditions like? Different conditions have different requirements (sand really saps power, for instance, so weight and power are a priority over fuel efficiency)

Best idea is probably to look at what the locals use and join a local club, not least because its not wise to go alone.

Eta Chris Scott's book is a good starting point -https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/116720.Sahara_Overland_2nd He's also written an overlander's handbook.

Edited by Bill on Saturday 19th March 08:03

[300bhp/ton]

Light weight and lots of power are likely good starts. Some kind of sand rail probably the most fun and most affective.

[GravelBen]

bibblybobbly said:

It's been a dream of mine to take an off-roader out to sandy deserts, for periods of a couple of days at a time, and camp in the back.

...

300bhp/ton said:

sand rail

[gareth h]

I've done the Sahara in Morocco a couple of times, it is an epic experience, and not too far away.

[bibblybobbly]

Bill said:

Best idea is probably to look at what the locals use and join a local club, not least because its not wise to go alone.

I don't know about joining a club. The idea would be to drive over from the UK and just drive around, say, Northern Africa a bit. Is that possible?

More and more, I'm thinking: "Fuggit. If I die, I die." I really want to do this.

[Bill]

Ah. I wasn't sure you weren't in UAE or similar.

Most of the desert guides we met used petrol landcruisers for daytrips in sand, diesel LCs for anything else.

[bigblock]

bibblybobbly said:

I don't know about joining a club. The idea would be to drive over from the UK and just drive around, say, Northern Africa a bit. Is that possible?

More and more, I'm thinking: "Fuggit. If I die, I die." I really want to do this.

North Africa - Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt.

All of those countries or parts of them are subject to a 'do not visit' or 'do not visit unless essential' warning from the UK foreign office.

It would appear that you have no experience of driving in these countries especially the remoter areas and want to just head off and "drive around a bit".
I would suggest that if you do, without the correct planning and expert advice then your philosophy of "if I die, I die" is very likely to come true.

[gareth h]

Of those countries Morocco is the only one I would consider, although they contribute quite a lot of labour to ISIS there don't seem to be too many problems internally.
We saw lots of guys on self supported trips, there does seem to be a well trodden route, but you could get into problems if you stray too far off those routes and have problems, it gets piggin hot!

[Disco3Steve]

Drove all the from the UK to Marseilles then the Tunisian Cattle Truck ferry to do the Tunisian Sahara just before the Arab Spring (wouldn't do it now) in a brand new Land Rover Discovery 3 in a group of 8.

However... because of the well known LR reliability question marks, I wouldn't do it on my own. or with an old one.


BTW - it took a lot of sand digging, a doubled over winch cable pull and a 3rd car as an anchor to get us out of that little sand trap ... :-)

[Bill]

More power/less weight. We took a 10 year old Defender...

[bibblybobbly]

gareth h said:

Of those countries Morocco is the only one I would consider, although they contribute quite a lot of labour to ISIS there don't seem to be too many problems internally.
We saw lots of guys on self supported trips, there does seem to be a well trodden route, but you could get into problems if you stray too far off those routes and have problems, it gets piggin hot!

Thanks for the responses guys. I had not considered the political dimension. Urrgh.

Self-supported you say? I don't intend on venturing out to the most far-flung, inhospitable, terrorist-ified areas. A well-trodden route sounds fine to me.