Overland Tech and Travel
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Designing a Vehicle Build, Including a Virtual Troopy Tour – Free online workshop
Have you ever daydreamed about designing, and then actually building, your “dream vehicle” for overland adventure? In this free Overland Tech and Travel workshop, we walk you through how we started keeping field notes on their “perfect overland vehicle” in the 1990s, and then by 2016 began the process of buying, designing, and building our ultimate overlanding vehicle, a 1993 Land Cruiser Troop Carrier converted to a pop-top camper in Australia and eventually—after 29,000 kilometers and four years exploring Australia and southern Africa—imported home to Arizona.
RESOURCES FROM THE WORKSHOP:
Download PDF of build and specs. (left)
Download PDF of additional specs, resources. (this information also copied below)
Download vehicle weight / distribution report.
IMPORTATION – The U.S. allows virtually any vehicle over 25 years old to be imported without the need to conform to current standards. That means Troopies powered by the 1HZ engine—introduced in 1990—are now eligible.
AUStoUSA.com Darwin Troopy: $16,000 U.S. 1993, eligible for importation in 2018. [bought June 2016]. 244,800 km / 152,000 miles on odo.
Expedition Centre in Sydney. Daniel Fluckiger, Australian/Swiss owner
Mulgo aluminum pop-top conversion for the Troopy (and the Defender 110). Full standing headroom in the back, drop-down double bed with mattress; when closed raises the height of the vehicle only 30mm.
Arrived in Australia mid-July 2016 for a three-week crossing of the Simpson Desert.
FIRST ROUND OF ACCESSORIES FOR 2016 MADIGAN LINE / SIMPSON DESERT
Warn XD9000S winch in existing ARB bumper, spooled w/100 feet of 3/8-inch Dyneema.
ARB Intensity 21 round LED lamps
National Luna NL50 fridge/freezer combination
125-watt photovoltaic panel
Brackets for MaxTrax at front of roof
Second round of modifications (2017), Tasmania & RED DESERT CENTER TRIPS
Cabinetry per CAD drawings
95-liter stainless-steel water tank between chassis rails
ARB Twin air compressor
Kaymar rear bumper/carrier
Recaro Specialist M seats and SupaFit covers
Eezi-Awn Bat 270 awning, two side panels
Third round of modifications (2018) WESTERN AUSTRALIA DESERT CROSSING
Ultimate Suspension springs, twin-tube gas shocks, “Sumo” springs
180-liter Long Ranger rear fuel tank
New 16x7 wheels and BFG All-Terrain tires
INSURANCE: progressive.au. and then Assurantiekantoor Alessie (Neth.) for Africa
SHIPPERS: International Vehicle Shipping Services (IVSSUK); Trade Ocean in Namibia
COST: Total investment to date, not including the Recaro seats or repairs, is $43,000 US.
MILEAGE TO DATE: 18,000 mi / 29,000 km over 4 years, 3 continents
Two Sahara veterans reunite
In 1975, Squadron Leader Tom Sheppard led the Joint Services Expedition on the first west to east crossing of the Sahara Desert, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea—a trek that covered 7,500 miles and took 81 days coast to coast. The team used four of the very first production forward-control 1-tonne Land Rovers, two of which were equipped with powered-axle trailers driven from the rear PTO of the vehicles. In addition to completing the route, team members conducted a series of gravity measurements along the way, collected minerals, lizards, and bilharzia-bearing snails for researchers at the British Museum, and experimented with navigation techniques combining astro-fixes and sun compass bearings with calculations provided by what was then a cutting edge piece of technology: a Hewlett-Packard HP65 programmable pocket calculator.
Sheppard, already a desert veteran by that time, nevertheless learned much that would stand him in good stead on numerous solo Sahara treks by Land Rover and Mercedes G-Wagen, knowledge he subsequently shared through such books as the seminal Vehicle-Dependent Expedition Guide and Four-by-four Driving (not to mention his more introspective and lavishly photographed works such as Nobility of Wilderness and Quiet for a Tuesday: Solo in the Algerian Sahara).
In 1975, Squadron Leader Tom Sheppard led the Joint Services Expedition on the first west to east crossing of the Sahara Desert, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea—a trek that covered 7,500 miles and took 81 days coast to coast. The team used four of the very first production forward-control 1-tonne Land Rovers, two of which were equipped with powered-axle trailers driven from the rear PTO of the vehicles. In addition to completing the route, team members conducted a series of gravity measurements along the way, collected minerals, lizards, and bilharzia-bearing snails for researchers at the British Museum, and experimented with navigation techniques combining astro-fixes and sun compass bearings with calculations provided by what was then a cutting edge piece of technology: a Hewlett-Packard HP65 programmable pocket calculator.
Tom, already a desert veteran by that time, nevertheless learned much that would stand him in good stead on numerous solo Sahara treks by Land Rover and Mercedes G-Wagen, knowledge he subsequently shared through such books as the seminal Vehicle-Dependent Expedition Guide and Four-by-four Driving (not to mention his more introspective and lavishly photographed works such as Nobility of Wilderness and Quiet for a Tuesday: Solo in the Algerian Sahara).
Recently, at a Land Rover press event, Tom was reunited with one of the JSE vehicles, still mounted with the sun compass that carried him safely across the desert. He sent us these photos.
Tom Sheppard, left, discusses the 101FC with Roger Crathorne, Land Rover engineering legend.
Of course, for Tom, just standing around reminiscing would never do . . .
What would you have given to be that grinning passenger . . .
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Overland Tech and Travel is curated by Jonathan Hanson, co-founder and former co-owner of the Overland Expo. Jonathan segued from a misspent youth almost directly into a misspent adulthood, cleverly sidestepping any chance of a normal career track or a secure retirement by becoming a freelance writer, working for Outside, National Geographic Adventure, and nearly two dozen other publications. He co-founded Overland Journal in 2007 and was its executive editor until 2011, when he left and sold his shares in the company. His travels encompass explorations on land and sea on six continents, by foot, bicycle, sea kayak, motorcycle, and four-wheel-drive vehicle. He has published a dozen books, several with his wife, Roseann Hanson, gaining several obscure non-cash awards along the way, and is the co-author of the fourth edition of Tom Sheppard's overlanding bible, the Vehicle-dependent Expedition Guide.