First Time Offroad Bala

[mt159]

I am planning on goin to Bala off road this wkend and it will be my first time offroad. My defender only has a 2" lift + all terrain tyres. I was wondering will i be ok as i has no snorkal, tank guard, diff guard ect?

[Gafferjim]

You don't NEED a snorkle, if there's water, you can bet that there's another way around it, remember where you air intake is on the side of the wing, you can wade reasonably deep water without it coming up to there.
I would get some diffguards ASAP, the Landy diffs are only tin, and are easy to crack, easpecially if it's got some years under it's boots.
you also need good recovery points both front and rear. the towbar will do at the rear providing your cross member is in decent order, but you need something at the front. Many people recommend "Jade rings" personally I recommmend the military lifting eyes, if they can hoist it under a helicopter with them, then it's good enough for me!



Paddocks have them for £19:50p a pair.

http://www.paddockspares.com/pp/OFF_ROAD/Ropes_and...

and your diff guards are here: (depending on what axle)

http://www.paddockspares.com/search.asp

Edited by Gafferjim on Tuesday 2nd February 16:01

Edited by Gafferjim on Tuesday 2nd February 16:03

[Angry Sheep]

You should be ok (although as has been said, recovery points are a good idea). Bala's a great site, with plenty of alternative routes if you want to take it easy.

Just enjoy yourself, you'll soon learn what you can and can't do in your vehicle and work out how you can improve it

[JWH]

Gafferjim said:

You don't NEED a snorkle, if there's water, you can bet that there's another way around it, remember where you air intake is on the side of the wing, you can wade reasonably deep water without it coming up to there.
I would get some diffguards ASAP, the Landy diffs are only tin, and are easy to crack, easpecially if it's got some years under it's boots.
you also need good recovery points both front and rear. the towbar will do at the rear providing your cross member is in decent order, but you need something at the front. Many people recommend "Jade rings" personally I recommmend the military lifting eyes, if they can hoist it under a helicopter with them, then it's good enough for me!

I don't like directly contradicting another poster's opinion but please disregard the above on lifting eyes.
They're designed to support the vehicles weight from above. If used as recovery points you'll be applying a force 90 degrees away from the direction in which they're designed to operate. Also, in recovering a heavily bogged vehicle you're likely to generate loads of significantly more than the vehicles weight. So, more force than they specced to withstand at a completely different angle. DO NOT USE THEM. IF AND WHEN THEY BREAK IT WILL RESULT IN THE RECOVERY EYE FLYING THROUGH THE AIR VER YFAST AND POTENTIALLY HURTING SOMEONE.

The OP refers to 'Jade' rings. These are actually called JATE rings and are bolted through the chassis. Get yourself a set of them and you'll be just fine.

[bigblock]

JWH said:

Gafferjim said:

You don't NEED a snorkle, if there's water, you can bet that there's another way around it, remember where you air intake is on the side of the wing, you can wade reasonably deep water without it coming up to there.
I would get some diffguards ASAP, the Landy diffs are only tin, and are easy to crack, easpecially if it's got some years under it's boots.
you also need good recovery points both front and rear. the towbar will do at the rear providing your cross member is in decent order, but you need something at the front. Many people recommend "Jade rings" personally I recommmend the military lifting eyes, if they can hoist it under a helicopter with them, then it's good enough for me!

I don't like directly contradicting another poster's opinion but please disregard the above on lifting eyes.
They're designed to support the vehicles weight from above. If used as recovery points you'll be applying a force 90 degrees away from the direction in which they're designed to operate. Also, in recovering a heavily bogged vehicle you're likely to generate loads of significantly more than the vehicles weight. So, more force than they specced to withstand at a completely different angle. DO NOT USE THEM. IF AND WHEN THEY BREAK IT WILL RESULT IN THE RECOVERY EYE FLYING THROUGH THE AIR VER YFAST AND POTENTIALLY HURTING SOMEONE.

The OP refers to 'Jade' rings. These are actually called JATE rings and are bolted through the chassis. Get yourself a set of them and you'll be just fine.

Gafferjim said:

you also need good recovery points both front and rear. the towbar will do at the rear providing your cross member is in decent order

On a similar note to JWHs post, do not use your tow bar as a recovery point, it is not designed for this type of loading and will eventualy fracture and snap off, possibly killing you or a bystander in the process.
Best practice is to fit two JATE rings and use a strop to split any load between them.