The rainfall that year (2008/2009) was one the highest ever recorded. The thunderstorms moved all the way down into the Namib Desert and the Tsauchab River, thundering through the Sesriem Canyon, filled Sossus Vlei with water for the first time in many years. I jumped into Wohni, and started chasing the weather. The . . . → Read More: Desert Rain]]>

Desert Rain #1

The rainfall that year (2008/2009) was one the highest ever recorded. The thunderstorms moved all the way down into the Namib Desert and the Tsauchab River, thundering through the Sesriem Canyon, filled Sossus Vlei with water for the first time in many years. I jumped into Wohni, and started chasing the weather. The downpour was torrential and even though being used to storms, having flown through them many a times, I eventually ended up trying to get the heck outta there. Being the only moving object sticking out of the landscape, with lightning strikes too close for comfort and thunder deafening my ears, I decided that this may not be such a good idea after all.

Desert Rain #2

The camper, mainly composite, produces exactly the opposite effect of a protective Faraday Cage, mind you. It was exciting and terrifying at the same time, the shots I got, however, made it all worth the effort.

If you like my photography, please visit Tommy Kellner Photography.

Stay low, aim high

Tommy

Sorry for the recent (1 year) silence, but the blog had to take a back seat in my live and Wohni became more of a boat hauler and base camp at the dam than the bundu basher it was built to be. What can I say, anything for the kids, right? Right!

Anyhoo, I know . . . → Read More: About Them Wheel Spacers]]>

Boat Hauler

Sorry for the recent (1 year) silence, but the blog had to take a back seat in my live and Wohni became more of a boat hauler and base camp at the dam than the bundu basher it was built to be. What can I say, anything for the kids, right? Right!

Anyhoo, I know that some people are eagerly awaiting feedback on the spacer story/issue, especially as we are talking about an almost 4 ton rig here, constantly pounding gravel roads and other tooth filling removal routes ‘n tracks. Furthermore, this year January Wohni conquered its final frontier, the dunes of the Namib – with honors, I might add.

To cut a long story short, it’s all good news. The spacers purchased at LA Sports Windhoek – after much to and fro and heated discussions and misunderstandings and what not – are holding up. No worries, no complaints. On the contrary, driving and stability has improved a great deal and the whole rig simply feels better then without the spacers.

For what it’s worth: I’m always carrying a torque wrench and I am making sure that the spacers and wheels are torqued (and re-torqued) correctly at all times. Mine are steel spacers and I’m torquing them at 205NM as per owners manual for steel rims, the mags are torqued at 130NM.

At the Travel Expo over last week I learned that La Sport’s spacers are selling well since, but are now made of aluminum. Call me paranoid, but with the weight we are lugging around, I am quite content with our steel spacers albeit the added (not to be underestimated) un-swung mass.

’til next time – drive save.

Tommy

By now we have now done about 5000kms through all sorts of terrain and when fully loaded for 5 days in the wilderness, we are quite heavy (close to 3.5t methinks). It was neither the dune driving, nor . . . → Read More: Wheel Spacers – I’ll have some please]]> I have basically made up my mind and ordered a pair of 2″ wheel spacers from Snake Racing Australia.

By now we have now done about 5000kms through all sorts of terrain and when fully loaded for 5 days in the wilderness, we are quite heavy (close to 3.5t methinks). It was neither the dune driving, nor was it crawling steep mountain tracks, nor driving corrugated gravel roads or any such sorts, that would have been reason to raise any concern.

Ugab River Bed

Close to Messum Crater

However, when we drove through the Ugab river bed, from Mile 108 to the Brandberg, and when in deeper/heavier sand, I felt that Wohni was wagging its tail a bit more then it should (whether following other vehicle’s tracks or not). The ‘swinging’ of the back, obviously caused by the hind wheels’ alternating efforts to follow the tracks made by their respective peers in the front and amplified by the rather rearward center of gravity, worried me somewhat and still does. Not right there and then, where we took it nice and easy, but projecting that tail wagging to what it would/could be like on a sloping wet beach, where you have to keep the speed up at all times, is what may be rather disconcerting. Especially along those stretches, when the wet part is your only option, because you are flanked by steep dune walls on one side and the sea on the other .

Lange Wand - Source: Wikitravel

Sometimes for many kilometers, such as when driving along the “Lange Wand” between Conception Bay and Sandwich Bay for example.

A pair of 2-Inchers for me please – and the unlikely possibility to overstress the axle and/or wheel bearings on the side, thank you very much. I promise to let you know, should something break after all.

Cheers and Beers
Tommy

Related Link: At the time of this writing the discussion is still on @ Landcruiser Club Southern Africa Forum

Sorry for the long silence and thank you for your continued support and visits. We hope you had an enjoyable festive season and wish you and yours all the best for 2009. As I said in the last post – way too long ago I know, but I promise I will make up for it, as . . . → Read More: Wohni Is Finished]]> Howdy All,

Sorry for the long silence and thank you for your continued support and visits. We hope you had an enjoyable festive season and wish you and yours all the best for 2009.
As I said in the last post – way too long ago I know, but I promise I will make up for it, as there is loads to report about – there wasn’t really anything to blog about and all we did was waiting for the day to come where we can go and pick up Wohni. December 17 was the big day when we (Doris and I) hopped on a flight to J-Bay via Cape Town to see our new family member for the first time. All in all amzing and almost more than we bargained for. Almost, as some shortcomings were visible at first glance, with more to follow. More about this in a separate post.

Fill it up please!

Once Wohni was equipped with the basics, refulled and checked, we were off to Mossel Bay for a little sand and dune testing in Vleesbaai, joined by the Schroeders and their converted Hummer. We stayed over night in Plettenberg Bay with the CEOs of Africa Adventure who are also the organisers of the first women only Cape to Cape challenge, sponsored by Mitsubishi amongst others. Enya and Andrea will lead the crowd in their Ford Ranger also converted by Schroeder Motorhomes. More about this again in a separate post soon.

Vleesbaai

Pursuant to Wohni (obviously) sailing through the challenges at Vleesbaai, where some others had more or less troubles, two of them Schroeder Motorhomes mind you, we went for some more or less biggish shopping and errands in Mossel Bay. We organised drinks, food and water, some essential tools and spares, some should-have and nice-to-have items – plus – we did two quick stops to a) silence the exhaust a bit and b) to get the wheels aligned properly, both mediocre yet bothering issues caused by the conversion. Once sorted, we headed north – general direction Namibia – via the Swartberg Pass. More in a separate post

Swartberg Pass

The Schroeders, also on holiday by then, decided to join us for a while and see how far north the wind would blow them and/or their hair back. Not that far, as it would turn out. North that is – the hair was a different story. The Hummer, which had been giving electronic problems for quite a while by then, started loosing power at the worst of all times and places, about half way up the Swartberg Pass. There were plenty times when we thought we would have to part ways, for us to stay on schedule and for the Schroeders to wait for the recovery by GM, but every time the Hummer resuscitated itself miraculously and decided to crawl for a couple more kilometers. Just on the other side of the pass, in Prince Albert, both the Hummer and the Schroeders called it a day and decided to call the cavalry, the way home to J-Bay was spent in their Hummer albeit the same sitting on the back of a tow truck. More about this in a separate post.

Our main objective/plan was to meet the boys at the farm of Doris’ sister (close to Mariental) latest by the 23rd in order to have Christmas together, ideally at our home in Windhoek. Apart from that we were pretty flexible and with three days to spare, we continued north. Through a quite boring part of the Karoo, slanting slightly to the West in order to hit the coast somewhere – which happened to be Doornbaai of all places – we aimed for Sendelingsdrif, the boarder post of the Ai-Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Park. Time permitting, we would have appreciated some time and a nice camp in the Richtersveld, unfortunately we had to give it a rain check and stayed over night in the rather unattractive camp site of Sendelingdrif to catch the ferry to Namibia early next morning. More about this in a separate post.

Das Boot

The following day, we checked out early as planned, loaded Wohni onto the boat – yes, it’s just a boat – checked into Namibia and headed for the farm. Reunited – eventually – the joy and hooray was obviously ginormous. About Wohni that is, the two of us weren’t even missed much by the two little buggers as we had to find out. Which was probably a good thing at their young age, especially as it was the first time ever that they were without mom and/or dad, for almost a week after all.

Back home and with Christmas out of the way I went off on a shopping spree for tools and materials and into a equipping/modifying/fixing/altering frenzy for 3 days flat out. Most of the things to do were obvious and I knew that I would be busy for a while, however, there were surprises and discoveries ranging from “was that really necessary?” to “do you believe that?” and anything in between.

Guess what, more about that, the “Schroeder Handicap” and also about our first trips, including short ones, more testing, picnics and the recent longish one, in other posts to follow.

So long
Tommy

Nachdem ich nun mehrfach aufgefordert wurde, mein Deutsch zu polieren, will ich das hiermit tun. Ich werde mein Bestes versuchen, das wesentliche unseres Wohni zusammenfassend zu uebersetzen – und zwar nicht woertlich sondern sinngemaess, denn sonst gibt’s Krautsalat.

Wie bereits erwaehnt, haben wir vor, das suedliche Afrika, extensiv und quasi bis ins letzte Eck, zu bereisen. . . . → Read More: Unser Wohni – Zusammenfassende Beschreibung]]> Hallo Zusammen,

Nachdem ich nun mehrfach aufgefordert wurde, mein Deutsch zu polieren, will ich das hiermit tun. Ich werde mein Bestes versuchen, das wesentliche unseres Wohni zusammenfassend zu uebersetzen – und zwar nicht woertlich sondern sinngemaess, denn sonst gibt’s Krautsalat.

Wie bereits erwaehnt, haben wir vor, das suedliche Afrika, extensiv und quasi bis ins letzte Eck, zu bereisen. Ausgangspunkt der Etappen und unser Zuhause ist Windhoek, Namibia. Dieses Jahr im Dezember geht’s erstmal nur an die Kueste, um der Hitze zu entfliehen. Dann wird noch etwas modifiziert, mindestens einmal im Monat in die Duenen zum Fotografieren und April/Mai entweder Angola oder Mozambique. Soweit erstmal der grobe Plan, nun zum Auto.

Die besagten “Ecken” und vor allem deren Entfernungen verlangen natuerlich nach etwas mehr als nur Vierradantrieb – wobei, und hier streiten sich die Gelehrten – der Landcruiser Pick-up alles andere ist als nur ein simpler 4×4. Anway, autark (oder autonom?) ist das Stichwort. Sprich, Sprit, Wasser, Vorrat und Saft fuer mehrere hunderte Kilometer und Tage.
Das Wohni bekommt also, zusaetzlich zu den serienmaessigen 180l Sprit, noch zwei 20l Reservekanister fuer den Notfall, 120l Wasser und eine 300amp (Sonnenschein) wartungsfreie Batterie. Desweiteren einen 12V, 60l Engel Kuehli und eine 45l Kuehlbox. Fuer den Fall das der Strom doch mal ausgehen sollte, werden wir einen 2kW Generator dabei haben und spaeter vielleicht irgendwann mal ein oder zwei Solarpanäle.

Da wir ungerne “aus dem Kofferraum” campen und auch nicht sehr viel von Zelt aufschlagen und abbauen, in Boxen rumwühlen, etc. halten, kommt die Wanne runter und eine GFK Kabine mit Hubdach hinten drauf (voll integriert). Darin werden wir (Eltern oben, Kinder unten) schlafen – und sonst nix. Ich sag das so, denn Wohni wird eigentlich kein Wohnmobil im ueblichen Sinne, sondern etwas anders. Wir haben hier in unserer “Gegend” das Glück, dass das Wetter meist gut und die Temperaturen selten unangenehm sind. Daher ist das draussen Aufhalten, Essen, Waschen, etc. kein Problem.

Wir haben aber gerne einen gewissen Komfort, wie z.B. die eigene Toilette und eine ordentliche Dusche. Wohni bekommt im hinteren Teil, über der abgeschrägten Verlängerung eine Heckgarage. An der Innenseite der Klappe, rings um den Rand haben wir Zeltstoff, den man einfach runterlassen kann und somit in null-komma-nix ein Badezimmer. An der Klappe befestigen wir auch einen Lattenrost, der als Boden dient. Dann brauchen wir nur noch das Porta Potti aus der Heckgarage zu holen, die Dusche aufdrehen, der Warmwasserbehaelter hat sich in der Zwischenzeit aufgeheizt – und voila.
Unter die Heckgarage kommt eine ausziehbare Küchenzeile mit zweiflammigem Gasherd und Waschbecken.

In der Kabine sind hauptsächlich Stauraum, Schränke, der Kühli, etc. Die zweite Sitzreihe besteht aus zwei festen Sitzen fuer die Jungs mit Dreipunktgurten und Isofix Halterungen fuer deren Stuehle. Zwischen den Stühlen kann man, quasi als Schwiegermutter/Schwiegervater Sitz ein vier-teiliges, gepolstertes Brett, einhängen und wenn man es nicht braucht einfach zusammenklappen und verstauen. Damit hätten wir also einen 4-6 Sitzer.

Da wir aus Gewichts- und Schwerpunktgründen die Ersatzräder nicht hinten oben haben wollten (und an der Heckklappe geht nicht), kommen diese auf einen Träger der vorne am Luten befestigt ist und an der Bullbar abgestützt wird.

An der Fahrzeugseite befestigen wir eine grosse Markise mit optionalen Seitenwänden, welche auch bei Bedarf mit dem Duschzelt verbunden werden kann und somit ein gemütliches Vorhaus bildet.

Ein wenig zum Technischen: LC79, neu, mit bewaehrtem 4.5l Reihensechser (Benziner), säuft wie ein Loch und zieht dafür aber, dass sich die Ohren anlegen. 285/75 Bridgestone Mud Terrain auf 16” Alufelgen (konnt’s nicht lassen). Da wir das maximum von 1.5t ausnutzen (und auch zertifizieren) werden, brauchen wir vorne einfache und hinten doppelte OME (Old Man Emu) Dämpfer, die Blattfedern sind stark genug, so wie sie sind (das weis ich so genau, weil mir bei der Fahrt nach Jeffreys Bay fast die Plomben rausvibriert sind).

Dann kommen natürlich noch die Schnick-Schnacks, wie High-Lift-Jack, Sandbleche, irgenwann mal vielleicht eine Winde und auf alle Fälle was zum Reifen pumpen.

Sooo, das war’s erstmal – mit wunden Fingern und wahrscheinlich 1001 Schreibfehlern (sorry).

Bis Neulich
Tommy