Fuel filtration options for round the world trip

Not sure about the extra filter but I reckon a Mr Funnel wouldn't be a bad idea.
What I really want to know is more about your trip??
I'm dreaming of doing the same thing- unfortunately reality is getting in the way :)

Google .... Water watch fuel systems a VERY good product and Australian!

Troopies usually come with 2 filters - is yours missing one?

Hi, I am building an Expedition Vehicle for the same reason, and will be installing a Racor 500FG2 with water detection kit on my Iveco. My research says this is the best solution, but only experience will tell. They are cheapest overseas, but are available in Australia.
Phil

I have done a fair bit of driving in the more out of the way places around the world in our 1Hz troopy. I made sure that my fuel system was in top condition before shipping the vehicle off and carried 2 spare fuel filters. I have a total capacity of 180L which gives the option to pick and choose where to buy fuel. I think this is a key as some places just look worrying and avoiding them was I think why we had no problems.

I used 1 fuel tank as a reserve, filled with known good fuel and only topped it up when I was confident that the source was good. I also made sure that I always had an empty 2L clear plastic container (cordial, fruit juice etc) and if I had doubts I filled it with the diesel before putting any in the tanks. If you let it settle you can easily see if there is a major problem with dirt or water.

I think the oem filters are good and mine does have a water warning alarm, though it may not be as good as the more sophisticated after market ones. I only alter engine systems when absolutely necessary in the interests of reliability.

cheers

Our troopy does not have a turbo and so is very tolerant of fuel variations as well as being slow! The power aspect does not concern us much as the old girl just keeps pulling. Even at high altitude (Kyrgystan & Tajikistan) we had no problems.

When you get it tuned ask the person doing it about how much variation there will be with altitude. The modern turbo engines with ECU controls etc will compensate a bit. If you plan to go high up make sure the turbo is set appropriately. I would not have the boost set too high so everything is under less stress.

I think the 1Hz engine is a great one for remote touring. I am sure if we had a new common rail engine we would have had troubles as some of the fuel was definitely 'truck grade'. The 1Hz just drank it down. We averaged 11.5L/100km over 40K through Central Asia with a well loaded vehicle but we did travel at moderate speed to enjoy the trip and not set records.

Toyota 4wds are everywhere and I was surprised that in most major cities the Toyota dealers are well equipped and have good service centres. Parts are not a problem unless you are out in the sticks. Because of this I carried spares that would keep us moving if something failed. The following is what I remember I took and would do again.

replacement alternator - practice fitting it at home so you know how to do it and it is the right one.
all belts and hoses
1 set of wheel bearings & seals (inner and outer) pack with grease and put in ziplock bag
clutch & brake cylinder kits, wheel kits
engine oil & gear oil - engine oil will keep a gearbox, transfer or dif working in an emergency
radiator stop leak, epoxy cement, gasket goo, miracle tape etc
engine thermostat
wire, connectors, tape, nuts & bolts, clips, cable ties, bulbs, multimeter
good set of tools but don't go overboard as it adds up weight. I went through each possible repair I might have to make and worked out what tools I would need
tyre plugs & tools

I took 1 full spare tyre, new casing, 2 tubes in case, range of internal patches

My troopy is the old HZJ75 so it has leaf springs front & rear - I carried spare main leaves, a few bushes, centre bolts and U bolts. I nearly did not but was glad I did even though we did not use them. Roads in countries like Mongolia are diabolical and a spring break would be a major problem. We saw a couple.

I did not take shockers as they do not stop you.

I would suggest undoing, greasing and torquing up all the bolts on the suspension, shocks and steering. When I did this I had a lot of trouble removing the shocks and so I replaced them. Much easier to sort out rusted bolts at home.

make sure the shocks, steering damper, suspension bushes are in perfect condition

I put on new BFG muddies and they were great. Do not travel with tyres less than 50%

Sorry if this is obvious to you - happy to answer question if you have any.

cheers

Sounds like you have most things under control but I will add a few more comments that might help.

We used a company called Stantours who are based in Almaty to arrange a few things for us like letters of Invitation (LOI) which are necessary to get visas in some of the countries you are going through. The guy who runs it has lived in the region for a long time and has a lot of knowledge and contacts. He is also happy to give advice once you have done business with him.
Stantours

We spent a lot of time planning the route and notional itinerary because some of the visas are very specific about entry and exit dates. Almaty is a good spot to get visas. We got our Tajik, Uzbek and Kyrgyzstan ones there. Make sure you get all the info about visas before leaving and take it with you. Although most of the former soviet block countries are very similar they each have important differences. The silly business about registering visas on entry is still necessary in some countries and you will find the police and some hotel operators are very pedantic about it. We found that paying to stay in a major hotel and getting the staff to do the registration saved a lot of hassle though at a cost. The registration places are often crowded and few people speak english.

I rebuilt our troopy before leaving too and then took it on a couple of trips in Oz to shake out any bugs and give time to modify things. Well worth while.

You are correct about the turbo compensating at altitude. Make sure you get it tuned and do plenty of km before leaving to let it settle and make sure it is right.

My spare main leaves were from the old suspension and I suggest you do the same. It is only the main, the ones with the eyes, that will bring you to a halt. I bolted them to the roof rack out of the way. Not very heavy on their own. Don't carry a spare on the rear door as it is sure to give you trouble due to the pounding on the roads you will travel. It also makes getting in and out of the rear easier.

Your route sounds great. We shipped to Sth Korea then took the ferry to Vladivostok and drove west from there but spent a lot of time in Siberia and went nth to Yakutsk. We went Russia, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Europe, UK and shipped home from there. 9 months & 40,000km. Great trip. Do not underestimate the time you will need. Don't rush there is much to see and travelling slower is more enjoyable and easier on the vehicle.

Make sure you have an up to date letter from your doctor on a proper letterhead listing all the drugs you need to have. My wife and I both had to take a significant number of medications with us and we were surprised that the border officials were not really worried. Make sure you keep them in the original packaging. We kept ours in 2 places, about a months supply in easy access and the rest down in the bowels of the under bed storage. Have a separate list of all your prescriptions with your passport and papers just in case you have any trouble. Most drugs are readily available in the big cities at the chemists and all you need is a piece of paper with the name of the drug and dosage written clearly in english and you can buy them over the counter but not cheap. All legal and easy.

The DHL courier system is pretty good to the capital cities and you may be able to get supplies sent that way but check it out first. Given that you need opiates it will be trickier as they are more restricted. I would contact the Aus govt DEFAT and get advice. They are quite helpful if you get the right person. People travelling with medication and needing resupply is quite common and I am sure that they can suggest the easiest way.

We tended to camp away from the towns and had few problems. When in the big cities we parked the troopy in a secure hotel car park and enjoyed a break from camping and the confines of the troopy.

One addition I would recommend is to put an awning on the roofrack at the rear and have a clip on weather skirt. You will get a mix of weather and having the shade and protection when the weather is grotty makes a big difference. It also gives needed privacy when you are in some spots.

We put dark tiinting on the rear windows which gave privacy and made it hard for snoopers. Do not put any tinting on the front side windows as it is banned in some countries and in Kazakhstan it is a favourite for the police to dream up a fine.

I am jealous of your trip and would be off again like a shot but there are too many other places to see before we get too old. I am currently building an expedition camper on an Isuzu 4wd truck.

Happy to give any other info or advice.
cheers

I have a Diesel Water Separator from Gold Coast Diesel

It is fitted with an alarm which sounds on start up just to remind you that its on and also when fuel is contaminated.

Had it fitted at Gold Coast and Alan the owner is an excellent Diesel mechanic.
Worth giving him a call to see exactly what his product does.
I am sure he would freight it to wherever you live

Never had to stop vehicle however, its good to know that it is there.

Pedro

Jess,
>I'm rb30e's wife. Just wanted to say thank you for the excellent information and the >time that you took to reply to us. That Stantours website is one of the more >comprehensive Central Asian visa websites that I have visited and an excellent >resource for the LOI's. Big time saver.

I am loath to recommend people most of the time but David at Stantours was great.

>Sounds like you also have some experience with carting meds around - invaluable info >once again. I've drafted a letter listing all meds and the reason why we are carrying >them with the view to distribute around the embassies in advance and at the borders. >We are looking to arrange some 'med drops' at strategic points on the trip - most likely >in Australian Embassies so I will look further into what can or can not be DHL'd.

I would not worry too much about distributing the letter too much. The border officials are quite independent and are prone to making up their own rules. A letter from a senior embassy official on letterhead giving permission to bring your meds into their country would carry some clout. Officials in former soviet block countries all tend to defer to a higher authority and if they can see that a senior person has approved/recommended something they are loath to go against it. As I said the need for medication resupply is not unusual and doing it through the Aus embassies with advice from DFAT is the way to go. Also if you can have the doctors letter (keep it simple) translated into Russian it may save some time. When you cross the borders generally the best thing is to not volunteer things until asked. Sometimes they will search thoroughly other times they just have a look in obvious places. The fact that your husbands issues are clearly obvious will make things easier. The standard form they ask you to fill out asks about drugs but they make the distinction between drugs & medications. If you have your doctor’s letter in support I doubt you will have problems.

>RE: the Troopy; we have two spare wheels and one is on the tailgate bracket. We >were looking to put a 20L water jerry can and bracket between the tailgate and wheel >but I'm just not convinced that with all the weight the set up will fair well on the bumpy >long journey. Two spares on the roof takes up so much room though so perhaps one >spare wheel with tyre and an additional tyre on its' own.

Personally I would not carry a spare on the tailgate. Putting the jerry can on as well will make it worse. Provided you have a well constructed roof rack and keep the load to a minimum putting the spares up on top would be better. Make sure you practice getting the wheel up and down. A spare wheel dropped can do a lot of damage and will bounce a surprising distance doing serious injury if it hits someone. I use a simple rope and pulley to lower it down and keep things under control. A poly tarp which is always useful to have around as a ground cover when crawling underneath or a cover across the radiator when going through water, is a good protector if you have to slide it down the side of the vehicle. The tyre wheel combo is quite heavy. I used to always travel with 2 full spares but now I have one and a tyre only if I am going remote. Tyre technology has improved greatly and if you drive to the conditions it lessens tyre damage greatly. My experience is that people who have lots of trouble drive too fast, have the wrong pressure or have the wrong tyres. I have the same tyres as you and they performed very well. Slow down if it is rough and drop the pressures a bit if the ground is rocky. This allows the tyre to mould around obstacles. No different to what one should do in Aus. Get in the habit of checking your tyres whenever you stop. Just walk around look at each one and feel the temperature of the casing. If one feels hotter than normal then look for the cause. If they all seem hot perhaps your pressures are not right either high or low.

We came across a group of French travelers in Mongolia who had major suspension problems in brand new Toyota Prados. They had low profile street tyres and when they talked about where they had been it was obvious that they had been travelling very fast.

>What was your set up water wise? We are looking at a staino tank behind one of the >front seats underneath the bed area.

I had 60L of water in 4 15L plastic containers under the bed behind the seats. It was plumbed so I had a tap inside the passenger door. We also carried two 5L containers buried amongst all the other stuff as an emergency reserve. We never needed it but I would still do the same again. We also developed the habit of having a 5L container in the back which we used to top up drinking bottles, cooking etc and just refilling it from the tanks when needed.

Having several separate containers is better than having one. It means you can have water for cooking and washing and keep known good water separate for drinking. Be very careful with drinking water. There is a lot of Guardia and Cryptosporidium in the areas you are going, as well as other bugs from waste – nice crystal clear streams can easily be polluted by the house or animals over the next hill. Bad water can spoil a trip very easily. We always filter all water through a 1 micron filter unless it is from a known good source and I am very picky. We have had no problems from our water in all our travels. The bugs we have picked up have come from eating places etc. Don’t be paranoid just careful. My worst dose of food poisoning was picked up in Delaraine in Tasmania. I had just returned from a trip in India where I had no problems!

>Where do you plan to take your Isuzu?

As we get older we are finding the ground is lower down and harder and so the main aim is to have a little more convenience and comfort. Our main travels will be in the more remote parts of Aus and perhaps SE Asia.

One piece of advice whilst I am my platform. Only take what you really need, keep the load and clutter down and your travelling will be much more enjoyable. If you find you really need something on the trip you will find it and searching the markets or stores is fun. The larger towns are now quite well supplied.

Cheers

The troopy should have 2filters one of which incorpoates a water in fuel alarm
You shouldnt need any thing else

This relates to the Africa section only. We drove in a convoy from Cape Town to Nairobi in 2011. We used Land Rover Disco 4's. they were as basic as you can get. But we had all the spares and with help changed the head gasket by the side of the road.
We asked about Toyota vehicles and they are certainly not as popular as Land Rovers ( I guess due to the English influence) Apparently Toyota make a model specifically for Africa which cuts out much of the electronic bells and whistles available here. We really didn't see many Toyotas apart from the mine sites and UN, so spares and the ability to repair items may be very scarce.
It does sound like a fantastic trip, envious would be one word that springs to mind. Good luck and have a great time

Bernie Renwick

WOW..... I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this post on where u guys are going and where others have been..... At this point of time in my Life, I can only dream about doing such a trip..... good on u for making it a reality..... Even though I've done my fair share of traveling around Oz, I'm not sure I'd have the confidence in doing this overseas, but who knows what he future holds.....

One question - What do u guys do about protection for yourselves ?? Do u just keep away from those places that are high risk and if so, how do u find out where "NOT" to go?

Rob

Jerome,
We shipped from Sydney to Busan in Sth Korea in a container. I insisted that we were able to actually be present when it went inside and had a lock and seal placed on the container. Actually I drove it in myself and then had to crawl out. I did this so that I could be sure it was secure and nothing pilfered at the start. We had all our gear in the vehicle including our spare parts and emergency food in tins and packs.

Make sure that you have the container measurements (on the web) as the door height is reduced by the ridge bar. I had to take my spares off the roof rack and they were then lashed securely so they would not bounce around and do damage.

We were present on the dock when the container was found on the huge wharf in Busan and able to check that the seal was intact. I made sure that the shipping agent checked. I found out later that we should not have been there as it is actually a secure customs area. The agent we used was great and their representative there was very efficient - I think she chatted up the official to lets us in.

Shipping to the UK should be less of a hassle because of the language but we found on the return trip, shipping from Southampton that the agents were far more casual and not as security conscious. I would be quite pushy about having the seal on the container.

I would never ship RORO as I have seen the results. It is cheaper but you would have to pack all your possessions into a crate and ship it separately as I don't think there would be much left once you picked the vehicle up.

Re quarantine. Only water based fluids have to be drained. Oils are not an issue. Make sure that you do a really good job of cleaning the vehicle before it leaves to come back to Aus. The officials here are very strict - fair enough but they do not supervise the cleaning crews well and they are pretty slack. When our troopy went into a container in Southampton it had been wet and rainy for days. We had cleaned the vehicle pretty well. Unfortunately our container got delayed in Singapore and obviously got very warm sitting there By the time it was unpacked in Sydney the whole inside was covered in a layer of mildew and we had to pay to have it cleaned again. They did a poor job but it was passed. The officials also ripped out the insulation from under the bonnet saying it was contaminated with dirt and insects.

One option is to consider selling the vehicle once the trip is done. I didn't want too but it actually would have been financial better for us to do so given the costs of freight and cleaning. I had an offer in the UK from someone who wanted to set off and basically do our trip in reverse.

re parts etc. I think if your troopy is in top condition when you leave it is unlikely that you will have problems if you drive sensibly. Make sure that you leave the vehicle details especially the VIN with someone here in Aus so you can contact them if you get stuck. International couriers are now quite quick and not so expensive. I did this for someone who did a trip like ours the year before us and had the electrics in the steering column pack it in. I was able to buy it and ship it to them in Kazakhstan with little trouble.

I had the same tyres as you, brand new on leaving and they were excellent. Handled all conditions well and were not noisy. The old troopy is not very quiet and we have found with the bed in the back most of the road noise is blocked. I still have the same tyres at ~55,000km and I think they still have ~40% tread left. I still use them for normal trips but would put on a new set if is was doing a serious remote trip. I think I had 5 punctures in the whole trip, 2 stakes, 2 nails from the road and one knife slit in the side wall by someone who tried to rob us. He stabbed the tyre when we were parked and then followed until we had to stop with the flat. He chatted to us whilst his accomplice tried to rob. He did not get anything of ours but pinched a handbag from a vehicle that was stopped with us.

Tyres of this size are quite readily available. Just make sure you replace any tyre that is damaged as soon as you can. Punctures are ok to fix, sidewall slits can only be fixed if they are small and clean cuts not doing too much damage to the belt structure.

Hope this helps.
alastair

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone knows which model 75 series troopies came fitted with the twin diesel filters and water alarm?

Mines a 94. I would just look but its up at Drifta in Gloucester at the moment getting the back fitted out.