Unsealed 4X4 Readers Rigs

By Unsealed 4X4 7 Min Read

Gary’s Series 2 Disco

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Gary hasn’t always been a Land Rover guy. In fact, he started out with a Jeep… but after it developed a phantom electrical problem he decided to move on to a Land Rover Discovery V8 ’cause they never have any electrical gremlins at all…

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After a while, he also purchased a Disco 3 although he continued to use the V8 on his adventures (the theory being it was easier to work on at the side of the road). He eventually updated the old V8 to the TD5 you see here (and sold the Disco 3 in the process). Since then he’s been on numerous adventures, travelling up the centre of Australia and across the top end of the Kimberly before heading down the Gibb River Road, where unfortunately the axle on his camper trailer was damaged due to the conditions. From here he headed down the WA coast and across the Nullarbor before heading home to South Australia.

 

Since then he’s taken it through the Vic High Country, the Grampians and the Great Ocean Road – as well as many of the areas in and around SA. The Disco has had a few mods to help it along on its travels including bar work, a diesel chip, uprated suspension and a custom drawer setup in the back. Hope you like the Drivetech 4×4 gear, mate!

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Loraine’s Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo

A Jeep Grand Cherokee isn’t most people’s first choice of an overland explorer, especially when you’re towing a 3-tonne Cell Peninsular van. Loraine and her Laredo recently completed a 14,000-kilometre trip from Perth across the Great Central Road to Uluru and then up to Kakadu and Darwin before heading back down the Gibb River Road, past Mitchell Falls and home to Perth. Both the Jeep and the van handled the rutted roads well with the air suspension keeping the van and the car level, averaging about 80km/h on the WA legs of the trip… but she had to keep the speed down a bit more in the NT, partly due to the worsening road conditions.

 

Unfortunately, a couple of rear shocks let go on the road to Mitchell Falls; but this didn’t stop any enjoyment on the rest of the trip back to Perth. Once the shocks were replaced, we’re happy to report there have been no other problems with the Jeep. In fact, the Quadra-Lift system has been a godsend for towing the van – making hitching a breeze. Sounds like a fantastic trip, Loraine. We can’t wait to see where you head to next.

 

Robert’s Prado GXL

This is Robert’s very clean-looking Prado GXL – I reckon he must have washed it before taking the pics. So far it’s been great for him and his young family, and they’ve taken it on a number of trips around Outback NSW including a very muddy Mungo National Park and Menindee Lakes tour last year. They’ve been to the Snowy Mountains and Vic High Country, and also up to Queensland. And he says it’s been an amazing tourer and perfect for their adventures.

 

So far he’s carried out some sensible touring mods to the Prado including an ARB bar and Safari snorkel, OME suspension, LightForce LED lights and BFG KO2 All-Terrains. Camping requirements are covered with a James Baroud Explorer Evolution rooftop tent and Foxwing awning.

 

It seems like the adventure bug has really bitten him, as over the next year or so he’s planning to head to Sturt National Park and the Flinders Ranges. He says he can’t wait; and to be honest we’re a little bit jealous of his plans.

 

Brett’s Mazda BT-50

Brett recently sent us some images of his (new to him) BT-50. It seems the early days of ownership haven’t been plain sailing. A recent issue with surging revs had his normal mechanic stumped, but after taking it to a local specialist the problem was found to be contaminated oil in the auto. After a complete flush-through and refill it seems to have been fixed, hopefully for good this time. And Brett says he’s very pleased with the Mazda.

 

Prior to the BT-50, he had been using an X-Trail for his trips. Although that got to most of the places he wanted to visit, he and his wife found that it wasn’t quite up to the job of towing their camper and it didn’t have quite enough space in it for longer trips.

 

Brett and his wife also just completed a two-day training course in the NSW Southern Highlands with Great Divide Tours, which they both found really useful. They are looking forward to putting some of the skills they learned into practice over the coming months. Although they haven’t had much chance to head out too far yet, they have managed to do a couple of trips around NSW… which has really helped them to get to know the mighty Mazda.

 

Glad to see you’re starting to get the most out of your new ute, Brett!


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