Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Marino4x4,
Ted Garsteng replied back to me, and they only stock the standard ride height shocks. Australia get a wider range, and you can have bilstein shocks for reasonable money for a lift less than 50mm, I plan on 40mm as mentioned with King progressive rate Springs.

I have asked a parts supplier in Germany to look into it now, as perhaps the European offroaders are using bilstein more, and the East Europeans love the Patrol GR.

Best Company to obtain 4x4 Parts from Europe is our friend Nikolai Spain [Nikolai Bouwe]
His website: http://euro4x4parts.com/parts/
his e-mail: nikolai@euro4x4parts.com

They are widespread, and have spares for Nissan .. to the limit. AND they deal in BILSTEIN .. [I got NEW tail lights for LOBO, the 1981 Datsun Safari, from them .. and CHEAP too [compared to local prices]

Contact Nikolai [you my use my name for faster service] and ask him about the Bilsteins yo need: +34 677 716 143.

Well after getting an email from Ted Garsteng that the bilstein's don't come in longer sizes to accommodate a 40mm lift, and plus the fact that I will have to import them from Europe, which was still not showing any signs of availability for a 40mm lift, the only place that had them was Australia. Now the shipping from Australia to Dubai is long and expensive, as there are not that many carriers between the 2 places.

I then also thought that If the shocks fail, then my car could un-driveable, at reasonable cost, until I get the replacement in from Australia. I had looked at some ebay sellers from Germany that were quoting reasonable prices for shipping, and finally looked at Bilstein Germany website, and found that an extended shock for the GQ/Y60 was manufactured, but the Y61/GU was only standard height. We really need a bit of lift for the dune crests here, but too severe to increase the centre of gravity either.

So I now have settled for Koni heavy track adjustable, and Progressive rate King springs on all four corners. Car rides well on tarmac, not too harsh, and not a high lift. Infact steering vibration has been greatly reduced, as I believe the original springs were cut to lower the car by the previous owner, which was causing the geometry to go out of whack, wish I had done this 20,000kms ago. On another note, the distributor for Koni had another Koni, which was not adjustable, and the gator was plastic and slightly smaller, but he said the ride was stiffer, and I was not happy with the plastic gator, and went for a metal gator, and adjustable. Hopefully they will last, although our tracks are not as bad as in Kenya, wow that was on another level altogether!

Sort that Trol and come join me on a trip through Botswana / Namibia / Namib desert / Kalahari (Kgalakgadi) and then maybe a stretch of Kruger National Park [BEST in the world]

Good luck with the KONI's .. I have only heard good things of it.

Kagiso II wrote:Sort that Trol and come join me on a trip through Botswana / Namibia / Namib desert / Kalahari (Kgalakgadi) and then maybe a stretch of Kruger National Park [BEST in the world]

Good luck with the KONI's .. I have only heard good things of it.

I have a dream of driving from Dubai to Cape Town,, probably container the ship to Kenya, Mombasa or a port in Ethiopia, this is something that I am planning on doing when our Dubai Expo 2020 kicks in, as I don't want to hang about for all the urban crap. If I bring my son, who will be 11 by then, he would also get one of the best experiences and education in the world by joining me and my wife.

I am not sure whether my petrol patrol would be ok through that route, as mostly people are using diesel, but another SA guy here just bought a petrol 79 series LC, and he is planning on driving down too in 2 years time, so maybe he knows more than I do..... My patrol in Africa, what a sight!!!!! If we do make it down, we sure will join someone here on a trip in your sector of the best continent on earth. We have many folks from SA here, and they are just natural in the outdoors, my wife and I try and learn from you them.

An interesting observation we have made when on club day trips. The lunch stop, typically under a rare shaded tree here, everybody breaks out the home cooked meals, sandwiches, some rice based dish or some sort of pre-prepared packed meal from a supermarket or petrol station. The SA folk, break out the braai, light the coal, and cook the meat, clean it all up, pack it away in under 45 minutes!!!!! I salute you!

I must admit my cooking skills at home are pathetic, and outdoors I make sure I have enough beer to stomach what I may cook! So need to get some recipes from here and practice before the trip through Africa.

..... South Africans???? you cannot miss them anywhere in the world.... make fire..... must braai !!! I think EVERYBODY here that just read your post about the braai got a little tear in their eye thinking about what you said..... That is true South Africa !!

When you bring your family and Patrol down south and stop in the Gauteng (Johannesburg/Pretoria) area for a rest over, we will take you to some of our beautiful one day trails, and of course a braai afterwards !!

Hi Sid

Petrol is normally not a problem in Africa. It is available all over. The diesel is sometimes a problem. They put paraffin in it or there is a lot of water in it. If you ravel with a diesel you must take more care what you put in than the petrol guys. Then again the diesel chaps can pass a petrol station were us petrol guys have every petrol station as a via point.

Tshodilo Hills. Where you can see over 4000 Bushmen Rock Art drawings on the cliffs and caves ... Botswana
Share your water with Eliphant

And we "Braai" breakfast, lunch & dinner