Ian de Villiers (iandvl)

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David M
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Posts: 794
Joined: 12 Nov 2013 15:13
Full Name: David Marais
Nickname: David Marais
Home Town: Midrand
Current 4x4: 1998 4.5 GL Patrol
2006 4.2 Td Bakkie (SWAMBO's) - The "Firetruck"
Home Language: English
Location: Midrand
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Re: Ian de Villiers (iandvl)

Post by David M »

Ian - Those look the business.

I see you have the PC recovery points and the BZT recovery points as well. The PC ones are much stronger so if you remove the BZT ones it improves your approach angle quite a bit.
There are still places out there!!!! - Daniel Goz - The "Tapam" movie
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iandvl
Patrolman 1000+
Patrolman 1000+
Posts: 1765
Joined: 12 Jan 2015 13:26
Full Name: Ian de Villiers
Nickname: Ian
Home Town: Garsfontein
Current 4x4: Nissan Patrol 4.5 GRX
Home Language: English
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Re: Ian de Villiers (iandvl)

Post by iandvl »

I've been rolling on Cooper Discovery AT's since 2019. Seriously, they've performed well. They've done various trails, a dune trip, several river trips, various trips to Moz, Nam and Eswathini. And although the tread was still relatively good, there were various chunks out of the lugs and a few sidewall chips (not cuts - superficial) and the start of a bubble on the left front. So I just felt it was just time to replace them.

I got a good deal from Maxxis and fitted my 285/75R16's at Rob's Tyres Centurion yesterday. I'm super chuffed with them. Nice, quiet ride. Very aggressive tread pattern for an AT tyre. And the lugs on the sidewall shoulders for when one deflates are much better than those on the Cooper AT's I have had.

I'll see how they last. I need to take them offroad though... :lol: :lol:

And yes - pics or it did not happen.
325774963_475778314770797_6198352682404466355_n.jpg
325749390_1342727159840362_7740101118393685506_n.jpg
Whilst in Centurion, I also collected a new Kut Snake fender flare for the front right which has been lying with Tinus in Centurion for a few days. A piece of it broke off on the mud roads during my Waterberg tour last year. I collected a new one and replaced this yesterday.
fender.jpeg
Apart from this, I've had a bit of a suspension knock for the last little while. It's not been serious - damaged swaybar bush and bracket - I must have hit a rock at some point (refer pic). I've had replacement bushes for a while now, but I've been battling to get a new swaybar bracket. Well, not battling in terms of finding the part - battling in terms of finding the time to collect it. This was delivered to a Patrol friend's place in Centurion last week. So I also collected it whilst lurking in Centurion and replaced it yesterday too.
bush.jpeg
In short, I'm now rolling on 33" Maxxis RAZR's. They're awesome. The truck looks a little better on the right hand side with the fixed fender flare. And I've lost the suspension knock which has been annoying me when driving over speed bumps (there are a million of them between my home and the office).

I've still got some things I need to do. I need to have the truck serviced - I'll be scheduling an appointment with Anthoney for this. I need to replace the windscreen, which is scheduled for tomorrow. The front side panels resprayed (you will notice the surface rust patch behind the fender flare) and I need to recon my rear bumper. It looks a little bad after a fire I had inside the bumper during the river trip the year before last. That fire damaged the bearings of the second spare wheel carrier, and I'll definitely need to have this fixed prior to my Nam trip in the middle of the year as I'd feel more comfortable rolling with two spare wheels...
Ian de Villiers

Patrol 4.5 GRX
Jurgens XT65 2x0 with Super Select Zero
ORRA: H80
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