One of the most critical components of our truck’s diesel engine is its cooling system. In preparation for our three-year Overland Expedition following the Silk Road, every component had to be checked and if possible, replaced with something better than factory. First, perhaps most important, was the water pump itself and the thermostat. The experienced […]
Today, we are starting a series of stories from Baja California & Chihuahua, Mexico and Western United States previously published in various magazines. Please keep checking the Adventures’ page. The first one to be published is: Baja Testing The Turtle V It includes an exciting trip up the spine of Baja to visit century-old ranches, […]
Many people have asked us how we get that 130 pound spare tire up on the back of the truck and how does it stay there. The answer is very manual and quite simple. Rather than use an electric winch that could fail after months of disuse, we use a simple 1-ton manually operated Maasdam […]
While our new Rickson Truck Wheels were round and true and reversible from front to rear, there was a major problem that should have been taken care of before they were powder coated or certainly before I mounted five new Michelin XZL 335/80R20 tires. These new wheels absolutely had to have valve stems on both […]
For years we had suffered with our Stockton Wheels on The Turtle V. They were never true, and because we had gone from dual rears to singles, the offset was different from front to rear, meaning we could not swap the rear or spare to the front. Rickson Truck Wheels came up with a compromise […]
Back in the days of our 1967 109 Land Rover, (https://www.turtleexpedition.com/vehicles/turtle-i-2/), we had two vents under the windshield. We called that AC. Funny how we’ve become addicted to the luxuries of air conditioning, power steering, power brakes and cruise control over the years. Our AC had been malfunctioning off and on for months and recharging […]
Driving back from Chico, the traffic was heavy. I stepped on the brake and it went all the way to the floor. Hummm! That’s not good. I managed to limp home and stop with the emergency brake. Turns out there are three brake lines running forward from the master cylinder to an ABC device under […]
On an extended expedition like our upcoming Trans-Eurasian Odyssey from Lisbon, Portugal to Shanghia, China, the only thing worse than major health problems would be an engine failure. Even with our Amsoil Dual Filter Bypass system, we need to carry an adequate supply of quality oil for occasional filter changes and normal consumption. Quality synthetic […]
Storage in a small expedition camper like The Turtle V is critical. Clothes for four seasons, medical supplies, camera equipment, computers, tools and spare parts, food—it’s a long list, whether it’s for three days or three years. In addition to the Weatherguard box on the front rack, we needed more storage for light equipment and […]
A day’s drive north from Lee Power Steering in Sun Valley, we stopped at the Hellwig facilities in Visalia to have our Heavy-Duty Sway Bars and Hellwig Air Suspension bags checked. Everything looked fine, but for long-term reliability, the sway bar bushings were changed and new Hellwig drop-arms with replaceable bushings were installed. New Contitech […]
