“Was
it^ ha
rd^ w
ork?
Yes,
mos
t^ cer
tainl
y.^ Co
uld^
we^ h
ave^ p
ushe
d^ the
car^
hard
er^ an
d^ go
ne^ a
bit^
furth
er?^ P
roba
bly.^ B
ut^ br
eakin
g^ ca
rs^ is^
no^ fu
n”
TOOLING UP
Tackling a madcap adventure such as
this without some technical backup
would be foolhardy.
Thankfully Jaguar Land Rover sent two
of their finest mechanical men, Derrick
Dearlove and Diederik Husselman, to
assist. And since a few good men need a
few good tools, Vermont Sales supplied
us with a brand new 62-piece Fixman
cantilever mechanical tool set.
After many hours on the track, some
sand found its way between a gearbox
protection plate and the super-hot
transfer case. Cue warning lights.
Derrick and Diederick removed the
protection plate, cleared out the sand
and replaced again. The 62-piece
Fixman tool set retails for R4 470.
More information: vermontsales.co.zaPUMPED UP
4 ×4 Mega World provided us with a
Desert Products Heavy Duty Air Jack
which we, thankfully, never got to use.
We specifically asked for an air jack
option because of the sandy conditions,
where a standard jack is pretty useless.
It’s made from heavy-duty PVC with
a double layer on the top and bottom.
You can use either your vehicle’s
exhaust or a compressor to inflate the
bag, which has a 750mm lifting height
and 3 000kg lifting capacity.
More information:
4 ×4megaworld.co.zaPOWER TO THE PEOPLE
We obviously required a suitable 4× 4
to lug the crew and gear around the
Vleesbaai 4×4 Dune trail. And we
needed one that could do it no matter
a heavy load on the bak, or no matter
the obstacle. Enter Mercedes-Benz’s
X350d 4Matic.
The Mercedes bakkie’s V6 turbodiesel
engine boasts 190kW of power and
550Nm of torque, the latter peaking
at 1 400r/min. There’s certainly
more than enough grunt on tap, sent
permanently to all four wheels via
a seven-speed automatic gearbox
(with manual shift option). There’s also
a Gelandewagen transfer case and a
rear differential lock.
Not only did it manage to transverse
extremely tricky terrain in the dead of
night, it dragged the Land Rover from
a precariously stuck situation.
Job done. In luxury.leisurewheels.co.za SEPTEMBER 2019 33