Leyland Daf T244 4x4 ex military truck review. Overlanders guide

A brief review and guide to buying a Leyland Daf T244 for overland travel. A few questions answered on fuel consumption ( MPG ) off road 4x4 ability and weight plus what you need to know before setting off on an overland trip.
Upgraded fuel line kit available on my website.
www.matthewpay...

[@simongosling3492]

Really informative video, thank you! It really helps to have people like yourself who have experience with Overlanding in the daf and being able to share with others looking to follow in your footprints the problems you've encountered and top tips to help not get caught out the same way. Looking forward to more Daf videos in the future. My plan is to do what you guys did and overland in a Daf T244 so have been watching your Just escape build videos for hints and tips and your overland videos to get a sense of what you faced on the journey. Thanks again and have a merry Christmas all the best for the new year too!

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Simon Gosling thanks Simon. Lots of helpful advice to come. Merry Christmas

[@andywt8460]

Good advice, keep it coming... with a life time of working on heavy trucks and spent years on the road rescuing the unlucky ones, from deserts to jungles and -30c winters, what’s the most common things to fail in no particular order, brakes, fuel and electrics. Yes everything can and will break, have changed engines & gearboxes, broken axels on the side of the road, but it’s usually the simple things that happen usually due to poor maintenance or preparation for the conditions, or just shit happens. Was quite funny for me when your prop fell off, I normally find them axle deep in mud and dig a hole to get under which fills with water. You have to see the dark humor at times, I once drove half a day to help a guy with completely seized steering, found him still half drunk & big, he had got into the cab dragging his fat ass in using the steering wheel, the steering lock was not engaged but did when he was hanging on it, I didn’t have a ign/steering lock with me so I couldn’t smash it off, it took the 2 of us to turn the wheel to unlock it, his boss wasn’t too happy when he got the bill. But the cold is the worst as it amplifies any weaknesses in equipment and yourself, at -30 metals & plastic become brittle if not built for the cold, even winter diesel can gel, filing up with 1,000 lt diesel in southern europe and heading to Scandinavia is not always a good idea. I’m retired now and haven’t spent winter in Sweden or had a Korean winter for a few years, but can look back on experiences happily.

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

AndyT Hi Andy. You must have some stories. I think we were quite lucky to be honest. A lot more could have gone wrong with the extreme cold we had. We did have a flexible break hose fail, but fortunately we were not far from a city. I forget the set up now, but one of the hoses you can remove and exchange for one of the other 2 that are needed for the breaking. Think maybe it was a return line. But a lot more could have gone wrong in Mongolia, a place it’s very hard to get anything. They have very few trucks out there. Think we saw maybe 6 in total.

[@andywt8460]

Matthew, I think you were very lucky but have the right attitude and reasonable well equipped, I was with Scania for 30 years before I retired with last 16 years in East Asia, from South Korea where the winters up at the DMZ are brutal to the tropics as a jack of all trades, product support, building workshops, off-shore etc etc, with a small band of worriers in the so called emerging markets. Have seen a number of over-landers stagger into our workshops over the years, most are spaced out with very little experience of the challengers ahead, we help them best we can with repairs as most are poorly funded relying on goodwill at times, some completely demoralized, even in Europe some get into real problems in winter, once found a couple in the Scotch borders half frozen to death, fuel filter clogged, no aux heater, took me 3 hours to get to them, took me 20 mins to fix, 2 hours to defrost them in my service van. I will never (never say never) get to Mongolia, we retired to Italy, we wonder around Europe with our old VW camper van summer & winter with enough gear to probably do an engine job road side, I expect shit to happen and happy when it doesn’t, it did this summer in France, tensioner on the inj pump wonky pushing the belt off, no parts in France for a 20yr old VW, bodged it limping along found a belt in Lux city, a tensioner 100km further north, was still going so fixed it when we got home 6,000km later. Learnt a long time ago, “if in doubt, kettle out” a cup of tea can solve many problems, along with Zip ties, duct tape, fence wire and baler twine

[@jordanleonard5368]

I love these videos , I’m dreaming and sketching out my build in the back of my work diary but I hope to take the plunge on something ( daf or perhaps a Kamaz😯 )soon. Keep it up Matt , it inspires us dreamers to become doers!

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Thanks. Thats great to hear. Some videos coming up soon covering some mods in the engine bay on the daf.

[@jordanleonard5368]

@@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902 really looking forward to those , the humble 6bt is arguably one of the best all round Compression ignition engines ever produced.

[@Simonandisla]

Great looking truck Matthew. Can you kindly do an inside tour as well please of both cab and the living accommodation 👍👍

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Simon's Defender 90 Hi Simon. It’s in the plan. There is a very quick visual tour on my channel inside the habitation area. But I will be doing a guided tour. As soon as I can get Matilda to a nice spot to film. Merry Christmas 🎄

[@RaptorFlyer3D]

Thanks Matt - very informative. I’m re-watching your series now we’re contemplating upgrading our Bedford. 👍🏻

[@mowtownni4587]

Very informative, I can highly recommend a " Mr Funnel " used one for several years on boats after having issues with water/ crud in diesel. Afterwards zero issues.

[@leighriley6277]

Matilda is an absolute beast, well engineered and the 6bt is a brilliant engine. I've done well over 300,000km in my Landrover Discover 2 Td5 all around Australia and had trouble with bad diesel, I've used "fuel doctor" algecide for years, good stuff. Love Matilda, wish I had my own, great vid, Merry Christmas mate 👍👍

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Leigh Riley would love to get Matilda over to Australia. 300,000 km, must have seen a lot.

[@leighriley6277]

@@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902 Matilda in Australia, thats an adventure I'd love to see you capture on film...yes 308,000km over 19yrs, working and traveling around Aus, only started taking photos 4-5 yrs ago, wish I'd started much earlier and had travel through Europe. Loving your adventures with Matilda 👍

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Leigh Riley it’s on my list, but probably after Africa

[@desmondbroad1305]

Hi I've been binge watching your videos you deserve many more subs than you have.great filming ime sure it will increase dramatically at some point soon awesome work new sub here thankyou

[@bornfreefreedom4900]

Looking amazing. 😊👍🚚👍 Great advice 👍👍👍👍 Best forever wishes to you both And all. 🌟🙏🌟

[@martinrobinson2996]

Thank you again, very informative. Happy Christmas to you (both?)

[@johndiaz7240]

Thanks

[@nndd637]

Hi Matthew, what are the dimensions of your box?

[@Medi-Cali]

Hi chap I saw Matilda down at felixstowe today

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

herbex hello. I’ve been here a few weeks. Doing some work on another similar truck close by. I am on my way to Scotland. Left Hastings 3 weeks ago.

[@CampervanCulture.com-Official]

Good as usual Matt. Jed

[@nickworthington9982]

Awesome video, definitely look forward to the future videos. Do you think you'll make it to adventure overland in April? Have a great Christmas and great New Year! Take it easy

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Nick Worthington hi Nick. I plan to be there. Considering giving a talk.

[@nickworthington9982]

@@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902 awesome. Keep us informed if you do, it'd be the first talk I'd go to in nearly 3 shows that I've been to. Definitely looking forward to more videos on the truck as I mentioned to you, it's something I'll be looking to achieve myself in the near future

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Nick Worthington ideally I would like to do a video on changing parts, like the injection pump as it’s a real pain to do. Also bleeding the clutch system is a real pain unless using the right method.

[@nickworthington9982]

@@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902 that'd be great. As well as the other things you mentioned in this video as prep for overlanding as jobs to do first. Also would be interested in wiring and layout of the habitat and plumbing of heating/ventilation. If you can that is

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Nick Worthington yes. I can do that. There is a lot I can share that will make life easier for many.

[@dunglass1]

I came across your videos recently Matthew & think they’re great 👍. Since you’re mostly visiting colder climates, I wondered how you protect your water tank & pipes from freezing up? Is it practical to keep your living accommodation above 0C continuously? Thanks.

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Hi. Keeping the inside warm even in -45˚c is perfectly achievable. How much heat is required will depend on outside temperature and habitation construction, insulation. If using a diesel heater there are some installation tips i can give, as below -30˚c they will likely fail. This is a video I will be making in the future. If venturing into extreme cold climates i would advise installing water pipes up off the floor. And if possible spaced off away from the walls. My water tanks never froze, but the other truck with me did have icebergs floating in his tanks and also suffered from water filters exploding, as well as an expansion tank. Also i would advise addition insulation under your batteries.

[@1966cambo]

I need a pair of axles and the transfer case with driveshafts, any thoughts on availability and cost? Thanks!

[@NeuroScientician]

What is the max road legal size for the box?

[@stevepowell1651]

When you traveling again and where to. Cheers

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

steve powell so many places I want to go. I will be in England for a while and may do some shorter trips in Matilda, maybe some back packing holidays to countries I want to visit that are difficult with the truck. For example, unless it’s changed, the cost to take Matilda into Egypt was ridiculous. The next big trip is almost certainly going to be a couple of years in Africa.

[@f100r]

Thanks Matt for your advices. We are going right now to Turkey/Georgia/Russia with our Steyr 12M18. Which fuel station brands you would recommend? Thanks for keeping up the great content!

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Roland Rudolf Hi Roland. You will find some Shell and BP stations. There fuel is good as you would expect. You will pay a little more for it, but the cheaper fuel is a false economy as has less power. In Russia, I think there was less she’ll and BP, but some of the Russian fuel is good . Just avoid the cheaper diesel. Have a great trip.

[@MrFuzzywabbit]

Do these workshop units come with the 3 point subframe system already applied or are they just fully bolted to the chassis. I'm trying to find out if this effects the interior build/furniture regarding movement, all the new GRP insulated companies recommend some type of floating type frame to make up for chassis twist. You've also been through desert/extreme cold environments, I was looking into linear actuators or pneumatics to lift a fibreglass insulated roof so the beds can be up in the ceiling/more floor space blah blah, problem is the the moving part has to butt up to some sort of rubber seal. I can see this being highly problematic in extreme environments, especially windy sandy places, this put me off any sort of moving or opening parts. I'd value your opinion. After all the covid malarkey i've finally got my multiple choice test come through in April, in the mean time i'm trying to gather as much info as i can. I am a mechanical/electrical engineer so i'm thinking of taking on the work myself over a period of time. After working as an engineer in many of these industries over the years i think a lot of these overland outfits take advantage and take peoples money, especially since interest in this sort of thing has become more apparent to the average joe soap over the past few years. Thanks Matthew.

[@TIMEATTACKEK9]

Thanks for the info. Love the videos and their production quality. Cant wait for your next adventure. Safe travels my friend. P.S. What song do you use for your intro. Sick tune 😁👍

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Jay Collazo Thanks. Lots more video in production. I am currently on the next mini adventure. Heading to Northern Scotland. Next big adventure could be Africa, or maybe the North Pole. Lots planned.

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Sorry, for got to say. The little tune in the intro. I will have to find it again and see.

[@TIMEATTACKEK9]

@@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902 No worries. Let me know when you can brother. Cheers.

[@scottsmith1622]

just seen your small talk on KZbin on the daf what size wheels and tyres did you go too and did you have the rims made cheers Scott

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Hi Scott. I have 14 in wide rims off a Polish STAR army truck, which means i can safely use a wider tyre which also has a bigger diameter due to its width. How much larger depend on your tyre choice. I will make a video on this subject and the best way to go about it, the pros and cons.

[@scottsmith1622]

thanks for the quick reply I will be waiting for the video cheers and have a good xmas

[@vyshus7629]

thanks a ton holly sh*t!!

[@elliotthammond100]

How much did the living area cost to build? As in the actual body Thanks in advance

[@edwardpeter2652]

Hi, did you seriously got 13 mpg? It seems good for this truck.

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Yes. Thats an average over 25,000 miles. Its actually better than the as that includes all the diesel burnt in the diesel heaters and i burnt alot of diesel in those heaters. i spent months in temperatures below -25 degrees c. And for about 2 weeks the engine wasn't turned off as it was so cold. Got down to -45 degree C. I also spent months off road obviously consuming more fuel. My truck runs around 10,400 kg. So realistically 14-15 mpg ( UK imperial Gallons ) is very achievable on good roads.

[@118118118rory]

What licence do you need for one of these trucks? Thanks

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Rory Foster some people manage to keep them below 7.5 Tons so can drive it on their UK car licence if the test was taken before 1998 . If weighing more than 7.5 Ton you need a Cat C licence in the Uk.

[@ChrisHanlon88]

Where is the best place to buy the daf and what prices roughly

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Chris Hanlon it really varies when it comes to price. Prices seem to be going up. A few options are Withams MOD sales, Crouch Recovery, Jackson’s. I know of a good one, a lot of parts changed on it in the last few years going for £6,000. Doesn’t have a flat bed on the back as it recently had a box on the back. If you want to know more contact me on Instagram or face book. Can message there.

[@ChrisHanlon88]

@@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902 ill add you on instagram thanks

[@edwardpeter2652]

hi, has this truck a central differential lock?

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Yes it does. It’s permanent 4 wheel drive with a central diff lock and low ratio box.

[@EWOverland]

What should be a good price for chassy only

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

They vary from £2000 to £10,000. The lower priced ones tend to be a bit rusty in certain places but nothing to worry about. All can be sorted out with a little work. Going for a mid 90’s truck can be beneficial as it will most likely have the Bosch VE injection pump which has its advantages.

[@EWOverland]

@@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902 Thank you

[@mamalotvanlooi9961]

DAF 8 x8

[@ocallaghan3865]

Daf IRTEX

[@przemekwycislik5029]

Its no 5 speed gearbox

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

5 forward gears in high ratio, 1 reverse. And then the same again in low ratio.

[@jonhale6918]

0.35 liters of fuel per mile - i think :/

[@totti9964]

4 tonner. Beste wagens ook.

[@Adampeterdale]

Are these direct or indirect injection?

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Direct injection.

[@Adampeterdale]

@@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902 cheers mate 👍 have you had any experience running of veg oil or bio?

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Adam dale no. It’s something I have been meaning to try. But my diesel heaters also run off the same fuel tank.

[@Adampeterdale]

@@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902 o off course... you could always run 2 tanks if theres room... we've got the standard 75lt diesel tank and then a 92lt veg tank... it's not a t244 off course... not quite as grand lol.

[@matthewpayneadventurerfilm8902]

Adam dale it’s somthing I have been considering. Are you buying bio diesel or using straight veg oil?