Outback Trip Preparation 1 - Defender Repairs, 4x4 Maintenance and Packing

[@sf017s4]

Great to see you're motivated and back amongst it mate.

[@MrLangDog]

Time sure flies. I actually find it hard to believe I ordered your decals nearly 4 years ago!! Looking forward to the new adventures.

[@Kurtis11266]

it's scary isn't it

[@travellinbeavers1851]

Great to see ya back into it. Looking forward to following along.

[@edwincors]

Nice to see you Brett, I love the way you fixed your Defender

[@M17CH68]

Welcome back buddy. I have missed you and your attention to detail. You make me feel so lazy! When things break or stop working I just carry on until I get around to fixing them, but you leave no stone unturned brother. It is a credit to you. Looking forward to your next adventure cobber. Happy trails ol mate.

[@Alan.livingston]

Those butane blow torches are priceless. Great for lighting campfires and a million other uses.

[@simmo5022]

Welcome back Bret, looking forward to your videos.

[@T1000.Android]

Glad go see you back getting ready to roam the outback! I'll be coming along with you.

[@PeterMenzies-t4r]

Defender although relatively simple & easy to fix stuff does deteriorate and require attention before a big trip. A great video, nice to see you getting everything ready for a new trip which I look forward to watching.

[@janolopez7436]

Yeahhhh you back brother so good to see you again 🍻🍻🍻

[@alecchesterfield7144]

Great to see you back mate! Nicely done on this one! Looking forward to seeing your next trip! Cheers legend

[@MrKeenaz]

G’day Brett. I’m happy for you to be getting out again living your someday dreams again. I’m looking forward to watching your journey through our beautiful country. From what I’m seeing though, there ain’t much that’s not already populated by tourists anymore. It’s one of the reasons I love your channel, you tend you keep away from the must see and head into the more secluded places. Cheers from, Mario.

[@cbrmac]

Surprising just how many spare parts you need to carry to cover most eventualities and last but not least the knowledge and ability to do the repairs as required...well done on your forward thinking.

[@davsco3650]

Great to see you back Brett, I was really happy to see your vids pop up.. they are always inspirational, they keep my dream of traveling alive and if I can't go, I can follow yours, looking forward to seeing you on the road 🙏

[@32laurens]

I reckon MacGyver needs a WWBD t-shirt! (What would Brett Do?) Also, so nice to see a ratchet spanner being repaired in this throw-away society!

[@malcookie]

Good to see the old girl again 👍

[@gumbysenduro6546]

Im glad you pulled those panels, put a couple of hundred watts up there and refresh it all :)

[@NQExplorers]

Welcome back Brett. Looking forward to further trip prep updates mate. Great shed to be working in too! Cheers. Warren and Colleen.

[@RoamingTheOutback]

@@NQExplorers thanks Warren. Yes plenty big enough to tinker.

[@GlennFairclough]

Good to see vids from you again Brett, cant wait to see you in future travel vids!

[@hbox21]

nice to see you back Brett

[@bmonck5110]

Yes welcome back !

[@Kaotik_Monkey]

Looking forward to seeing you back out there exploring! All the best mate.

[@mattluszczak8095]

good to see you back!!

[@darshparmar7679]

Will be good to see you back on the tracks,I’m sure some new solar panels will be worth it in the long term 😊.

[@jamiesaunders188]

We have found fold out solar panels more convenient as you can park in the shade and have the panel in the sun. Also on a pop top with panels on the roof you need to face the roof into the sun which may not be easy given ground conditions.

[@fredlewis8929]

Great to see you're still making vids Brett, you should write a book, I'd buy it! All the best, Fred (Club86)

[@BrekMartin]

Hey Brett, this Ridge Ryder panel from Supercheap is the same after four years. They are quite distinct, being black in colour.

[@RoamingTheOutback]

do you mean they also failed after four years?

[@BrekMartin]

@@RoamingTheOutback No, I mean they behave the same as when new, and exact same appearance, but thinking again, they are glass and aluminium frame, and maybe not suitable for your pop top, and certainly not the current mounting strips.

[@darrengray2309]

Glad to see you back i always enjoyed your videos 👌👍

[@spudboy1328]

You're very handy! Good work.

[@kumbackquatsta]

thanks for documenting this part

[@fawkesp]

Welcome back Brett, great to have you and DEF93 back together again. Looking forward to your next trip. Also, loved the WWMD tshirt, any idea where I can get one? Pete.

[@Greg-oq5vc]

Great to see you back on KZbin. In an amazing coincidence I was going through my spares and tools today in preparation for an upcoming trip and sat down with a cuppa and found your video.

[@206898195311]

Welcome back. It's good to see you're still putting life back into the Defender. I'm pulling apart my Puma engine after the fuel supply problems. Its never ending....

[@airbats801]

good to see you back. I'm kinda in the same boat as you in life. I need to buy a house but I wanna keep traveling, but I think house needs to come first.

[@minh132]

As always,loved the video.Always enjoy your productions

[@LockyourHubs4WDing]

If it's not to late, consider a house solar panel to replace the roof panels. You're DCDC will have to be able to deal with the higher voltage, the panel are more efficient (Being that the make many millions more than 12v panels so the R&D budget is there.) And being a higher voltage, you'll suffer from less voltage drop over the run of the cable. Though with the mods, unless you're replacing like for like, technically there's the whole updated AS3001 that now needs complying with..... But I'm not opening up that can of worms!

[@VaughanMunro-js4nr]

Welcome back

[@disturbunce2335]

good to see

[@michaeldallimore8590]

Good to see you back! Looking forward to seeing another trip.

[@Andre-yu3qs]

Fantastic, thanks for sharing.

[@jeffreythomas815]

Great video. Thanks!!

[@michaelsecomb4115]

Had to use compressed air to blow out the hoses for the windscreen washers in our Defender.

[@raybulmer5707]

Great having you back. Your thoughts and ideas are always a good thing..

[@mcake1234]

Looking forward to seeing your next adventure Brett.

[@TWX1138]

Just an FYI, the original Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac series tire is being replaced with the Duratrac RT. The RT model is essentially a brand new tread and sidewall pattern using the same compound as the original, whose tread is inspired by the original and looks superficially similar but is otherwise unrelated. I killed one of my worn Duratracs this past weekend and I'm stuck deciding if I want to go with the RT or to go to something else. I'm actually thinking about the Nokian Outpost nAT since their load range E tire (as opposed to the SL rated Duratrac) isn't any heavier than what I'm running now but seems to have a more stout sidewall. But I'm not finding enough hot climate reviews on the Nokian to make me entirely happy with making that change.

[@ianparsons8894]

Not sure if we have them in Australia but the Firestone Destination XT has been getting some great reviews in the 235/85R16 size especially due to the low weight reducing unsprung weight for touring/over landing.

[@TWX1138]

@@ianparsons8894 I wish that Firestone hadn't had two specific incidents of bad tires. They had bad tires in the seventies and then they were the OE supplier to the Ford Explorer and marketed their tires as having more sidewall plies than they were actually made with. Makes it a lot harder to even consider their offerings to be honest, particularly when a set of tires is that expensive to begin with and when issues don't tend to crop up until the tire is worn down a bit and it's much harder to get a manufacturer to stand behind their product. That's why I'm so annoyed with Goodyear discontinuing the original Duratrac. I'd bought five of them originally, I'd intended to replace three this go around and to use the fifth I'd bought last time as my fourth tire, keeping a worn tire as my spare, but that's clearly not in the cards. I was satisfied enough with how they've worn to want to continue using them and being forced to change to another tire I'm back to square one again.

[@ianparsons8894]

Okay, I didn’t know that about the history. That’s quite disappointing. Is there any chance you can purchase some of the runout stock of the current Goodyear Duratracs? Our field vehicle at work (Landcruiser 79) runs these tyres in a 235/85R16 and we replaced the rear tyres with the current Goodyear Duratrac in March this year just as the new RT was being released.

[@RoamingTheOutback]

that's terrible news. I love the Duratracs.. hopefully their new offering works out ok.

[@TWX1138]

@@ianparsons8894 I don't know what's still in the supply chain. They aren't replacing all sizes at the same time. I'm running 255/75/17 since I put big brakes off a V8 Pathfinder on my D40 Frontier for safety when towing in the mountains and I have to run 17" wheels to clear them. I've even looked at 235/80/17 which are a common dually truck tire size but they don't seem to be available in this size either. Narrower tires sometimes bend better around obstacles when aired down so it's not much of a loss in contact patch when only losing around 3/4 of an inch in section width at least.

[@barbaratimmermans5484]

Oooh Bret, I can’t wait to see you in the bush again ❤ man, you know that car like the back of your hand. I’m very good at pulling things apart, but can’t get it back together 🤣 They call me Barbie the destroyer 😂

[@RoamingTheOutback]

hey Barbara.. sometimes it helps to take photos as you go to figure out where those parts went.. or sometimes spending 10 minutes reassembling a part in multiple different ways to it looks right also works.. don't be afraid to keep it a go. You can always phone a friend. Failing that, I have a box with loose nuts and bolts of things left over ;-)

[@barbaratimmermans5484]

@@RoamingTheOutback Thanks for this clever idea of taking photos as I go along Brett. Oh wow, you are a genius, and left over parts always comes in handy 👍

[@MiniLuv-1984]

Thorough as normal!

[@willcowell8197]

Great to see you back in action Brett! All of your preparation videos i find very useful and interesting! Your landy seems to be ready for a new adventure. I remember when you installed your new light bar to replace your old ipf spotlights that you mentioned you had an overeating issue, any trouble since?

[@RoamingTheOutback]

I replaced my worn out radiator not long after, and no problems since. Think it was still the original, and fins were rotting away.

[@LimestoneCoastCustoms]

Ba ha!! Pommy electricals!! 🤣🤣(I wrote that at the very beginning of the video 😉) In saying that!!..... I'm having issues with my "American Electricals" ATM 🙄 u r spot on with the glues, first aid stuff etc. they become useless after a few years & need replacing. There's nothing like preventative maintenance though! 👍👍

[@milansablic]

Good luck, mate, but I can tell you what I wouldn’t coming in your car😅😅

[@ScorpioxA1]

My wipermotor shaft was stuck then the brush burnt of thus it was not working fixed it with solder cleanef it put it back and it have an second live now.That was in last year.

[@juergenaushusum2587]

thanks from germany ;)

[@coptotermes]

Thanks for the vid mate. Quick question, that sidchrome ratchet... I have one exactly tyhe same that belonged to my grandfather! Mine still has the plastic handle on it. I love that you can dissasemble these and service them (which i have done). I'm guseeing that mine would be 50+ years old??

[@RoamingTheOutback]

My dad gave me that one so no idea how old it is.

[@morepork559]

Ever considered a Toyota? I'd steer clear of Offenders.

[@RoamingTheOutback]

hahaha.. no.. maybe when I'm old and grey.. and want air conditioning.

[@ronaldtremmel.mylifeafterc5686]

@@RoamingTheOutback and no Outback Driving

[@duncanm6589]

Great update Brett. Looks like you may need a small simple bench in your shed to work on things. Shame about the panels.