This is the first in our three part series on winching, with this part dealing with how to choose a winch for your Land Rover. Winches are useful additions to get you out of the most sticky of situations. If you're thinking you want to add a winch to your Land Rover, there are a few questions you first need to ask yourself....
I've just bought a spare Wolf wheel, so called because of their usage on the Army 'Wolf' Land Rovers. They are technically Land Rover's Heavy Duty (XD) OEM steel wheel, fitted to Defender 130's and as an option on other Defenders. I regard them as an important addition to an expedition Land Rover for their strength and durability....
There are three options available to you to fit a Winch depending on your skill and budget involved. This article brushes across the first two options, as this is primarily a guide for doing it yourself....
My choice of tyres were 235/85 R16 BF Goodrich All Terrains. I've had experience of using these in Ghana. They have a good reputation and a lot of people use them on expedition. They're more versatile than mud terrains, being good on surfaced road (as the vast majority of my time spent I will be driving these)...
Winching is a fairly technical discipline, and takes from practise to work effectively. If you don't do it right, you could end up damaging the vehicle or yourself. This article is a rough guide to Winching techniques....
As a bare minimum in the expeditioner's arsenal, the following items should be included as standard. Naturally it's a matter of opinion, but I wouldn't find myself without any of these items if venturing further afield off road. A two ton vehicle won't much listen to a single human being unless he has some tools up his sleeve....
I've already talked about the essential modifications to your Land Rover for going on expedition, so i'm going to list a few things that I see as the next step up in the process of modification...
And if you do, is it easy to get to? It's one of those things you don't really think about, but a fire can take your vehicle with it in a matter of minutes. Some cars have a reputation for catching fire, but not so much with Land Rovers. That is unless it's a V8...
