Down Van Zyls Pass Towing Trailers and Caravans: Patrol, Cruiser, and Jimny

[HKirby]

Our latest and final episode of the series.

https://youtu.be/lP0KjnjeZgw

[DCTheron]

Enjoyed it again immensely, thank you Guys.

The beauty of Nam is just at such a high level, I wish I could pack now and leave tomorrow, ai man!

Again, thanks a mill, I travelled with you watching the videos.

[jimnyfan]

Wonderlike video.. het gevoel of ek daar was. Lekkerste ding wat in hierdie lock down periode gedoen het! Baie dankie

[tomthomas]

Thoroughly enjoyed the last episode, absolute stunning scenery. I am subscribed and saw it as available.

I could not believe the 76 with caravan in tow could just push the Jimny with a stiff rope aside

Seriously, as said before, stunning videos, love it!

I am designing a packing/kitchen system for the Hilux to go explore exactly those areas leaving the Ratel at home. Watching your videos makes it a must-do

Ja DC seker maar 'n bitter pil om te sluk as 'n Jimny jou moet help maar nouja as jy kopseer het drink jy enige pil wat moontlik kan help

[tomthomas]

Based on the videos the Jimny is by far the best 4x4.
Never got stuck and danced down the pass.

Hi Ranier.
The Jimny did a fantastic job. Definitely an advantage to have a smaller capable vehicle in some of those trickier areas.

As jy 'n Jimny ry praat jy nie baie nie - kyk na die videos dan sal jy sien dat ek meestal after gery het om seker te maak niemand bly agter nie anders net voor as ek help

[FC Selouse]

Good Morning All

Last year July the family did a 6500 km round trip from Cape Town up to Epupa Falls and back.

I towed my Conqueror Comfort with my Patrol, my brother-in-law towed his Bushlapa with his Cruiser, and my parents-in-law followed in their Suzuki Jimny.

If you consider the vehicles and the trailer and caravan we towed I'm sure you'd agree that we created a great platform to compare arguably some of the most discussed 4x4 vehicles as well as caravan and trailer brands in South Africa.

Before we did the trip we probably watched all the content we could on YouTube about the trip and specifically the Van Zyl's Pass so in my opinion I believe we have created one of the best quality videos of us descending the pass using various camera angles to view the descent from different sides of the vehicles and get a really good idea of how challenging it is to descend while being pushed down the hill by your caravan or trailer.

Some points about the descent:

- The Conqueror had a busted leaf spring at the time and still made it down without a hitch. You'll notice some squeaking in the video attesting to the broken component.
- I pulled up the handbrake of the Comfort before the descent to help reduce the amount of pushing, but that didnt help that much once the auto-reverse kicked in, which disables the brake. My brother-in-law couldn't use his handbrake on the Bushlapa because it's one of those brakes which is either completely on or off.
- The grinding noise heard from the Bushlapa during the descent is the sounds of the front right corner of the chassis being dragged across the rocks. The difference in distance between the Patrol's rear axle and Comfort vs. the Cruiser rear axle and Bushlapa is 800mm where the Cruiser is longer, which played a significant roll in traversing terrain with severe acute and obtuse angles.
- Both my brother-in-law and I had our feet 100% on the breaks while making the descent at the steepest part despite it looking as if we came down too fast. Brakes and tires dont mean much at all when you've got 1.5T of load pushing you from behind on loose gravel on a rocky surface.

Here is the link to the YouTube video of the event https://youtu.be/_BvpDqax80c

Feel free to take a look at some of the other content of the trip.

Cheers
Hugh

Excellent video ,Could you please tell what suspension did the Jimny have & what tyres were used

[Andre Bos]

Baie goeie video en ja die makker wat jou af wys is die belangrikste persoon van die dag!

[tomthomas]

Excellent video ,Could you please tell what suspension did the Jimny have & what tyres were used

Stock standard shocks and springs but with a 40mm lift. Tyres BFG 215/75/R15. Then to assist with the load rear air-helpers and what also helps a lot or rather a must have is a steering dampers. A few months after this trip I discovered a slight oil dampness on the RF shock but still good to go however I've installed a 50mm OME lift but the lockdown kept us from doing the Tankwa Karoo route where I would like to check the difference. Must say that the overall drive comfort is much softer and steadier with the OME's.

The corrugation in Etosha was really really horrible - look at the videos - and I'm sure that started the shock issue.

[tomthomas]

Baie goeie video en ja die makker wat jou af wys is die belangrikste persoon van die dag!

Ja Andre jy is reg, soos 'n koor nie sonder 'n dirigent kan sing nie net so kan jy nie sonder 'n aanwyser hierdie passe aanpak nie. Jy kry aleen lopers wat dit doen maar hulle is maar min. Soos Hugh en tjoppie vroeër gemeld het, het ons radio kommunikasie gehad wat 'n voordeel was maar die bestuurder moet net luister, doen en vertou en sy hande op die stuurwiel hou - daars nie tyd vir terug praat nie.

[Rafaangola]

Excellent video. We do have a similar track in Angola (cimo /lucira, south Benguela to Namibe) but yours more "attractive" I will do it to with my hdj80 and 2000 conqueror trailer.
Well done!

Good Morning All

Last year July the family did a 6500 km round trip from Cape Town up to Epupa Falls and back.

I towed my Conqueror Comfort with my Patrol, my brother-in-law towed his Bushlapa with his Cruiser, and my parents-in-law followed in their Suzuki Jimny.

If you consider the vehicles and the trailer and caravan we towed I'm sure you'd agree that we created a great platform to compare arguably some of the most discussed 4x4 vehicles as well as caravan and trailer brands in South Africa.

Before we did the trip we probably watched all the content we could on YouTube about the trip and specifically the Van Zyl's Pass so in my opinion I believe we have created one of the best quality videos of us descending the pass using various camera angles to view the descent from different sides of the vehicles and get a really good idea of how challenging it is to descend while being pushed down the hill by your caravan or trailer.

Some points about the descent:

- The Conqueror had a busted leaf spring at the time and still made it down without a hitch. You'll notice some squeaking in the video attesting to the broken component.
- I pulled up the handbrake of the Comfort before the descent to help reduce the amount of pushing, but that didnt help that much once the auto-reverse kicked in, which disables the brake. My brother-in-law couldn't use his handbrake on the Bushlapa because it's one of those brakes which is either completely on or off.
- The grinding noise heard from the Bushlapa during the descent is the sounds of the front right corner of the chassis being dragged across the rocks. The difference in distance between the Patrol's rear axle and Comfort vs. the Cruiser rear axle and Bushlapa is 800mm where the Cruiser is longer, which played a significant roll in traversing terrain with severe acute and obtuse angles.
- Both my brother-in-law and I had our feet 100% on the breaks while making the descent at the steepest part despite it looking as if we came down too fast. Brakes and tires dont mean much at all when you've got 1.5T of load pushing you from behind on loose gravel on a rocky surface.

Here is the link to the YouTube video of the event https://youtu.be/_BvpDqax80c

Feel free to take a look at some of the other content of the trip.

Cheers
Hugh

[Firecat]

Great you tube. Very extreme conditions.
Glad to see everyone cruising along together
Steve.