Let me tell you a little something about overlanders. They are heavy-duty 4×4’ers that don’t like to camp in crowded or populated areas. Overlanders enjoy travelling over mountains and through rivers to find a new piece of uncharted land in which to set up camp and be free and isolated from the world around them. They use GPS to pinpoint actual locations and old school maps to get where they’re going. When they camp, they like to camp wild! I mean… no electric fences, no rangers, and often no ablutions. Just them, the stars and their healthy obsession for being outdoors in the untamed wild and completely off the grid. Overlanders are not fragile. Nor are their rigs.
Overlanding’s pull is as primal and old as mankind itself. To pioneer, discover and claim swaths of unexplored land. Today, still, there are savannahs and wildernesses and deserts, remote, unscathed and beckoning the untamed spirit.
If this is you, yes! Us too! We find our calm in the rush of adrenalin, and late-night when all you can hear is your own pulse and the crunch of sand as some creature strolls past en route to its midnight feast. Give us real-feel expeditions away from recirculated air and urban-comforts. We want to be free to go anywhere, to rely only on what is packed in the cabin, under the hood and in the back.
But being out in the bush with no fences, telephone poles, or power lines for 500 – 1000 km, no wikiHow, no one around for spares or help… This is when extreme planning rates right up there with extreme adventure. This is where attention to detail and correct installation of modifications to your rig could be the difference between life and death. Because wild camping in Africa is truly this… wild!
Being in the outdoors and off-road business we have seen them all. From overlanding motorbikes to 8-wheeler unimogs. And then we came across this creature; as feral as Africa itself. We tracked down what has to be one of the hardiest, bush-ready rig-builds that Big Country 4×4 has released for one of their newest clients. From basic bakkie to robust overlander that can drive and endure anywhere, their latest build makes off-roading look easy and extremely fun!
To cleverly kit a vehicle, you need to choose your supplier wisely. It’s never only about price. Badly designed kits break. When you are in the middle of nowhere, bought cheap, and ramshackle, you would do anything to have rather invested in premium quality earlier down the road.
Big Country 4×4 products have stood the test of time with their design motto being “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. They focus their R&D efforts on constructing superior-quality products, offering an ever-expanding range of solutions for your vehicle.
Another issue often faced by customers is being sent from pillar to post, having to track down a different supplier for each component of the build. Time-waste aside, it lacks practicality. Components must be selected to work together. For example, some rigs sacrifice the awning function when the tent is up. With proper planning, this should not be the case. As in nature, all elements should operate together seamlessly. When buying an all-encompassing solution from a single supplier, you generally circumvent all these afterthought build issues.
Big Country 4×4 is in the business of “creating usable and organised space”. They’ve paid the school fees on what works and what doesn’t – so that you don’t have to. Their line “Not Fragile” has been earned, with each piece of equipment being thoroughly tested on hardcore terrain, in challenging weather conditions and in untamed areas.
So, without further ado, let’s get into exploring this particular build – bearing in mind that they would tailor-make something specifically for your vehicle, and your requirements. There is no such thing as “one size fits all” – because it doesn’t. No one knows this better than Big Country 4×4!
This Land Cruiser 79 Series Single Cab Pick-Up belongs to a client who lives in Austria. Having been a client since around 2008, he knows the Big Country 4×4 vehicle owned by Richard that is regularly used on overland expeditions. When he decided to start putting a fleet of vehicles together to take people into the bush, his brief was simple: “I want this Cruiser to be exactly like the Big Country one”.
When you upgrade your 4×4, you must understand that you are adding much weight, quintessentially changing the dynamics of the vehicle. To compensate, you need to modify the suspension. On this build, a Pedders Suspension Upgrade with diff breathers was added (a diff breather valve vents the pressure build-up from inside the diff when it gets hot).
In the background, one can see the extended diff breathers, which are used to prevent the ingress of both dust and water too.
Other accessories include:
- A 100-litre water tank with Surgeflow (12.5 LPM) pump
- Spare wheel protective covers
- High lift jack bracket
- Spade bracket
- Maxtrax boards recovery boards
- Recovery kit
- Night Raider spotlights
- Sidelight guards
- Chassis toolboxes (front left & right)
- 12-bottle wine rack
- Canopy shelf
- Twin table slide built into the canopy and so much more
We have highlighted only some of the components of this build. Should you be keen to live the dream, why not pop into the Big Country 4×4 showroom and have a proper chat? Their fitment centre’s technical team will consult with you to discuss your plans, exact requirements and suggestions to tailor-make your overlanding adventure of a lifetime.
Use the enquiry form below to drop them a message and they will call you right back with estimates on suspensions, drawer sliders, canopies, awning and more. All you have to do is point your finger on a map and say…I want to go there 😉
Enquire below
