Expedition Vehicles - Care Prepare and Maintain

When such a considerable amount has been spent on preparing a vehicle for expedition use, and the associated costs of the ancillary equipment it is prudent to spend a little time preparing and maintaining it. In this section we will look at some of the work required, and introduce a few tips; there is nothing prohibitive and these works can be phased as most are periodical which will keep your expensive equipment in tip top condition.

Maintaining your vehicle will become even more important if it spends a lot of time off road, particularly when fully laden and in hostile conditions, so it would be prudent to make checks more often and resort to more frequent servicing. Daihatsu suggest various maintenance schedules for varying degrees of work or operating conditions, so switch to one of these.
Make visual inspections of critical systems such as brakes, note the pad and shoe wear as well as the discs and brake drums, examine any brake pipes more often for corrosion on steel pipes, and damage to steel or copper pipes.
Grease the vehicles grease points more frequently, and while you are under the vehicle, examine and touch up any rusty spots, as well as checking the suspension for broken coil spring ends, leaking or damaged shocks, and all the suspension bushes. Check leaf springs for damage and paint them with old engine oil to prevent wear and corrosion, and check for any damage to prop shafts, axles, and under body protection and clean the underside with a hose, check all gaiters and drive shafts.

Check the security of any additional or replacement fixtures such as winch bumpers, rock sliders, and roof racks, check the security of anything attached to these items including winches, recovery eyes, spare wheel carriers, and jerry can holders.

Preparing equipment is a good idea as many come with a few potential problems?

Water tanks integral to a vehicle and portable items are generally plastic, before using them it is a good idea to clean them with pure water, flush through with clean water and drain, and then add a mixture of water and lemon juice. This removes the plastic taste left by this equipment when it is new, dilute orange pop also works but is not as effective as lemon juice, stand for about an hour and pump through all equipment such as any lines or taps fitted to a vehicles integral water tank. Drain and flush with clean water.

Integral water tanks also build up bacteria over time, these require cleaning twice a year, with one of the numerous products available to the caravan and motorhome owners, and use this in accordance with the manufacturer