We’ve taken the tough decision to sell our trusty Overland Truck, Colonel K.

Here is a link to the advert on ebay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253860162381

We are after £38,000, or €43,000 for the truck and the mountain of spares and accessories.

Below is an honest description of the truck right now.

For sale is our professionally built overland truck, this has been well proven and we lived in it exclusively during our 3 year trip to Africa (details can be seen of this trip on our blog http://www.lorrywaydown.com. ). It is designed and built to be very self sufficient for long periods of time, we have camped “off the grid” for 2 to 3 weeks many times during our ownership.

Please note the truck is Left Hand Drive and has a Gross maximum weight of 10,800kgs, so in its current state cannot be driven on a standard car license. It is registered with the DVLA as a Motor Caravan and the road tax is £165 per year. As its a Motor Caravan it gets MOT’ed annually as a “normal vehicle” and not as the more stringent HGV tests. It is currently MOT’ed until March 2019.
We got put on a weigh bridge in Namibia and with a full tank of water, fuel at about 75% full and completely fully loaded for a 3 year trip we weighed 9,200kg.

We currently have Bridgestone tires on the front and Michelin tires on the rear, these are semi off road tyres and suit the truck very well doing a combination of road and off road use, all have got plenty of tread left.

The truck is in very good mechanical condition, but it does need a bit of a “freshen up” inside and out, especially the interior joinery, cupboards etc as these were slightly damaged by a water leak while in Uganda in the rainy season, but it is obviously water tight now.

The Leyland Daf T244 started life with the British Army and was manufactured in 1991, we bought it from the military disposal centre of Whithams in 2011. The truck was delivered to Overland Vehicles Ltd, based in Suffolk, England and from during the end of 2011 to beginning of 2012 Ed Perry constructed what we have today. We took delivery of our completed overlander in Spring 2012.

The living accommodation box is fitted to a full 4 point torsion free system, this separates the twisting forces of the chassis rails from the living box (very important on these large trucks as the chassis rails are designed to twist under off road conditions). This means that the accommodation box is fitted to a separate subframe/floor.

The construction that we specified with Overland Vehicles Ltd was steel box section and clad with aluminium externally, then rigid insulation between the steel members, and then a further layer of rigid insulation over the inside walls and roof/ceiling. The floor is also fully insulated.

The Leyland Daf is fitted with the ultra reliable Cummins 5.9L turbo diesel engine and 5 speed Spicer manual gearbox, it is permanent 4 wheel drive, and also comes with a high/low range gears via the lockable centre diff. This all works like a very big Landrover Defender, but in a much more robust and stronger package.

The vehicle is very very low mileage, despite us using it on a three trip to Africa, with a total mileage of less than 80,000 miles (we purchased the truck with less than 2,000 miles on it). It has proved incredibly reliable and very capable off road, with only minor issues during our long trip. Due to the simple mechanics of the LD it is never a problem to get any issues easily sorted, even in the most remote of areas.
I have changed the engine oil and filters, at a maximum of 6,000 miles religiously and the engine uses barely 1 to 2 litres to op up between oil changes. Gearbox, transfer box and diff oils were last changed about 10,000 miles ago.

It has recently had both track rod ends replaced, drop link to steering replaced, fan belt tensioner replaced, brake shoes relined, UV joints to prop shafts replaced, plus ALL of the batteries replaced.

There is also a massive selection of spares with the truck, including alternator, clutch plate, water pump, injector, fan belt, hoses, complete new replacement burner unit for the Thermo 50, filters, headlamp unit, spare driving lamp, spare bulbs, spare made up cables for rear hoist, throttle cable, rad cap, thermostat, fan belt tensioner, 2no replacement hub nuts (very hard to get hold of), spare wheel nuts, spare 24v to 12v dropper, spare mirror lens, 12 tonne bottle jack and blocks, two truck specific wheel chocks, Michelin inner tubes, wipers, syphon kit fro transferring full, throttle return spring, heavy duty 240v battery charger, gas rams for roof lights, etc, etc, etc.

I also have all of the original instructions for all of the fitted equipment such as inverter, charger, air con unit, TV, music systems, diesel hob etc.
There is a full paper copy of the parts manual showing diagrams and every part number for the whole truck, plus a user manual (instruction on how every thing works, and a full maintenance manual, showing oil capacities, greasing points etc etc.

So, now a bit more detail on the truck itself.

The living accommodation box is approx 5.0m x 2.5m externally, and has full headroom inside.

It is fitted with a 300 litre diesel tank (this has always proved to be more than enough even in rural west africa).

It is fitted with a 300 litre fully baffled PVC water tank, with water pumped by a 30psi 24v water pump (replaced with a new one 12 months ago). The water tank and pump are located under the bed in a fully insulated and heated position. There is a large bore drainage pipe with a stopcock for rapid draining of the water tank that discharges under the rear of the truck.

It is fitted with a 150 litre grey water tank, this is semi insulated and accessed and drained from outside.

The gas locker contains 2no 6kg propane bottles (both full), as the only use for gas is cooking these usually last for many months.

There are 4no 110ah leisure batteries wired as 24volts this gives 220ah at 24volts (replaced in 2017). When constructed we had it built with 8no 110ah batteries, we felt this was too many and so reduced this to 4 batteries, however the space and wiring is still in place should you wish to go back to a huge bank of 8 batteries.

Charging of the leisure batteries is taken care of my the excellent and reliable Sterling Power Products Alternator to battery charger, and Pro Combi S Pure Sinewave Inverter Charger. Of course there is 240v mains hook up with trip fuses, and a large fixed solar panel on the roof which I think is 180w and wired through a Steca Solarix MPPT solar charger controller. All the Sterling equipment is controlled remotely from switches in the kitchen.
There is also a Honda 3.0is petrol generator fitted on a heavy duty slide out in an external locker, this charges the batteries very fast, and allows the you to live truly off the radar. This generator operates very quietly, and has been hardly used, (less than 50 hours), this alone cost over £3,000.

Hot water is provider via a large calorfier which is heated via the engine cooling system (as soon as the engine reaches full temperature, you have very hot water for use), or via the Webasto Thermo 50 Diesel Water Heater, you never want for hot water in this truck. In practice the Webasto is rarely used as the engine cooling heater is so efficient and the water remains hot for a couple of days in the insulated calorfier.

Heating is via hot air outlets.

Specification room by room

Kitchen
4 burner Gas Thetford Minigrill MK111, with built in grill underneath and glass lid.

Webasto X100 diesel hob, with Schott Ceran ceramic hob top, fully adjustable and with altitude control. This is another high spec item (well over £1,000) that enables a truly go anywhere attitude. This has had very little use as its a back up for when gas is not available. It also makes a fantastic method of heating the living accommodation.

Large stainless steel sink with built in drainer, foldable mixer tap and glass lid.

Nature Pure water filtration system with dedicated tap, never buy bottled water again!!! This system removes everything and was a massive plus in Africa, we literally never had to buy bottled water.

All of the above is set in a 2,200mm worktop made from a heavy duty resin material in a “speckled white” finish.

Waeco built in front opening CR-110 Compressor fridge, complete with built in ice box/freezer.

3no large under worktop storage units, and 4no overhead storage units (one of these contains the main electric controls, including amp counter, voltage display, inverter switch, all 12v, and 24v fuses, plus 240v sockets). Down lighters built into under side of overhead units.

Bathroom and WC, separated by door from rest of unit.
Large “full size” shower with curtain and adjustable mixer control, this is a fantastic shower that has a high flow of hot water.

Thetford toilet with cassette accessed from outside locker door. This is fitted with a 12v SOG extractor unit, as such we have never needed to use chemicals in the cassette, and there is no issues from smells.

Sink built into a large vanity unit, with mixer tap, top is same material as kitchen worktop, mirror fitted above.

Living area
Large seating area for 4-6 people around table. 1200mm x 750mm table in same material as kitchen worktop, all of this easily and quickly converts into a 2nd double bed.

Full height large wardrobe with shelves, double doors.

19″ Dyon TV with built in DVD player, (inc remote control), built into a high level shelving unit, please note there is no ariel for TV, we only used it a few times to watch DVD’s.

Sony DSX-S100 Digital Media Player, this is a 12v car unit fitted under the shelf unit, and can play music from iPods, USB sticks etc, this is not wired to an external ariel, 2no Pioneer speakers.

Large opening panel above the table in outside wall, top hung and fitted with gas rams and pull handles, fitted in this is a normal window.

Cut through to cab.

24v fan fitted at high level.

2no double 240v sockets and a 12v “cigarette type” outlet for charging accessories.

Dometic B2600 air conditioning unit fitted into roof/ceiling, inc remote control, this has been hardly used, and does require a good 240v hookup for it to work efficiently.

Large opening roof light over table area.

12no individually switched low amp downlighters set into ceiling.

2no large storage areas under seating, some also accessed via outside locker door, there is also a hidden area under a false floor here that contains a lockable safe.

Water tank level gauge, heating and hot water controller, and timer.

Sleeping Area.

Full size double bed, 1400mm x 2000mm, this remains made up and no need to pack away, we also have in position a very high quality Vispring mattress, this is 100% natural materials and very breathable, a huge bonus in hot climates, its also very comfortable.

1no window, a large roof light above the bed, and a 24v fan. Smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm.

3no large overhead lockers, down lighters and steps to access the bed.

Outside.
There is a recovery winch fitted on the front and rear of the truck, each of these are the excellent 24v Warrior EWX 17,500Ibs units, these have a maximum pulling power of 8.0 tonnes, and they have proved their worth in Africa, and have remote control cables for ease of use.

There are tow points on front and rear with large heavy duty shackles, and a heavy duty snatch block.

There is a large wind out awning fitted to the side (there is some damage to this as the hinged arms are no longer fitted but it is still very usable, it just needs guy ropes to peg it out).

Hammock fitting point (yup you read that right), we have actually used this a lot.

Easy access fold away steps, very easy and light to use and a safe way to enter the living space, they literally just pull out and roll down.

Rear rack operated by top mounted electric winch, this was originally built to carry two smaller motorbikes, then we carried one larger bike (a KTM 990 Adventure), then we adapted the base to take the spare wheel, and two mountain bikes, this is how we set off for Africa. During our trip (in Namibia) we sent our mountain bikes home and then cut off the protruding base beyond the spare wheel. This would be very easy to made a new base if the buyer requires to carry a motor bike again.

External shower point for hot/cold shower with handset.

Battery isolator switch for starter batteries, these were replaced in 2017.

Stainless steel large (50mm diameter) protection rails to front and roof of accommodation box, stainless steel protection “cage” over air conditioning unit on roof, stainless steel protection up the corners of the cab, and forming the roof rack over cab. There is a stainless steel ladder on the side of the cab to access the roof rack and roof from the wheel arch. Whilst these are heavy they have proved invaluable in protecting the truck.

Large aluminium purpose built lockable storage box on cab roof.

2no double jerry can holders on cab roof carrying an additional 80 litres of fuel if needed. Please note these jerry cans have never been used and though the holders are in excellent condition, the actual jerry cans are a bit rusty.

There are four high power driving lamps on the roof of the cab, these are a real bonus when driving at night as the standard Leyland Daf headlamps are quite poor.

Inside Cab.
The cab is a large design with a big area behind the seats, and have seen these converted to carry 4 people.

Fitted are two mechanically sprung KAB 411 seats which are weight adjustable, fitted with head restraints, and foldable arm rests, these are very comfortable for covering long distances.

The cab has been fitted with sound proofing from the engine underneath.

Engel top opening compressor fridge is fitted behind the drivers seat, there is a large area behind the passenger seat for storage boxes etc.

Large lockable purpose built metal storage box fitted between the seats this also contains a Sony DSX-S100 Digital Media Player, this is a 12v car unit, and can play music from iPods, USB sticks etc, this is wired to an external ariel mounted on the cab roof, 2no Pioneer speakers are recessed into the storage box. There are two 12v charging points also inside the box. A purpose built metal tray is fitted in front of this to put, bits and bobs in.

Two 24v fans fitted to the dash board and a12v charging point is fitted into the dash for the Sat Nav.

Gun hatch/sun roof is fitted into the cab roof, and there is a cut through into the living accommodation, we have never used this.

Fitted is a Autowatch 457RLI remote controlled alarm/immobiliser, and Autowatch tracker system, I have all the papers for these items.

There is a high level intake snorkel kit fitted.

Ok now the bad points.

The speedo has packed up, and I think it needs a new sender unit (gearbox mounted), this packed up in Senegal and we recorded the rest of the truck on our trusty Garmin. The speedo is currently showing just over 12,000 miles, and that is what is shown on the MOT that was done in March 2018.

As mentioned above there was some water ingress while we were in Uganda and we couldn’t get this repaired properly until we got to South Africa, here everything was stripped off the roof including solar panel, air-con unit, roof lights etc and completely resealed before refitting. It has obviously not leaked since but some slight damage was caused to the units in the kitchen, they aren’t too bad but I need to point this out.

There is a reversing camera fitted but please note this is currently not working, it may be a wiring issue or may need a new camera unit on rear.

There are a few spots of rust on the wheel arches (the Daf’s are known for this).

There are a few bumps, scrapes and dents in the external aluminium of the living accommodation.

The cab is a little tatty now, with the sound proofing lifting in places, and a tiny solder burn in the drivers seat, but really its not too bad, it was built in 1991 !!

It still has our http://www.lorrywaydown.com stickers on (should be easy to remove I’m told by the guy that fitted them), and of course our prized African stickers on the passenger side.

But on the whole this is one hell of a high spec overland truck, that has proven simple, reliable workings, the price reflects that I don’t have the time to spend getting it back to “showroom” condition. It really is ready to go, to either live in full time, or as an expedition vehicle for that epic overland adventure, trucks like this with this high specification rarely come up at this price, but we have decided to get a much smaller vehicle for our next travels.

you can email me on vmartin555@btconnect.com

Thanks for following us on this part of our travels, but please note it continues………

Vince & Jac’s

Its been a blast…….. so far……..