Preparations

Preparation for the first voyage started in the spring. The first item of business was to clean and protect the chassis: removing the worst areas of rust, applying a base coat to protect the metal and then painting with the final layer. We painted the chassis black.

Once the work on the chassis was completed, it was time to place the personnel cabin on the bed and bolt it into place. The cabin weighs 500 kg, so we needed a mechanical lift to hoist it.

Because our truck had not been fitted with a cabin, the spare tire had been mounted onto the front of the truck bed. When the cabin was moved into place, we realized that the tire bracket would need to be removed into order to place the cabin correctly on the bed and bolt it into place.

Once the cabin had been mounted, general maintenance could begin. We replaced all the worn cables and hoses, and performed a complete oil change of the motor (25 liters), the gearbox/transfer case (32 liters), the axles (4 liters per axle) and hubs (0.5 liter per hub).

The work was performed with the help of a friend who owns a garage specialized in the preparation of 4×4 vehicles for rock crawling and cross country rallies.

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