The Road Chose Me: Driving a Jeep Wrangler around Africa

[milesmcewing]

Have Fun Dan!

If you need any advice/maps/logistics - I have several friends here in Calgary who have done the same route/trip, including DRC and Angola. Drop me a note and I can put you in touch.

I've done the South and Senegal but not the whole circumnavigation.

www.smilesandmiles.com

Cheers!
Miles

[KO22]

Africa? You crazy basterd! That's awesome. Will definitely keep up with this!

[nismodrifter]

Subscribed. Wicked swap!!! Can't wait to see updates!

[Cos]

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[msommers]

Given your experience in South America, Africa won't be too shocking in terms of logistical snafus and thinking "is that really the immigration office?" I did a large overlanding trip a couple years ago covering Eastern and Southern Africa over 3 months and it was unreal - I could easily do the same trip again and love it all the same. Tons of places want your fingerprints though which I found shocking, especially from the broken shack it's hooked up to.

Glad to see Uganda is on your schedule. The mountain gorillas are absolutely surreal. I was probably 10ft away from the silverback! Namibia is a land of incredible landscapes. The helicopter tour at Vic Falls is absolutely worth the expense. I'm sure you've done your homework but any questions I can do my best to help.

Hope you've been working on your French as well!

[EK 2.0]

Sick!!...

So cool, best of luck with this journey!!.

[Mitsu3000gt]

You're driving through some places I wouldn't even go with bodyguards Also good call avoiding Somalia haha. Best of luck.

[max_boost]

Haha yea good luck. Libya. Badass!

[GQBalla]

AWESOME! so excited

[Grecy]

Thanks for the comments and positive words all.

I'd like to get some input from all of you please.
What do you want to see?
What didn't I write about or take photos of last time that you want to know about?

I'll also be filming a YouTube series of this trip, and I'd love to get your input on what I should include in that.

My channel is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCky...R1Gi6YeeCR6BDg
Though it only has one video right now.... launch video and Jeep build coming very soon - I'm editing it now.

Thanks!

Jeep is extremely close to finished, and I absolutely can not wait!

Originally posted by jacky4566
WHOOP! Good Luck Dan. I didn't get the chance but you know my buddy Jared Marley.

Cant wait to read more.

Huh, small internet!

Originally posted by vengie
Subscribed!
You sir are building my dream jeep, I have the 3.0L in my grand cherokee and its a fantastic motor! I've always said the second jeep builds a diesel wrangler I would be all over it.

That said, how has the swap been? are there direct conversion kits? or is a lot of custom work involved?

Cheers!

I'm not running the same 3.0 V6 from the GC - I've got an OM606 which is a straight 6, all mechanical (no computer)

The swap is very custom, unfortunately.

-Dan

[KO22]

Definitely document your trip with a gopro.

[Grecy]

Hey everyone,

The Diesel conversion in my Jeep has been an enormous amount of work, unfortunately the Jeep wasn't ready for SEMA.
Maybe I'll make it in sometime the future.

Things are coming together really well, I absolutely can not wait to drive my Jeep.



All the details on the Mercedes Diesel conversion and a ton of new photos are now in today's issue of the FREE JPFreek Adventure Magazine


-Dan

[OU812]

What are you doing in Cali that you cant do here??

[Grecy]

Originally posted by OU812
What are you doing in Cali that you cant do here??

I'm getting a J30 pop-up roof for the Jeep from Ursa Minor Vehicles .

We're doing some modifications to it-that make my roll bar modifications all make sense- and I'd like to do that at the factory with the Ursa Minor guys, rather than have them ship it up to me.

I also need to pickup a set of wheels I bought for the Jeep in Arizona...

-Dan

[kaput]

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[Grecy]

Originally posted by kaput


This link doesn't work for me. Anyone else?

Sorry about that, I just fixed it.

The direct link to my article in the magazine is http://currentissue.jpfreek.com/publ...16482&l=1&p=10

-Dan

[kaput]

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[msommers]

Works on my phone. 184 pages!

[thinmyster]

Do you have plans for a long range fuel tank?

[Grecy]

Originally posted by thinmyster
Do you have plans for a long range fuel tank?

Part of the reason for the diesel conversion is to hopefully get good enough mileage so that I don't need one.
I really don't want to deal with the hassle and weight of extra fuel.

Even if the diesel only gets 25mpg, I'll have a range or 850km.

Hopefully it's more like 28mpg, which gives just under 1000km range.

If the mileage isn't that good, I'll have to figure something out before I leave North America. I have a drinking water tank under the frame rails opposite the stock gas tank, and the muffler is at the back, so I'll have to get creative if need be.

-Dan