NX Overland Payload

[surf54]

Roof load 100kg max.this also includes the rack..Rack weighs 20kg your limit is 80kg. ..very ambitious if your heading off road. Even Rhino-rack say to halve the carrying capacity if doing off-road/4wd tracks.



Have you included all the fuel. Standard 88 litres plus 128 equals approx 200kg. Payload from factory does not include fuel.


You should rethink your food and water . You wont be totally off the grid for more than 4-5 days I,m guessing as you don't state your travel itinerary. High pressure shower...waste of money.



Definitely unload the 3rd seat although I don't think it will be there if you have the extra tank. 1 litre of oil should be heaps, less water. less fuel, less food . Strip the car down to the bare essentials ...full of fuel , and work out your weight after taking to weighbridge.


If your really heading out just to deliberately stay off grid for a fortnight then I would definitely take a trailer with everything.


Double check your weights and get a weighbridge certificate.

Yeah you are absolutely right on the 4WD with roof rack dropping to <80kg recommended.
But we want an easy to set up hardtop tent and they all range between 50-65kg so what do you do. We want to stay as legal as possible and this will be legal. The backbone from rhino is as good as it gets as far as the connection between rack and vehicle is the weak link. The first years we want to travel with vehicle only to maximize our abilities to get to locations before we will buy a small 4WD minimized trailer you can put your own mattress in if you want and not climb up anymore with 60+ bones e.g. (this is a $35k one though and will eat a chunk out of the super }

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYDyuHMGQjI

We still have one of our children at home that we want to be able to transport with the Pajero so the 3rd seat has to stay in for the coming 2 years... We also want 2 seats for rainy days without a steering wheel in front of it but keep all options open. Time will tell if 2 good outdoor seats inside the awning will be sufficient.

The best way forward for us, if I implement the comments, is to take seats 4 to 7 out, put the strongest rack on possible, put the ARB long range 128 liter in to replace the 88 liter , install snorkel, install compressor in spare wheel cavity, built the rack for the 6x FRunner wolf packs and 2x 20l jerrycans (for now) on each side, put a dual battery system in, put the 40 liter FRunner foot well in and just fill all up near a public weigh bridge and go from that figure.
This can all be done without upgrading the suspension that we will leave till 6 months before departure. In those last 6 months we will have to do the final 2 weeks off grid test and fine tune whilst we still have a brick home.

Thanks for all the feedback up till now!

[surf54]

Last year Njswb in his NT and Pajero12 in his NW joined me on a 4,200km, with about 75% off the bitumen,10 day outback trip which included a Simpson crossing via the scenic route, Oodnadatta, Birdsville and Strzeleki Tracks. Both Gen 4's were at GVM +130kg to 200kg and my Challenger was at GVM+150kg so we were heavy despite only taking the "essential comforts". All 3 vehicles have EHD suspension and were +/- 15mm of the unladen factory ride heights despite being heavily loaded, no vehicle suffered tyre failures but one of NJswb OME front struts developed a slight weep. We covered a lot of kms in a short amount of time so we were not travelling slow when conditions permitted.

The Gen 4 Pajero and the PB/PC Challenger can be setup to "Overland" in remote areas for extended periods of time as long as they are not grisly overloaded or driven without a degree of "mechanical sympathy".

OJ.

Good to know the Mitsubishi's can handle the stress of GVM + 150kg. Must have been a memory box trip together!
We plan to do this 2 to 4 years without a trailer first so that 150-200 kg over GVM will be wearing all components every time we fill up to max so we want it to be close to zero.

Spot on handling the vehicle with the respect it deserves as it will be our home.
We will also put it to the test many times to find the best locations but every vehicle has it's limitations. 100% majority votes to push on or else backtrack
In practice we don't push it to 100% of vehicle and driver capabilities because that has nothing to do with overlanding anymore but all with 4x4 fun and having a brick home.

[Dicko1]

Yeah you are absolutely right on the 4WD with roof rack dropping to <80kg recommended.
But we want an easy to set up hardtop tent and they all range between 50-65kg so what do you do. We want to stay as legal as possible and this will be legal. The backbone from rhino is as good as it gets as far as the connection between rack and vehicle is the weak link. The first years we want to travel with vehicle only to maximize our abilities to get to locations before we will buy a small 4WD minimized trailer you can put your own mattress in if you want and not climb up anymore with 60+ bones e.g. (this is a $35k one though and will eat a chunk out of the super }

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYDyuHMGQjI

We still have one of our children at home that we want to be able to transport with the Pajero so the 3rd seat has to stay in for the coming 2 years... We also want 2 seats for rainy days without a steering wheel in front of it but keep all options open. Time will tell if 2 good outdoor seats inside the awning will be sufficient.

The best way forward for us, if I implement the comments, is to take seats 4 to 7 out, put the strongest rack on possible, put the ARB long range 128 liter in to replace the 88 liter , install snorkel, install compressor in spare wheel cavity, built the rack for the 6x FRunner wolf packs and 2x 20l jerrycans (for now) on each side, put a dual battery system in, put the 40 liter FRunner foot well in and just fill all up near a public weigh bridge and go from that figure.
This can all be done without upgrading the suspension that we will leave till 6 months before departure. In those last 6 months we will have to do the final 2 weeks off grid test and fine tune whilst we still have a brick home.

Thanks for all the feedback up till now!

Interesting trailer. Hope all your mods go well and as someone else said...good to see someone else actually taking time to get the weight right. Every tourist season the amount of overweight 4wd,s heading through Cairns is ridiculous. Not to mention the caravan/trailer set ups. As you say...upgrading the suspension shortly before you go is a good idea...will allow time to sort out any shortfalls (if any!)..
Good luck.

[insect_eater]

She likes the hiking the best but vehicle supported overlanding is our thing together with a lot of hiking. We will overland a bit like Chris in venture4WD on Youtube sometimes stopping for a couple of days doing hikes and sometimes travel. It depends on the terrain and other factors. In 2 years we can fund the minimalist overlanding till we are not capable or sick of it.

sounds like we've got similar approaches to travel - we're hikers, and have extended the experience to outback travel. Except I've a family of four and have manged to keep it at or near GVM with a week's payload including fual (146l) and water.

If you can carry/hike in to campsites then your options are greater and you trade overfull drive-ups to empty walk-ins - a very different experience, as you know. This means a hike tent and sleeping gear as well, and a way to carry it. To save taking packs, we use duffle wetbags with shoulder straps - simple waterproof clothes bags, but OK for a kilometer or two of hiking if well packed, as they have no structure. You might also consider a hike stove as well - I use an optimus than runs on gas cylinders or diesel - so I never run out of cooking fuel. I have a 100Ah lithium set up and get 2-3 days running before recharge with a 50 litre National Luna fridge, an Ironman 30A DC-DC charger means it charges quickly (sometimes I'll just idle the car for 20 mins a day, and than can be enough to put it back above 90%). (EDIT: NJSWB rightly points out below that only a 10Ah top up is possible, so my comment is not a realistic or reliable suggestion for most circumstances).

To get it under GVM, I've slowly reverted to hiking gear for most things - eg snow peak Ti cooking gear and crockery and MSR / Sea to Summit / Thermarest / Black Diamond / Lumi, and the like for bits and bobs - every gram counts for me.......

The first thing I did was swap the camp chairs for Helinox chairs, 4 of these equate to the weight and space of an average chair. A simple and light 2-person table can be made from the frame of a Uniflame mesh fire pit and a sheet of 2mm aluminium - takes up next to no space as well. A homemade ply shelf above the fridge for lighter gear like clothes etc was the lightest set up I could do - but it relies on being tighlt packed for stability on rough roads.

Maybe I read you list quickly and missed it, but an axe (Hults Bruks / Husqvana hand-forged 3/4 size) and a saw (bow or Silky) are regulalry used on my trips. Canvas seat covers and tidies, rubber mats, and radios all add weight as well. A tyre pressure monitoring system adds almost no weight and could be a life saver, especially is a second spare isn't carried. A catch can would be worth considering too.

[nj swb]

sounds like we've got similar approaches to travel - we're hikers, and have extended the experience to outback travel. Except I've a family of four and have manged to keep it at or near GVM with a week's payload including fual (146l) and water.

If you can carry/hike in to campsites then your options are greater and you trade overfull drive-ups to empty walk-ins - a very different experience, as you know. This means a hike tent and sleeping gear as well, and a way to carry it. To save taking packs, we use duffle wetbags with shoulder straps - simple waterproof clothes bags, but OK for a kilometer or two of hiking if well packed, as they have no structure. You might also consider a hike stove as well - I use an optimus than runs on gas cylinders or diesel - so I never run out of cooking fuel. I have a 100Ah lithium set up and get 2-3 days running before recharge with a 50 litre National Luna fridge, an Ironman 30A DC-DC charger means it charges quickly (sometimes I'll just idle the car for 20 mins a day, and than can be enough to put it back above 90%).

To get it under GVM, I've slowly reverted to hiking gear for most things - eg snow peak Ti cooking gear and crockery and MSR / Sea to Summit / Thermarest / Black Diamond / Lumi, and the like for bits and bobs - every gram counts for me.......

The first thing I did was swap the camp chairs for Helinox chairs, 4 of these equate to the weight and space of an average chair. A simple and light 2-person table can be made from the frame of a Uniflame mesh fire pit and a sheet of 2mm aluminium - takes up next to no space as well. A homemade ply shelf above the fridge for lighter gear like clothes etc was the lightest set up I could do - but it relies on being tighlt packed for stability on rough roads.

Maybe I read you list quickly and missed it, but an axe (Hults Bruks / Husqvana hand-forged 3/4 size) and a saw (bow or Silky) are regulalry used on my trips. Canvas seat covers and tidies, rubber mats, and radios all add weight as well. A tyre pressure monitoring system adds almost no weight and could be a life saver, especially is a second spare isn't carried. A catch can would be worth considering too.

Hi insect_eater,

Thanks for this post. I started out (with Shorty) adopting principles from my bush-walking days, more concerned about volume than weight, but aiming to end up with less rather than more. It only took me a few years to figure out that, even with these early principles, I'd become lazy and ended up well over GVM - without having significant space constraints, two up in a swb Gen 2.

Since I bought my NT I've only got worse - I carry more fuel, more water, more alcohol, more spares / tools / recovery gear, and leave home further over GVM - who would've thought? I try to maintain a "minimalist" approach, not buying "comfort" items I'd like because I can't justify the weight, so you've given me a couple of leads on opportunities to work my weight down before I start sending it back up.

Being pedantic (I can't fight the habit of a lifetime ), for others reading this thread, 20 minutes of running a 30A DC-DC charger can (at best) put 10Ah back into the second battery (30A x 1/3h = 10Ah). I don't know of any fridge that won't use twice that per day, if not more. I agree that a 100Ah lithium battery should be good (for an energy-efficient setup) for two-three days of standing camp before a recharge is required, but basic physics means a 20 minute idle won't be enough.

[insect_eater]

Thanks NJ, I know the slippery slope - especially after hooking up a trailer for camping and watching more and more possibly useful stuff getting added. Going back the other way is a challenge that involves lots of top-end gear that serves multiple purposes - I've usually sacrificed the 'cheap' and sometimes also the 'durable' from my criteria of durable, light, and cheap. Eg. my hiking gear had a fair smattering of cuben/dyneema fabrics. One thing I love in my equipment are the Wilderness Equipment overhang UL tarps - multi pitch, built-in reflective guys, light, small, strong, and breathtakingly pricey, but I don't regret a cent. I've been meaing to start a thread - camping with a family of four and keeping it near GVM (i'm 70-130kg over with full fuel and water) - to list all I've done to achieve it.

Yours maths is unarguable, and my methods poor, loose, without a control, repetition, or standardised variables, with a dash of half remembered thrown in. Camping in mild conditions (sub 25C days in a shady spot), fridge full and fully cold, and being ruthless with lid openings, and nothing new going in, some days I'll only drop 15Ah on my battery guage. These are the best days. Under mild conditions, but replacing beers, I'll lose around 25Ah, but the 20min top-up makes me feel like I can stick a good 5-6 days before driving (100Ah bank, 125-150Ah out, 50-60Ah in?).
,
Realistically, I only rely on 2-3 days from 100Ah, the worst I've had so far has been about 32Ah loss in 24hrs, but I haven't camped in temps over 35C without driving daily. The charger seems to charge at up to 35A as well. I think some of my gauge's figures are calculated/modelled, rather than real, even though it is an expensive boating type, so who knows what is true. So I wholeheartedly agree - 2-3 days is the safety zone. However, under good conditions, some relatively brief top-ups might add a day or two before a big drive.

Idling a diesel can clog them up too - another reason to discount my suggestion.

[surf54]

sounds like we've got similar approaches to travel - we're hikers, and have extended the experience to outback travel. Except I've a family of four and have manged to keep it at or near GVM with a week's payload including fual (146l) and water.

Definitely, our NX is going to be home and base camp.
I just had a look at those National Luna fridges and they look pretty impressive being created to keep medication cool in Africa. I list the Weaco/Dominator fridge but we are now leaning more towards SnoMaster CL56D and will compare it against the similar Luna. The pricetag is a lot higher but might be justified.

The Helinox Camp Chairs look impressive too. How do they perform in practical terms besides being super light and compact?

Cheers

[insect_eater]

Pat Calinan did a review and comparison of lightweight camp chairs in issue 30 a few years ago, and the Helinox sunset was the editor's choice (there were some other nice ones too, but none as light). I imported my helinox camp chairs own from the States about 6 years ago as they were not locally available. After using mine, a few friends have bought the sunset chairs - which have head support.

Their main drawback is that they don't have arms, but you get used to that. As a sling chair, they force you to sit in a limited range of positions, which are laid back, rather than upright, so they would make a terrible office chair for working at a desk. Oh, one unforseen problem is that they blow away in a breeze! A real risk near a camp fire, where they could easily be toppled in. I turn them upside down when leaving camp, and then they stay put.

I often talk to people I see with them, I haven't found anyone who regretted buying them. Aldi do a version of the Chair One, which I got for the kids, but they are harder to assemble, and aren't as stable due to a few design differences.

I purchased my National Luna secondhand. If I was buying one new, I'd go for the ones with the 60mm thick insulation - they seem to use less power - the 52lt 42mm-walled uses 34Ah on a hot day, and the 55lt 60mm-walled version uses 31Ah in the same condits, according to their website.

[insect_eater]

Definitely, our NX is going to be home and base camp.
I just had a look at those National Luna fridges and they look pretty impressive being created to keep medication cool in Africa. I list the Weaco/Dominator fridge but we are now leaning more towards SnoMaster CL56D and will compare it against the similar Luna. The pricetag is a lot higher but might be justified

Cheers

The SnoMasters look pretty interesting - quite similar to the NLs, and some have 70mm insulation. Both look like great options.

[surf54]

Mods so far...

Just a bit of an update to our NX built slowly getting ready for a bit of camping/overlanding.
We decided to do this on a shoestring budget for now just to get out there quickly and enjoy the outdoors when and where we can. The rack has already been fully loaded and driven on several corrugated roads and 4WD tracks and holds up good. It is basically containing all the weight of the water, gear and consumables to the bottom of the Pajero whilst making it easy to access.

We dicided not to go for the Bundatec Bundatop but for the 63kg MOTOP rooftop tent that we saw on the last Wauchope show. We'll do an update with another video how this rooftop tent holds up early next year and also one for the awning plus awning tent we bought from SUPA-PEG.

Video link for our update. Hope I don't bore you to death

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-c4E9ax3es

[Dicko1]

Just a bit of an update to our NX built slowly getting ready for a bit of camping/overlanding.
We decided to do this on a shoestring budget for now just to get out there quickly and enjoy the outdoors when and where we can. The rack has already been fully loaded and driven on several corrugated roads and 4WD tracks and holds up good. It is basically containing all the weight of the water, gear and consumables to the bottom of the Pajero whilst making it easy to access.

We dicided not to go for the Bundatec Bundatop but for the 63kg MOTOP rooftop tent that we saw on the last Wauchope show. We'll do an update with another video how this rooftop tent holds up early next year and also one for the awning plus awning tent we bought from SUPA-PEG.

Video link for our update. Hope I don't bore you to death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-c4E9ax3es

Rhino industries , who make quality roof racks, recommend that if going off road your roof weight should be halved the vehicles normal maximum. The extra forces applied can cause serious damage. I used carry no more than 40kg if going off road. Definitely no fuel, water or gas cylinders. Doesn't take much to fracture a cross bar.

Nowadays I take a trailer and just use the roof racks/tray for my solar panels....safer and easier.

[cruisn06]

Rhino industries , who make quality roof racks, recommend that if going off road your roof weight should be halved the vehicles normal maximum. The extra forces applied can cause serious damage. I used carry no more than 40kg if going off road. Definitely no fuel, water or gas cylinders. Doesn't take much to fracture a cross bar.

Nowadays I take a trailer and just use the roof racks/tray for my solar panels....safer and easier.

Great in thoery, but some of us travel where trailers make it a nightmare or down right impossible.

Roof load on my shorty is:
rack - 20kg
tent - 60kg
tool box - 20kg
fuel - 3 cans 60kg
lpg - 10kg

170kg roof load when I am at full load. no damage at all nor does it handle odd or feel tippy, as I mentioned before suspension setup plays a massive roll in this. there are a heap of tracks in Africa where pulling a trailer is jsut not possible due to sand depth or track tightness.

I have covered about 15000kms in Africa so far with most being offroad and have seen zero damage to the rack or roof or mounting area. drive to conditions comes to mind though.

Fully loaded with some extra wood on top even. easy to say why no trailer here? well when its only 2% of the drive you have give and take.

[surf54]

cruisn06
Okay, good to know that it can hold a lot more than the 80% of the 100kg dynamic weight off road.
Your adventure is epic

Dicko1
We can't afford a Bruder EXP4 or equivelant at the moment to go where we want to go so the Pajero will have to do for the moment. We'll keep it as light as possible but sleeping on the roof is a must to stay at all the best overnight spots. Quick levelling will have to become second nature...

[cruisn06]

cruisn06
Okay, good to know that it can hold a lot more than the 80% of the 100kg dynamic weight off road.
Your adventure is epic

Dicko1
We can't afford a Bruder EXP4 or equivelant at the moment to go where we want to go so the Pajero will have to do for the moment. We'll keep it as light as possible but sleeping on the roof is a must to stay at all the best overnight spots. Quick levelling will have to become second nature...

Thanks mate, Having a shorty made us have to store heaps on the roof for obvious reasons.

[Jasonmc73]

cruisn06
Okay, good to know that it can hold a lot more than the 80% of the 100kg dynamic weight off road.
Your adventure is epic

Dicko1
We can't afford a Bruder EXP4 or equivelant at the moment to go where we want to go so the Pajero will have to do for the moment. We'll keep it as light as possible but sleeping on the roof is a must to stay at all the best overnight spots. Quick levelling will have to become second nature...

I wonder if the short length of the roof on A short wheel base would be in turn stronger than A longer length roof on A longer wheel base vehilce?
My personal thoughts are, this would definately be the case & how you distribute that load to the roof would be critical, in other words mounted the rack/ load to the roof, but i'm not an engneer

Although it is safe to say Mitsubishi would under allow the capacity for obvious reasons.