Thanks a lot for letting us join you. Europe is in fact not a 'real offroad' paradise like Australia, Africa or South America. It is much more about small roads, small tracks, little villages, very diverse culture and friendly people all over. A small car and an open mind are better travelling companions than beefy offroad trucks and tons of gear. We switched from a U1300L Unimog to a Toyota Hilux and just came back from a small trip to Haute Vosges - marvelous!
We plan to ship the truck to America afterwards so having the right truck for the dream destination was key for us. Travelling full-time with a toddler is also quite different than just a small trip as a couple, a 4x4 would have been too small for us. Very happy with the size of Skaði. Thanks for watching :)
It's times like these that really make you appreciate the trouble-free days and the freedom of travelling under your own steam. Thanks a lot for watching and following along :)
What an epic episode, guys. Oakley counting to 10 was just amazing. Loving to see the travel through so many places I've been to. Chantilly is most famous for being twinned with Epsom, where I live 😂😂😇😇 (so I've been told). BTW, not sure if you get many compliments on your production work, specially your sound tracks. Makes watching your videos very pleasant. Feels like a very expensive TV production. My rating: 12/10
Thank you so much for taking the time to share such nice feedback, it takes a lot of time to edit/find music so that made our day to hear you enjoy the episodes. Thank you for following along :)
Rough time with the breakdown but it times like this you look back on in later years and laugh. Your young man is growing so fast, treasure every stage of his growth as he'll be grown up before you know. Been looking forward to Ange showing us through her country of birth (sorry Ange, we claim you, your Aussie now). Safe travels and eagerly awaiting the next episode from nice warm Aus.
Thank you so much Michael for your nice comment! So glad you like seeing France as much as we do :) we do miss Australia but we'll be back! Thanks a lot for following along.
Missed you guys. Glad your mechanical problems are all sorted out. Chris our mechanic and tour guide will take us along the Beautiful scenery. "Little Man" steals the show😊... Ange sounds soo French 😊. As always, your photography is epic. Life is good😊. We'll be watching. Safe travels Lou
Enough stress with the live test run but I truly appreciate how hard it is to drive your new 'big enough' rig on those challenging roads you get to a very limited view of while doing a great job. Thank you..
Nice video you guys, very enjoyable. Great to see you on the road enjoying life, I admire you Chris for your tenacity when faced with a vehicle problem, commendable! Take no notice of someone asking if you would prefer a house, its a stupid question, but not everyone understands adventure and freedom 😃 Ange, I agree that Northern France is boring, the South is better. Are you like me when after a certain amount of miles on asphalt, you cannot wait to get onto the tracks and offroad? Its a good feeling especially knowing there is little chance of being disturbed 😀 Love the drone footage of when you are driving, thanks a lot and Merci for sharing.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share such a nice comment! It's great to have like-minded people like you watching, we really appreciate the support :)
what amazing scenery ,fantastic adventures .Chris agree with your guess regarding the shafts,hairline cracks probably from the stress of new ujs being fitted to the fatigued shafts .wont be long before Oakley is outrunning you both ha ha .Hope Ange received the mail i forwarded on .Enjoying the new adventures and scenery guys .stay safe and cant wait for next vid .Cheers
The breakdowns and maintenance on the road are not fun, but a part of overlanding and good to see how you handle the situation. Thanks for sharing this side. I always wonder if I should be packing some jack stands for those what if scenarios or better to just buy them as needed on the road. So happy to see the clip on Dinant! Brings back memories of being there years ago.
As always, thanks for taking us on the trip. You are in such beautiful country. You're doing yourself a disservice re the filming, whilst having precious family time. The scenery is amazing.
Great episode guys. Shame about the breakdown,but the legend come through again and with you skills you were on the road again. Like you said you were very lucky where it hapened. Safe travels.
Looking forward to seeing more of these "out of the way" parts of France. Especially with a French tour guide. Thanks for all the effort you put into filming and editing.
Another great video. Fingers crossed that's the last of your breakdowns, at least for a while (although they do make for interesting content)! Loving all the little mediaeval villages. Those are the sort of things you miss when zipping by on the motorway/autobahn/autostrade/autoroute... I'm definitely adding Dinant to my list of stopovers for my next eurotrip though - absolutely stunning! I know you're not heading in that direction this time, but all the rivers and gorges have reminded me to recommend the Verdon Gorge in the south of France. I like to time it for when the lavender is in flower and drive through Valensole, then through the Verdon Gorge national park, and then drop out of the mountains into Nice. Then it's a short hop into Italy, which is usually where my destination awaits.
Yes we love going through small villages, we've been purposely avoiding big highways and no tolls this way too :) Gorges du Verdon is on my "France bucket list" so hopefully we can explore the area on our way back North or Italy. Thank you so much James for watching and for subscribing, much appreciated :)
If you want to enjoy friendly and nice people, you should wait and come to Spain. You should think that it is the holiday destination of all Europe. We are looking forward to seeing you travel around Spain, visit our towns and reach the coast, with its wonderful beaches and enjoy our great gastronomy. From Madrid, thank you very much for making us so happy watching your videos.
Hi guys,I stumbled across you guys a few days ago.We have been overlanding in out 110 with Alucab pop top for the last 5 years or so,we too have had our share of breakdowns,& for sure they are inconvenient at the time,but,they are the things that sometimes make the best memories. You literally must have passed our front door on your way through the Dordogne(where we live). Take care & have fun.Marc & Katy.
Fantastic episode as usual, glad that you guys always make a positive out of any difficult situation. Crazy how much Oakley has grown, seems it won't be long n he will be doing the intro's Love the Ronny Dahl reference. Keep up the awesome work
Hammer and vice that’s all you should need when doing uni joints. They really shouldn’t need to be forced in to the yoke. All the best though mate, keep on trucking.
They’re doing a fine job in exploring the continent, as Aussies, being totally open to the wonders of south-east Belgium. Had they taken a less direct itinerary to south-west France, further east via Luxembourg and Champagne, it would have been more exiting. Nice seeing them walking around at each stage.
When I went on the road I put together what is called “a fly away kit.” In the kit i put everything I thought I needed if I broke down (ie, gas caps, fan belts, lights, fuses and a whole bunch more stuff). I carried two spare tires since all six of my tires were the same. No difference between the steer tires and the drive tires. It served me well. You might consider doing the same thing.
Hi Steve, we carry quite a lot of spares of what you mentioned. Can never be enough though. No way we can carry three different length spare driveshafts with us though for instance. I would personally never recommend anyone to carry two spares on any vehicle, provided you have relatively new, premium tyres on your rig. I'm sure many people would disagree with me on that but I have yet to meet someone that has ever lost two premium tyres on a single trip (truck or standard 4x4). A quality puncture repair kit is a must though. Just my 2c. Cheers
Stunning Expedition. What a trip thru France and historic locations, Wow. Glad to see the Lord has properly prepared the way, nothing is by happenstance. even breakdowns. I have learned that in my travels. Little Man is on a proper 1st Adventure , so kool🤙... Blessings & prayers always. 🙏🙏The 6cylinder engine, always a brute of dependability.
I had a '64 Ford 4x4 that I tooled around when I was younger. There was always something breaking (driveline, rear dif, clutch, clutch fork, etc.), but you could fix everything yourself. No computers, no plastic. I miss that old beast. Come to Colorado, we got 3 ft of snow a week ago:-)
Hello, depuis plus de 4 ans, que je vous suit, ça fait plaisir de vous voir en France. Si vous cherchez des spots secrets pour camper dans le Verdon ou en Corse, répondez moi. Vincent
Merci beaucoup Vincent! Je ne suis jamais allée dans le Verdon mais j'aimerais beaucoup visiter à notre retour en France. La Corse c'était ma destination de vacances de nombreux étés, j'ai hâte de faire découvrir Chris :)
Gee france is a very beautiful place i love them big old buildings there magnificent they dont build stuff like that these days anymore sadly , drive safe guys and keep the vids up there great you guys are amazing God bless from Australia 🇦🇺 yer an indoor toilet and shower is luxury in a caravan or camper its beautiful a must 😍 the 4x4 driving will come later im sure you'll find some tracks to give her ago best to weed out the problems now before you hit the nasty stuff and shes priming you up for that i recon 😊
The DHL saga, I ordered four tires with delivery through them, but had to go 90km to get them in time as they delivered 1 time a week to my city! Cheap but sloooooow!
Thank you so much for watching all the way from Canada. I can only imagine your definition of snow is quite different 😅 it's quite unusual to have snow in France at this time of the year. In Paris we also never have a huge amount even in winter.
Great to follow your journey & all the overcoming of difficilties that comes with it. It's really inspriring. Disagree though with Northern France being boring, but we are all entitled to our oppinions. Anyhow, wish you the best & looking forward to your continued adventures.
Thank you so much for following along! What I meant was on our drive between Belgium and Paris, there wasn't much to see at all. If there is something we missed please let me know and I can add it to our list when we drive back North :)
If one has interest in history, northern France is a goldmine with all the battlefields of ww1. But even if one does not have that interest, its a really beautiful area. But perhaps not in its prime this time of year, better in spring / summer. Nice cities are, in my opinion, Amiens, Reims & Verdun. ...Happy trails now. I guess Spain is next. There's some cool places there too. /Cheers!
hi there, Don't know where you are now but if you come near Bordeaux, I live at Lège-Cap Ferret and'll be really pleased to welcome you at home. We (family of 4) have a little piece of forest where we can have a cool night with fire etc Let's keep in touch
Hey great stuff guys, love your content. You found Rocamadour and St. Cirq la Popie. Great places to visit, and as a Brit happily lost in France for several years now I’m glad you’re seeing some lovely areas. You’re quite close to our place, am sure you’re on a schedule but if you ever come this way again feel free to tap us up for a night stop. We live in the Lot Valley, surrounded by the Malbec vineyards, and would be happy to show you some great off-road tracks. We’ll join you in our Land Rover Discovery 4, and can enjoy breaking down together ! 😁
This is kinda the title we were all expecting :D You've done an awesome job on the truck, but a vintage truck is a vintage truck - it's gonna break down every now and again.
Good thing you left Sweden when you did, if that's "a serious amount of snow" And I'm not saying that to be a dick. I am well aware that had the tables been turned, I'd prolly be "my God, it feels like the AIR is on fire" while you'd be "hm, better bring a jacket" But yeah, that barely counts as snowing here. Love your adventuring and can't wait to see what you'll get up to next!
Are you ever take a trip to South Western US and even into Oregon where expanses of the horizon on rock formations will be exposed. I have been traveling the Western US for years and just love it.
Hopefully no more teething problems mate. I watch an awesome aussie couple traveling around Aus,they use to do it on an ole Kombi van, Karsten and Maxine now there on a OKA, which is remarkably similar to your Volvo. Both beasts I reckon...
Great output Chris and Anjie, Oakley, If you are considering going to Morocco, please watch, True blue travellers, taking the Landy there, Drones are forbidden there, not just flying one, but owning one, look at there playlists, look forward to your next adventure, 👍👍
Do's those u-joint's have any grease-nipples at all? In my days you could spend hours greasing those military vehicles. Wonderful videos. Thanks from Sweden.
Hello! 😊Oakley must have the best two parents a little boy could have! Are you going to teach him to become multi-lingual? I think of Angie's French and then English. You two are so wonderful to watch and your adventures so wonderful. It feels like an eternity now, since you arrived in Sweden and Malmö eight months ago. I sincerely hope that you will have the opportunity to return to Sweden and perhaps take a road trip in our long country. From south to north.🤩Greetings from your friend in Sweden. 🥰😍
That is a very nice compliment thank you so much! Once he has mastered the English "basics" I will start to teach him some French yes :) We'll potentially come back to Sweden/Norway in the summer, it all depends when/where we do the engine swap. Really appreciate you taking tbe time to comment 🙏
Just started the view, but two questions initially: do you have the same airpressure in all the rear wheels? Is the vacuum locks working, no leaks? As the vacuum is what holds the locks apart, and locked axles with differentiated tire diameters puts strain on the driveshafts. The latter even when driving straight ahead!
Thanks a lot for watching! So how are you supposed to have an outdoor shower? It's literally next to a drain, on concrete, not in nature near a fresh water stream.
@@TheOutFit I say this from experience. I use the outdoor shower in the middle of nature with organic soap. In Spain, I advise you to camp near the reservoirs (Embalse), some are magnificent.
I love the old chateau's and history. There's a guy in TH-cam who bought the Chateau Chaumont which was used during the war to hide Jewish children from the German soldiers. Fanny Ben-Ami, a teenage girl who lead a group of children to safety over the Swiss boarder actually stopped in there on their journey. If you get the chance, check it out. He's restoring it after a fire burnt the chateau out in the 80's and it was left abandoned ever since. There was a movie made called Fanny's Journey.
Is your prop over extended on the UJ angles? That is one of the quickest ways to kill a shaft, it also usually comes out on first inspection as a failed UJ. So hopefully the new shaft is a wide angle prop. looking at the placement it shouldn't be too much travel on that shaft. but don't know the suspension travel, as it might be a lot of angle as not a long shaft. You can test for hairline cracks by tapping with a hammer as the sound will be different, duller, and in my experience, if cracked then they break the UJ out of the yoke. Usual press failure in fitting is pressing the yoke in (narrowing UJ area) so the UJ won't fit, done that myself by not looking at the seating position of the yoke. Hopefully you'll be ok from now on too!
Thanks for the tips mate. Angle isn't extreme so I don't think that is the issue. No other tgbs have had the same issue so I think it must have been the worn yokes that didn't like having new unis pressed in 👍
@TheOutFit possible the uj's were different size, you can get a few different widths as well as cap diameter, so could just be short width uj's, that will do it I would have thought. Lets hope the new one is good for years. 😁
Just a thought around the rear driveshaft failures. I am certain there is an inter axle differential that transmits drive to the rear most axle to account for speed and rotation variations when you are on hard surfaces. Most 6x6 vehicles would have this so when you engage diff locks you have cross axle and also inter axle so all 4 rear wheels operate at the same speed. If you lock everything and then drive onto a surface that has a lot of grip you can get wind up. Even if you disengage the lockers if the transmission can’t ‘unwind’ it will remain locked until one of 2 things happen. Either the tyres lose grip and tension is released and the diff locks disengage or the torsional forces eventually break something. Given you are running large wide off road tyres I wonder if you have suffered prop failure because of this? Or it is a contributing factor if the drive shafts were damaged when you changed the yoke assemblies? Worth checking after off road driving that the rear wheels can slip, you do this by driving onto the grass verge or over some undulating ground. Just my 10 pence worth!
What phone holder are you using in the truck…..? I see them a lot in Australian TH-camrs videos in there overland trucks, so I’m guessing they must hold the phones very well and are easy to use…..?
As far as I understood, they really wanted to get going and plan on doing the engineswap later, he still has the crate, but ain't planning on doing it just yet, nore in Sweden, but we will see what's to come! :)
@@TheOutFit I hope your new engine comes with some sort of vacuumpump, to release the locks in the transmission? Diesels, and especially turbodiesels does not have any vacuum. The vacuum assisted locks is also why it can rely on the single drumbrake on the output of the transmission, when you turn the B30 engine off all the locks engages and you have an 6 wheel operated parking brake! :)
When I was in France working on the weekends I rent a motorcycle and toured. Another of the Nazis atrocities was Oradour-sur-Glane: Martyred Village. I highly suggest visiting there if passing by.
DHL lost my parcel once. They said they had sent it back because my address didn't exist. The next day a new part arrived via KPN. It turn out they hadn't sent it back because a week later they came to my house with the parcel. I tried to send it back three times but they always came back. The last time (three months later) I wasn't home and my granddaughter accepted it. The company I bought it from said I could keep it. So now I have a spare part I probably will never need.
2 small a motor mate , drop a decent CAT into it their agricultural reliable and parts are everywhere around the world , just get an early version that doesn't need that AD blue shit
@@TheOutFit well lots of things! I usually travel with a campervan in Europe, and while France is the heaven Italy is on the other side of the spectrum! With your vehicle surely the alps (Dolomites and Trentino); the islands (I’m Sicilian and there are wonderful places there and in the small islands Eolie). Elba too, as well as Sardinia of course. Wild camping in most areas will not be permitted. Then don’t skip big cites, but consider to stay outside and commute. There are good choices in Venice where you just need to take a boat to enjoy the city. Camping is way more expensive than France in comparison. In Sicily would be great to go to mount Etna, but pretty sure private 4x4 won’t be allowed. In the Eolie Vulcano is the place to go with your car, again check what you could do.
Planning a trip to France soon, my understanding is wild camping is illegal. So, how is your overnight stays outwith campsites or aires possible? Is it a closely guarded French secret??? 🙂
I think illegal is a bit exaggerated. As long as there aren't private property signs and you don't litter and are self contained, there doesn't seem to be any issues :)
Any numbers of fuel economy, or is that something you rather turn a blind eye on? 😉 The larger wheels must at least take you further on a tank, but the spedometer lies so... 🤷♂️
Thanks a lot for letting us join you. Europe is in fact not a 'real offroad' paradise like Australia, Africa or South America. It is much more about small roads, small tracks, little villages, very diverse culture and friendly people all over. A small car and an open mind are better travelling companions than beefy offroad trucks and tons of gear. We switched from a U1300L Unimog to a Toyota Hilux and just came back from a small trip to Haute Vosges - marvelous!
We plan to ship the truck to America afterwards so having the right truck for the dream destination was key for us. Travelling full-time with a toddler is also quite different than just a small trip as a couple, a 4x4 would have been too small for us. Very happy with the size of Skaði. Thanks for watching :)
Life IS the experience of "good" & "bad" events. It makes us appreciate the experiences.
It's times like these that really make you appreciate the trouble-free days and the freedom of travelling under your own steam. Thanks a lot for watching and following along :)
So quite when Oakley's smiles grows and he finally points and says friend, awww!
So many, many things to say about today's episode: Scenarios, editing skills, how much Oakley has grown, the beauty of France. ¡¡Pura Vida!!
That's a very nice compliment, thank you for taking the time to write a comment and for following along for so long!
What an epic episode, guys. Oakley counting to 10 was just amazing. Loving to see the travel through so many places I've been to. Chantilly is most famous for being twinned with Epsom, where I live 😂😂😇😇 (so I've been told). BTW, not sure if you get many compliments on your production work, specially your sound tracks. Makes watching your videos very pleasant. Feels like a very expensive TV production. My rating: 12/10
Thank you so much for taking the time to share such nice feedback, it takes a lot of time to edit/find music so that made our day to hear you enjoy the episodes. Thank you for following along :)
Rough time with the breakdown but it times like this you look back on in later years and laugh. Your young man is growing so fast, treasure every stage of his growth as he'll be grown up before you know. Been looking forward to Ange showing us through her country of birth (sorry Ange, we claim you, your Aussie now). Safe travels and eagerly awaiting the next episode from nice warm Aus.
Thank you so much Michael for your nice comment! So glad you like seeing France as much as we do :) we do miss Australia but we'll be back! Thanks a lot for following along.
Missed you guys.
Glad your mechanical problems are all sorted out. Chris our mechanic and tour guide will take us along the Beautiful scenery.
"Little Man" steals the show😊... Ange sounds soo French 😊.
As always, your photography is epic.
Life is good😊. We'll be watching.
Safe travels
Lou
Thank you so much Lou for watching every episode, always a pleasure reading your comments! Hope you had a great weekend :)
Enough stress with the live test run but I truly appreciate how hard it is to drive your new 'big enough' rig on those challenging roads you get to a very limited view of while doing a great job. Thank you..
Nice video you guys, very enjoyable. Great to see you on the road enjoying life, I admire you Chris for your tenacity when faced with a vehicle problem, commendable! Take no notice of someone asking if you would prefer a house, its a stupid question, but not everyone understands adventure and freedom 😃 Ange, I agree that Northern France is boring, the South is better. Are you like me when after a certain amount of miles on asphalt, you cannot wait to get onto the tracks and offroad? Its a good feeling especially knowing there is little chance of being disturbed 😀 Love the drone footage of when you are driving, thanks a lot and Merci for sharing.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share such a nice comment! It's great to have like-minded people like you watching, we really appreciate the support :)
That new driveline looks premium
Let's hope it lasts!
what amazing scenery ,fantastic adventures .Chris agree with your guess regarding the shafts,hairline cracks probably from the stress of new ujs being fitted to the fatigued shafts .wont be long before Oakley is outrunning you both ha ha .Hope Ange received the mail i forwarded on .Enjoying the new adventures and scenery guys .stay safe and cant wait for next vid .Cheers
Oakley is definitely keeping us fit 😄 Hope you are well David, have a great end of the year and Christmas festive season :)
The breakdowns and maintenance on the road are not fun, but a part of overlanding and good to see how you handle the situation. Thanks for sharing this side. I always wonder if I should be packing some jack stands for those what if scenarios or better to just buy them as needed on the road.
So happy to see the clip on Dinant! Brings back memories of being there years ago.
Well done on restarting your travels.
Thank you Mark! Can't wait to share more :)
As always, thanks for taking us on the trip. You are in such beautiful country. You're doing yourself a disservice re the filming, whilst having precious family time. The scenery is amazing.
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment, it is really nice to read nice feedback :)
Great episode guys. Shame about the breakdown,but the legend come through again and with you skills you were on the road again. Like you said you were very lucky where it hapened. Safe travels.
Yes very lucky he can always make it work and get us back on the road! Thanks a lot for watching every week Steve :)
Looking forward to seeing more of these "out of the way" parts of France. Especially with a French tour guide. Thanks for all the effort you put into filming and editing.
Another great video. Fingers crossed that's the last of your breakdowns, at least for a while (although they do make for interesting content)!
Loving all the little mediaeval villages. Those are the sort of things you miss when zipping by on the motorway/autobahn/autostrade/autoroute... I'm definitely adding Dinant to my list of stopovers for my next eurotrip though - absolutely stunning!
I know you're not heading in that direction this time, but all the rivers and gorges have reminded me to recommend the Verdon Gorge in the south of France. I like to time it for when the lavender is in flower and drive through Valensole, then through the Verdon Gorge national park, and then drop out of the mountains into Nice. Then it's a short hop into Italy, which is usually where my destination awaits.
Yes we love going through small villages, we've been purposely avoiding big highways and no tolls this way too :) Gorges du Verdon is on my "France bucket list" so hopefully we can explore the area on our way back North or Italy. Thank you so much James for watching and for subscribing, much appreciated :)
If you want to enjoy friendly and nice people, you should wait and come to Spain. You should think that it is the holiday destination of all Europe. We are looking forward to seeing you travel around Spain, visit our towns and reach the coast, with its wonderful beaches and enjoy our great gastronomy. From Madrid, thank you very much for making us so happy watching your videos.
We are on our way, we can't wait! Thank you for watching from Spain :)
@@TheOutFit Nice family.
No one is a massive fan of that kind of snow. But skiiing in the alps. Thats what snow is made for.
Hi guys you have a great Xmas and a happy new years
Thank you very much, same to you and your family!
Hi guys,I stumbled across you guys a few days ago.We have been overlanding in out 110 with Alucab pop top for the last 5 years or so,we too have had our share of breakdowns,& for sure they are inconvenient at the time,but,they are the things that sometimes make the best memories.
You literally must have passed our front door on your way through the Dordogne(where we live).
Take care & have fun.Marc & Katy.
Great videos, thank you. Glad that you are enjoying your time exploring Europe. Hopefully no more breakdowns!
Thank you so much for watching Ian!
Fantastic episode as usual, glad that you guys always make a positive out of any difficult situation. Crazy how much Oakley has grown, seems it won't be long n he will be doing the intro's
Love the Ronny Dahl reference.
Keep up the awesome work
What about the Swedes? Arent we nice too?😂😢😢😊. Very nice episode and lovely towns and villages in France indeed.
Hammer and vice that’s all you should need when doing uni joints. They really shouldn’t need to be forced in to the yoke. All the best though mate, keep on trucking.
We feel your pain. It's the same for us, constantly something to fix. Travelling in winter is definitely a challenge.
Hopefully we find drier and warmer weather as we head South!
Well you have inspired me to get my ass in gear and take the discovery out to Belgium and France next year
They’re doing a fine job in exploring the continent, as Aussies, being totally open to the wonders of south-east Belgium. Had they taken a less direct itinerary to south-west France, further east via Luxembourg and Champagne, it would have been more exiting. Nice seeing them walking around at each stage.
@@esr243we'll definitely explore more of France on our way back North :) we also made a detour to Paris to see my parents.
Do it!
When I went on the road I put together what is called “a fly away kit.” In the kit i put everything I thought I needed if I broke down (ie, gas caps, fan belts, lights, fuses and a whole bunch more stuff). I carried two spare tires since all six of my tires were the same. No difference between the steer tires and the drive tires. It served me well. You might consider doing the same thing.
Hi Steve, we carry quite a lot of spares of what you mentioned. Can never be enough though. No way we can carry three different length spare driveshafts with us though for instance.
I would personally never recommend anyone to carry two spares on any vehicle, provided you have relatively new, premium tyres on your rig. I'm sure many people would disagree with me on that but I have yet to meet someone that has ever lost two premium tyres on a single trip (truck or standard 4x4). A quality puncture repair kit is a must though. Just my 2c. Cheers
Brilliant video guys! Such a beautiful family and an amazing truck! Sad about the drive shaft but glad you got it fixed. All the best from Australia.
Thank you so much Samuel for taking the time to share such a nice comment, it means a lot!
Stunning Expedition. What a trip thru France and historic locations, Wow. Glad to see the Lord has properly prepared the way, nothing is by happenstance. even breakdowns. I have learned that in my travels. Little Man is on a proper 1st Adventure , so kool🤙... Blessings & prayers always. 🙏🙏The 6cylinder engine, always a brute of dependability.
A really nice v-log and the sightseeings 🤩
How is the good ol’ Volvo engine doing ?
All the best 🙌🇸🇪
Thank you Åke, glad you liked it! Chris is looking forward to the diesel engine swap 😄
Amazing video, enjoyed seeing all the culture and landscapes! Hope the rig gets back in shape!
That's great to hear, thank you so much for watching! Hope you enjoy the next episode :)
I had a '64 Ford 4x4 that I tooled around when I was younger. There was always something breaking (driveline, rear dif, clutch, clutch fork, etc.), but you could fix everything yourself. No computers, no plastic. I miss that old beast. Come to Colorado, we got 3 ft of snow a week ago:-)
Much reapect your doing all this with a toddler! Its the factor of X, i salute u!! 😊
It's not always easy but having a toddler in a house would also be a challenge at times, so we may as well travel if we can 😄
Hello, depuis plus de 4 ans, que je vous suit, ça fait plaisir de vous voir en France. Si vous cherchez des spots secrets pour camper dans le Verdon ou en Corse, répondez moi. Vincent
Merci beaucoup Vincent! Je ne suis jamais allée dans le Verdon mais j'aimerais beaucoup visiter à notre retour en France. La Corse c'était ma destination de vacances de nombreux étés, j'ai hâte de faire découvrir Chris :)
Awesome guys stay safe and thank you❤. Have a great trip
Thank you so much for watching and following along!
Great episode!
Thank you Chris! It seems like you're in a much warmer environement than us right now 😄
Awesome video 👍👍👍
Thank you so much Gareth, much appreciated :)
Gee france is a very beautiful place i love them big old buildings there magnificent they dont build stuff like that these days anymore sadly , drive safe guys and keep the vids up there great you guys are amazing God bless from Australia 🇦🇺 yer an indoor toilet and shower is luxury in a caravan or camper its beautiful a must 😍 the 4x4 driving will come later im sure you'll find some tracks to give her ago best to weed out the problems now before you hit the nasty stuff and shes priming you up for that i recon 😊
The DHL saga, I ordered four tires with delivery through them, but had to go 90km to get them in time as they delivered 1 time a week to my city! Cheap but sloooooow!
GREAT video.
I had to laugh about the response to the snow. I am in Canada and that was a summer snow storm 🤣🤣
Thank you so much for watching all the way from Canada. I can only imagine your definition of snow is quite different 😅 it's quite unusual to have snow in France at this time of the year. In Paris we also never have a huge amount even in winter.
Great to follow your journey & all the overcoming of difficilties that comes with it. It's really inspriring. Disagree though with Northern France being boring, but we are all entitled to our oppinions. Anyhow, wish you the best & looking forward to your continued adventures.
Thank you so much for following along! What I meant was on our drive between Belgium and Paris, there wasn't much to see at all. If there is something we missed please let me know and I can add it to our list when we drive back North :)
If one has interest in history, northern France is a goldmine with all the battlefields of ww1. But even if one does not have that interest, its a really beautiful area. But perhaps not in its prime this time of year, better in spring / summer. Nice cities are, in my opinion, Amiens, Reims & Verdun. ...Happy trails now. I guess Spain is next. There's some cool places there too. /Cheers!
hi there,
Don't know where you are now but if you come near Bordeaux, I live at Lège-Cap Ferret and'll be really pleased to welcome you at home.
We (family of 4) have a little piece of forest where we can have a cool night with fire etc
Let's keep in touch
Thank you so much for the nice offer! We're in the Pyrénées about to cross to Spain. On our way back to France we might drive this way :)
Hey great stuff guys, love your content. You found Rocamadour and St. Cirq la Popie. Great places to visit, and as a Brit happily lost in France for several years now I’m glad you’re seeing some lovely areas. You’re quite close to our place, am sure you’re on a schedule but if you ever come this way again feel free to tap us up for a night stop. We live in the Lot Valley, surrounded by the Malbec vineyards, and would be happy to show you some great off-road tracks. We’ll join you in our Land Rover Discovery 4, and can enjoy breaking down together ! 😁
Love the city of Dinant a lot! Greetings from the Netherlands
As you now have non standard propshafts, make sure you get some spare uj's to suit.
Loving your route choices. We've been to most of the places you've been. So nice to see it again from someone else's perspective
Bienvenu en France , j'habite dans le sud pas loin de l'Espagne .
Merci beaucoup! Tu vis dans une région magnifique :)
@TheOutFit c'est vrai 😁 , bon road trip 👍 ..
great vlog on travels thanks lee
Thank you so much for watching Lee!
Spectacular!! Safe travels
Thank you for watching and commenting Gustavo!
Oakley the lucky (boy ever) ❤
We are the luckiest parents ❤️
This is kinda the title we were all expecting :D You've done an awesome job on the truck, but a vintage truck is a vintage truck - it's gonna break down every now and again.
It's basically the shakedown trip so we are expecting it too!
Good thing you left Sweden when you did, if that's "a serious amount of snow"
And I'm not saying that to be a dick. I am well aware that had the tables been turned, I'd prolly be "my God, it feels like the AIR is on fire" while you'd be "hm, better bring a jacket"
But yeah, that barely counts as snowing here.
Love your adventuring and can't wait to see what you'll get up to next!
Are you ever take a trip to South Western US and even into Oregon where expanses of the horizon on rock formations will be exposed. I have been traveling the Western US for years and just love it.
Glad the repairs worked out!! I think yous need a pram with bigger wheels too!! :)
We had an "offroad" pram before that we sold to get this lighter/more compact one, we have big regrets 😅 thank you for watching!
Hermoso lugar amigos disfruten el paseo y las mejores cervezas del mundo
Hopefully no more teething problems mate.
I watch an awesome aussie couple traveling around Aus,they use to do it on an ole Kombi van, Karsten and Maxine now there on a OKA, which is remarkably similar to your Volvo. Both beasts I reckon...
Thanks Boyce! The Oka looks nice, not quite the same price though 😅
Next project... high floatation tires on the wee man's stroller!
Deal! 😂
I think you could build small shower detachable in the side door suspended from the ground!
super vid. what do you use for a Navi ? because of the height, weight and toll roads ?
Great output Chris and Anjie, Oakley,
If you are considering going to Morocco, please watch, True blue travellers, taking the Landy there, Drones are forbidden there, not just flying one, but owning one, look at there playlists, look forward to your next adventure, 👍👍
Having been traveling a couple of weeks, what are your top 5 favourate things about the truck?
A wonderful country.....
So much to see!
Do's those u-joint's have any grease-nipples at all? In my days you could spend hours greasing those military vehicles. Wonderful videos.
Thanks from Sweden.
Being in that area of the world I would almost go with some rubber type tires on that Stroller
We had an "offroad" pram before with rubber tires that we sold to get this lighter/more compact one, we have big regrets 😅
salut a vous, avait des graisseur sur les croisillon de l'arbre de transmission ?.ca se graisse régulièrement. bonne route a vous.
Hello! 😊Oakley must have the best two parents a little boy could have! Are you going to teach him to become multi-lingual? I think of Angie's French and then English. You two are so wonderful to watch and your adventures so wonderful. It feels like an eternity now, since you arrived in Sweden and Malmö eight months ago. I sincerely hope that you will have the opportunity to return to Sweden and perhaps take a road trip in our long country. From south to north.🤩Greetings from your friend in Sweden. 🥰😍
That is a very nice compliment thank you so much! Once he has mastered the English "basics" I will start to teach him some French yes :) We'll potentially come back to Sweden/Norway in the summer, it all depends when/where we do the engine swap. Really appreciate you taking tbe time to comment 🙏
@@TheOutFit Thanks for a nice response to my comments. How nice! Then I can look forward to the summer and maybe see you here again.😍🙏
Just started the view, but two questions initially: do you have the same airpressure in all the rear wheels? Is the vacuum locks working, no leaks? As the vacuum is what holds the locks apart, and locked axles with differentiated tire diameters puts strain on the driveshafts. The latter even when driving straight ahead!
Ah, I noticed the driveshaft wasn't the one I expected. :) Nice to have alternative drive propulsion! :)
Superbe ! Bon voyage ✨📷
Merci Patrick pour votre hospitalité! A bientôt :)
Geeze guys driving the pram over those cobble stones... you need 31" all terrains on the stroller 😂
We had an "offroad" pram before that we sold to get this lighter/more compact one, we have big regrets 😅
@@TheOutFit😂😂😂
I also noticed the difference in French attitudes to visitors from when I was there in the early 90s to when I came back in 2014 and 2022
Hello, great video. Just a tip, avoid letting your shower water flow onto the ground in a motorhome parking lot. It's frowned upon in Europe.
Thanks a lot for watching! So how are you supposed to have an outdoor shower? It's literally next to a drain, on concrete, not in nature near a fresh water stream.
@@TheOutFit I say this from experience. I use the outdoor shower in the middle of nature with organic soap.
In Spain, I advise you to camp near the reservoirs (Embalse), some are magnificent.
Hey guys are you coming to England,, you'll love the Yorkshire dales and further north Scotland.
Not too sure yet as it will all depend when and where we do the diesel engine swap! Thanks for watching :)
Vive la France 🇲🇫🇲🇫
I love the old chateau's and history. There's a guy in TH-cam who bought the Chateau Chaumont which was used during the war to hide Jewish children from the German soldiers. Fanny Ben-Ami, a teenage girl who lead a group of children to safety over the Swiss boarder actually stopped in there on their journey. If you get the chance, check it out. He's restoring it after a fire burnt the chateau out in the 80's and it was left abandoned ever since. There was a movie made called Fanny's Journey.
Is your prop over extended on the UJ angles? That is one of the quickest ways to kill a shaft, it also usually comes out on first inspection as a failed UJ. So hopefully the new shaft is a wide angle prop. looking at the placement it shouldn't be too much travel on that shaft. but don't know the suspension travel, as it might be a lot of angle as not a long shaft.
You can test for hairline cracks by tapping with a hammer as the sound will be different, duller, and in my experience, if cracked then they break the UJ out of the yoke. Usual press failure in fitting is pressing the yoke in (narrowing UJ area) so the UJ won't fit, done that myself by not looking at the seating position of the yoke. Hopefully you'll be ok from now on too!
Thanks for the tips mate. Angle isn't extreme so I don't think that is the issue. No other tgbs have had the same issue so I think it must have been the worn yokes that didn't like having new unis pressed in 👍
@TheOutFit possible the uj's were different size, you can get a few different widths as well as cap diameter, so could just be short width uj's, that will do it I would have thought. Lets hope the new one is good for years. 😁
What a nice trip. From snow to T-Shirt.... P.S. What about the fuel consumption ? Be safe
What is the fuel consumption of your Volvo? And indeed France is cool.
Just a thought around the rear driveshaft failures. I am certain there is an inter axle differential that transmits drive to the rear most axle to account for speed and rotation variations when you are on hard surfaces. Most 6x6 vehicles would have this so when you engage diff locks you have cross axle and also inter axle so all 4 rear wheels operate at the same speed. If you lock everything and then drive onto a surface that has a lot of grip you can get wind up. Even if you disengage the lockers if the transmission can’t ‘unwind’ it will remain locked until one of 2 things happen. Either the tyres lose grip and tension is released and the diff locks disengage or the torsional forces eventually break something.
Given you are running large wide off road tyres I wonder if you have suffered prop failure because of this? Or it is a contributing factor if the drive shafts were damaged when you changed the yoke assemblies?
Worth checking after off road driving that the rear wheels can slip, you do this by driving onto the grass verge or over some undulating ground. Just my 10 pence worth!
We carry our children on our back up mountains etc in a Deuter Child carrier / backpack.... no limits then as to what you can explore with Oakley !
never mind ahaha, just saw your next episode. Great minds.....
2 drive shafts failures is a hell of a coincidence, are all of your drive ratios the same?
Do you plan on driving back so Sweden at some point? If you do you might find Sweden Offroad Tour interesting
It all depends when/where we do the engine swap but we'd like to see more of Sweden/Norway/Iceland in the summer months :)
Sorry for the breakdown, but it compensates a nice week of Family time ☺️ oh my goshh Oakley is growing, starting to say his first words ☺️💛💛💛
What phone holder are you using in the truck…..?
I see them a lot in Australian TH-camrs videos in there overland trucks, so I’m guessing they must hold the phones very well and are easy to use…..?
It's a RAM Twist-Lock Suction Mount, the one we used in our Unimog, highly rate it!
Using the heat from de cabin
Did you change the engine/trans or did that not work out?
As far as I understood, they really wanted to get going and plan on doing the engineswap later, he still has the crate, but ain't planning on doing it just yet, nore in Sweden, but we will see what's to come! :)
Well summed up!
@@TheOutFit I hope your new engine comes with some sort of vacuumpump, to release the locks in the transmission? Diesels, and especially turbodiesels does not have any vacuum. The vacuum assisted locks is also why it can rely on the single drumbrake on the output of the transmission, when you turn the B30 engine off all the locks engages and you have an 6 wheel operated parking brake! :)
When I was in France working on the weekends I rent a motorcycle and toured. Another of the Nazis atrocities was
Oradour-sur-Glane: Martyred Village. I highly suggest visiting there if passing by.
lol, delivery in france is a disaster. In the netherlands you can often have stuff the next day. In france it's never sure if it will arrive at all :P
We're still fighting with DHL to get compensation...
DHL lost my parcel once. They said they had sent it back because my address didn't exist. The next day a new part arrived via KPN. It turn out they hadn't sent it back because a week later they came to my house with the parcel. I tried to send it back three times but they always came back. The last time (three months later) I wasn't home and my granddaughter accepted it. The company I bought it from said I could keep it. So now I have a spare part I probably will never need.
Bonjour Ange, de quelle région en France s'agit-il?
Bonjour :) Rocamadour et Saint-Cirq Lapopie sont dans la région de l'Occitanie.
Bit different to the Kimberley No dust and flies look on the positive side
Ahah there is always a bright side!
Just a thought what about one them 2.8 cummins 4cyd just a thought mate your living the dream
2 small a motor mate , drop a decent CAT into it their agricultural reliable and parts are everywhere around the world , just get an early version that doesn't need that AD blue shit
@davidmilledge221 let me know im in Bakersfield California big oil country I'll find you what you want what model
@@PeterHatch-mx7zc they have a diesel that is planned to be installed!
Plans to visit Italy?
For sure! Any recommendations? :)
@@TheOutFit well lots of things! I usually travel with a campervan in Europe, and while France is the heaven Italy is on the other side of the spectrum! With your vehicle surely the alps (Dolomites and Trentino); the islands (I’m Sicilian and there are wonderful places there and in the small islands Eolie). Elba too, as well as Sardinia of course. Wild camping in most areas will not be permitted. Then don’t skip big cites, but consider to stay outside and commute. There are good choices in Venice where you just need to take a boat to enjoy the city. Camping is way more expensive than France in comparison. In Sicily would be great to go to mount Etna, but pretty sure private 4x4 won’t be allowed. In the Eolie Vulcano is the place to go with your car, again check what you could do.
Dolomites is high on the bucket list! Thanks for the tips :)
Are you teaching Oakley French as well as English.
Once he has mastered the English "basics" I will teach him some French :)
Planning a trip to France soon, my understanding is wild camping is illegal. So, how is your overnight stays outwith campsites or aires possible? Is it a closely guarded French secret??? 🙂
I think illegal is a bit exaggerated. As long as there aren't private property signs and you don't litter and are self contained, there doesn't seem to be any issues :)
@ that’s really good to know! Thank you
Half a dozen more kids 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣 👍👍👍👍👍
It aint snow. Its just very light soft hail. 😂
For people used to snow I'm sure it is 😄
weet je zeker dat je dif locks uitstaan bij normaal weg gebruik
Yes
the tooth brush moustache ( the Hitler style ) was actually a popular style of the time.
I'm in Holland. DHL in general is hopeless, avoid if possible.....
We learnt it the hard way!
Any numbers of fuel economy, or is that something you rather turn a blind eye on? 😉 The larger wheels must at least take you further on a tank, but the spedometer lies so... 🤷♂️
Not until we get the diesel 😄