garry taylor

it got its mot just a couple of months ago.....and as far as i can tell its got all the stuff to make it legal for a camper in it....just the side comes down aswell...but yes its a bit scetchy.....but this little beauty is heading to Africa eventualy and when she is out the uk i dont expect her to come back to the Uk any time soon

p.s. not me in the photo

Hi

My New Bedford MK is registerd as a mobile home....but it does have a sound stage on the back...the whole of the side of the truck ( not back put side) folds out and becomes a stage for a sound system......wouldent this class as exibition (especaly if it was excibitioning and education via the stage)

Ive seen a good few green goddess in Iceland and they are all on regular bar grip....

the bar grip were good for africa, but not so great for high speeds, but as its a mk...there is not a lot of high speeds...i did meet one guy up here who had on of the small army MAN 4x4 and his tyres were not bar grip, but he seaid they were no good in the snow eather...i thing studs are the way to go.....as you could not use chains as there normaly is not enthoue snow for them...especaly over long distances

Sorry for the late reply but here goes.

 

The old style bar grip tyres have a single band of rubber in contact with the road all the time. There are no gaps.

 

You will have lots of problems and risk coming off the road.

 

I live and operate 2 Bedford MJ trucks in Canada. I do have experience with what I talk about.

 

Once there is enough now or especially ice on the road you will be relying on your forward momentum to get you up the next hill, if you have to apply power or brake that is when you will experience the joys of those tyres.

 

R

In the end i put screw in studs in the tyres

dont think it was eather of them

Hi

welcome to the forum, i was in RSA 3 weeks ago with my Bedford mk,

i sore a place on the road from joburg to pretoria that was selling millitry vehicles, it was near the st George hotel, i was intrested to see if they had a website but could never find it, the name of the company was something like truck and plant

p.s. i gess you have been there but the millitry museum in joburg is real great

Hi

i just spent the last 6 months driving from Iceland to SouthAfrica , via the west coast and central of Africa

I was in a Bedford MK 1977 (like the MJ but no turbo)

it was a very hard road but i knew the ex army truck could make it.....everything that broke on the truck in the 6 months of hard hard roads was able to be fixed on the road by African bush mechanics...and we only ever needed 1 part in all the time, we managed to get that in sierra leone...there were Bedfords in around half of all countrys we went to...not many but a few...probley Nigeria had the most then Morocco

ive used this site often when i was prepering the truck for the trip, so i thought i would write a report of all the mechanical issues and fixes that i had along the way,it may be of help to others in the future

1. Problem- Window wipers stoped working,

Fix- Turned off, left wiper motor to cool down, then when ever we needed to use again we just turned it on for a few seconds each time ( also used turtal wax window spray)

2. Problem- Engine leaked oil on the floor

Fix- we had a Morroccan guy re-seal the engine, which only worked for a day, then we put some fake blue devil sealent in the engine, which worked perfect for a few months, it did start to leak again after, but we were in to remote areas to find any more blue devil

3. Problem- flat tyre, we had only 2 in 6 months, Fix- easy change of wheels, only problem was not realy having good tools,

4. Problem- Tyre getting low ( slow punchtre) , Fix- could not be bothered to get it properly fixed as it was near the end of the trip, so sprayed in tempory fixer ( emptyed out and re aired a few times)

5. Problem- Stuck in low gear ( transfer box broke), Fix- we had to wait 5 nights in a local truckers motel/brothel in Gueina while a mechanic went looking for a spare part in seara leone, this was our only major problem in the 6 months and was fixed as soon as we got the part

6. Problem- Engine stalled when idal, Fix-The idal control had lost a screw or something, we had it fixed by a local taxi driver and his mate ( his mate turned out to be the local imigration officer who 20 mins latter stamped our passports out of Congo)

7. Problem- Diff leaking oil, Fix- re seal and re oil

8. Problem- UJ joint worn out, Fix- went to the scrap yard in liberville, found one that almost fit and welded it on

9. Problem- Bald tyres, Fix- it was the end of the trip, so we just kept them,we could drive faster with the raceing tyres in Namibia..bar grip was so shaky before

10. Problem- Cab leaking in rain from observation hole in roof, Fix- put plastic bags ontop of all electonics and waited until we were in a place with a dry season

11. Problem- Dash board electronics not working, circit board shacken to peaces, Fix- rewired it

12. Problem- Fuel guage not working, the controler in the tank was screwed, Fix- used a stick to check the fuel level for the next 3 months, worked perfect

13. Problem- Fuel tank to small for Africa, Fix- straped a barrel to the side and sucked and spat the fuel with a peace of tubing

14. Problem- Sound from the axel at high speed, Fix- stick some more oil in the axel and sell the truck

15. Problem- Hand brake not working, Fix- adjust a bolt ( with brake OFF) on the bottom of the back axel

16. Problem- Found some bits of a broaken touth inside the gearbox and silver oil, Fix-replaced the gear oil 3 times and took it gental on changing to 4th gear

17. Problem- Air break pressure kept going all the way up, too high Fix- took the air control box apart, oiled it and resealed it

hope this helps for others in the future, the Bedfords are good trucks, but getting less comon in Africa now ( althought there are still some from the 50s and 60s around still being working trucks), possabley if i was doing it in a big truck again i would use the leyland dafs as there are tons of dafs around in africa

always remember if its a old British truck....if its not leaking oil....then you have no oil in the truck

Try this place. Snowchains . WWW.SNOWCHAINS.CO.UK They can supply super size chains.

looks like we will be putting screw in studs in the tyres....the tyres are old but should hold hopfully and we are on the way to africa so im not worryed about the MOT....the studs are a like a quater of the price of chains

Hi

Im in Iceland with my bedford MK, on the 5th of January i will be driving it to africa, the problem is, i have to drive around Iceland first, it will only be 2 or 3 days driving, but there is still a good chance that there will be snow/ice on the road....and i dont mean a little...more like the road is packed snow....everyone here uses studs.....should i put some in....or try to find chains...and were can i get some chains...without breaking the bank...i will be in the uk in a few weeks time, so i could get them in the uk

im driving on the old bar grip type tyres which are ment to be real slippy in the snow...and i got a couple of hills to go over ....bothing real real bad, but still it is Iceland

any suggestions

I'd be interested in a copy of a cd mj manual, I dont do e(vil)bay so cant hint at this guy about getting his skates on!

If you have any luck please bell me, arranstreeservices@yahoo.co.uk. Always wanted one but cant find a paper one or have the big price they apparently go for. I'd like a little hint at what some of the componants are for and where to find all the grease points (they seem everywhere!) so I worry Im missing some. Would I find one at the Kent War and Peace Show? Taking trucky there this year for first time.

hi

looks like this guy has totaly disapeared...so i gess he is not intrested in selling the manuals anymore...i think the 600 pages of the parts catalog put him off...if you want you can send me you email address and i will send u the manuals that i have on my computer...not compleat i think...but a good start....o i just sor your email addres above...i will send now

Hi

Welcome, althow its a bit late, you have been on a while,i got a mate who used to go to the museum often, i think he was somekind of yearly member or something,Dave Watson, i took me along once...and i always remember when i took the bus to work to cookietime that we passed the plane on the side of the road

wheni bought my MK the old owner said it was good for a 50 50 mix oil diesel in summer and 20 80 in winter,the veg oil gets thinker with the cold and is not good for the pump...i remember in seeing in Aldi veg oil 10p cheaper than diesel but we were onto the ferry to holland the next day so just waited to fill up there, there used to be lots of people filling up with cheap veg a few years ago( there are other forums online about it) from loss leader supermarkets but most now sell it at the same price or more expensive than diesel....but used veg oil is a totaly diffrent story, you have to filter and filter and filter again, and make sure you get all the water out aswell as your chips

dont most modern blank fire guns, have nothing coming out the end at all....i know mine does not, no flash from the barral, ( totaly blocked) everything out the side or the top vents...a lot less chance of blinding somone with these than, real firearms that are firing blanks ( eg in the Army)

Thanks for the manuals protruck, you are a real star, i will use it well

Hi

so i found the breather...its a extended one for water, so it was like a rubber tube going up to the chasiss , i gave it a bit of a blow out but it does not seem to be blocked, just a bit dusty, i will try and give it a go with the silicon on the weekend, but lets see if my GF will let me have any more time with the truck,

ive been having a play with the brocken speedo aswell, i will take it totaly off and paly with it inside ( more space) its got the end of the cable brocken off and stuck in it...so i need to get to work with the tweazzers ..no big problem

thanks so much for all the help guys, especialy for the manual....this will make it a lot easyer

im going to go back to the truck tomorrow and have a look for this breather, ive been told that the trucks been winterised and i think waterproffed so it my look a bit diffrent ( i dont know) ..i realy dont remember anything on the top of the axle...but i will look

im not to worryed about the tempritures out here afecting the sealant..it does not get that cold here...max in the winter is minus 5c in the night and normaly its more like between 5 and 10c...it just always windy ( makes working on the truck less fun) and often rainy, atleast we are getting lots of daylight now...last week i could not get to sleep so i went to work on the truck at 3am in the daylight

i belive this is the only MK or MJ in Iceland,there are a few greengoddesses and ive seen a tk, so i realy appreciate everyones advice..

when i cleaned it up, the oil was maybe coming from the right side slightly higher, ( ive put a blue arrow ) as there was fresh oil there 20 mins after cleaning,im thinking of putting some kind of sealent on the outside..

the breathers i dont know much about ( or were they are,as i still dont have any manual)

The red arrow shows were the matterial is coming out,

i cleaned it up a bit and watched for oil ,and it actualy looked like it was coming out further up ,but i could be wrong,

im going to give it a proper wipe down and see were the oil leak starts from, and put some photos up, shame it takes me 30 mins to get to were the truck is parked...whish it was nearer...gess im getting lasy

I dont belive its the wheel hub,its the axle, the matterial that is coming off is like twine or somthing like that...i only pulled a little off ...dont want it worse...what is this gel you were talking about to seal it with

Hi

Is there ny chance you could scan of your manual for the bedford MK or MJ , im up in Iceland right now with my truck and i dont want to spend 300 quid plus postage ( another 50 i gess) to get the mauals up here, ive got big plans...to drive from Iceland (via the ferry) to europe and down throw Africas west coast to South Africa...but i got to get the truck in shape first...got leaks from the back axle ...no speedo working, high low gear needs a good hammer to work, ect ect...you would be a real life saver

Garry