THORparts does the Borneo Safari....

[4speedfunk]

Has anyone heard of the The Borneo Safari?...
http://www.borneosafari.com.my/public/default.asp

Me neither! Check out the action...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPgUEMtTJYI

Long story short...today I shipped a trail pack (front & rear THORparts bumpers) to a guy in Malaysia. He is prepping his H3 to run this rally in Sabah and I wish him all the best. I'll be following the action coming from this insane 1000km cross-jungle race. He may be the lone Hummer in the bunch...so we should see should keep our eyes open and see how he holds up against the Yotas, Nissans, Rovers, and Jeeps.

 

[RamRod]

Very cool!
Hope he does well!

 

[ABNTROOP]

Bad@ss!

 

[06 H3]

holy ****!

Will he keep you in the loop on how he does? I am interested to see how the water crossings and hill climbs go. I wonder if the front diff will last.

 

[alrock]

What a cool competition and video

 

[Tdavis]

I hope he makes us proud.... Just competing makes me happy. Every time I have my Alpha out, I am totally impressed. Always surprises me on its abilities...... Love it!!!!!

 

[amrg]

We should point out to him to get a steering rack + front diff fix, this way he would have a better chance?

 

[ReconH3]

Having been in those jungles for two years, all I can say is that if he hasn't "waterproofed" his BCM, he won't be going very far. I hope he does well and doesn't encounter any deep water crossings, something that's close to impossible in those jungles.


"Ex Umbris Venimus"

 

[Portager]

Hopefully he has the adventure package. I'd like winches on both ends. 2x the waterproofing.

 

[Schwarttzy]

I would love to see some of my parts on his rig, wonder if he could use them... either way I look for to watching this.

 

[4speedfunk]

Schwarttzy...He was looking for rocker protection and I sent him a link to your website.

When he first contacted me, I considered putting together a "care package" of goodies from the USA. Outfitter Design, Schwarttzy, THORparts, and whomever else. Figured all of us could cram some competition parts into a shipping container and send it half way around the world. Naturally I would drag H4O into the deal! But, he was so late in contacting me that I couldn't really get the ball rolling. Its been a somewhat complicated process getting parts shipped that far away...we had to work with a US-based exporter to get the deal done. He never said for sure but, I also think he was communicating thru a language translator program. He says there are (32) H3's in his area and that ARB bumpers are (or were) the only game in town. Of course I hooked him up with full-size banner decals and such...so hopefully he will be easy to spot.

I think he is running out of time for getting parts installed, and I'm concerned that the bumpers I sent yesterday might not reach him in time for the start. Regardless, it looks like a monster event and I highly doubt an H3 can stay together for 1000km of that type of abuse. I completely agree with amrg about the front end upgrades. In fact...I would chop the entire stock IFS off and redo it the right way! I assume that he is restrained by budget, rules...or both when it comes to the type of mods he can do. Whatever the case, I wish him the best.

Maybe next year...Schwarttzy and I can go over a couple weeks early...prep his rig for the rally...and be part of his support crew for a few sections of the rally. Talk about adventure!

 

[06 H3]

Having been in those jungles for two years, all I can say is that if he hasn't "waterproofed" his BCM, he won't be going very far. I hope he does well and doesn't encounter any deep water crossings, something that's close to impossible in those jungles.


"Ex Umbris Venimus"

I picked up that "never wet" stuff in the can. They claim its supposed to completely waterproof everything from electronics to shoes. Not sure if it works but I plan to try it out.

If its still summer when the event happens I would fly down there and help out. That would be awesome

 

[3Hummers]

Very interesting. I hope we can easily follow his progress. Agree that he should have tried to do the steering rack/crossmember upgrades before the race. maybe next year.

 

[4speedfunk]

Who knows?....he might already have the most tricked-out H3 in that hemisphere. We sort of limited our discussion to bumpers, so I didn't get much of a feel for how many mods he was doing in preparation for the safari. Looking at some of the other vehicles...I would think an H3 would need to be HIGHLY MODIFIED (read: loose 800 lbs.) to get thru some of that terrain.

It also looks like it would be complete junk afterwards.

 

[Schwarttzy]

Maybe next year...Schwarttzy and I can go over a couple weeks early...prep his rig for the rally...and be part of his support crew for a few sections of the rally. Talk about adventure!

Ya that would be sweet!

 

[ReconH3]

Maybe next year...Schwarttzy and I can go over a couple weeks early...prep his rig for the rally...and be part of his support crew for a few sections of the rally. Talk about adventure!

Those events generally don't allow support crews. You have to be completely autonomous, with no external help.


"Ex Umbris Venimus"

 

[Spectre]

This looks insane! I hope he has put his time in practicing with his 3.

He will be out in the first stage if he attacks it like the guys in that video. Hopefully we will get a chance to see what his rig looks like.

 

[06 H3]

Who knows?....he might already have the most tricked-out H3 in that hemisphere. We sort of limited our discussion to bumpers, so I didn't get much of a feel for how many mods he was doing in preparation for the safari. Looking at some of the other vehicles...I would think an H3 would need to be HIGHLY MODIFIED (read: loose 800 lbs.) to get thru some of that terrain.

It also looks like it would be complete junk afterwards.

Recon would know...I think he's wheeled in that territory. What do u think recon?

 

[ReconH3]

All I can say is that my H3 as is would not go to that event. I went to the Rainforest Challenge twice. It's the parallel event. Same place, same style. The water and humidity alone will destroy any upholstry or electrical components. The H3 has way too much electrical equipment. The BCM being the Achilles heel. The other problem is parts availability. One year that I went, a South African team had to abandon their Ford pickup because it was a vehicle that was not available there, and they couldn't get the parts to repair it to get it out of the jungle. Since it was so deep in the jungle, and it was blocking the only path in the jungle, they threw it off a ravine into a lake. It reminded me of those Vietnam movies where they were dumping Hueys of the flight decks of the aircraft carriers. I'm not saying he can't do it or make it, but he's card all the cards against him. My first year I went with an IFS vehicle with 32" tires, and went through shafts like crazy. The ruts and mud was so thick, that it just hammered those exposed shaft joints. If he does make it, during the following months, the electrical will slowly start to fail due to corrosion. Things like switches and solenoids will just die on him one by one. If you notice in those videos, most of the vehicles are old Toyotas, Daihatsus, Land Rovers, and Jeeps. There's a reason for that. They ideal vehicle is one without any upholstery, and with no electrical accessories. Things like power locks, windows, adjustable seats, push button transfer cases and lockers are guaranteed to eventually stop working. After each event I would spend months with POR15 and WD40 getting rust out of just about every inch of the my truck. Before each event I would spend weeks putting dielectric grease on every possible plug, and that usually wasn't enough. The mixture of water and mud there is highly corrosive. I'm not sure what's in it, but it's nasty. That same water/mud/silt destroys o-rings, seals, and electrical brushes of alternators, winches, and electrical fans. Get the picture?

"Ex Umbris Venimus"

 

[ReconH3]

And yes, weight is a huge factor. Usually the winning vehicles are Suzukis, Toyota 40 Series, CJs, that have been lightened to the max.

 

[06 H3]

After that story I am very interested to hear how this guy does...

 

[3Hummers]

Sounds like he will likely be an early casualty.

 

[06 H3]

It almost makes it sound like an vehicle built after 05 is a disaster waiting to happen...new land rovers are electronic dependent, hummers are, jeeps are also. I'd say they weren't up until the last year or two of the TJ 05-06, 4runners are. I will say after driving a somewhat new (newer then 06) land rover defender diesel manual in Aruba they are barebones! Zero comforts. Maybe it's just imported cars to America and domestic American cars are filled with useless gizmos. For example, the sensor that detects you waving your foot under the bumper to open the back hatch if your hands are full.

Out of country you can still probably get a 2012 bare bones manual locks, manual windows 4x4 with uncomfortable seats and a removable carpet.

 

[Highatop]

Wow, I wish him well and was excited that a 3 will be there...and now after Recon's note...? I just hope they did their research. I got my fingers crossed, they go along way, anyway...I also hope there will be some videos to see and that could be good for THORparts too. And the us and the US export somethin more... Keep us updated

 

[ReconH3]

I would really like to see this guy make it, despite everything working against him. It would also be nice to try to maintain contact with him so he can tell us what he did to his rig to prepare for this event. After he's done it would also be great to see how it held up, and what he learned from it. How would he do things differently if he had a second chance with what he had learned? We would all greatly benefit from this.


"Ex Umbris Venimus"