It all started in April 2023 when I bought this rundown 6x6 Bucher Mowag Duro I “beauty” with no engine in Eswatini, snagged a Cummins 6BT all the way from China, and then tried to survive the conversion – first butchered by a crook in Pretoria, then half-heartedly patched together by PJM in Eswatini. Epic? Absolutely. Two years, countless headaches, gallons of oil, and more chaos than a circus, but finally… the beast – renamed Utopia Odyssey – now proudly squats in my workshop.
This big project started when a good friend – Gary Davidson – told me about two 6x6 Bucher Mowag Duros for sale, one in Pretoria and one in Eswatini, former Swaziland.
I quickly decided to fly to Jobourg from Windhoek, where I live. The first Duro in Pretoria was sitting in a workshop, abandoned mid-conversion into some sort of camper. Honestly, it looked like the owner had been smoking something special when he designed it… it was so weird. To make it worse, the owner was impossible to deal with and eventually tossed out a price of R400K as if he was selling me a Ferrari.
After spending a night at my daughter Enya’s place in Heidelberg and enjoying some time with my grandson Adam, I rented a car and drove to Eswatini to meet Sam Brero, the owner of the second Duro. We immediately clicked. No games, no nonsense. This one was the real deal for me. OK, the engine wasn’t running, but the price was sweet – R150K.
Being a left-hand drive, I couldn’t import it into Namibia. So the only option was to register a business in Eswatini with me as sole owner and keep the truck there. The cost? About R15K – peanuts compared to the Namibian license fees. In Eswatini, the yearly license was just around R1K. I call that African economics.
May 2023
Several people including Gary & Peter (I will introduce him later) had advised me to put a Cummins engine. The 6BT (5.9l - 6 cylinders) seemed to be a good choice and it should theorically fit as it is used in the Duro II. I wanted a simple engine, powerful (150-210 HP or 115-200 kW) and with good torque (540-600 Nm), and more important with no electronic at all. Parts are available worlwide and it is very cheap to overhaul.
I bought a second-hand Chinese Cummins 6BT from Cummins SA for R46K, all in – sea freight from China, road freight to Pretoria, customs, everything. The middleman was Kyle, who had taught English in China for a few years before deciding to import Cummins engines. Great guy, honest, knew his stuff. If you ever need a cheap Chinese Cummins, he’s your man.
June 2023
On June 15, I officially became the proud (and slightly nervous) owner of a Bucher Mowag Duro I... with no engine and stuck in a yard in Matsapha, Eswatini.
The Duro is the perfect choice for the kind of adventure I will take him through... not too big but thanks to its 6 wheels, the habitat can be longer without compromising the maniability and departure angle. Then thanks to its unique suspension, the chassis is almost torsion-free. I have travelled in Angola following Garry's Duro and it was amazing how little the habitat box was moving in relation to the driving cabin... this allows to save height by fixing the subframe onto the chassis (with rubber mountings at the back), and have a larger opening between the habitat and the driving cab.
July 2023
The plan was to do the engine conversion with Fana of Impossible Engineering Projects (the name should already have warned me). Kyle had recommended him, and when I first visited his workshop, I was impressed by the fancy projects lying around. Despite not really connecting with him personally, I gave him the job with a budget of R200K.
Fana received the engine at the end of July. His first task was to make a new bell housing and flywheel to connect the 6BT to the gearbox, which is separate from the engine. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. Communication with Fana was a nightmare. He kept promising, then disappearing.
August – December 2023
At the same time, I had started a big house renovation in Windhoek, so I wasn’t pushing too hard on the truck project. Patience was my middle name. But when I found out other poor souls had paid Fana thousands of rands and never got a thing back, I started worrying – not only about the small job he was supposed to do but about ever seeing my engine again.
Luckily, Peter – owner of PJM workshop in Eswatini and a friend of Sam – had also given Fana two gearboxes to overhaul, so he was going up to Pretoria often. Peter turned out to be my guardian angel in this saga.
Meanwhile, I was busy on my end: building a 3D model, placing endless orders from China. I shared a container with friends Jessica & Stephan (whose new house I was also renovating). My shopping list was long and ridiculous: 12-ton winch, recovery gear, truck seats, windows, locks, actuators, pumps, diesel heater, awning motor, Raspberry Pi 4, navigation radio, tyre monitor, lights, 10kW solar LiFePO4 batteries, and even a washing machine. Basically, if it could fit in a container, I ordered it.
January – February 2024
When the container arrived, it was Christmas in January. Toys everywhere. Meanwhile, I was still knee-deep in house renovations.
March – December 2024
Jessica & Stephan pulled me into another monster project: renovating their newly bought Windhoek property for their 25+ employees. The place was falling apart, but I had ideas and the tools to make them happen. The Duro had to wait.
September 2024 – February 2025
Peter eventually managed to rescue my 6BT engine and parts from Fana in Pretoria and brought them back to Eswatini. The plan shifted – Peter and his team would fit the engine themselves.
It was no small job. The 6BT was too wide for the chassis, and the right-side front propshaft was in the way. So they cut the chassis and widened it by 10 cm. Done beautifully, I must say. Then came the endless pipe adaptations. On top of that, Fana had mounted the starter motor on the wrong side, so Peter had to redo the bell housing. Of course, no suitable 24V starter was available. Welcome to Africa.
March 2025
After many follow-ups with Peter, we had agreed 2 months in advance that I’d come fetch the truck at the end of March. Roberta and I planned a month-long trip around it. On March 24, we rolled into PJM, full of excitement… only to find the truck half-baked, nowhere near finished.
Peter swore it would be ready “next week.” Classic. So Roberta and I detoured to Mozambique for a week before she flew back to Brazil. Meanwhile, Peter promised a proper bell housing and flywheel with the starter motor in the correct place. But what annoyed me was the sudden appearance of a fat invoice: R159K. This after months of me asking for smaller, intermediate invoices. Suddenly, boom – all at once. Sure, it included fetching the engine, importing it, and a mountain of work, but still… R159K is no pocket change.
April 2025
When I returned to PJM, the Duro was sitting outside like an abandoned dog. “Two weeks before we can touch it again,” they told me. Unbelievable! All because of poor communication between Peter and his son Kaiman, who ran the workshop.
What choice did I have? None. So I rolled up my sleeves and decided to finish the job myself.
The engine was in, but half the work wasn’t. Kaiman had bought a big fancy electric fan, but when I tried to wire it up, the experts said, “No way, this fan only works with a computer.” A truck with a fan that needs a laptop? Not in my world. I swapped it for a smaller 24V fan – the only one I could find – just to keep things alive.
From day one, my plan was simple: no electronics, no fragile nonsense. So I stripped out all the unnecessary cabling, keeping only lights and sensors. It was filthy work – oil, grease, rain dripping through the tree branches above me. I looked more like a scrapyard mechanic than a builder.
Day by day, I chipped away at it. Then Gerrit arrived – one of the Workaway volunteers who sometimes helps at the farm. He agreed to drive my Ford Ranger home while I would drive the Duro. Perfect team.
Together we changed all fluids, tested the lights, and on April 9 we finally fired up the engine. It ran! We even drove it around the yard. A huge moment.
The last hurdle was fitting the rear box, but of course, the bolts were missing. Classic Africa again. Next day, I drove the truck to the Brake Shop for proper brake bleeding and some auto-electrical help for the indicators.
That’s when the gearbox decided to play games. It wouldn’t shift – stuck in first gear. I got amazing advice from Daanie, the Allison specialist in Cape Town. We suspected the valve body, so I pulled it out, cleaned it, refilled oil… still stuck. The gear box is an 4-speed automatic Allison T542 with no electronic at all.
The next day, I limped to the police station (in first gear) for the engine registration. That’s when the real disaster hit – the propshaft between the engine and gearbox snapped, taking the Allison gearbox flange with it. Bang. Game over.
Jacques from PJM came to tow me back to the Brake Shop. I was done. No more fighting. I left the Duro there with Richard, the Brake Shop owner, packed my stuff, and drove home with Gerrit in the Ranger. Three days back, camping along the way. I didn’t even say goodbye to PJM. I was too pissed off.
May 2025
Back in Windhoek, I looked at all options. Repairing the gearbox in Eswatini? Impossible. The only choice was to move the truck to Johannesburg. I found Jan Roos from Vortex Transmissions – highly recommended – who could fix it.
Towing a truck across borders in Africa is always “creative.” Officially, you need a temporary import permit, big cost, lots of hassle. But there’s always “a lady who knows people.” For R7K, she made sure every border official turned a blind eye. Another R18K for the transporter, and voilà – the Duro rolled into Johannesburg, 500 km closer to home.
Jan quickly diagnosed the real cause of the disaster: the engine hadn’t been tightened down. Out of four mountings, two bolts were completely missing, and the other two weren’t even tight. No wonder the propshaft exploded. I wrote a very “polite” letter to PJM. Their reply? Blame me for everything. Classic dodge. I dropped it and moved on.
Vortex’s repair cost me R51K. Painful, but at least the job was done properly.
Meanwhile, Jean-Paul – a French Workaway – arrived to help. The truck wasn’t back yet, so we focused on testing the solar system instead. I had decided to go big: Victron everything. Four 1.9kW solar panels, two 5kW LiFePO4 batteries, a 5kW inverter, DC converters, Cerbo GX – the whole Rolls-Royce package. Reinhold at Radio Electronics gave me a sweet deal.
Jean-Paul and I argued for days about the batteries. He swore they were only 100Ah each. I said 200Ah. His tests proved him right… until after a few deep discharges, they bounced back to almost full capacity. We bet a fancy dinner in Windhoek on it. J-P, if you’re reading this – you owe me that dinner.
June – September 2025
I didn’t slow down. I filled another 20-foot container from China with almost everything needed for the camper: rims, tyres, composite panels, water tanks, jacks, e-bikes, hinges, roof window, dashboard gear, engine spares, even a water laser welder and a multipurpose saw table. Tools galore. At least I’d enjoy building it – and sell the toys later.
It is a good plan to change the rims from 20" to 22.5" for 3 reasons: higher ground clearence, faster cruising speed and more choice of tires at a cheaper price. Then let's fit 10 tires and 8 rims in the container...
July 2025
On July 3, I flew to Johannesburg to meet Louis, a young Workaway from England. He was game to ride with me all the way back to Windhoek.
We met at Vortex, Jan gave us a test drive, and after lunch we hit the road. Finally, I was behind the wheel of the Duro – noisy, raw, but moving.
Gear shifts were tricky. First to second was like arm wrestling; had to floor it for the revs to climb high enough before it slammed into gear. Third and fourth were smoother. Top speed: 80–85 km/h. Our 1800 km journey was going to take a while.
Shutting off the engine was another trick – no switch in the cab, so I had to burn my hand sliding fingers onto the hot, oily pump lever. Real high-tech.
Oil leaks everywhere – rocker gaskets were spraying like a crop duster, coating the whole truck in black mist. We topped up 7 liters of oil and 25 liters of water during the trip.
The dashboard was a comedy show: speedo quit halfway, rev counter drunk as hell, oil pressure and temp gauges useless, even the new water temp gauge lied. So we drove blind and hoped for the best.
Back to Namibia...
The Namibian border guards stared at the Duro for two hours before letting us through. Victory!
We overnighted in Keetmanshoop at Pooltjies flats – great hosts, even took us out for drinks. Highly recommend.
But by then, a loud metallic clicking was coming from the gearbox. Jan told us to check the propshaft. Sure enough, massive play on the output flange. We put it back together and crossed fingers.
Later, near Mariental, the power steering quit. A liter of oil and it was back. Then the engine started overheating, so we had dinner in Rehoboth before limping the last 100 km in the dark. Thankfully, headlights worked.
We passed Windhoek, crossed Brakwater, and literally 100m inside the farm gate… the truck died. I thought it was out of diesel, but no – the injection pump was dry. Dead. I called my neighbor at 21:30 to tow us.
Next day, the verdict: injection pump pistons seized. Repair in Namibia? R20–25K. I had no choice to order a brand-new pump from China... only R12.5K including airfreight. Bargain.
In the meantime, the old 4x4 Mercedes truck pull the Duro all the way to home. It was hectic with no engine... which means almost no brake! Slowly but surely...
Looking back, how lucky was that? The truck broke down only 3 km from my home after driving 1800 km from Joburg. Call that Victory #3.
August 2025
Louis and I opened the gearbox cover. One torque converter bolt was missing, rattling around like a castanet, and the propshaft was damaged. We sent it all back to Jan at Vortex. To his credit, he decided to drive to Windhoek himself to fix it. Amazing.
But at the border, Namibian officials blocked him – “You’re coming to work in Namibia.” Bureaucracy at its finest. On his way back, he dropped the parts with a courier. Saga continued.
In the meantime, we did a lot of work on the truck...
we removed every single part and pipe, leaving the ladder chassis naked;
all parts were cleaned, sanded and sprayed back except the coil springs in green;
A bit of welding on weak or broken brackets, some new rubber mountings...:
the chassis & suspension tubes also had the same treatement;
the brake calipers were dismentled and rebuilt with new pistons if necessary and new seals;
the wheel hubs got new oil and the cv-joints were tested and new boots fitted;
all the hydraulic & pneumatic components for the trailer were removed... saving 15kg and a lot of plumbing;
the emergency brake hydraulic actuators were overhauled as they were badly damaged; for these kind of job, I use a small engineering shop – Norman de la Harpe – who can rebuild almost any part!
the whole inside of the driving cabin was removed, including the dashboard and all the electrical wires; so many things are not working or not in use... so better start from scratch... and I have to admit that this is something I will enjoy very much!
September 2025
Jan wasn’t giving up. He flew in on the 19th, left on the 21st. Three days at my place, gearbox parts in his luggage. I hosted him, of course.
Friday was chaos: a Chinese freight forwarder threatened me with huge penalties, Home Affairs grilled me about my 94-year-old mother’s permit, and then we had to fetch Jan. But we made it.
He reassembled the gearbox, found the accelerator cable misadjusted – probably the cause of the violent 1st-to-2nd shifts. We also struggled with the brakes, thanks to my brilliant idea of ripping out the whole trailer brake system. Wrong bleeding sequence didn’t help. After hours, Jan got them working.
Next, the engine. It smoked like hell. With AI’s help, we moved the timing 180°, then realised that we were confusing exhaust TDC with compression TDC. Rookie mistake. Once corrected (back 180° & finely adjusted on compression TDC with piston is first cylinder on top), the engine purred like a kitten.
We took the Duro for its first proper farm-road ride. Smooth shifts, smooth power. Even the accelerator cable felt better (though it needs replacing). Sedney joined us – we rattled around so much we lost a spring off the back, which Frans, my neighbor’s guard, later found on the road.
But damn – the gearbox felt like silk. Almost like a luxury car. Ultimate victory.
Now, a few more things to attend to and the real fun begins: building the camper...
Next episode will be about...
removing the front shocks that have coil prings and sending these 8 shocks to the Bilstein agent in Pretoria for refurbishing and adjustment to expected 8T fully loaded;
disconnecting all the plumbing and the steering column and removing the driving cabin;
modifying the driving cab... extended height, larger opening at the back, modified locking system, body repair...;
making brackets to move the cab pivots & springs 18cm heigher, so the floor can be cut flat & there will be enough space for 2 new truck seats on swiveling base with pneumatic suspension;
extending steering column;
removing everything around the engine and cleaning all parts including the inside of the intercooler radiator;
cleaning, sanding and spraying the front part of the chassis;
and I am sure much more along the way;
Then everything will need to be put together and weld the subframe on the chassis, so when the container arrives from China end of November, the Duro will be able to carry all the big panels 6x2.2m and heavy stuff on the top of the hill through the steep access road.
Latest news about the container stuck in China due to the Super Typhoon Ragasa!
Last time I bought goods in China, it was pretty smooth... this time has been a crazy nighmare... everything was planned to ship from Tianjin until the Chinese forwarder agent – Angela – increased the price by 60% just before shipping and I heard at the same time that some goods could not be exported from that port. So a decision had to be taken to move to another port... Shenzhen and rely on a new Chinese forwarder – Pan Coco. The lady quickly took the logistics in her hands but 4 suppliers had already sent goods to Tianjin before the signal was given... and Angela could never find the boxes! Fortunately, Alibaba buyer insurance covered part of the costs. Then some suppliers did not have proper customs documents, according to Pan and the result is that the whole container was sent to the Chinese anti-smuggling department which scrutinsed every singel box! Customs issued fines and storage per day that came to a huge amount! There was no other option... I had to pay but I am still waiting for a full report. Then the typhoon causing several ports to be closed, starting 22 Sep... it seems it is over but I still do not know on 26 Sep, when and from where the container will be shipped!
This big project started when a good friend – Gary Davidson – told me about two 6x6 Bucher Mowag Duros for sale, one in Pretoria and one in Eswatini, former Swaziland.
I quickly decided to fly to Jobourg from Windhoek, where I live. The first Duro in Pretoria was sitting in a workshop, abandoned mid-conversion into some sort of camper. Honestly, it looked like the owner had been smoking something special when he designed it… it was so weird. To make it worse, the owner was impossible to deal with and eventually tossed out a price of R400K as if he was selling me a Ferrari.
After spending a night at my daughter Enya’s place in Heidelberg and enjoying some time with my grandson Adam, I rented a car and drove to Eswatini to meet Sam Brero, the owner of the second Duro. We immediately clicked. No games, no nonsense. This one was the real deal for me. OK, the engine wasn’t running, but the price was sweet – R150K.
Being a left-hand drive, I couldn’t import it into Namibia. So the only option was to register a business in Eswatini with me as sole owner and keep the truck there. The cost? About R15K – peanuts compared to the Namibian license fees. In Eswatini, the yearly license was just around R1K. I call that African economics.
May 2023
Several people including Gary & Peter (I will introduce him later) had advised me to put a Cummins engine. The 6BT (5.9l - 6 cylinders) seemed to be a good choice and it should theorically fit as it is used in the Duro II. I wanted a simple engine, powerful (150-210 HP or 115-200 kW) and with good torque (540-600 Nm), and more important with no electronic at all. Parts are available worlwide and it is very cheap to overhaul.
I bought a second-hand Chinese Cummins 6BT from Cummins SA for R46K, all in – sea freight from China, road freight to Pretoria, customs, everything. The middleman was Kyle, who had taught English in China for a few years before deciding to import Cummins engines. Great guy, honest, knew his stuff. If you ever need a cheap Chinese Cummins, he’s your man.
June 2023
On June 15, I officially became the proud (and slightly nervous) owner of a Bucher Mowag Duro I... with no engine and stuck in a yard in Matsapha, Eswatini.
The Duro is the perfect choice for the kind of adventure I will take him through... not too big but thanks to its 6 wheels, the habitat can be longer without compromising the maniability and departure angle. Then thanks to its unique suspension, the chassis is almost torsion-free. I have travelled in Angola following Garry's Duro and it was amazing how little the habitat box was moving in relation to the driving cabin... this allows to save height by fixing the subframe onto the chassis (with rubber mountings at the back), and have a larger opening between the habitat and the driving cab.
July 2023
The plan was to do the engine conversion with Fana of Impossible Engineering Projects (the name should already have warned me). Kyle had recommended him, and when I first visited his workshop, I was impressed by the fancy projects lying around. Despite not really connecting with him personally, I gave him the job with a budget of R200K.
Fana received the engine at the end of July. His first task was to make a new bell housing and flywheel to connect the 6BT to the gearbox, which is separate from the engine. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. Communication with Fana was a nightmare. He kept promising, then disappearing.
August – December 2023
At the same time, I had started a big house renovation in Windhoek, so I wasn’t pushing too hard on the truck project. Patience was my middle name. But when I found out other poor souls had paid Fana thousands of rands and never got a thing back, I started worrying – not only about the small job he was supposed to do but about ever seeing my engine again.
Luckily, Peter – owner of PJM workshop in Eswatini and a friend of Sam – had also given Fana two gearboxes to overhaul, so he was going up to Pretoria often. Peter turned out to be my guardian angel in this saga.
Meanwhile, I was busy on my end: building a 3D model, placing endless orders from China. I shared a container with friends Jessica & Stephan (whose new house I was also renovating). My shopping list was long and ridiculous: 12-ton winch, recovery gear, truck seats, windows, locks, actuators, pumps, diesel heater, awning motor, Raspberry Pi 4, navigation radio, tyre monitor, lights, 10kW solar LiFePO4 batteries, and even a washing machine. Basically, if it could fit in a container, I ordered it.
January – February 2024
When the container arrived, it was Christmas in January. Toys everywhere. Meanwhile, I was still knee-deep in house renovations.
March – December 2024
Jessica & Stephan pulled me into another monster project: renovating their newly bought Windhoek property for their 25+ employees. The place was falling apart, but I had ideas and the tools to make them happen. The Duro had to wait.
September 2024 – February 2025
Peter eventually managed to rescue my 6BT engine and parts from Fana in Pretoria and brought them back to Eswatini. The plan shifted – Peter and his team would fit the engine themselves.
It was no small job. The 6BT was too wide for the chassis, and the right-side front propshaft was in the way. So they cut the chassis and widened it by 10 cm. Done beautifully, I must say. Then came the endless pipe adaptations. On top of that, Fana had mounted the starter motor on the wrong side, so Peter had to redo the bell housing. Of course, no suitable 24V starter was available. Welcome to Africa.
March 2025
After many follow-ups with Peter, we had agreed 2 months in advance that I’d come fetch the truck at the end of March. Roberta and I planned a month-long trip around it. On March 24, we rolled into PJM, full of excitement… only to find the truck half-baked, nowhere near finished.
Peter swore it would be ready “next week.” Classic. So Roberta and I detoured to Mozambique for a week before she flew back to Brazil. Meanwhile, Peter promised a proper bell housing and flywheel with the starter motor in the correct place. But what annoyed me was the sudden appearance of a fat invoice: R159K. This after months of me asking for smaller, intermediate invoices. Suddenly, boom – all at once. Sure, it included fetching the engine, importing it, and a mountain of work, but still… R159K is no pocket change.
April 2025
When I returned to PJM, the Duro was sitting outside like an abandoned dog. “Two weeks before we can touch it again,” they told me. Unbelievable! All because of poor communication between Peter and his son Kaiman, who ran the workshop.
What choice did I have? None. So I rolled up my sleeves and decided to finish the job myself.
The engine was in, but half the work wasn’t. Kaiman had bought a big fancy electric fan, but when I tried to wire it up, the experts said, “No way, this fan only works with a computer.” A truck with a fan that needs a laptop? Not in my world. I swapped it for a smaller 24V fan – the only one I could find – just to keep things alive.
From day one, my plan was simple: no electronics, no fragile nonsense. So I stripped out all the unnecessary cabling, keeping only lights and sensors. It was filthy work – oil, grease, rain dripping through the tree branches above me. I looked more like a scrapyard mechanic than a builder.
Day by day, I chipped away at it. Then Gerrit arrived – one of the Workaway volunteers who sometimes helps at the farm. He agreed to drive my Ford Ranger home while I would drive the Duro. Perfect team.
Together we changed all fluids, tested the lights, and on April 9 we finally fired up the engine. It ran! We even drove it around the yard. A huge moment.
The last hurdle was fitting the rear box, but of course, the bolts were missing. Classic Africa again. Next day, I drove the truck to the Brake Shop for proper brake bleeding and some auto-electrical help for the indicators.
That’s when the gearbox decided to play games. It wouldn’t shift – stuck in first gear. I got amazing advice from Daanie, the Allison specialist in Cape Town. We suspected the valve body, so I pulled it out, cleaned it, refilled oil… still stuck. The gear box is an 4-speed automatic Allison T542 with no electronic at all.
The next day, I limped to the police station (in first gear) for the engine registration. That’s when the real disaster hit – the propshaft between the engine and gearbox snapped, taking the Allison gearbox flange with it. Bang. Game over.
Jacques from PJM came to tow me back to the Brake Shop. I was done. No more fighting. I left the Duro there with Richard, the Brake Shop owner, packed my stuff, and drove home with Gerrit in the Ranger. Three days back, camping along the way. I didn’t even say goodbye to PJM. I was too pissed off.
May 2025
Back in Windhoek, I looked at all options. Repairing the gearbox in Eswatini? Impossible. The only choice was to move the truck to Johannesburg. I found Jan Roos from Vortex Transmissions – highly recommended – who could fix it.
Towing a truck across borders in Africa is always “creative.” Officially, you need a temporary import permit, big cost, lots of hassle. But there’s always “a lady who knows people.” For R7K, she made sure every border official turned a blind eye. Another R18K for the transporter, and voilà – the Duro rolled into Johannesburg, 500 km closer to home.
Jan quickly diagnosed the real cause of the disaster: the engine hadn’t been tightened down. Out of four mountings, two bolts were completely missing, and the other two weren’t even tight. No wonder the propshaft exploded. I wrote a very “polite” letter to PJM. Their reply? Blame me for everything. Classic dodge. I dropped it and moved on.
Vortex’s repair cost me R51K. Painful, but at least the job was done properly.
Meanwhile, Jean-Paul – a French Workaway – arrived to help. The truck wasn’t back yet, so we focused on testing the solar system instead. I had decided to go big: Victron everything. Four 1.9kW solar panels, two 5kW LiFePO4 batteries, a 5kW inverter, DC converters, Cerbo GX – the whole Rolls-Royce package. Reinhold at Radio Electronics gave me a sweet deal.
Jean-Paul and I argued for days about the batteries. He swore they were only 100Ah each. I said 200Ah. His tests proved him right… until after a few deep discharges, they bounced back to almost full capacity. We bet a fancy dinner in Windhoek on it. J-P, if you’re reading this – you owe me that dinner.
June – September 2025
I didn’t slow down. I filled another 20-foot container from China with almost everything needed for the camper: rims, tyres, composite panels, water tanks, jacks, e-bikes, hinges, roof window, dashboard gear, engine spares, even a water laser welder and a multipurpose saw table. Tools galore. At least I’d enjoy building it – and sell the toys later.
It is a good plan to change the rims from 20" to 22.5" for 3 reasons: higher ground clearence, faster cruising speed and more choice of tires at a cheaper price. Then let's fit 10 tires and 8 rims in the container...
July 2025
On July 3, I flew to Johannesburg to meet Louis, a young Workaway from England. He was game to ride with me all the way back to Windhoek.
We met at Vortex, Jan gave us a test drive, and after lunch we hit the road. Finally, I was behind the wheel of the Duro – noisy, raw, but moving.
Gear shifts were tricky. First to second was like arm wrestling; had to floor it for the revs to climb high enough before it slammed into gear. Third and fourth were smoother. Top speed: 80–85 km/h. Our 1800 km journey was going to take a while.
Shutting off the engine was another trick – no switch in the cab, so I had to burn my hand sliding fingers onto the hot, oily pump lever. Real high-tech.
Oil leaks everywhere – rocker gaskets were spraying like a crop duster, coating the whole truck in black mist. We topped up 7 liters of oil and 25 liters of water during the trip.
The dashboard was a comedy show: speedo quit halfway, rev counter drunk as hell, oil pressure and temp gauges useless, even the new water temp gauge lied. So we drove blind and hoped for the best.
Back to Namibia...
The Namibian border guards stared at the Duro for two hours before letting us through. Victory!
We overnighted in Keetmanshoop at Pooltjies flats – great hosts, even took us out for drinks. Highly recommend.
But by then, a loud metallic clicking was coming from the gearbox. Jan told us to check the propshaft. Sure enough, massive play on the output flange. We put it back together and crossed fingers.
Later, near Mariental, the power steering quit. A liter of oil and it was back. Then the engine started overheating, so we had dinner in Rehoboth before limping the last 100 km in the dark. Thankfully, headlights worked.
We passed Windhoek, crossed Brakwater, and literally 100m inside the farm gate… the truck died. I thought it was out of diesel, but no – the injection pump was dry. Dead. I called my neighbor at 21:30 to tow us.
Next day, the verdict: injection pump pistons seized. Repair in Namibia? R20–25K. I had no choice to order a brand-new pump from China... only R12.5K including airfreight. Bargain.
In the meantime, the old 4x4 Mercedes truck pull the Duro all the way to home. It was hectic with no engine... which means almost no brake! Slowly but surely...
Looking back, how lucky was that? The truck broke down only 3 km from my home after driving 1800 km from Joburg. Call that Victory #3.
August 2025
Louis and I opened the gearbox cover. One torque converter bolt was missing, rattling around like a castanet, and the propshaft was damaged. We sent it all back to Jan at Vortex. To his credit, he decided to drive to Windhoek himself to fix it. Amazing.
But at the border, Namibian officials blocked him – “You’re coming to work in Namibia.” Bureaucracy at its finest. On his way back, he dropped the parts with a courier. Saga continued.
In the meantime, we did a lot of work on the truck...
we removed every single part and pipe, leaving the ladder chassis naked;
all parts were cleaned, sanded and sprayed back except the coil springs in green;
A bit of welding on weak or broken brackets, some new rubber mountings...:
the chassis & suspension tubes also had the same treatement;
the brake calipers were dismentled and rebuilt with new pistons if necessary and new seals;
the wheel hubs got new oil and the cv-joints were tested and new boots fitted;
all the hydraulic & pneumatic components for the trailer were removed... saving 15kg and a lot of plumbing;
the emergency brake hydraulic actuators were overhauled as they were badly damaged; for these kind of job, I use a small engineering shop – Norman de la Harpe – who can rebuild almost any part!
the whole inside of the driving cabin was removed, including the dashboard and all the electrical wires; so many things are not working or not in use... so better start from scratch... and I have to admit that this is something I will enjoy very much!
September 2025
Jan wasn’t giving up. He flew in on the 19th, left on the 21st. Three days at my place, gearbox parts in his luggage. I hosted him, of course.
Friday was chaos: a Chinese freight forwarder threatened me with huge penalties, Home Affairs grilled me about my 94-year-old mother’s permit, and then we had to fetch Jan. But we made it.
He reassembled the gearbox, found the accelerator cable misadjusted – probably the cause of the violent 1st-to-2nd shifts. We also struggled with the brakes, thanks to my brilliant idea of ripping out the whole trailer brake system. Wrong bleeding sequence didn’t help. After hours, Jan got them working.
Next, the engine. It smoked like hell. With AI’s help, we moved the timing 180°, then realised that we were confusing exhaust TDC with compression TDC. Rookie mistake. Once corrected (back 180° & finely adjusted on compression TDC with piston is first cylinder on top), the engine purred like a kitten.
We took the Duro for its first proper farm-road ride. Smooth shifts, smooth power. Even the accelerator cable felt better (though it needs replacing). Sedney joined us – we rattled around so much we lost a spring off the back, which Frans, my neighbor’s guard, later found on the road.
But damn – the gearbox felt like silk. Almost like a luxury car. Ultimate victory.
Now, a few more things to attend to and the real fun begins: building the camper...
Next episode will be about...
removing the front shocks that have coil prings and sending these 8 shocks to the Bilstein agent in Pretoria for refurbishing and adjustment to expected 8T fully loaded;
disconnecting all the plumbing and the steering column and removing the driving cabin;
modifying the driving cab... extended height, larger opening at the back, modified locking system, body repair...;
making brackets to move the cab pivots & springs 18cm heigher, so the floor can be cut flat & there will be enough space for 2 new truck seats on swiveling base with pneumatic suspension;
extending steering column;
removing everything around the engine and cleaning all parts including the inside of the intercooler radiator;
cleaning, sanding and spraying the front part of the chassis;
and I am sure much more along the way;
Then everything will need to be put together and weld the subframe on the chassis, so when the container arrives from China end of November, the Duro will be able to carry all the big panels 6x2.2m and heavy stuff on the top of the hill through the steep access road.
Latest news about the container stuck in China due to the Super Typhoon Ragasa!
Last time I bought goods in China, it was pretty smooth... this time has been a crazy nighmare... everything was planned to ship from Tianjin until the Chinese forwarder agent – Angela – increased the price by 60% just before shipping and I heard at the same time that some goods could not be exported from that port. So a decision had to be taken to move to another port... Shenzhen and rely on a new Chinese forwarder – Pan Coco. The lady quickly took the logistics in her hands but 4 suppliers had already sent goods to Tianjin before the signal was given... and Angela could never find the boxes! Fortunately, Alibaba buyer insurance covered part of the costs. Then some suppliers did not have proper customs documents, according to Pan and the result is that the whole container was sent to the Chinese anti-smuggling department which scrutinsed every singel box! Customs issued fines and storage per day that came to a huge amount! There was no other option... I had to pay but I am still waiting for a full report. Then the typhoon causing several ports to be closed, starting 22 Sep... it seems it is over but I still do not know on 26 Sep, when and from where the container will be shipped!
