Hey guys! Little update from my trip in Africa (still ongoing, 6000km+)! So far, I rarely had to use the rear mag diff locker, in sand a few times just to be sure I wouldn't dig myself in in tricky situations, but I might have done it without! The rav is a tractor, with tyres at 0.9bar and the VSC/TRC disabled, it is really hard to burry it in sand. I haven't had the chance to go on mud, but it would probably make a lot of sense to use it there.
The 3mm steel skid plate has been used and abused, I think nobody should underestimate the necessity of this protective piece. Sometimes I would hit the ground thinking I wouldn't, but when the car is moving, the suspension is working and the ground clearance becomes dynamic and do vary.
The added 40mm PU suspension spacers from ebay also help keeping these evil stones away from my unprotected subframe. One thing though, I do hit the bottom of my rear suspensions often in bumpy roads because of the weight (I carry 500kg+ when fully laden) and also probably because the original coils are corroded and old (19y!).
The 40% stronger clutch was also very helpful to get all the power to the wheels. With the original one I had been slipping previously quite a few times, never happened since the upgrade.
If you're interested, you can follow me on instagram (swissnomadic), it's a private account, so mention you're from rav4world
