PeteY

Just wondering if anyone on here has ever (or plans to) do any serious 4WDing in the centre/top end?

Might have a few equipment Q's for you.....

Cheers

Pete.

bondipom

I am intending to go to the red centre to do the Mereenie loop in April but I have only driven a 4WD on tarmac. I will be interested in the Q&As.

MrsDagboy

We stick to the beach generally, do you just want general questions answered or more specific, Pete?

Megalania

Minimum extra equipment: round mouth shovel, compass, map.

HiddenPaw

Hello Pete, long time no hear. Hope all is well in Mt Gambier.

I can't really offer any advice as when we did our off roading in the NT and Qld, although we did some really rocky and steep tracks I drew the line at driving across a 50metre crocodile-infested creek at Mary River!! (We had no snorkel, didn't know how deep it was etc.) How serious is serious? Where are are you planning on going, and disappearing for how many days at a time?

Lots of camels on the Mereenie Loop BP - that's all we saw for the first 170km!

The Koalas

Hey Petey
Long time no hear, I wondered how you were. Have you done any serious fishing yet? Cant help on the 4WDing but good to hear your are ok.
nicholls clan

PeteY

Basically we have only done a little bit of beach driving, and we are hoping to do some more adventurous stuff later in the year. The only aspect that i am slightly unsure of are the more advanced driving skills which may/maynot be needed, and what recovery gear is likely to be needed....and of course how to use it properly.

I have been thinking about joining a 4wd club to learn the new skills etc...any thoughts? I should really just go check one out, but im not keen if they are just going to be a bunch of equipment freaks who stand around saying "ohhh you should'nt have bought that one...this ones much better/more expensive....."

Meg.....(or anyone)....would you buy a decent compressor for the tires, or is a bog standard ciggie lighter one ample?

Any thoughts on a winch? Needed or a waste of cash?

Cheers all

Pete.

Ohhh yes...and Nicholls....been fishing LOADS Caught lots of wierd and wonderful species. Favorite is still the KG whiting. Tastiest fish in the sea i reckon.

HP. All is going great thanks for asking. The mount is a really nice town. The climate is great dwn this way (as you will know); rarely too hot.

Megalania

If you go off road, expect lots of flats so be prepared with good bead breaker and tube / tyre repair equip. Menzel pumps now old fashioned, just get an appropriately sized foot or electric pump. 2 spare tyres keep most rolling. Kangaroo jack good in bad bogs.

Winch manual / pto / electric will get you out of lots of trouble in remote areas.

Depends on how much trouble you aim for. Careful driving in remote areas will keep you out of most trouble.

owieb

Hi Pete,

We went on a 4WD course as we really didn't know a thing about "real" 4WDriving.

It was a weekend course that spent a day covering theory aspects, such how the cars work, terminology, what equipment is needed etc. Then the second day was spent out in the bush trying everything that we went through in the classroom. That was a fantastic day and covered all the basic driving and recovery skills we needed, including recovering a bogged vehicle.

Equipment wise the basics that you need are a compressor, recovery points, a spade and some snatch straps. You can use a footpump if you want, but it takes ages to do. If you will be doing a lot of travelling on your own then a winch maybe of benefit as you could potentially recover yourself.

Make sure you vehicle has proper recovery points. A lot of them don't have rated points, ie. they are not fixed directly to the chassis and they are not secured with high tensile bolts. People won't pull you out if proper points aren't fitted as they can snap and fly through the air! You need points at the front and rear and it's a good idea to have two at each end that way you won't bend your chassis. We thought we had hooks on our car, but they were just tie down hooks and not suitable for recovery, so we got some proper ones fitted.

We have been out a few times with a club and they have been really friendly and helpful. The equipment we bought was recommended to us on the course so no one was funny about what we had.

The only additional items that we bought were an inflatable jack and a UHF radio.

Well worth either finding a club or a course or a good shop and asking them for some advice.

Here are some pics from the trip we went on. Enjoy

owieb

This is a seriously bogged 4WD!

owieb

Don't expect your buddies to help you rescue your car, in a situation like this you're on your own. People just stand around watching!

PeteY

Cheers for the responses.

Great pics Owieb

I had'nt thought about a course...might look into it. So is that you haning over the bonnet of the Paj? Surprised you did wade on in

owieb

Nope! Some other poor guy. We did really well that day and didn't get bogged once. We were really pleased with our car (Surf) as it was the first time we had taken it into serious mud and water, but it just cruised through it without a problem.

dmf

Great photos. We are doing a 4WD course on the beach at Noosa on Saturday, want to get some proper advice before we go to Fraser Island next month.

Dawn