Treads
2nd January 2011, 04:54 PM
I had an 'almost recovery' yesterday ;) Saved only by judicious use of my ARB Ezy tyre deflator gauge :D
I was out hunting in some country between Tenterden and Tingha when we got to the bottom of a steep gully only to find that the bottom 1/3rd of the track down and back up was made up of mushy black mud :eek:
The whole 4,500 acre property was pretty wet so I had already aired down from 40psi to 28 when we first arrived. When I got to the bottom of the hill and had to perform a 90 degree right hand turn I quickly realised we weren't going to make it up the other side. I was is low 2nd with the CDL engaged and got about 2m before sliding off the track and stopping :angel:
I reversed back down and got as far back as possible (20ish metres) before giving it some berries and having a straight on run. I made it 3m this time before stopping and sliding off the track.... :(
So with my mates telling me they thought I'd better rig up the winch I thought I might drop the pressure in the tyres and have one last go before resorting to a long slow recovery up the steep 50m+ hill.
I dropped them all to 12psi and reversed all the way back into the creek that bounded the clearing. I got myself mentally prepared and took off - performing a snap change into 2nd and taking a slightly different line. We got about 4m before coming to a halt; however this time we stayed online so I stayed on power and started steering left-right-left :burnrubber:
We slowly gained an inch at a time until we got to the end of the mud. It took quite some time and I was acutely aware of the slight side-slope and the danger of coming off the track again; but the deefer inched itself out of the bog. I was quite relieved to finally get to solid ground :D
We avoided that area for the rest of the weekend and found out later that another mate of mine had to hand winch his jap dual-cab out of the same gully a few weeks earlier :p
I'm mightily impressed with the 33" Maxxis Bighorns and their ability to move a LOT of mud and find traction in difficult circumstances. Aired down to 12psi they transformed the landy into a different vehicle (not just from white to brown :twisted: )
From now on the first thing I'll be doing when something looks hairy is to air down.
I was out hunting in some country between Tenterden and Tingha when we got to the bottom of a steep gully only to find that the bottom 1/3rd of the track down and back up was made up of mushy black mud :eek:
The whole 4,500 acre property was pretty wet so I had already aired down from 40psi to 28 when we first arrived. When I got to the bottom of the hill and had to perform a 90 degree right hand turn I quickly realised we weren't going to make it up the other side. I was is low 2nd with the CDL engaged and got about 2m before sliding off the track and stopping :angel:
I reversed back down and got as far back as possible (20ish metres) before giving it some berries and having a straight on run. I made it 3m this time before stopping and sliding off the track.... :(
So with my mates telling me they thought I'd better rig up the winch I thought I might drop the pressure in the tyres and have one last go before resorting to a long slow recovery up the steep 50m+ hill.
I dropped them all to 12psi and reversed all the way back into the creek that bounded the clearing. I got myself mentally prepared and took off - performing a snap change into 2nd and taking a slightly different line. We got about 4m before coming to a halt; however this time we stayed online so I stayed on power and started steering left-right-left :burnrubber:
We slowly gained an inch at a time until we got to the end of the mud. It took quite some time and I was acutely aware of the slight side-slope and the danger of coming off the track again; but the deefer inched itself out of the bog. I was quite relieved to finally get to solid ground :D
We avoided that area for the rest of the weekend and found out later that another mate of mine had to hand winch his jap dual-cab out of the same gully a few weeks earlier :p
I'm mightily impressed with the 33" Maxxis Bighorns and their ability to move a LOT of mud and find traction in difficult circumstances. Aired down to 12psi they transformed the landy into a different vehicle (not just from white to brown :twisted: )
From now on the first thing I'll be doing when something looks hairy is to air down.