4wd recovery service

[Yabbie]

We all know just how vunerable we are when something goes wrong mechanically offroad that we are unable to fix(my last incident for example). You could be a life member of say the NRMA(or relevent organisation for your state) but the minute you leave the bitumen and civilisation behind you your membership card is about as good as a nun at a hue hefner party.
We all have either had experiences or know someone who has experienced some type of fatal mechanical problem. Speaking from experience it is a stresfull time not knowing just how or if your 4wd is going to get out of the bush.
Speaking with RogerB today gave me an idea. What if there was a Statewide off-road recovery service for those times when you cant get you vehicle up and going again, and you don't have the pleasure of being towed back by a tow mule :roll: Put simply there are times when even the best bush mechanics can't get you going. I'm not talking about flat batteries or keys locked in cars or even the flat tyres that the soccer mums cant fix, which would add up for most of the call outs for the NRMA. I mean the fatal ones where not even an act of god is going to get you moving.

If there was such a service would you pay a membership fee to use it?

Do you think a 4wd recovery service would encourage more people to use there 4wd offroad?

[rmp]

I think it's a very, very bad idea because it would mean people would spend less time planning trips and preparing.

If my car failed completely on an outback trip it would be annoying but not a disaster. Firstly. we'd be with at least one if not more vehicles which could tow. Secondly, we always have a massive oversupply of food and water. Thirdly, we have a satphone or similar. So the holiday wouldn't even be ruined, we'd just be camping in the same spot for longer than planned. And all this assumes the planning in the first place has gone wrong and we're unable to fix the car with the service manuals, tools and parts we carry.

4WD touring is where the journey is part of the holiday.

I am sure such a service would be prohibitively expensive too.

[Ace]

I was talking to the guy at the 4wd centre in lithgow and the NRMA guy approached him and asked if he would like to offer a service like thay around the lithgow area, for situations just like Jasons. However he said no, because of a few reasons, cost (as rmp said), insurance would be a killer, and you are liable for the safety of the persons vehicle. If it is damaged when you are recovering it you become liable. He was telling me how he came across a bunch of city blokes, with stuff all off road experience who tried to cross a creek, one was stuck in the middle and being washed slowly down stream, and there was a GU Patrol on its side next to it. I wouldnt want to be resonsible for retreiveing those vehicles, i know he said he wouldnt. Suffice to say he said no.

On the other hand, I would be good peice of mind to know that no matter where you are you have help at hand. I am sure with some planning, and **** loads of financial backing you could get something up and running. I might think about joining, depending on the costs and benefits. Matt

[Yabbie]

Originally posted by rmp+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rmp)</div><div class='quotemain'>I think it's a very, very bad idea because it would mean people would spend less time planning trips and preparing.
If my car failed completely on an outback trip it would be annoying but not a disaster. Firstly. we'd be with at least one if not more vehicles which could tow. Secondly, we always have a massive oversupply of food and water. Thirdly, we have a satphone or similar. So the holiday wouldn't even be ruined, we'd just be camping in the same spot for longer than planned. And all this assumes the planning in the first place has gone wrong and we're unable to fix the car with the service manuals, tools and parts we carry.

4WD touring is where the journey is part of the holiday.

I am sure such a service would be prohibitively expensive too.[/b]

I am always aware of my water & Food when 4wding no matter how short the trip or how far from help but the fact is even the best laid plans go wrong because accidents can happen. The service I'm talking about is for when all the other options have failed, surely if you can get someone to tow your vehicle out back to a service point then obviously your not the person who's vehicle would need recovering. I mean for other types of accidents or mechanical brake downs that prohibit the average 4wder from getting home.
What would be better then peice of mind knowing that if the **** hits the fan your not suddenly living for the rest of you life in some national park because you can't get your vehicle out of there(slight over kill :oops: )

<!--QuoteBegin-Ace
However he said no, because of a few reasons, cost (as rmp said), insurance would be a killer, and you are liable for the safety of the persons vehicle. If it is damaged when you are recovering it you become liable.[/quote]
My guess is there would be some type of liabilty insurace for tow truck companies that would cover that type of damage.
I think the hardest part of setting something such as this up would be what type of vehicle to use as the recovery vehicle obviously your standard tow truck isnt going to cut it.

[noddy]

Invest in a satphone and give me a call when you need a tow :wink:

[rmp]

It's a great idea in theory but I cannot see a way to stop people abusing it by relaxing their preparation. So therefore it's dangerous. I think everyone on this forum would fall into the "sensible preparation" category, but there are plenty who don't, having listened to the salesman blather on about their 4WD and seen those misleading ads on TV.

[noddy]

Originally posted by rmp
It's a great idea in theory but I cannot see a way to stop people abusing it by relaxing their preparation. So therefore it's dangerous. I think everyone on this forum would fall into the "sensible preparation" category, but there are plenty who don't, having listened to the salesman blather on about their 4WD and seen those misleading ads on TV.

I know where Jason is coming from, and sort of understand.

If you travel on your 'Pat Malone' (as we do 70% of the time), you need to have plans in place.

However, I think it could run into problems which we see occassionally with EPIRBs and people letting them off (at great expense to the emergency services) in events which are not life-threatening emergencies.

[rmp]

Originally posted by Noddy+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Noddy)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-rmp
It's a great idea in theory but I cannot see a way to stop people abusing it by relaxing their preparation. So therefore it's dangerous. I think everyone on this forum would fall into the "sensible preparation" category, but there are plenty who don't, having listened to the salesman blather on about their 4WD and seen those misleading ads on TV.

I know where Jason is coming from, and sort of understand.

If you travel on your 'Pat Malone' (as we do 70% of the time), you need to have plans in place.

However, I think it could run into problems which we see occassionally with EPIRBs and people letting them off (at great expense to the emergency services) in events which are not life-threatening emergencies.[/b][/quote]

There's another good point. The service might be called out to fix a puncture, whereas someone else might call just afterwards because they've had a head-on on a dune.

I reckon group travel is the way to go wherever possible.

[Yabbie]

Originally posted by rmp+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rmp)</div><div class='quotemain'>
Originally posted by Noddy@
<!--QuoteBegin-rmp
It's a great idea in theory but I cannot see a way to stop people abusing it by relaxing their preparation. So therefore it's dangerous. I think everyone on this forum would fall into the "sensible preparation" category, but there are plenty who don't, having listened to the salesman blather on about their 4WD and seen those misleading ads on TV.

I know where Jason is coming from, and sort of understand.

If you travel on your 'Pat Malone' (as we do 70% of the time), you need to have plans in place.

However, I think it could run into problems which we see occassionally with EPIRBs and people letting them off (at great expense to the emergency services) in events which are not life-threatening emergencies.

There's another good point. The service might be called out to fix a puncture, whereas someone else might call just afterwards because they've had a head-on on a dune.

I reckon group travel is the way to go wherever possible.[/b][/quote]

I'm not talking about minor problems such as fixing a flat or jump starting a flat battery, I meant for things such as the head on into the dune. Emergencies where you have no other options. Lets say something like a accident, you it a tree sideon shatter the diff, brake the axles and for all intense purposes you 4wd is staying there. If your off road there is currently no recovery service, sure you have food and water and can camp there over night or maybe even a few if you had too, but how are you getting the 4wd home. If you had a headon on a dune you can get medical help via helicopter, but how do you get the 4wd home?

Any type of specialist 4wd recovery isnt going to be cheap but then neither is getting a tow back home from the local shops. Like the nrma if enough people joined the service the recovering of your 4wd would be included in the price of your membership to a degree i.e. depending on where your stuck, km's, time to recover.

Faced with no other option but to leave your 4wd where is and head home is where this type of service would be benifical. Surely an off road "recovery" service would be an advantage that most people who do some serious 4wding could benifit from.

[Yabbie]

Originally posted by Noddy
Invest in a satphone and give me a call when you need a tow :wink:

I can just see it now, Kimba plastered through every off raod 4wd magazine in australia with noddy's phone number. :twisted: :twisted: :roll: style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif

Let me know when your going away so I can run the ad's :twisted: :roll: :wink:

[Ace]

Originally posted by jason+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jason)</div><div class='quotemain'>
Originally posted by rmp+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rmp)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-Noddy@
<!--QuoteBegin-rmp
It's a great idea in theory but I cannot see a way to stop people abusing it by relaxing their preparation. So therefore it's dangerous. I think everyone on this forum would fall into the "sensible preparation" category, but there are plenty who don't, having listened to the salesman blather on about their 4WD and seen those misleading ads on TV.

I know where Jason is coming from, and sort of understand.

If you travel on your 'Pat Malone' (as we do 70% of the time), you need to have plans in place.

However, I think it could run into problems which we see occassionally with EPIRBs and people letting them off (at great expense to the emergency services) in events which are not life-threatening emergencies.

There's another good point. The service might be called out to fix a puncture, whereas someone else might call just afterwards because they've had a head-on on a dune.

I reckon group travel is the way to go wherever possible.[/b][/quote]

I'm not talking about minor problems such as fixing a flat or jump starting a flat battery, I meant for things such as the head on into the dune. Emergencies where you have no other options. Lets say something like a accident, you it a tree sideon shatter the diff, brake the axles and for all intense purposes you 4wd is staying there. If your off road there is currently no recovery service, sure you have food and water and can camp there over night or maybe even a few if you had too, but how are you getting the 4wd home. If you had a headon on a dune you can get medical help via helicopter, but how do you get the 4wd home?

Any type of specialist 4wd recovery isnt going to be cheap but then neither is getting a tow back home from the local shops. Like the nrma if enough people joined the service the recovering of your 4wd would be included in the price of your membership to a degree i.e. depending on where your stuck, km's, time to recover.

Faced with no other option but to leave your 4wd where is and head home is where this type of service would be benifical. Surely an off road "recovery" service would be an advantage that most people who do some serious 4wding could benifit from.[/b][/quote]

I do agree Jason the idea has merits, but i would hate to think how much money would be needed. I suppose you could start with one vehicle and service a certain part of the coast or something, then if/when things take off expand and look for people to operate in other centres. Matt