Thread: 4wd course in Melbourne...

Jim Kennedy who owns Safetrek offers a great course. When I did it there was an evening of theory and then a day of practical. Practical was held out at Narbethong starting at the Black Spur Inn that Jim also owns, or at least did a few years back.

Out the back of the Inn is access to a bunch of tracks and he has a 4X4 course set up as well.

He is very knowledgeable, a great teacher and a nice chap.

http://www.safetrek.com.au/

Originally Posted by Young Angus

Hey all,

Just wondering if there are any recommendations for the best 4WD course to do here in Melbourne. Doesn't have to be super advanced, I haven't done much myself and it's for work so all they're saying is to do an intro 4WD course...but I'd rather try to pick something that's not just "intro" and that is a better course than most if that's possible.

Thought this would be a good place to ask

http://fwdvictoria.org.au/


Or join LROCV Home and do the same course for a lot less.

BASIC 4WD: SISODRV302A-Drive and Recover a 4WD Vehicle - 4WD driver training

How does this one stack up?

Or this one:

melbourne4x4.com.au

Another guy at my work did the Getabout one but he probably didn't do much research on them, if I can score a better one then I'm all for it. The Getabout one seems to be the most expensive one anyway...is it the best???

Originally Posted by Young Angus

Or this one:

melbourne4x4.com.au

That's the same facility as LROCV use for their basic proficiency course and the subjects mentioned on the site look pretty similar too.

Basic / Intermediate & Advanced Course

This course is designed for the driver who has no or very little 4?4 off road experience and who needs to learn the fundamental of their 4?4 vehicle, all 3 courses are combined and you will complete these all on the one day.

This course will teach you the following:

How / when to use 4WD
How to negotiate hill accent & descents.
How to read the terrain and where to place your wheels
Your 4?4 capabilities and limitations
Steep hill accent & descents
How to negotiate rocky climbs
How to cross rivers safely
How to keep control of your 4?4 on wet slippery surfaces
Safe recovery procedures including winch, snatch strap, high lift jack, exaust jack.
Course is run over one day, starting from 9am and concluding at approx 5.30pm.


Personally I'd question if you can have "no or very little 4x4 off road experience" and go from basic through intermediate to advance in a day successfully.

For comparison, the 4WD Vic approved club courses are a night of theory (3 hours) plus one day practical.... (8 hours) for the basic proficiency course.

I'm not sure if you can do these courses direct with 4WD vic or if you need to be a club member. ( As filcar points out - via a club is a cheap way of getting training.) Four Wheel Drive Victoria - Training

It's also not a certified course - so what are your works expectations?

Unlikely many here will have done courses with multiple suppliers , so it's a bit tricky getting someone who can compare.

As others have mentioned getabout and safetrek both seem to have good names.

Let us know how you go!

So I'm booked into the Getabout one, they have a good name so should be good. I also want to do the Melbourne4x4 one at Werribee one day because that facility sounds great, but it's not accredited so my work said to do the accredited one.

Either way, should be good. I'll report how it goes. I'm actually doing it in my work car which unfortunately isn't my Disco or any other Rover but it's decent, a 2016 BT50 4x4, might as well flog the work ute rather than mine

Needs some new tyres on it though, the work car, they're rubbish for off roading!

Just wanted to report on the Getabout 4WD course I went to a couple of weeks ago. It was fantastic!!! The guy who runs it Steve was really knowledgeable and friendly and an all around great bloke, and he taught me some fantastic stuff.

Great course, great skills, and even though it's not at the Werribee facility it's a really great track.

Highly recommend it for anyone looking for something like that, I'm even thinking about going back to him to do some of the more advanced stuff.

Plus...even though he drives a GQ Patrol (a pretty pimped one at that) Steve is a big fan of Land Rovers