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I understand that a common problem with NEW drivers is that when they go off the shoulder, they apply too much correction to get back onto the road. When the car does get back onto the high traction surface, the excessive steering angle causes the car to veer across the road into the path of oncoming traffic.
In this case, this may not be the cause as the driver was 42 years old.
Note that the driver had complained a week earlier that the car was a death trap! :eek:
Ron
Not just new drivers - a few days ago the Newell Highway near here was blocked for about 24hrs after a B-double did this - but rather than hitting oncoming traffic it lay down on its side at right angles to the highway, blocking the entire carriageway. Took a HAZMAT crew almost 24 hours to unload its load of ammunition and hazardous chemicals.Quote:
Originally Posted by p38arover
Mind you, for the last ten days or so the Newell has been blocked by the Pilliga fire more often than not.
John
Hmmm, a decent set of shockies fix a lot of percieved problems.Quote:
Originally Posted by loanrangie
We've had three on the trot, an MQ, a GQ and currently a GU and none have been 'bad', just normal 4WD's.
Just had a wheel alignment done on the GU (it's first since new) at 230,000km and had an eccentric shim fitted to correct the camber on the passenger side (brought it back to 0*) to stop the slight pull to the left that develops on heavily cambered country roads (the Defender does the same thing ;) )
The Konis are due for a freshen up, yet it rolls/wallows a lot, lot less than the Defender (It's a ute) but isn't as crisp on turn in (rear LSD tends to create a bit of turn in push)
It's tail happy on dirt compared to the 'fender, but that's a combination of relatively stiff rear springs and no load (ute), good torque from the old TD42T and a very good LSD.
Overall I reckon it's a safe, predictable handler for a live axled 4x4 work ute.
FWIW, the Bilsteins on the GQ transformed it's handling/roadholding, but the ride was awful, or so SWMBO kept telling me (the Nissans have all been her daily drivers) I thought it was great, except after a night out ;).
The animation of the incident showed the driver losing the left hand rear wheel of the Patrol then over-correcting head-on into a truck. Obviously the Patrol was in 2wd at the time so no drive to the front.
What would have happened in an AWD 4WD, like a Discovery? Would the vehicle have been stable enough to recover from a over-correction? Was the fact that he crashed attributed to the fact that he was in 2WD at the time (which I know is the only way you can drive on the black-top in a part-timer like the Patrol)
Would a Disco or Rangie have been superior in this case?
I'm not going to go and test this theory, thats for sure!
Chris
Cwebb: I've actually spun my Disco. I was at Oran Park on a training day on the wet skid pan, some years back and at 80km/h had to do a fast left turn, then a right.
Did a perfect 180! No brakes, it just loaded up and around we went!
I felt like I was going to go over, but......
Looked good on video, when I saw it later (I must find that tape).....
But on a less than perfect surface, well, hmmmmmmmm.
GQ
Actually, I was once forced off the road in a similar fashion to that patrol, by a large log truck. The only difference was there was a bloody great embankment on my side and I had nearly a tonne of firewood - speed was 80k ish-Quote:
Originally Posted by cwebb
I really expected the ar$e to break away as I had to reef the wheel as I was heading into the embankment- 2 wheels in the soft stuff too.
It came through evenly, and I can say for sure my series landie or yota or nissan would have broken away. Permanent 4wd is pretty good.;)