Janowen hills 4WD park 18-19th Sept 2010

[dungarover]

Okay, got back from Janowen this morning, had to give the morning drive a miss as the rain had started to settle in but yesterday was a good but eventful day for some, more on that later

got going at 6AM although there was confusion on the starting time. Kelvin was meeting us at Aratula as he has a aversion to McDonald's (I don't blame you although I eat it ) so I rocked up and Pete and Rod were waiting in the car park. I also had Roland and Andrew along with us as well, was going to be Roland first trip away in his LSE classic but that was short lived as I'll detail later on.

Got to Aratula without any hiccups and off we went once we caught up with Kelvin. After filling the tank up at the servo it was on the road again. Wilts going up Cunningham's Gap, Roland mentioned to me that he has smoke pouring out from under his Rangie, as we were half way up the range, there was nowhere to stop sit was a frantic race to the top as the smoke had got worse and finally at the top where the trucks Park it was apparent it was a kind of deja-vu moment with the 3.9 V8 oil cooler lines causing a fire again I was lucky enough to have the fire extinguisher on board and put the fire out as it has started to spread under the rangie from the driver side exhaust like my poor Vog did (RIP). Anyway, Roland needed to call RACQ for a tow job back to Brisbane and Andrew, Dallas (Roland dad) and Jaspar stayed behind on top of Cunningham's with the Rangie. Once the RACQ was sorted and then Dave turned up, I drove Roland back to his vehicle and let them wait for the tow truck. The rest of the convoy continued on, there was no point in turning back to help, there was nothing we could do

Okay, now with Dave in tow, who also was running late at this point after the throttle cable had broken about 10 mins from home but was able to get the throttle cable to work again (good ol' dunga spec ) and meet up with us en-route to Janowen.

We finally got to the park, I got my tent up and said hello to all then it was time for some wheeling. Pete was running around like a headless chook trying to sort out the catering arrangements as well had a few non-starters at the last minute but all was sorted and we can go for a run. We also had a couple of the Sunshine Coast LR club members along, the Brissie mob knew what I was like as a TL and passed (I ran a few trips in the 9 years in the Bris LROC and each trip had carnage ).

Started with a mediocre hard creek run, the track down to the creek was a tad tricky and some were a bit hesitant but most gave it a go. So far so good, maybe we were going to rid the carnage curse that has plagued us the last 2 trips... A couple of more tracks, all the hard/extreme options but with easier alternatives for the less adventurous then a cracker, track 65 up a long-ish creek run with some interesting rock steps and boulders to get over. The bullet suffered a dent on the rear qtr on the drivers side (kind of like the GHM reccee, same thing) but was able to drive out without too much damage. Kelvin, Dave, Pete and one of the SC Land Rover club blokes who's name escapes me in his 130 Defender all had a crack at the track, all got through with some taking it a bit harder than others. It was also getting to the lunchtime part so we headed back via the playground where Dave and Kelvin were battling to drive the tyre course of sorts but after a couple of yanks on the snatch strap it was sorted (go the bullet ).

After lunch, me being trip leader (funny that, leading the innocent up the garden path to carnage ) I decided to do the other side of Janowen, a few comp sections and a couple of good climbs and descents. One descent in particular that had be a bit worried but mustered up the balls to have a go so I did, wasn't that bad to be honest, looked worse than it did

Okay this is where the carnage starts. Firstly, the bullet suffered a nasty dent in the drivers side door when attempting a couple of cross-axles sections. I was trying to avoid a tree stump but somehow I felt it hit the bodywork, had a look and it was on the slider but once I was up the top and onto the main track, I had noticed I had nailed the door badly, the corner had folded over on itself exposing the b-pillar. They door hinges and so forth are still okay but it looks a bit sad, need to take off and fix for the short term. Mechanically no issues but still put a bit of a dampener on the trip.

Next was Kelvin, after trying to attempt another track a rather innocuous noise appeared from under his D2. It sounded a bit diff related, blood hell and a few other expletives were exchanged but we needed to get Kelvins Disco back to camp wilts minimizing damage. Now, I've never worked or had anything to do with a D2 before so I was pretty green at one of these flash modern Land Rovers. Thinking like a typical RRC owner, take the axle out, put it all back together and she'll be right....WRONG big wrong. What happened next after Kelvin with some assistance from Dave and myself had not twigged to was that the D2 doesn't have a full floating axle like a old Rangie or D1, about a hundred meters up the track, we had seen Kelvin stop but this time it was not good, the wheel had fallen off and folded up under the RHS rear qtr panel (they'res a bar there now, luckily the panel work had been removed) after some more expletives were exchanged once again, we had to put the axle back in and limp it all back to camp where some surgery needed to be done so that it could be driven home as safe as possible. In the process of the wheel falling off, it took out the brake caliper and the inner bearing had bent from the weight of the non-existing axle .

Okay, once back to camp, Pete and kelvin had started to pull the rear of the d2 to bits. This was dicey as nobody had any stable axle stands but a heap of pine sleepers next to the amenities block helped to keep it all upright. We all nicked off for dinner but after about an hour or so it was all back together. Hope all got home okay, I missed your departure (was cold and needed heat and the fire needed to Trav treatment ).

Sunday morning was upon us and it was looking bleak and the possibility of a drive was next too nil, so packed my tent in the rain (should have listen to you Dave ) and headed home. It was good to catch up with the Bris LROC members again and met the Sunshine Coast blokes, sound like they don't mind some real 4WDing either

Great trip, good park with great facilities, plenty of good camping and good company as usual. The damage was a sour note of the weekend but it's the nature of the beast if you play hard I guess. Kelvin hope you get your diff sorted out soon (luckily it was still under warranty, lot of money to break like that).

No pics from me, I'm the worlds worst photographer so i'll leave that to someone else

Trav

[Busman]

Thanks Trav, Very good report
Kelvin drove home okay, which was a far better option,
than leaving the Disco at Janowin.
Yes, certainly a very eventful day to say the least

I am uploading a few small vids, but will take a while.

Go the Pug !!!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh0G-3gT-b4"]YouTube - gclro Janowin[/ame]

[disco_thrasher]

great report Trav ,great trip it is sure a great park and loved every minute ,even tho i destroyed my crown wheel and pinion It is a Great Basin rover 4:14 ,but supposed you play hard you need to expect it not to fussed about this as its about time i changed to GQ diffs or even better change to a GQ LOL just joking but will get my new C/P and then peg them hopefully to reduce this happening

but definately think another club trip out there is required
thanks to all who helped especially Pete
cheers Kelvin

[Psimpson7]

Great trip, despite the dramas! (including me also being very close to losing a wheel after leaving wheel nuts loose on my car)

Here's some pics from me:

Trav on the first climb of the day:



Busman:





Bullets:



BigDog:



Samantha:



Bullets:



Trav leading us into a dam:



Me following:



Overview of a creek:





Trav:



Me:



Busman:



SCLROC 130:



Kelvin and myself in traditional bogan 4wd park poses:





Busman on fine form



The awesome Pinzgauer of TimJ:



JohnR:



Disco Thrasher:



Trav:



Trav leading 4 of us up a dead end:



Disco_Trasher:



Me:



JohnR being followed by a very capable twin locked s3 109 from the SCLROC:

[Busman]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ac0qVL3lFY"]YouTube - Janowin (GCLRO) 18/19th September[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgfeAEaR09g"]YouTube - Janowin (GCLRO) 18/19th of September 2010[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh0G-3gT-b4"]YouTube - gclro Janowin[/ame]

[JohnR]

Like Trav said a good weekend away and really nice park. Although I have to say when it started to rain you could not move without your shoes becoming snow shoes! The mud stuck like the preverbial!!

Pity we couldn't go for a drive Sunday morning but it would have got messy.....

Any how here are some pics

Me getting flexy

A seriously impressive 130 !

This Serries went places a Serries shouldn't

The hand was blured (it is a family forum after all)

Tim in his Pizza-panza-toy (thing) Getting scary

No Tim I am not sure leaning actually helps or not?

Trav with the forever open mouth

Pete in the "Little Landy" with BIG shoes

Scrableing up a bank!

Clicking his heals as he clears the top

A cool wheel stand!

The Camp site with proof, it is a "Little Landy!"

The boys had to have a go at this little red bulldozer

Another great trip The "combined" thing was a little strange??

Cheers,

[Scallops]

Great photos everyone! Thanks for sharing.

[Outlaw]

Yep brilliant pics.... and love the cool topsy turvy rear wheel stand Pinny one

Must admit the new shirts looks good