What is the most useles piece of 4wd eqipment you have purchased?
Submitted: Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 16:59
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Member - The Bushwhackers -NSW
Hi all,
This has been bugging me for a while. I have all sorts of recommended stuff for travelling off-road, but are we wasting money sometimes?
My previous car, and my current one, both came equipped with
winches, but never used so far. I guess I purchased them, as they would have added to the price of the car at purchase time, but I didn't go out of my way to get one. Yes I have standard recovery gear (used on a few occasions for others benefit), and general stuff like compressor etc.
The biggest waste of money so far has been my Hema Navigator 6. My wife and I recently completed The
Darling River Run, much like the one listed here on
treks with a few side trips. The Hema was so innacurate that it was a total joke. I was only using street nav, as I was plotting by major centres, but time and again it would try to send me different ways to the signposts, and take me 10 or 15 klm out of the direction I was after. The 'best' had to be when it said I was at my destination (
Wentworth) while I was sitting next to a signpost saying W 30! Yes I have contacted Hema support, and was told to update my machine. Fine, but how often do I do trips like that? Would I trust it in the 4wd side? No bloody way! ( by the way my Hema 4wd atlas got me
home).
Have you got a gripe or 'what cheeses me off' story? This one really pains me, as it was bought for our first 'outback trip, and failed miserably!
Very disappointed, Hema!
Dave
Reply By: Dennis Ellery - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 17:20
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 17:20
I wouldn’t install a winch again – never used it in anger.
The old guy down the road has had one for 20 years and hasn’t used his either.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: baz&pud (tassie) - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 17:31
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 17:31
We have had 4wd's since 1992, always had a winch, used once to save ourselves, and four or five times to help others.
Baz
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Leanne W (NSW) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 08:25
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 08:25
Ours is the Tirfor hand winch. Had it for 8 years and never used it.
FollowupID:
786595
Follow Up By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 11:15
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 11:15
Leanne! I would think that was the best investment you have made. You don't want to be on the end of a Tirfor in 50 metres of mud on a hot day. At least when you sell it, you can sell as never used! ;) Michael
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Reply By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 17:37
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 17:37
Hi Dave, Good question.
I would think that my Hi-lift jack would run a close second to a winch (which I don't have).
I have used my jack several times as a convenience but never as a necessity. Been useful at
home to pull some star pickets out too, but I could have just as easily cut them off below ground level.
Now that I have it I may continue to carry it but as I review the vehicle weight I may even cease carrying it.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Smouch - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 23:27
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 23:27
Agree, no winch here and high lift jack a waste of time ended up off loading
mine at a garage sale.
To much space and wieght. Now days going off road I make believe I'm building a race car, if I don't really need it, it dosn't come along.
Less wieght, less spares and gear decreases your chances of breaking down in the first place.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:35
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:35
Gday Allan,
I agree Highlift jacks are useless for most travellers.
Mine gets used as the beadbreaker which it does very
well - just hooked into the jacking point on the bullbar, and it also gets used as the jack for the Tvan because the MC2
suspension doesn't easily take a bottle jack....and the highlift comes in handy if you need to do
suspension repairs - get the chassis up high then put two spare tyres under the towbar to stabilise it.
So
mine has had a lot of use but not as a recovery tool!
Just got to find a place to put it on the 200series - it fitted beautifully on the bullbar of the 79series.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:01
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:01
Hi Phil,
Absolutely agree that the HiLift is 'useful'...... but not essential.
Mine doubles as a bead-breaker too, with a nifty attachment, however I can use the attachment on the bottle jack also.
I am considering a telescoping hydraulic bottle jack as a replacement for both the HiLift and the existing bottle.
Would be happy to shed some weight. Off the Troopy also!! LOL
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: get outmore - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 11:04
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 11:04
I dont even take off my hi lift off to go the extra the shops.... made that mistake once and it cost me 2days and a 40km walk
ITs the most valuable tool ive got even more than a winch. For bogs and hangups.
Often a winch will only pull you forwards but with the highlift I can firm up under each wheel and the track back out. So lift the vehicle out of the the bog and a firm path back.
Almost as valuable is the hublifter to go with it
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 18:14
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 18:14
Dave, The Hema is not a cheap unit so you would expect quality for your hard earned. Michael
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Follow Up By: Patrol22 - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 21:59
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 21:59
From what Dave says he is using the street navigator in the outback.....just doesn't work that
well in any GPS really. What he should have done is use the Oziexplorer or Memory Map components and those maps are absolutely accurate. Street directories are really only designed for towns and cities not the bush. Sure some street directories are better than others but the HEMA maps and the 1:250k and 1:25K topo maps are much much better for the outback and off road.
I use a HEMA 5 and run a second NAVMAN GPS for turn by turn navigation and while this has a lot of the outback roads and off road tracks etc.....it is still not accurate and the voice directions just don't work in some
places. I think that in the future we will get something like Google maps live and in 3D but for the moment IMHO HEMA is the best on the market.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:04
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:04
Hi Michael
When Dave made the comment about using the street navigation on the
Darling River run shows that he has no idea of what he should have been using and how the HN6 should be used.
The Hema is a first class product and to call it the biggest waste of money shows that he has no idea at all on how they work.
Dave should learn how to use his best aid before making a silly statement like that, they are very accurate and used correctly give you peace of mind when in areas where street navigation is useless.
OziExplorer is on there for a very good reason, to be used away from the big smoke and the
Darling River run is such a place.
I would rate the Hema as one of my best investments, but then again I do go bush and know how to use it. Just like Patrol22, I know a quality product when I use it and the Hema, is just that.
Don't blame the product when it is clearly the person that is using it at fault.
Cheers
Stephen
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Leigh (Vic) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:12
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:12
The Hema navigator is too expensive. If you already have bought the maps and Oziexplorer then buy a 7" navigator for about $100 and load it all on that. At least you can see it and perhaps afford to run 2 navigators with different maps showing. I even run it on my Navman off a micro sd card. Hema Maps are good, Oziexplorer good but the Hema navigator, arrrrh!
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - The Bushwhackers -NSW - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 16:11
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 16:11
Stephen
After much thought and seeking advice here , and YOUR advice in particular,(we conversed via a couple of pm's), I purchased OZI, Natmaps and a GPSmap 60 csx a few years ago. This was running at the same time as my hema. Of course I would not use street nav down the Darling, but just between major centres, and it was all over the place. Since when did you need 4wd mapping to get to the
post office in
Lightning Ridge, or from
Broken Hill to
Silverton caravan park (Penrose) it was 35 klm out on that one. 30 klm out getting to
Wentworth, 14 at Deniliquin, the list goes on mate.To suggest I don't know how to use GPS equipment,
well, I would have to disagree, but thanks for your advice again.
Regards, Dave
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - The Bushwhackers -NSW - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 17:41
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 17:41
I might add , Stephen, that my interest in GPS was as a result of reading interesting things on this site.
I first purchased the bible, Robert Pepper's book 'GPS navigation in Australia', sought advice from you and others on here, and completed a course in gps navigation run by GPSOZ in
Sydney, (my trusty Tomtom got me to Mona Vale).
As I have said, I have a trusty Tomtom that keeps me out of trouble in the big smoke, my Garmin which I love but the screen is small, a Chinese 7" win ce thing that was ok, then I thought, 'the hell with it, buy the best all in one"
Turned into a big 'fail'
Dave
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 20:34
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 20:34
Hi Dave
I have nothing but praise for the Hema, which is a very easy out of the box unit to use. I always use a small netbook to record my trips data as
well, and here are 2 images of the type of image you can expect when running OziExplorer, both on the Hema and the Netbook. The Hema image was from old HN5, liked it that much that I upgrade to the HN6
Anne Beadell Track on the Netbook using Ozi
Same area, but the Hema using Ozi
Sorry to hear that you are not happy the way that I am.
Cheers
Stephen
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Leigh (Vic) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 21:05
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 21:05
Hey Stephen
That Hema looks just like my Navman and cost $800 less! LOL
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Member - Andrew L (QLD) - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 18:28
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 18:28
Back in the late 1980's I purchased an airbag/bullbag..hooks to the vehicle exhaust tailpipe and inflates to lift the vehicle...back then was a Toyota 4runner.
..never used the silly thing, and still have it in the shed somewhere.
The most useful piece of 4wd equipment I have ever purchased, is my ARB airlockers..used hundreds of times on my 105 Cruiser.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 00:31
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 00:31
I agree - bullbag is the most useless piece of gear I have bought.
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Follow Up By: Member - Leigh (Vic) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:02
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:02
Watched a bloke with a twin exhaust disco pull out his brand new air bag to raise his car for a tyre change. We were perched on a
hill so probably a reasonable approach. Problem is it would not inflate as all the exhaust gasses were escaping out the other exhaust pipe. Absolutely useless piece of kit in his case!
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Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:28
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:28
Hehe - thats funny!
I found
mine inflated really quick - just about flipped the Prado over in the driveway, then slipped slightly onto a bolt, got a hole and deflated itself. So I repaired the hole, and made up an adaptor to run it from my tyre pump instead, and that made it a bit more controlled. But still never used it - it nearly went out with the hard rubbish last year.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: The Original JohnR (Vic) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:51
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:51
Another in agreement on the bull bag. Useless in the SD when it mattered, got jabbed in a beach at
Robe for an EO gathering, and nearly caught someone (Des Lexic I think) underneath! What do you do with a bag with a big hole in it? Rubbish. Wish we could get hard rubbish removal Phil G
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:05
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:05
My Troopy came with a Bull-bag. Bulky damn thing. Never been out of the garage. Anyone want it?
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Members Pa & Ma. - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 15:16
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 15:16
Hi,
Good post, most definitely.
We too have one of these airlift bags. We tried it once with no success.
We thought we must be fools & were using it wrongly.
Does anyone recommend what they'd be good for except to put it in the rubbish? Seriously? Our High lift Jack has been very handy . You do have to be careful with them though.
Take care, safe travels Ma.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: mikehzz - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 15:52
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 15:52
I got stuck in a sand bog on my own and used the air jack. Pretty easy, lifted half the car up at a time, filled in the ruts and reversed out no problem. In mud they are useless because they slip all over the place but good in sand...the only place they are useful.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: GimmeeIsolation - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 22:31
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 22:31
I converted my bag to use the under bonnet compressor , model before they produced exactly the same, and find with my bad back that its the easiest to use and I carry the bag, a high lift and a 5000kg Hyd jack at all times.
If you use it correctly with the protector sheets I found its quicker than the other two types I have with less weight to handle and up North where heats a problem, the speed is handy and I spend more time "upright" when doing the job.
My 4X4 has a rather flat floor pan so that may help but I have used it on soft sand,
rock and very hot road every time safely but definitely never get under any car relying on any type of jack.
If any part of my body needs to be under there for repairs and such I just push the spare under the sill with my wooden blocks on it for a safety perspective.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Member - Terry W4 - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 18:48
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 18:48
Dave
Thanks for outting this thread up. AsI get cloer top getting my Prado (late Spt) I have a checklist of this to add - I thought no don't need a winch but yes recovery gear etc. I had a Hema6 on the list but is is the last priority. I have dual battery systems, electric bake controller, recover points and rfecovery gear,
first aid kit, UHF, EPIRB, but Hema6 is last on the list. Might just go paper maps I know how to read those.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Shaker - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 21:38
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 21:38
If you are on your own with no winch, recovery points will be "useless"!
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Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:53
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 09:53
I'm with Terry. Recovery points are never useless. I'd be reluctant to recover anyone who didn't have one.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Shaker - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 15:47
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 15:47
I didn't say they were useless per se, I said if you have no winch or are on your own!
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Reply By: David16 - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 19:15
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 19:15
I agree on the Nav 6 street part, it tried to take me
places that were kms out of the way, last year we did Simpson etc and found the 4x4 maps great. We ended up running the Hema on 4x4 and my Tom Tom on as
well for roads!
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - David M (SA) - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 19:18
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 19:18
My Bloody Toyota.
DaveM.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Scott M (NSW) - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 19:19
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 19:19
I would include 95% of the rubbish sold at camping & caravan shows in this list....
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Rob D (NSW) - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 19:20
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 19:20
I have had great success with my Hema 6, my Hema 5i and my Hema 5 before that.
It appears to me that you need to get some experience with OziExplorer and plan your trips on a computer with a large screen. Don't blame the GPS.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Scott M (NSW) - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 21:59
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 21:59
"I was only using street nav" .... yup the street nav on that isn't all that good - but the 4wd HEMA maps work a treat with OziEplorer.
If you want street maps - buy a Tom Tom....
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Follow Up By: Patrol22 - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 22:01
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 22:01
Agree....I fine my HEMA to be the most used and best piece of electronic equipment I have on board.
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Follow Up By: Member - David M (SA) - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 22:42
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 22:42
Went over the West last year and found the Hema worked
well from
Adelaide to Pt
Augusta but got me lost around 5 times to
Norseman.
Dave.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: GimmeeIsolation - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 22:43
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 22:43
You got lost when there is ONE black road from Pt
Augusta to
Norseman ? Unless you go via
Katherine which makes TWO black roads.
There are also great big green signs on the side of the road with town names on them.
Having done that stretch a couple of dozen times I don't think you should think of taking up being a tour guide.
Surely you must be pulling the other one.
Give up the drugs or take them up, one or the other.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: get outmore - Thursday, Apr 18, 2013 at 03:35
Thursday, Apr 18, 2013 at 03:35
na his right
hema maps cover very little of WA and (
well i should know i do have them all) are virtually useless they are one of the last maps I use and then its just for a bigger overall picture
around
norseman the mudmaps from the guy who used to be at the
norseman post office are the best - he used to have a website
as for hema navigators running ozi
ive made my own and it cost $120 including SD cards
bigger screen than a hema navigator, runs on road and ozi
- just get them off ebay and chuck ozi CE on it along with your ozi maps
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - David M (SA) - Thursday, Apr 18, 2013 at 10:22
Thursday, Apr 18, 2013 at 10:22
G'day get outmore. I spend a few months every year in WA looking for the good stuff and find OZtopo gets me around alright. Not to bad on the detail and I find the breadcrumb feature very handy.
Cheers,Dave.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: get outmore - Thursday, Apr 18, 2013 at 11:09
Thursday, Apr 18, 2013 at 11:09
If your looking for the good stuff then I also run most of wa in 250k. 100k and individual old mining centres geological interp maps
I find they can have interesting details not on other maps and the underlying rocks give you an idea of outcrops and vegetation type
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Follow Up By: Member - David M (SA) - Thursday, Apr 18, 2013 at 12:33
Thursday, Apr 18, 2013 at 12:33
Yep, up to speed on most of that.Spend most of my time on the Geo maps these days.
Cheers,Dave.
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Reply By: mikehzz - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 20:02
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 20:02
If you 4wd on your own, then you will probably need to use most of the stuff listed above like
winches and air jacks at some time. I certainly have used them to save my own bacon. If you are with company (as in other cars) then you rarely need more than a snatch strap unless you are trying ridiculous feats of heroism instead of the chicken track 10 metres away.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 20:47
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 20:47
Mike, I agree! I'm amused at the term "chicken track". You only have to see some of the so called "hard core" owners at the Zig Zag railway and the Watagans wrecking their vehicles. The tracks should be called the smart track and the Morons track. Michael
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FollowupID:
786570
Reply By: mountainman - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 22:45
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 22:45
worst piece was the heat exchanger shower set up..
waste of money..
good gear but a pain to set up..
best by far my winch, got me out plenty of times, and mates, even done some body work on the cab, with 2 snatch blocks.
on the hema, you need to know how to use it..
people run them on comps, and offroad, and they loove it.
looking at buying one myself..
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Andrew L (QLD) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 20:40
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 20:40
Your kidding, it is one of the betetr items I have.
Plumbed in with a suction and shower screw-on fitting on the bullbar, and the pressure pump switch on the plastic on/off switch adjacent on the grill.
Don't even have to lift the bonnet, just a 10/20 litre plastic jerry of water, fit the suction hose, fit the shower hose, nude up and shower away..soap and shampoo on the bulbar, clothes and towel on the bonnet, and a foam mat on the ground. Darn easy and simple.
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Follow Up By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 21:36
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 21:36
I agree Andrew, a hot shower in the afternoon, cant beat it, the engine running also charges the batteries for my hungry fridge! Michael
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FollowupID:
786662
Reply By: Bazooka - Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 23:47
Saturday, Apr 13, 2013 at 23:47
I was going to say my bullbar because it's never met a bull in 200K, but then it dawned on me - it must be doing its job.
High lift jack.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Peter_n_Margaret - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 01:25
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 01:25
1. Bullbar on my first 4WD.
2. Free wheel hubs on the OKA. Close to zero fuel saving and an added weakness in the drive line.
I will keep the HEMA thanks :)
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Fab72 (Paradise SA) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 06:35
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 06:35
G'Day Dave,
Tinted lense covers for by Lightforce 240 Blitz.
I installed HID kits before the lights even went on, deaming the blue lense covers pointless. (No yellowing to correct with HID lights).
Stick with the clear covers.
Best piece of equipment.... the best air compressor money could buy.
BTW....great post and i'll be surprised it if doesn't get 2000+
views.
Fab.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Wednesday, Apr 17, 2013 at 18:41
Wednesday, Apr 17, 2013 at 18:41
You are right Fab. 2523
views at this time.
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Reply By: Member - Oldbaz. NSW. - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 08:18
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 08:18
I'll go with the high lift jack..handy on the
farm, but just ballast on the road..
cheers...oldbaz.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: pop2jocem - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:12
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:12
Ever tried finding anything to attach the other end of your winch cable to on a
salt lake? Ever tried using a snatch strap to pull a fully loaded Landcruiser out of a bottomless pit full of chocolate pudding with a crust of icing about 2" thick?
Fortunately 2 HI-Lift jacks, some wooden blocks and a spare wheel or two were available otherwise that car would have been getting eaten by
Lake Disappointment over the last 15 years.
I guess the most useless piece of kit I have if you look at how many times I have had to use it would be my fire extinguisher.
Would I leave
home without it?
No way.
Cheers
Pop
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Nigel Migraine - Wednesday, Apr 17, 2013 at 20:21
Wednesday, Apr 17, 2013 at 20:21
Spot on!
I depends what you do and your judgement about the likelihood of what may happen - we don't all travel from caravan park to caravan park - although it seems that's what many on this
forum do.
I always travel alone and into remote hard
places - who's game to tell me I should leave the hand winch at
home?
Or the
HF radio?
Or
the Spot Messenger?
Or the
First Aid kit?
I've never used any of them "in anger" but I'd not wish to travel without them.
NM
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Reply By: Rangiephil - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:24
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 10:24
Funny you know . We all drag around extra diffs,gearboxes etc with 4WD, and they are only ever needed maybe 1% of the time.
But when you need it , you really need it.
To me it is the same with a bullbag. I drag it around for years, then on a club trip the only way to extract a stuck in "vomit" country is to winch and inflate the bullbag under the front of a car to lift it. Or someone gets a flat on a 1 in 3hill ( Mt Walker) and there is no room to put a jack under the car. So to me it's insurance .
I have a Warn 6000Lb portable electric winch which fits to a receiver that I bought over 20 years ago. I have never used it to extract myself, but once used it to recover a car half off a collapsed causeway. I wouldn't have a winch on the front of the car gathering rust, but this is in a neat box which fits in the back floor
well.
So horses for courses I say.
Regards Philip A
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Serendipity(WA) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 12:03
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 12:03
I totally agree with Philip
A lot of the extras we might have are for a just in case situation. And there it depends on what sort of travelling you do. Not all of us will go off road in difficult situations and some of the 'must have' gear will be irrelevant. Courses for horses.
I suppose I must have bought stuff over the years that turned out to not be useful in my situation and have generally sold it off. Nowadays I have a pretty tight kit of gear that when I look at it can say when and how it has saved me and justify that because of the
places I go that gear needs to stay with me.
It is always tempting to buy some of the stuff you will see at the 4x4 displays but that is where I really need to
check myself and say do I really need it. In saying that I don't have a winch, I have been stuck but have managed to get out without a winch - eventually. I do have a hi-lift jack which has saved me a couple of times. And I can see some people would use a winch often because of where they go.
Again courses for horses.
Cheers
Serendipity
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Reply By: passionfruit - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 12:24
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 12:24
If anyone has had a flat tyre on hard ground then the Hi lift comes into play.The useless Toyota 'bottle' jack is not low enough to put under a safe jacking point.Some times you need both.Glenn.
AnswerID:
508990
Follow Up By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 13:58
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 13:58
That is why I am considering buying a double-extending telescopic hydraulic bottle jack. Low enough to get under the axle and lifts enough to raise the tyre off the ground. Then the Hi-lift gets the flick!
FollowupID:
786621
Follow Up By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 15:57
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 15:57
When I had a 60series I had that problem too. It had 15" wheels so the rear axle dropped pretty low when it had a flat, and I had to either dig a hole for the jack or run the wheel forward on a pile of dirt.
But haven't seen that problem since. Some of the Toyotas (eg 79series RV had a special jacking point on the rear axle on the RHS so the jack didn't have to go under the bottom of the axle housing. And now vehicles have bigger rims, so I was sizing up the 200series and can't see it happening as the 17 and 18"" wheels means the axle doesn't drop as low.
So these days I'd be checking whether it's likely to be a problem before finding teh solution.
FollowupID:
786629
Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 16:46
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 16:46
Interesting you say that Allan.
For me things really have to earn their place in the car and after investigation I find the standard Nissan jack the best.
Compared to my hydraluic jack (which was the best of its type) its a little lighter, goes down a little lower to 190mm - goes up a little higher to 400mm and has nice little features like a saddle depression on the top so it can self centre under an axle tube , and being just a windup type its not subject to hydraulic leaks etc.
FollowupID:
786633
Follow Up By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 21:46
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 21:46
Robin, I don't have a high lift jack but I bought a red plastic base for one on Ebay for $22 and stuck it on a milling machine and made it fit the Nissan jack base! Beats carrying around a lump of flat wood as a base! Michael
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FollowupID:
786664
Reply By: Member - eighty matey - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 13:40
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 13:40
I've used my high lift jack enough to justify carrying it around but the most useless thing I've bought was a high lift jack carrier that fits to the spare wheel on the rear bar.
That's probably the only thing that annoys me when I see it on the shed floor.
Steve
AnswerID:
508996
Reply By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 21:58
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 21:58
Probably the only thing I have bought that wasn't any good, was a pyramid style toaster. It didn't brown the bread but simply dried it out. So in the Bin it went.
Michael
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AnswerID:
509040
Follow Up By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 22:00
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 22:00
Well that's camping gear not exactly 4x4 gear! Michael
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Follow Up By: Member - Scott M (NSW) - Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 22:54
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013 at 22:54
see my post regarding 95% of the gear at camping shows.... :-)
FollowupID:
786682
Reply By: Echucan Bob - Monday, Apr 15, 2013 at 17:51
Monday, Apr 15, 2013 at 17:51
I was pleased to see the highlift jack nominated. They are heavy, dangerous, difficult to use but look pretty cool when mounted ostentatiously on the spare wheel holder.
Also on my list is the winch. Heavy,
suspension stressing, fuel consuming and useless, but again make a "statement" especially when driven around the suburbs.
My list includes the bull bar (or crowd control bar for the suburb bound 4 WDer). I haven't got one on any of my current vehicles. I haven't hit a roo ever, let alone in over 20 years of owning 4WDs. I reckon if I did hit a roo at speed the bar wouldn't make any difference anyway _ the roo would end up just as dead. Mounting lights is harder without the bar though. To be of any use the bar would have to be steel and weigh a tonne. So you'd do more damage to
suspension etc than you would prevent in a collision.
I also hate generators and chain saws on trips, but they may be a bit off topic.
Bob
AnswerID:
509086
Follow Up By: Member - Scott M (NSW) - Monday, Apr 15, 2013 at 20:10
Monday, Apr 15, 2013 at 20:10
Bob, disagree with you on the bull bar. Wouldn't leave
home without my cow-catcher on the front of the troopy.
So far it's accounted for 3 roos, 2 goats, a stand of silky oak saplings, and about 30 m of bank without a scatch on the 40.
FollowupID:
786773
Follow Up By: Member - Trouper (NSW) - Tuesday, Apr 16, 2013 at 17:10
Tuesday, Apr 16, 2013 at 17:10
Bob..Living on the south coast of NSW I've collected 3 roos in 4 years with no damage to the Troopy. Hate to think of the cost involved if I had no BB. To say their useless is a useless statement.
Jeff
FollowupID:
786851
Reply By: Geoff (Newcastle, NSW) - Wednesday, Apr 17, 2013 at 21:49
Wednesday, Apr 17, 2013 at 21:49
Ex-Wife, noisy, bloody irrational, heavy, expensive to keep, didn't do much, complained incessantly, hard to start in the mornings and far too much whine.
Much rather have a winch, hi-lift jack and a bull bag. ;-)
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AnswerID:
509234
Follow Up By: get outmore - Thursday, Apr 18, 2013 at 03:28
Thursday, Apr 18, 2013 at 03:28
you forgot, despite how much she told you she hated 4wding and camping she still took it all when she left
FollowupID:
787021