Advice 4Wding near/sth of Bris?
Submitted: Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 at 21:45
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Patrolee
Have to admit that I purchased my 2000 4.2TD Patrol mainly for the towing grunt. However, reading through this
forum has made me think about getting out with just the Patrol. Is there somewhere near
Brisbane (southside?) where I could go to
test my 4WD skills and build my knowledge and skills before I venture out? Not interested in being a revhead, just want to be informed and competent and be able to learn from others who have been there and are prepared to share.
Would also like to learn more about the basic maintenance of the patrol. It helps to know what 'warning signs' to look out for to save bigger repair bills. I also hate looking 'dumb' when attempting to converse with mechanics - esp those who think women do not want/need to know what is happening under the bonnet! Do 4WD clubs offer these? Have seen some basic courses for petrol car owners, but few for diesel. My previous car was petrol and 'made (more) sense' to me. Having trouble adjusting to my 'beginner' status with big diesel!
Cheers,
Patrolee
Reply By: Tripp'n Around - Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 at 21:56
Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 at 21:56
Hi Patrolee
Type in 4wd club or 4wd club
Brisbane in the search engine above and use both.
There are quite a few posts there and maybe one of those maybe to your liking.
PostID: 23178 maybe of interest.
Cya
Tripp'n
:)
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Reply By: Member - Norm C (QLD) - Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 at 22:31
Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 at 22:31
Yep. Joining a club is the way to go.
Gold Coast club is good (of course, I'm a member). There is also a Logan Districts club and others. Most clubs provide training and organised trips on most week-ends.
As for more specific advice, buy the book Dirty Week-Ends in SE Qld by Brad McCarthy. Lists a lot of the good 4WD parks and some good bush trips for beginners, including
Condamine Gorge (crosses the
Condamine River 14 times, so great to try some water crossings, but pretty easy), O'Reilly's via
Duck Creek and Border Ranges.
Good luck, Norm C
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Follow Up By: Member - Norm C (QLD) - Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 at 22:37
Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 at 22:37
Another reason to join a club, is that to gain access to an increasing number of State Forests you must be a with an organised club group. Many people don't like that trend, but it is a fact of life and joining a club overcomes the problem.
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Reply By: Member - Andrew (Bris) - Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 at 22:58
Wednesday, Jul 06, 2005 at 22:58
Try the Qld Nissan Patrol Club.
Meetings third Monday of every month at Mt Gravatt Showgrounds.
Start at 7-45pm.
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Reply By: Member - Brian (Gold Coast) - Thursday, Jul 07, 2005 at 06:36
Thursday, Jul 07, 2005 at 06:36
Patrolee
Just reinforcing what others above have said.... Logan Districts club, the Nissan Club and the
Gold Coast Club are all good clubs. The
Gold Coast 4WD Club meets first Tuesday of the month at Nerang Bi-Centennial Hall 8PM. Check out our web site
here for more details
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Reply By: Keith_A (Qld) - Thursday, Jul 07, 2005 at 10:25
Thursday, Jul 07, 2005 at 10:25
The
Ipswich 4WD club is also a good club with many ladies in the group.
With aprox 90 members, as you would expect aprox 40 ladies attend the monthly meetings.
Like many clubs, they have a 'Driver awareness' 2 day cource for members.
The group of new members plus instructors are taken to a farm property and given one-on-one instruction on the correct use and capabilites of your vehicle.
They have an active social calender, (eg dinner dance; coffee in the park; Social day outings - eg Wine tasting tours etc).
They organise both day runs, night runs plus week-end outings.
A family oriented and conservation active group (eg Clean-up Aust weekends).
They have a library of Videos and DVDs for members, which covers trips, tips and maintanence.
It also helps that the asistant trip organiser runs a mechanic
shop, and owns a 4.2 L TD Patrol (same as mine).
They meet in the conference room of the RSL building in
Ipswich, 1st Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm. (Phn 3288 8415)
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Reply By: Patrolee - Thursday, Jul 07, 2005 at 21:40
Thursday, Jul 07, 2005 at 21:40
Thanks all for the info. The
Ipswich 4WD club and the Patrol Club meeting locations are within an hour of my place, so will check them out first. The
gold coast is also a possibility, though a little further. I had heard that the Logan Districts club had closed down.
Do clubs accept people just turning up to a meeting, or do I need to make contcat earlier to arrange this? Can prospective members go to a meeting or two before deciding to sign up - like 'testing the waters' first. Clubs seem to have different 'personalities'.
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Follow Up By: Member - Norm C (QLD) - Thursday, Jul 07, 2005 at 21:56
Thursday, Jul 07, 2005 at 21:56
I've got a copy of the June 05 Club magazine from Logan here. So they were still going a couple of weeks ago. Also they have a lot of trips planned for July.
Their
membership officer is Mandy Bielby.
If you want it, I can PM her phone number to you.
Don't know what the club is like though.
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Reply By: Member - Brian (Gold Coast) - Friday, Jul 08, 2005 at 00:59
Friday, Jul 08, 2005 at 00:59
Patrolee
You are welcome to come along to
Gold Coast meetings, come to as many as you want! They're a friendly lot, so say g'day to a few and see what you think! You do however have to be a financial member and have attended the club awareness program to participate on any trips.
As far as I know, the Logan Club is still going ... and I have heard that the Ipsich Club is a good club as well.
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