Shocks to Well 33

Maybe hes carrying heaps of spares but not the one needed?
Maybe just learning?
Might have even slipped his mind when leaving?
You cant carry a spare for everything!
How about offering some help instead of criticism...Legend
I thought this site was about people with common interests helping each other, not being know-it-alls!

Wasn't intending to bitch or crow, just would have thought that everyone realised what a major part of the suspension a shock is on a coil sprung vehicle and spares should be carried unless you wan to limp the vehicle to where help is available.
Shocks will not immobilise the vehicle rather just make it very uncomfortable and may mean that travel speeds will have to be slowed to a crawl. Having had a Rangie on the Gunbarrel without any shocks (totally ripped apart and removed) for about 500k we did manage to drive it to Meekatharra before spares were available.

Just out of curiosity, are they under warranty and have ARB come to the party at all?

Cheers andrew

Ummm..... Cotton Creek 3 hours away from Well 33 ????????????
(may be possible by air, I dunno;-)))

On the ground, Try 3 days!!!

The turn-off to Parnngurr community (Cotton Creek) is about 90 km west of Georgia Bore (which is approx. 40 km west of Well 23) along the Talawana track...

Methinks ya's need to check yer maps ;-))))

With the current track condition, to get from Cotton Creek to Well 33 in 3 hours would mean that the vehicle doing the trip would need to be replaced.

Have just come back from the Canning on Saturday and it took us two days to get from Well 33 to Georgia Bore - which is still approx 90km from Cotton Creek.

Kunawarritji has a mail plane once a week (Tuesdays) and would be your best bet. The communities are currently pretty empty due to some local business being conducted by the Martu people.

The first 20 km south of Well 33 takes an hour to do due to the corrugations. Sorry if this info is too late, but you need to let your friends know how far away they really are.

>>>to get from Cotton Creek to Well 33 in 3 hours would mean that the vehicle doing the trip would need to be replaced.

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOLD!

If I had a spare 'whatever' on the CSR I don't know that I'd be giving it up to everyone who had a problem, particularly someone who didn't prepare adequately for the trip.

If it was a life threatening situation that would be a different story. But if it's just an expensive inconvenience, then I'd rather the unprepared party has that expensive incovenience rather than me further down the track.

What are everyone's thoughts on this?

Aaron.

How about meeting halfway: you can have my spare wotsit but if I break down and need it you pay the costs - sign here please :)

Be damned hard to enforce later though.

I dunno - judgement call at the time, I guess.

Mike Harding

Paul I think you just highlighted the main difference between a HF radio & a Sat phone. The Sat phone requires the opperator to do all the ringing around waiting for people to get back to him, finding a supplier, organizing a courier, often at great expense. On the HF you can call the VKS 737 base. The friendly opperator chases up the parts for you. Has them sent overnight & another VKS member offers to run them out to you seeing they are in the area. Another calls in & gives advice over the radio on how to fit the parts & they're on their way in very little time.
Aaron would I give my spare shocks to a complete stranger in need? (even if he was ill prepared).............of course. On my next trip it may be me in trouble & as well prepared as I always go, I may need something that someone else in the Radio network can help me with, possibly even that bloke I helped out last time.
Anyway glad to see Robin nearly has it sorted, the Canning can be a difficult spot to break down at times.
Cheers Craig................

No fuel at Cotton Creek last week. They only had two days supply for their generators. Empty community and nothing open or available.

Fuel dump by Capricorn Roadhouse (near Newman) works out cheaper than fuel at Kunawarritji. 200 L from Capricorn was $450 compared to 2.80 per litre ($560) from Kunawarritji. You need to take a pump - the one left there doesn't work!

The road from Well 33 to Cotton Creek (Tallawana Trk) is crap, very very corrugated.

Back in the good old days on my 1st Canning run a bloke had a bearing fail in his altenator around Durba Springs. The Flying Doc service asked for asistance over the HF to run the Part up which we did transporting it to them in 3 days. Thankfully VKS has taken over coordinating this type of sevice for the 4x4 community & with so many more members now assistance is rarely far away.
The poor fellow with the blown shocks probably thought he was doing the right thing by upgrading the shocks to OME but are the brand I've seen the most failures on remote trips. (Amazing what alot of advertising does) Always worth throwing in the old shocks as a back up even if they may fade a bit.
Cheers Craig...........
Hey Paul next time can you send a "Follow up" not "Post a reply" to keep the thread running? :-)

Well Done Robin!

Andy

Not Quite Yet Andy

Would you believe that after co-ordinating pilot, we could not make contact
with person in the community to accept the shocks, for many hours.

Without this happening the original arrangements (Cotton creek) were effectivily in place, as were not able to contact party due to "GlobalStar unavailability".

In the meantime the travellers had progressed (20kmh) down to well 31 hence
bypassing the turn off, on there slow way to cotton creek.

The pilot , also has an answering machine on , and couldn't be directly told to drop shocks back off at original place (cotton creek)

So "fingers crossed" shocks will be picked up friday at Cotton creek after all.

Robin Miller

(and to think I offered my spare set up front !)

Keep me posted - a very exiting diary the boss will bring home!

Andy

What's the latest Robin?

I'm off on the CSR in two weeks!

Andy

Hi Andy

Our travellers did pick up and fit there new shocks sucessfully from Cotton Creek Saturday.

While there were plenty of corrugations, they were ok by just taking there time.

Been unable to contact by satphone since then - but hope to on regular sched today.

You must be getting excited to be getting out again. And we are excited by prospect of getting our wheels in the snow for first time this season on weekend.

Robin Miller