4WD Course, Huge Weekend of Learning

Submitted: Tuesday, Sep 12, 2006 at 22:53

ThreadID: 37670 Views:3810 Replies:5 FollowUps:2

This Thread has been Archived

Chris & Jody (Golden Bay)

Well another weekend is over and what a weekend it has been. We have been initiated into 4 wheel driving by the 2 day All Terrain Course run by Geoff at www.ultimate4wdtraining.com.au.

With help from Cactus and Gadget on day 1 out the back of Mundaring, we were trained in water crossings, steep ascents and descents, track driving, safe vehicle handling on gravel, negotiating ruts and recovery gear.

Day 2 started a little earlier north of Perth near Lancelin and we were trained in dunes, key/stall starts, tyre pressures, vehicle handling, 4WD recovery techniques, pre-departure checks, safety and environmental issues, and much more...

As we would call ourselves novices, much was learnt by all and I would highly recommend to anyone that has not been through such training to get out there and have both a fun weekend and learn how and what to do to look after yourself in the event of getting into trouble in the outback.

Only problem with doing these courses is you find out how much more $$$$$ you can spend on your toys.

Checkout the pic's at Site Link

Cheers,

Chris

Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator Share

Reply By: nonon - Tuesday, Sep 12, 2006 at 23:27

Tuesday, Sep 12, 2006 at 23:27

Well done Chris, I admire people who can admit that they are a novice and need assistance.

Unlike the rest of us, who blunder all over the countryside thinking we are invincible, never ask for directions, think everyone else is an idiot and then brag that we taught ourselves, and damn it, didn't we do a bloody good job of it..... Oh I see, that's just me. Oh well !!!

HAHAHA

I had a really good laugh when I read a letter to 4WDMonthly magazine, written by a bloke who had completed a 4WD training course. He was annoyed at the magazine for continually saying that tyres pressure should be lowered when driving on sand. He thought it was not necessary and he felt entitled to tell them off!

HAHAHAHA

AnswerID: 194246

Follow Up By: Imscullinbeer - Wednesday, Sep 13, 2006 at 00:37

Wednesday, Sep 13, 2006 at 00:37

Hey Chris and Jodie, You should know me by now, but it looks like you had a brilliant weekend.

Things like that take a lifetime to learn, and hopefully you never forget those life skills. I know from first hand experience how little it takes for things to go wrong.

Will definately look at going on this course. Seeya in a week or so.

Sculls.

DRINK MORE bleep !!!

FollowupID: 452142

Reply By: Dave from P7OFFROAD Accredited Driver Training - Wednesday, Sep 13, 2006 at 06:35

Wednesday, Sep 13, 2006 at 06:35

That's right Chris and Jody, you "Never Stop Learning..."

(i'm on the Fraser Coast)

AnswerID: 194257

Reply By: David from David and Justine Olsen's 4WD Tag-Along - Wednesday, Sep 13, 2006 at 07:33

Wednesday, Sep 13, 2006 at 07:33

Well done. As someone already commented, you never stop learning. Someone above mentioned 4WD monthly. I was interested to note that the driver education dvd that came with 4WD monthly advised putting an auto in Park when executing a stall start on a steep ascent. There are many 4wd vehicles that you would never move again if you did that due to immense load on the transmission not allowing a shift out of Park.

So in defence of the guy who didn't have a clue about tyre pressures, sometimes it is worth challenging the likes of 4wd monthly. :-)

Cheers
David

AnswerID: 194263

Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Wednesday, Sep 13, 2006 at 08:52

Wednesday, Sep 13, 2006 at 08:52

Yep, good stuff. Training weekends are great fun.

Next step is to reinforce what you've learnt with practice.
And "you'll never stop learning" as said above.

And then theres updates. For example, if you look at how the teaching of snatch recovery has changed over the past 10 years. Copmmon method of choice these days is to use an equalisation strap on the front of the vehicle, and to use a weight in the middle to dampen a broken strap or recovery point.
Ten years ago it was a shackle on a towloop with a totally useless blanket airbrake - which many realise now is potentially lethal.

AnswerID: 194276

Follow Up By: Geoff from West Coast 4x4 Club - Thursday, Sep 14, 2006 at 10:06

Thursday, Sep 14, 2006 at 10:06

Hi Chris and Jodie,

Many, many thanks for the thumbs up on the training and trust me when I say Gadget, Cactus and myself enjoyed the weekend's delivery of training and your company as much as you enjoyed participating on the weekend.

As many have said on this forum, tyre pressures are crucial to not only taking the strain off the mechanical components of your vehicle they also make a huge difference the upkeep of the 4wd tracks we all take pleasure driving on. It’s the only component in the vehicle that obviously touch's the ground anyway.

We were recently in the East Pilbara and Karijini NP and were experimenting with tyre pressures from Nullagine out on the Skulls Spring Rd to Carawine - upper and lower gorges, we even got to the highest point in WA - Mt Meharry and everything we teach in terms of tyre pressures certainly paid off for us on this trip.

We came across many travellers in the Pilbara area that were oblivious to how important a roll tyre pressures really do play and they certainly paid for it by the hip pocket, sad really when it doesn’t take much of an effort to re-adjust the tyre pressures for a particular terrain type. Lucky for them we brought with us extra tyre repair kits, hey?!

A few pics of the trip - Site Link

And the trips report - Site Link

Enjoy!

Earlier in the year I was in China and Mongolia training 4wd and it was great to see how other countries deal with certain aspects of 4wding, so certainly we never stop learning even for people like ourselves whom are State registered by the Department of Education and Training as a fully fledged registered training organisation.

Mongolia - Site Link

China - Site Link

Enjoy!

I’m are off overseas again very soon to some incredibly interesting countries – delivering safety training in 4wd, hopefully we can leave a little bit of Aussie with the people we meet over there and show to the world that we are a happy go lucky friendly bunch of people. Goodness knows the world needs a little bit of the ol’ Aussie mateship spirit right now.

All the best Chris and Jodie, stay safe and enjoy your 4wding, I know I have for the last 25 years ;-)

FollowupID: 452455

Reply By: Member - Brian H (QLD) - Friday, Sep 15, 2006 at 06:44

Friday, Sep 15, 2006 at 06:44

Well i'm not ashamed to admit I'm a novice to 4x4 driving a few trips on Frazer did not magicly make me an expert. So I did a weekend course and I learnt some tips and methods to keep in mind if needed.

Now I just got to get out there and keep learning. I also want to do a more advanced course sometime as well but practice what I have learnt first :)

Well done on the course.

Brian

AnswerID: 194625