Do you really need a 4wd??.

If you ask my fleet manager I don't need clearance, 4wd or even and LSD.

The vehicle of choice for them is a front wheel drive Aurion that is expected to be able to drag it arse over some pretty rough property tracks and ford water up to 300+mm in depth as well as get around in black soil in the middle of nowhere. All to meet their financial budget. To bad they won't get any resale value from their vehicle, when it was less than 300km old I had the front bash plate ripped off.

So yeah, 2wds do have their purpose but some people don't realise where that purpose ends and a better choice of vehicle begins ;)

Cheers Kev

Only when you're bogged on the other side of whoop whoop can you answer your question: Do you really need a 4wd??.

I suppose it's like an insurance policy. Hope you never need it, but great when the time does come to use it.

Malcolm

I hope you don't want to visit the Bungle Bungles. They are 4WD access only. And not piddly little ones either. The staff were outside checking when we drove in. Seems like a couple of years back a bundle of cars got bogged when it rained.

And I bet there are heaps of other places as well. Okay if you want to stick to the 2WD roads though to not get a 4WD.

Interesting if up in the Vic High Country and it rained. Whoops Only got 2WD.

Not where we go thanks. We don't want to be limited by equipment. Weather and skill yes but not the kit.

Phil

I get your point and the answer is propabally no

a cdecent comercial vehicle with a bit of clearance will do 98%

just depends on the valeue you put on the other 2% which isd usually the best stuff

my first vehicle was a Nissn e20 campervan and i saw more spots in that than probabally 50% or more of the 4wd owners on this site

You do what you can with what you have got.
4x4 will go more places with less effort. High clearance is at least as valuable. Neither does not mean you can't go anywhere.
This is heading west from Coward Springs to Billa Kalina on the southern side of the Margaret River in 1970 (Easter to be exact).

The 85km took 11 hours "driving" time.
I never met anyone else who ever completed that route in any vehicle. Anyone here ever driven it?
Over 1/3rd was by compass bearing.
We tried it again 25 years later in a 4x4 and failed. There were fences and water in the way.
Do you really need a 4wd?
I do!

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome.

Convoy of 7 lifted and modified landcruisers /nissans parked infront of the Middleton pub , wife pulls up in her KIA RIO , jaws drop and a she hears a voice , "tell me again why I needed the lift kit and 35 inch tires to go from Winton to Boulia " ,,

I don't think it sounds too silly if you could fit larger tyres and improve ground clearance. Have a look under the Workmate - they are built like a 4wd. I just traded one in on a D-max, because it didn't like towing a 17ft van up hills, and fuel consumption was 20lt/100!

I'm pretty sure that, before 4x4 vehicles were commercially available in Australia, people were still exploring this continent. In fact I got an idea this topic came up not long ago and someone posted up a black and white photo of some ladies in an old jalopy who did some sort of outback crossing in it.

Naturally you have to use some common sense and planning if you're going to take a non-4x4 anywhere off road, but I don't see why a conventional vehicle is a complete no-go for everywhere off the blacktop.

A ute like the Falcon RTV would be ideal - high(er) ground clearance and a locking diff, with a torquey motor.

It is actually amazing what a ute with a diff lock could do and go
CJ

I had a hilux paddock basher that went nearly everywhere with some careful driving.

With a lift kit, chunky tyres and a locked diff It would go anywhere. There are plenty of 2wd's going to Cape York these days.

Regards
Geoff

yes

Hi axle,

When I 1st got my p's way back when, I had an XB falcon ute and I used to take it camping, shooting etc. I used to take it thru a lot of areas that I'd never think of taking my rodeo with out at least locking the hubs in.

I did get stuck a bunch of times but had a tirfor and we used to skull drag it thru where ever we needed to go.

Personally I like having my 4x4 it does things easier then my old XB, although it did teach me a lot about right lines, wheel placement etc.

Cheers Wilko

I'm not sure if it's a matter of having 4wd or just the driver being a lot younger 10 feet tall and bullet proof...........now where are my glasses, how come I have shrunk and every joint and organ of my body is on some kind of medication???


(:-))


Cheers Pop

Couple of year ago, we approached the Pentecost crossing on the Gibb, from Home Valley side, and there would have been around 6 Toyotas parked up. I idled through them and proceeded to cross the river, there was 2 cars on my side and 4 on the other side. They were all watching with anticipation, and all with cameras filming and snapping shots, as i crossed over. They must have been very worried about the depth, because as soon as i was halfway across, they all jumped into there cars and lined up to cross. The all gave me a big cheer and a wave as i finished the crossing. I felt rather embarrassed to say the least.

It was about 450mm deep, and as clear as anything. But the look on there faces when i started to cross without first checking the depth was hilarious. Never have i seen the Pentecost to deep to cross, and it was August, not the wet season. Anyway i would loved to have seen the look on there face when right behind me, came a holden one tonner, brand new 6 cylinder. Straight across he went. Not a problem.

I bet they felt like idiots, as by the look of the ladies faces when i crossed, they had been waiting a while for someone else to cross. The 2 in the ute had no idea about any of this, but i bet the ladies didnt let there husbands forget in a hurry.

Yep, we did 6500klm Cairns to Alice and back last Sept.
Used 4WD once(palm valley).Wonderd if the 4wd expence is
worth it. Wife thinks so.

Ian.

well i want to go to fraser island..... so yeah i do...

Get some old video (super 8 film) of the old Redex Trials run through some country that a lot of 4b owners would now baulk at.

Rarely would they travel on bitumen as there wasn't any. Deep creek crossings, mud, sand drifts etc.

What were they driving?

Holdens FJ's etc, vangaurds, vw's morris, austin not a 4x4 in sight, they weren't invented yet.

Then there was the gelegnite...lol