Recovery Virginity

[Patriot]

OK, Here is my confession.

Four wheeling for in Bunyip State Forest and we came to an fork in the road. We later learned that left lead to a nice gentle track, perfect for the Patriot and right lead to a mess of ruts and inclines. Of course we took the right hand path

About 200 meters in we decided that we had had enough fun for one day and might turn around because the track was way to difficult for the vehicle and our experience level (not much!)

On reversing to turn, the two front wheels got horribly lodged in really deep ruts and no amount of wheel spinning or swearing would get them out.

We started digging out the wheels and a motorbike rider stopped and gave us a hand. An hour more of digging, children screaming and lots of cursing lead us to the conclusion that they only way out was to jack up the wheels. 2 wheels jacked and ruts packed and finally off we go.

Profuse thanks to the bike rider and we are out of there, almost. A strange noise under the car, which I thought hopefully sounded like a branch caught up turned out to be a branch, but on removing it I thought, 'Oh look, there is a lot of fluid leaking out of somewhere' Imagine my delight when I realise it is diesel.

One of the neat features of the Patriot is the ability to tell you how may kilometers before you run out of fuel. I watched it go from 450 km to 350 km in about 7 minutes and at that point it was too depressing so I stopped looking. We just made it home. Luckily it was an issue with the fuel filter covered under warranty and not battle damage from our little escapade.

Now, how did you lose your Recovery Virginity?

 

[centaur]

Now, how did you lose your Recovery Virginity?

Much the same way!!!!!!!!

Testing out behind the old Tyabb cemetry in between BHP, it was muddy, slippery and very enjoyable playing a cat and mouse game with BHP security 4x4's.... UNTIL;

I nudged a base of a tree with my bar while riding on top of some serious ruts, and in went the front wheels !!! and of course, where the front wheels went, the rears were sure to follow...
I was able to go another 30ft before I hit some deep parts of the ruts and the diffs got stuck on the middle part of the track.... BUGGA!

Trying to drive out, I tried back and forth, moving the wheel left and right, but, no go.... So out came the trusty litte shovel and jack, and started work. I jack up the front, and dug out dirt from around me and started to fill in some of the ruts, and then continued on the rear. I managed to go about 10 ft and got stuck again...

This carried on for about an hour before I was able to get out of the ruts and continue. Only to try and climb the rock wall near the BHP jetty and then I tore apart a front tyre. Changing a tyre on sand near a rock wall was so enjoyable...

After this was when I went out and bought a snatch strap in case I got stuck again, I have had to dig myself out 3 times now and it is getting monotonous, so now I cant wait until I get my new bar and winch....

Add to this I have had to use my snatch strap twice as well, I am now a lot more cautious when it comes to muddy terrain.

So, now I am not a recovery virgin....

 

[fullboar4x4]

recovery virgin lessons

For anyone thats interested in learning first, instead of getting it wrong and costing heaps, we do courses in recovery, we do try to mix it up and get dirty, its the best way of showing you how its done. 03 9740 6300, ask for dave.

 

[Patriot]

For anyone thats interested in learning first, instead of getting it wrong and costing heaps, we do courses in recovery, we do try to mix it up and get dirty, its the best way of showing you how its done. 03 9740 6300, ask for dave.

Hi Dave,

I completely agree. That was one of big mistakes. Not having ANY recovery gear was another and going out alone was the third.

We have remedied the first two and hope that this site will help with the third.

We did a course out at the Australian Automotive Research Centre. Money well spent. We now are a little bit better drivers and also have a much better appreciation of what tracks we can and can't do - So for anyone new to offroad driving, I highly recommend a course.

James

 

[Nickj]

Hi Patriot
Let me know when you are going up to Bunyip again and I can show you around. We organise trips up there from time to time so you are welcome to come along. Which tracks did you go up there?
What do you drive?
Nick

 

[Patriot]

Hi Nick,

A Jeep Patriot. The clearance is a bit of an issue with it, but at least it is comfy Andersons track is pretty much a no go area for us, but we have had a few adventures out there without too much grief.

I will let you know next time we are heading out.

James

 

[Mud]

Patriot driver here too.

1st time out on Teewah beach, tried t run up over a small dune to the camping area and got stuck in the deep sand.
Wound down the windows and asked some mates to push me out backwards.
Had another run, remebered to turn ESP off, forgot to wind windows back up!
Result -
made it up the dune fine, with a huge amount of sand flying in the windows..

 

[bludnut]

when i was bout 18-19 yrs old, me and a mate took my mum and little sister for a drive.......... in a 1980 subaru wagon . we were only drivin forestry trails, but we come across a knarly lookin bridge, delapidated, falling down, no way we were drivin it! the creek was probably 10 foot under the bridge, so there was a steep muddy, clay type bank to decend. me mate went down to check it out bloody goose!!! walked down through lantana and such, looked at the water for a bit, walked to his left a bit, stepped in and walked, ankle deep across. yeah shes right he says...
so off i venture. mate pointing the way, get to the edge and drop into the creek. foot drop, water up and over the roof, and a little 1600 runnin on 2 and a 1/2 cyls. got through the wheel deep water to the other side and, it was a steepish ramp of dry loose deep sand!!!!
we got as far out as the rear wheels leaving the water, then she sank rev, clutch, rev clutch, rocking it back and forth as well as me mate, laughin, and me mum and sis, cursin and promisin all sorts a nasty things, at the back pushing. we made it up, eventualy.
got a few hundred meters up the road.............. bloody dead end . we had to do that bloody creek again!!!! i got the suby lined up at the top of the sand, mum and sis refused to walk in the creek so they jumped in, and i floored it in first. the poor old suby only had high range....... water every where again, and i remembered that foot high drop on the other side, so as i aproached it, i braked hard then floored it again, making the front end jump, just clearing the ledge. then i just held it flat in first and dragged the arse end up. poor suby was screeming all the way up that muddy bank, but she made it....

mum never wanted to go drivin with me again after that. dunno why.... what an adventure..

not realy a recovery bubble pop, but its the closest thing i got to one.

cheers

jason

 

[timsam]

Not as bad as some on here, but here it is anyway.

New to us, but not a new hilux dual cab. Dirt track from North West Hwy turn off near Goldsworthy, (to Tichlea for those who know the area), recent heavy rain, just before cyclone season. I had recently been there on a fishing trip and decided to take my wife there for a picnic lunch.
No recovery gear, no extra water, no 4WD experience.

Made the turn off and travelled about 10kms to the coast. Came to a flat area with the track underwater. Decide to turn arround due to points above. Turn off track, front right sank into mud. Just able to open door, and the wife asks, is all okay. I quickly get out and lock the hubs, low range and reversed out on second try. I then told my wife, "yea its ok now"

Now we live in the south west, member of a 4WD Club, have more experience and carry water, recovery gear and let someone know where we're going and expect to be back.

Tim

 

[GUTSHOT]

Snatch Strap Not Much Good If You Dont Have A Second Vehical...as I Found Out One Day Stuck In Very Loose Shell Grit Type Sand In The Coorong Np. Watching The Tide Rolling In Is Fun Too.
Had To Wait 4 Hour Befor Any One Could Pull Me Out.
Whats The Old Saying ... Sh1t Happens!

 

[ChallengeLee]

I think l'm working my way up to being the top scorer for my club in being recovered (yeah yeah, doesn't say much for my skill level, but is worth the fun of it all)

My first time l got stuck up the very top of a steep incline, just about over the blasted thing and l got jammed on a rock, l just felt like hopping out and pushing the damn thing forward to get it over but was not to be, was a great introduction to snatching for the newbies of the group, me being one of them...lol

 

[Bullstat]

Yesterday we took our new purchase (2000 Mitsubishi Triton) along the Dandenong creek behind the Luna Drive In, near where I work & I drove straight into a huge bog A work mate pulled us out with his Pajero and a Chain we found in one of the company trucks.

 

[Grey Ghost]

Why are there bog holes at the top of hills up behind Warburton???
We were having a play around in the hills giving my kids a taste for 4WDing, thought we'd go up Braham Track, quite happily pulled ourselves up the inclines without a hitch and at the top found 3 nice big bog holes. 1st one we checked out the depth, no worries and went ploughing on through, 2nd one checked it out again but found the one soft spot we missed and got bogged up to the doors! Didn't want to get towed out to quickly coz I reckoned we could make the bugger move by it self, even with AT's. So after about 20 min of rocking back and forth decided to drop the tire pressure down to about 20 psi, by guess work alone coz all 4 tire valves were in the smelly stinky mud! And low and behold the beast just grabbed and dragged itself up and out of the mud.(3rd bog hole we chickened out and went round...)
So I guess we didn't really get stuck but the kids thought "we were doomed!"

 

[Tats]

After about 8 years of what I thought was "4wding" in an old Series 2a swb Landrover, I bought a new Datsun MQ diesel in 1980 and decided to join an appropriate club. They asked me if I was experienced and I said "yes". Obviously I wasn't aware that there was two distinct types of "experience" with 4wding. I was immediately invited on a trip to Barrington Tops, starting at the old Landrover lease up behind Lostock and driving up Mt Cabribald and on through to Aberdeen, and I excitedly accepted. Going up the first major incline after leaving the lease I was struggling a little to keep traction so I put a bit of "hoof" into the accelerator. The 3.3 litre diesel engine responded far more quickly than the old Landie donk and I found we were tearing up the hill at a great rate of knots. Then came the "rutt". I hit it going flat chat in 3rd low, bounced what seemed to be 15 metres in the air, and upon re-alighting on solid ground, too late realised that I was now sideways on the track and entering the bush too fast to even think. This resulted in a massive recovery exercise which despite all the assurances, embarrassed me greatly. Thankfully the MQ suffered no damage at all, except for a tree branch jammed up under the underbody spare wheel. The spin off was that the bride instantly agreed to a suspension modification, and . . . well, that's another story.

Tats

 

[Ven]

i've been bogged and had to be pulled out so many times its hard to remember the first, but i think it was out at a mates property about 100km's inland from casino, after about a week of rain, driving a 1980 model Hilux we decided it would be a good idea to load up the lux with firewood and head accross the creek and have a bombfire, well instead of driving around the creek i was confident the old lux would get us through the guts, as i came up the other side which was a fairly steep incline she dug in and we were bogged up to the doors, due to the terraine behind me i couldn't reverse back so for about an hour i attempted rolling back and forth and wood under the tires etc, eventually we had to walk all the way back to the house to grab my mates rover to pull me out....

 

[x [Heels] x]

Hehe, I didn't go fast enough... We tried to get the deo out with everything, sticks, digging, rocks LOL
Lucky a Patrol come along and got me out

**Reason for being bogged, I went through one hole, which had a bit of land inbetween it and another hole and I decided to stop on the bit of land and got stuck between the 2 holes and just had to go for it, I couldn't get up enough speed and sunk....

 

[Gunna]

Nothin' worse than bein' stuck between a rock and a hard place

 

[Blue Dog]

First time stuck was back when I had an XLT Bronco, we were out the back of lithgow and one of the guys in a suzuki got hung up a ridge so I went in to pull them out which was done easy. then as I was turning around in some scrub I hit a Telecom pit and went through the lid and got the drivers front well a truely wedged in the hole locked the stearing and the wheel from rotating, so had to unlock the hubs after couple of hours of trying to pull it out with a suzuki and a subaru then trying to jacking it up we ended up going to a saw mill back up the trail and the guy came down in a tractor with a fork and lifted the front pit and all and then we could break the edge of it and were free.
luckily the pit didn't have any wiring in it so who knows why it was even there.

 

[Grumpy]

snatch em

Nothin' worse than bein' stuck between a rock and a hard place

Thats the trouble with where we work no rocks and too many hard places and a lot of snatch em practice.CHEERS

 

[cruiserlad]

bogged before fraser

the 1st time i got stuck was going over to fraser just trying to get on to the barge it was the white one tyres all down to 18lbs on the cfamper trailer to hit the beach in hi 3 started to struggle a little knocked her back into 2 hi a bit further she just sank bloody tourist buses 3 guys from the barge eventually came over and they helped me mate to push her out 62 series petrol and gas and no lift bugger that was the only time we got bogged for a week snatched 3 other cars out though igo on the manta ray now as they water the track every night and there independent and have maxtrax on board for a small fee 2 $