Headed out Gembrook way yesterday for a bit of fun. It was pretty well bone dry - and the first time I've been out wheeling in the dry. I had a few things to try out since my last outing.
* Grand Canyon Gap(tm) venting (aka 2" bonnet spacers)
* New viscous clutch for the fan
* 31" Simex MTs (and guard trimming)
* Airing down of tyres to 19/20 PSI
* Disconnection of front swaybar
* New Sidewinder Air Compressor
First things first - my overheating issues. The day wasn't that hot yesterday, but nor has it been on the days where I've overheated. We did Western track the same way we did it when I overheated, and lots of other slow sustained climbs. I had the aircon running all day to try and keep some positive cabin air pressure and keep the dust out. I'm happy to say that the temp did not get above 100 all day.
I could definitely hear the roar of the fan when heading uphill in first/low range. It seemed to keep things cool.
So maybe, just maybe, that will be it for temp problems.
Now, I hadn't deflated the tyres before out in the mud as when I first started 4x4ing (which was only a few months ago) my mate told me for the mud that deflating was a double edged sword - gain a little traction, depending on the mud, and lose some clearance. I figured this trip that given I was on the 31s that I could forgo a little clearance for the better traction, given some of the rocky tracks we did, I'm glad I did.
In disconnecting the front swaybar as well as the soft tyres gave a very distinct boat wallowy feel to things. Gave noticably better articulation and meant the front guards that I hadn't trimmed now did rub a bit at full stuff
So we had a bit of fun on little bunyip, Western, Gentle Annie, Rocky and a few others. Here's a clip on Gentle Annie.
At one point under powerlines we came across a couple of vehicles trying to recover a third. It looked like an accident waiting to happen. The stuck vehicle was down in a bit of a gully, the first recovery vehicle was attached by two winch extention cables (which were connecting by a d-shackle) then the second recovery vehicle was attached to the second. There was an observer standing right near the vehicle to be recovered, right in the line of fire if something let go
One of my mates went down to winch them out, but decided on a short snatch due to gravel. Unfortunately he didn't educate the driver being recovered first (you sorta assume these things) and as a result once the vehicle was recovered it proceeded to back into him and half push the spare through the back door and bend the rear step.
So much for being a good Samaritan.
In the meantime, I saw some mud nearby and thought I would have a crack at driving through it and consequently provided some entertainment when I found it was deeper/softer than it looked and I had to be recovered.
It got deep enough for some muddy water to contact the fan at some point.
It was a great day. Not at challenging as in the mud, but a good opportunity to check out tracks that are otherwise a no go.
Sum fun in Bun(yip)
