4WD Driver Training Day - November 2000
The driver training that we did was organized by SafeTrek, located in Brunswick Victoria. Earlier in the week, I attended an evening of theory, which ran through many invaluable techniques of 4WDing. Some of these tips will be posted on this website, however there is no substitute for attending such a course in person, as well as getting lots of practice in different situations and with other people. The actual practice day was great fun, and represented the first real 4WDing that I had been on as a driver.
We met at the Glenburn Service Station at 9:00am where Jim and Norman ran through the various activities that we would be doing for the day, as well as pointing out the benefits and problems with each of our vehicles. They went through the departure and approach angles, as well as the recovery points on each truck. They also indicated what we would likely loose or damage, such as towing points, tail pipes, and on the Patrol the mud flaps and tail lights. Apparently they are popped out of the bumper bar quite regularly!
After going through each car and the details of convoy procedure we were off for some action. We turned down Two Hills Road where we stopped to let down the tyres. One car lost the valve and was forced to change to the spare, which was of a very poor standard. During the day, we practised many of the techniques that we had discussed on the theory night, as well as explored the capabilities of each of our vehicles. We drove through deep mud, up and down reasonably steep hills where we practised stall-stop and key-start techniques. We practised some snatch recoveries, drove over fallen logs, through ruts and generally had a great time.
The picture to the left was of me driving through a deep mud hole. We got through with no problems, as did most of the cars before us though a few did require snatching out, including a brand new Pajero which some people had hired to bring along on the trip!
| Track Name | Surface | Travel Time | Average Speed |
| Not recorded | Not recorded |