As a very experienced 4wder myself I must say I have really enjoyed your channel and this particular episode was great to see. For a young bloke you have a very level head on your shoulders and you demonstrate here why sometimes its not about the tracks you drive, but the tracks you don't drive..... Too many people would have just ploughed on for the sake of the video and possibly gotten themselves into a dangerous recovery situation. And also that means not just dangerous for you, but for all those attempting to help you as well. Don't be another statistic. Just for the sake of "conquering" a track......... You did the right thing. Not just for yourself but for all those travelling with you and I was very glad to hear that they all decided to follow you back down instead of continuing on themselves. That is the true spirit of 4wding as far as I'm concerned. Well done to all..
Thanks so much for the comment White Ox, I'm just learning , but 100% I wanted to share this incident because I'm sure its a very common thing for alot of us common 4wders. We come out to this places to have a good time and to even challenge ourselves but in the end of the day you don't want to be going home on a helicopter, and especially if you have passengers in the vehicle, they are there to have a good time, not do stuff that could potentially cause lifelong injuries, And in this situation I just wasn't confident to do the climb with the way the car was performing. So I hope this video can give people something to think about for if they ever get in this situation themselves! As alot of people have said in the comments, "the track isn't going anywhere" "you can always go back" Thanks for the comment Ox! - Pat
Incase you were wondering how your 4wd videos compare to others, they absolutely are up there, the stories are always told so well and im sure everyone can agree we thoroughly enjoy how they're presented thanks mate
Gotta trust that centre diff lock light. It runs off a limit switch that shows you when the gear is engaged. Had the same issue, centre diff motor had crapped it. Having replaced mine, I can see how you could manually turn the mechanism on track in an emergency.
Can you not lock the centre diff without electrics? I am asking because I am not familiar with the 80 series, only ever had 60s and 45s. My 60 series was push button for high 4wd, but manual gear change into low, but could always get 4wd. Different transfer box set up, I know.
I'm glad the braver side of you took hold and made a sensible call to turn around instead of gung-ho-ing onwards... You can tell the girl in the passenger seat very early on had a concerned look but had faith and trust in you the whole time.... Even reassuring you later on for making a good call.
We were in the valley with you mate haha!, my Fathers F150 snapped an engine mount and tore 2 intercooler boots on wombat range track while towing a trailer. I had to winch him a solid 60m up because it was too dangerous to reverse back down or turn around. I actually said hello to you near bluff hut!
Definitely a good decision mate. You made the right move. Good on you for being sensible and looking after you and the mrs, glad you got out safe mate! 👍
After passing you on Zeka Spur Track I went through Wonnangatta and camped on the Humffray River for a few nights (better camping spots there on the river ) and then went out by Herne Spur Track. It's known to be one of the steepest tracks in the High Country and you were wise not to even attempt it. I think you did well getting up Zeka Spur in 2WD. Good luck with the repairs.
Thanks mate, yes, very glad we got told about Herne spur, shows the importance of UHF, seemed to do zeka spur track fine, thus until this point wasn't sure if just sensor wasn't working of the CDL was actually not locked
Absolutely the right call, to look after yourself, Anya and your vehicle. Shows amazing maturity and you can always try again next time with everything working :) Good one!
Definitely the right decision. There's no need to be a hero. It's about seeing new places and havinh experiences with you friends and partner. Credit to you partner too you can see she is supportive and caring. She want leaving you there. Keep up the good work.
My god Patrick....thanks so much for sharing that. Scary as and a really good decision to bail! I also have an early model 80 and my partner and I were up in that country middle Jan so we could really relate. Also my vehicle has a history of low range slip (now resolved) but we could really " feel" it. A sharp reminder on how dependent we are on our vehicles in that sort of country!
I was having a laugh to myself when you were talking about doing Herne Spur Track instead 😂 its one of the steeper tracks in the high country 😁 We came down it a couple of months back and feels like you're dropping off the face off the Earth. Glad you got out mate 👌
Good on ya for sticking by your gut and not letting people talk you into something you didn't wanna do.. even a shout out to all the locals on the uhf bloody champions
My dad's 76 doesn't see a lot of offroad action or use so there's a saying where if you need a locker and you don't use it often it will fail. So we did a tough 4wd track and about half way up the mountain pass (the peak was 2249m) the rear locker (actuator) just failed. And at the time we were in a tricky spot. Thankfully the the front locker still worked so we could use that to get up the rest of the track. There are also not many places to turn around and it's very steep with tight corners and a narrow track. The only other car on the track that day was a 3rd gen Suzuki Jimmy with some choice suspension mods. We had like an hour headstart and the thing caught up, it was like a mountain goat. We could hear the car from a distance and stopped at a turn off point. (probably after an hour & half on the trail) It came past after they waved at us and made short work of going up the pass. The Jimmy earned a lot of respect from me on that day.
Mate such great story telling, an amazing video for showing what the 4wd community is all about, sorry you didnt get to make the track, but 100% glad you were responsible to make the big decision that needed to be made. Lives first adventure second.
Bro you’re a smarter man then most I feel the whole “send it” attitude most adopt these days would’ve ended you up in strife big time. Sick video, had me on the edge of the seat. Cheers
Really glad you're ok and turned around. Correct decision. You had a good wise crew with you. At this point mate. Maybe your Pajero was more reliable. I have an 80 too, and as much as I love it I think I'm in denial about it, it's costing me a fortune in repairs and maybe my old 95 series Prado was just as good and more comfortable 😂
So nice to see a video of someone making the *right* choice, instead of being an idiot! I was there on the 23rd of Jan, and you're right -- from where you were its probably several hours of the same sort of steep gravelly track. You'd think it gets better when you get to Cynthia, but even then there's more of the same. Wombat was so bad, it overheated my transmission and I had to wait for half an hour on the very narrow side of a cliff. Luckily nobody came up behind other than a sympathetic Ford Ranger when we were almost ready to go. Hate to think what would happen with a centre diff gone.
Heaps of people have already said this and I totally agree, you definitely made the right choice. It’s good to see that you used your brain and not your ego and have the “she’ll be right mate” attitude that brings a lot of people unstuck and seriously hurt. My favourite saying in bad situations is, “No point in being a dead hero” walk away and live another day, without injuries to anyone and without wrecking your vehicle. I’ve lost count of the amount of tracks most people would tackle with out issue. I have backed out from, not due to mechanical issues. Due to knowing my 4wd experience is limited and driving a 94 bravo on 29” wheels with AT tyres. With no winch. And going solo. All about make smart decisions
You made the right call. When 4WDing, it's always best to leave the ego at home, and know when to call it quits when lives and rigs are in potential danger. You've shown real maturity. I've seen 4WDers twice your age, that just don't get it. Full respect to you. ✊
CDL Actuator is a common issue. I'm working through mine after having my cruiser sitting in the previous owners shed for 9 years and only having done 5000kms in that time. Will be time to pull it out and clean it up Pat. 👍
While I'm thinking about it, if you put it in high range and hit the CDL button, you should hear a relay click in behind the right kick panel and the actuator cycle. You can do this with the car off to make sure the motor is working as it should be.
Great choice, we see often enough people go too far and then realise too late. Great video to put up, people will think of this when faced with a similar scenario and know there's no shame in putting safety first and turn around 👍
Happens to the best of us mate, good work on trusting your gut and backing out. No shame in that. Had fuel supply issues half way up a reasonably steep track in the High Country, had to winch it back to a safe spot to turn around. We all got back safe and that's the only thing that mattered. Hats off to your crew - they're a good bunch not leaving ya, keep them around!
Very smart decision guys, ive driven wombat and herne a number of times and its no place for 2wd and good on your mates for staying with you, never split up in the bush
I liked a lot the attitude of his GF, patting him in the back acknowledging him on the decision she was expecting him to make and also for not rushing him into the decision, she gently waited for him to digest all his thoughts.
We did a very similar thing in the high county. We were running stock tyres at the time (just got the car). Zero traction, kids in the car, solo. Used the radio and co-pilot to reverse down to a safe turnaround point, then backtracked. High county is fantastic, but the steep tracks are very slippery. Stay safe. Edit. I guess this is a good case for a hand held radio.
Pull on your hand break when backing down steep hills. It stops the front wheels locking up and loosing steering. And yes I know it’s a cruiser and the handbrake doesn’t work but it’s worth a try. You’ll be surprised of the difference it makes.
That's it @ken, takes a second to learn the juggle between foot and hand but definitely a trick worth knowing! Used to go with my mates, they were all 4wd but I had a 2wd high ride Triton, without help I'd get probably got 95% of the places they got but a few times I'd have to back down a hill for another crack at it and the handbrake got a good workout each time.
For full time 4x4's, they have to have a centre diff to allow different rotational speeds between front and rear tail shafts. But as with all differentials, it will prefer to send torque to the shaft while the least amount of resistance. In this case, it is the front shaft because the shift in vehicle mass due to the angle of climb, has moved mass onto the rear wheels at the expense of the front. The lock merely solidly joins front and rear shafts together so that one cannot rotate ahead of the other. You can manually engage this lock by removing the actuator and moving the shaft by hand, provided you are familiar with how the actuator is removed. Good practice is to lock the centre when you leave the black-top to avoid any chance of damaging the centre diff by letting it spin fast such as what you experienced on that climb.
Having the mindset of making a video but still making the decision to turn around shows you've got your head screwed on👍👍even though the goal wasn't achieved, it's a great vid showing great comradery and respect from safe minded mates and not the usual "nah mate, just send it! You'll be right."
Smart choice. The only alternative would have been to hook a second, working 4wd on the front wich had a winch, but i guess that would have been sketchy as well. Maybe if you hat a 4 ton 79 series v8 with you or a winch truck :-). Good thing you took care of the two of you.
I’ve done that exact trip about 3 months ago and that hill is bloody steep in real life! We used the purple winch extension rope to tow 1 mate up a bit of the gnarly stuff!
Was watching and first thought WTF are you trying, then realized that's not as cut and dried. You could have ended up arse over kettle down the mountain. Respect!!!
I rode all those trails on my dirt bike the week before Christmas. Some very steep stuff out there, no way I’d be doing it in 2wd 😂 you definitely made a good choice
Smart move, I was stupid in a similar situation when I realised me 4WD was out,and trying to manouver to a better angle, roll ed my Surf,down a 60ft hill 2 times and crushed the roof when I bounced off some huge bolders. all this on the forst time I convinced my wife to join me on a 4WD outing .Everyone was OK and 2 trucks with winches were able to pull me back on the track, but the Surf was a write off
I did Herne's Spur a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad you didn't go that way. How was Zeka Spur in 2wd? A couple of the guide books said that the easiest way in/out was from the north (via Abbeyard, East Buffalo, Riley Track).
Hey mate mine did the same thing after a high county trip and found it in the next trip prep. You will have one or more of the following problems. The range switches on the cdl carbon over and stop working. You can fix them by using a 9v batt and cycling the switch manual a lot of times on the bench. I had to do this on mine. I also had the cdl motor burn out a coil winding which I’m pretty sure was from the cdl gear mech grease going old and hard. I also had the cdl motor magnets in the motor cap come loose. You will also want to extend the cdl breather up high into the cabin. This breather let’s the cdl gears breath. Main issue is the breather is just at the back of the transfer and it will take on water on crossings plus over time moisture gets in and turns the grease to gunk and rust. I had a company in Springvale rewind the coil motor and glue the magnets back on. I cleaned up the gears myself and greased up with new lithium white grease.
Hi offugo! You are absolutely on the money, next episode we basically go though the same situation! Thanks for the info, great comment! Need more of this info online! Thanks - Pat
Did Hearn Spur a few weeks ago. It’s a pretty full on steep track. Good call going back out via Zeka. It’s a shame you couldn’t make it to Dargo though. Go
Great decision and always good when you have a good crew. FYI Hern spur is probably the most difficult out there. Your girlfriend is a rippa hanging in there and not jumping ship when asked to. Lots of valuable support👍
You definitely made the right choice, you have a good head on your shoulders there as so many "kids" would just send it, no matter the consequences. And your mates are great, not splitting up, all heading out together. These trips are the ones who show who your true mates are, and are the ones that real memories are made on.
Very wise decision to turn back. As you showed, if you don't feel confident driving a track, there's a good chance that you shouldn't attempt it. The video doesn't show how you did it, but the safest way to reverse down a hill like that in a manual is to have it in low range (obviously), then put it in reverse and let the engine braking control your descent. If it stalls, then roll start in reverse. Never rely on braking to limit your speed in a manual. Glad you got away safely, it was a little stressful to watch, so I can imagine what you were feeling.
Old mate that came up behind. He mentioned his car started jerking as he came up. Predicted it was a patrol. Sure enough 4.8 gu. Mine does the same thing. Seems to be common
i snapped my cv on my patrol in the bogholes in wonangatta station and we ended up going back up hernes, took alot of right boot and negotiating but made its to talbot ville easy as couple sketchy spots tho
Had to make a similar decision with an overheating GU Patrol. That time it was whether to descend to a creek or not with a gravelly hill to get back up!
Had a mates Hilux rear diff give up the ghost and ended up winching + yanking with my 75 series for like 5 hours. Not a fun occasion! Was closer to Jamieson than Dargo. Right choice turning around!
That group that stopped to help and the guy on the radio were 100% correct- of the 2 tracks to climb out of the valley heading SE, Wombat is the easier. Herne Spur would have been even more difficult. If you were able to come out using Zeka you did well just having 2wd. Lucky it wasn’t wet. A smart and wise choice to turn around. That track ain’t going anywhere. Good excuse to go back once the car is fixed. Cheers
It's a 3 camera dashcam! It's been awesome just to capture things that happen on trips! It's called a viofo a139 , I might do something on it one time, definitely highly recommend a dashcam!
lol a part time kit uses the exact same mechanism to lock the diff. In fact this car may already have a part time kit as if the diff was failing to lock the front tyres would spin not the rear as Patrick states.
Hey man you made a good decision, my car blew a heater hose off dropping all my coolant on Davies plain track, lucky I got onto people with my uhf who had a spare 20L of water, I had to defer from going to Dargo and went to Bairnsdale so I didn’t blow my motor
