False Mindset???

[Nevyn]

Earlier today I bumped into a young fella with a weapon of a Hilux, lifted to the shithouse with big Big Horns on it etc. all nicely done except for the extended shackles (but we don't need to go there!). Any way I thought I would have a chat to him about the VSI50 bullshit and mentioned to him about being limited to a 2" lift his reply was "you can't go 4wding with only a two inch lift" my immediate reply was "I can"

So which is it? What is real 4WDing? Is it ripping up the tracks with big rubber (bigger than the rut) and claiming victory or is having a few goes at something before you either make it or are defeated the real deal?

I have no bias here, I love my ute it does everything I ask of it sure I won't point it at some tracks most days but I like seeing how far I can go without damage. Which brings me to the hardcore tracks people are referring to when they say hardcore. Recently I was back home in Lithgow visiting my parents, as most here will already know there is an abundance of off roading to be had close by. My Dad and I went out to see some of the old hang outs/camping spots and couldn't help but to notice all the unnecessary new tracks made for the sake of making a hard track. Some of these tracks were in areas that will and have started erosion problems and can only be best described as damage or vandalism.

It breaks my heart to see the bush I grew up in being raped in this fashion when there are already tons of tracks already made by forestry for use and some of these are hardcore. I'm all for fourby's of different shapes and sizes and I really don't want to see any banned but what I think needs to happen is BAN the COWBOYS!!!

Sorry maybe I should have put this in the have a rant section!

Cheers Brad

 

[Old.Tony]

You won't get any argument out of me there, Brad.

As everyone here would know, my favourite two things are towing and forests and if I can combine them both it's WOOHOO time.

I am - as far as specifications go - driving a stock standard Navara. My front springs are heavy duty but that's only brought my vehicle back up to standard height. I am using standard tyres.

On the Currawong run, I took my car on some real mud tracks. There were deep-ish ruts, puddles that were as large as the Navara and it was all of that slimy, sticky yellow clay.

I had just ONE issue with the vehicle - on a large puddle, I considered speed would be my friend, I gave it a little go-go and the car fell into the puddle, I picked up clay front and rear but still powered through without any problems. With standard tyres, remember - those yucky Continentals that nobody likes.

I had a BLAST. In a standard, not raised, stock tyred overweight (remember we're 2.5T now with all the crap in the back) D40 of all things - I still had fun. I didn't NEED to put moon buggy tyres on it, or raise it 7 feet off the ground, or supercharge the windscreen wipers or even have chrome plated brake pedals.

That's not to say that everyone should be like me. Some people like more adventure, more risk, more challenge and I respect that.

But creating these challenges - or additional risks - by ruining the bush and destroying habitat is just going to get the entire thing banned.

How do you knock sense into people like that?

 

[Leprechaun]

50mm of lift in a D40 is not enough, even on the easiest of rutted tracks I end up scraping/smashing the sump guard. Easy solution buy another make that has more clearance to suit the tracks I want to drive.
I agree with the new laws, You only need to go to the local 4WD wreckers to see how many wrecks have flattened roofs from rollovers. I hate to know how many spinal injuries/deaths those huge 6" lifts have caused over the years and the costs associated.

 

[KraftyPg]

There was a thread similar to this started last year, something along the lines of "tread lightly" or some such thing and I think even back then the general consensus from most people was that wrecking the bush for the sake of saying "I can" is bullshit and more often than not detrimental to those who just want to enjoy whats out there.

Over the last few months we've been wrecking the tracks around the farm something chronic with the constant cattle traffic and large tractor tyres but it's just the way farm life goes most of the time. Seeing idiots do the same thing to bush tracks and roads in the name of splashing mud up the side of the vehicles is stupid.

Not all tracks have to only be accessible to guys with 8inch lifts and 42 inch mud tyres but a certain portion of the 4wd community seem to think this isn't the case and it just makes it worse for the rest of those people who do enjoy a bit of bush driving.

Having said that I also know of a guy who spends his time trashing around some of the local tracks in a little 2 door Excel and has no regard for the area around him. Getting bogged and showing off to the world what sort of dickhead he can be by throwing up 15 foot rooster tails while he's got his head out the window is this guys idea of fun. The tracks he uses are usually just feeder roads and the mess he makes usually isn't enough to stop a 4wd (even a D40) from getting through but it does stop mum dad and the kids heading into the bush to picnic areas or the like in their family sedans. So it's not just the 4wd community that suffer from dickheads who think the bush is there to dig up.

 

[nismo4x4]

i agree to stop the cowboys act...however D40 clearence is CRAP! chassis rails starts high at front and rear then drops like 2 inches in the middle where it matter mosts...worst chassis design ever!!

Il be getting a 4-5" lift as soon finance allows me...i belive 4-5" would be ok in the d40 as its a wide body vehilcle and lesser chance of body roll from being top heavy aka hilux.

 

[WoodyD40]

I'm very happy with my 2inch lift so far. It feels like a very different car with only 2 inch's.

i'm sure i'll find tracks somewhere that i will still scrape the D40 over, but i can clear so many more obstacles now than before the lift.

If i needed a bigger lift to go 4wd'ing, then the tracks are probably too risky to take the family with me, so that means that'll be the tracks that i'd think twice before attempting (as i'd just a likely damage something that'll cost heaps to fix).

After all, its still my daily ride - so i wont be 'bashing it' around the tracks, more like meandering around the tracks.

 

[Nevyn]

Having a little more of a think on things, I can't help but feel that a lot of these so called rule changes aren't getting the push ahead from within the 4wd community. Some of the older heads so to speak. Which brings me back to question, do they see themselves as saviours of our being able to get out and into the bush??

Cheers Brad