Cobaw 4wd weekend - 04-05OCT08 ***Dial up warning***

[El_Freddo]

G'day everyone, here's my version of events for the weekend of 4wd'n in the Cobaw State Forest, Victoria, Austraia:

We met up at the servo at 9am, Suby87 (Kris) and Charlie attended as well as a mate of mine in his Dark Rangie - I think Kris fell in love with the rangie...

There's not a lot of photos of the first day unfortunately, but here's a run down of what went on:

We got to the forest, checked out the map on the info board and headed off to stumpy's track. It was a good climb to warm up with. We pulled over and gave charlie a push in his Foz, he got up without too much trouble. A little further along and we changed the convoy so that charlie could watch me pick my line in the unlifted L and follow from there - rather than follow Kris in his lifted L who takes a completely different like just cos he can... At this point up the track the unlifted L couldn't get through so we turned around and tried another branch off the track. A nice steady climb with a few smallish round rocks scattered around.

The next track we had a go at was a dead end, but there was a plaque about a fire tower that was once there at the end so it wasn't all bad. There was one difficult spot with a "sump thumper" rock in the middle of that track.

We cruised around, checked out "Native Track" - a rather sedate graded track that followed the contours, there was one good uphill bit, wasn't ruggered or anything, just a good steady climb. I found the track I wanted to get up - a fallen tree stopped me last time.

The track looked well used, larger round rocks moved easily once the front wheels had passed over them - a problem for my L. Charlie left his foz just below the tree I cut - a good move as the track became a little nasty and soon presented itself as not a track at all, rather it was a dirt bike trail that had been widened enough to get a decent 4wd up. We stopped when it passed between two large boulders that we couldn't get around.

Kris did a wheel stand sort of thing, slipped sideways, landed the right side of the nose on a rock, bent his radius rod and lost his steering all in one go! A repair job was attemped on the radius rod and it was decided to limp the car back to my parts bomb about 7km away.

Charlie got a call from work and had to go. I must apologise to charlie for not putting more thought into his 4wd'n ability, I hope I didn't scare you mate! Next time I'll have some more grading in mind with tracks and we'll build you up to the larger stuff as you progress and feel more confident with it. That was lesson one for the day.

Here's Kris's bent rod with the replacement:

All sorted and we were off to the puddle that a mate almost drowned his MY leone in. We had some fun here, got some mud on our rides, not really a great deal but it was fun to have a bit of splatter showing...

We still had an hour or two of daylight left - this was my second lesson: go back to camp as day light burns away. We continued to Camp track, the water had gone from last time I was here so we did some exploring - ended up finding a sort of "4wd playground", there were huge ruts that crawlers had been through. It felt very open yet secluded at the same time.

There was no way my L was going to make it back up the way we came in without some sort of locked/LSD'd rear end and some lift would have been good too. Kris may have found it tricky but I know my mates rangie would have made it look boring.
So we contiuned - I took a track that lead in the general direction of Camp track, it was rutted and rocky:

 

[El_Freddo]

My L kept hitting rocks under the car - the round granite rocks would roll after the front wheel had gone over it, placing it somewhere different to where you had seen it. I still have to push my floor pan flat again

Kris' heater core blew - the second time in two trips with me (I dunno if he'll be coming on the next one unless the heater core's bypassed). It was getting dark by now in the forest. I wanted to get out and was getting tired of the un-predictable rocks moving under the vehicle.

I bellied out on this sucker - had to go over it to get around a huge fallen tree:

We got out of there, Ruby Scoo (my L series) copped a few new dings on the sill panel that runs along below the door line - not real happy about it but there's nothing I can do but avoid the same situation in the future, pics of that will come later.

After getting out of there and heading home I learn't my third lesson for the day: When headed to camp don't take the scenic route.
I took a track that was created during the 2003 bushfires to protect surrounding properties - it didn't work but its a fun track to drive... Kris's Badger dropped a radiator hose and got hot, long story short the track kept going and the badger had enough, spending the night where it was in the forest.

We continued to camp, probabily about a km away, I had some mates drop in for drinks - they had a roaring fire already sorted. I busted out the fun police for several reasons a) the fire was too big and b) I wanted the wood supply that I collected during the week to last the night. Lucky for them they got their own wood.

It was a good night for camping and talking crap. The next morning we awoke and rose slowly. It was bacon and egg burgers for breakfast, cooked on the bbq.

We went and collected the badger and headed for the water hole for some more action. The badger didn't appreciate the steady climb up to the ridge line. We turned around to clean out the radiator from the mud and gunk it collected in the puddle yesterday:

This worked reasonably well - the badger made it to the ridge and halfway along before we rested it. A few trail bikes pasted us as we headed off again.

We got to the hole and I had a bit of fun in the muddy water. Having another vehicle there I tried to get my L stuck, then tried hard to get it out. There was only one time I didn't want to get it stuck but slipped into the deep ruts and bellied out with the wheels not touching the bottom. Kris snatched me out, it took two goes. That was my first real snatch as a stuck 4wd. Yesterday I snatch kris out - broke my cheap snatch strap due to using a D shakle and not doubling the loop on itself (the stitching gave way).

Here's some pics of our fun:

We all enjoyed our time here and decided to head off. We could smell something really funky, its hard to describe but we put it down to the amount of muddy water our L's had been subject to (I've got a hole in the rear well from the factory, its full of mud and crap at the moment). We soon narrowed it down to Kris's Badger, the thermo fan had jammed and was cooking the system, the wiring was too hot to touch, the fan blades melted, the battery warped - it was crazy. We were just lucky the motor still ran.

 

[El_Freddo]

Without the only thermo operational there was no way Kris was going to beable to get back home without a tow. So we used my damaged snatch strap to tow him along the ridge line - there was one point that Ruby Scoo could not hold the weight of the two vehicles in 1st low and when she did coudn't find the traction to use it. So the badger did a little work til we got to the top.

On the down hill run I moved to the back to act as anchor as I had engine braking and my power brakes. Here's the crossover:

We got home and had a dirty L photo shoot:

I really need some lift - summer will see this created. After the shoot we cleaned the mud from our radiators - there was a lot to get rid of!

I took some extra shots of my L, first up is the damage:

Now my mud shots:

And all the 'rubes together that live at my joint (excluding the paddock bomb sherpa):

I'm hoping to get out there again soon after uni's sorted, I'm itching for more. Next time around I'll plan some tracks that are better suited to those who are new to the game. Kris mentioned a trip the Wombat forest at some stage, I'm looking forward to that also.

Hope everyone enjoyed the read, go get a snack, rehydrate and enjoy the rest of your day :iconwink:

I'll leave off with this image, its a little blurry but still a good one I reckon:

Cheers

Bennie

 

[Cheyne_r]

Looks like a good trip!

 

[Beigewagon]

Bennie,

Great trip report, and good pics to go with it. I may be able to come out next time as well, if work doesnt interfere again.

Beigewagon.

 

[El_Freddo]

Bennie,

Great trip report, and good pics to go with it. I may be able to come out next time as well, if work doesnt interfere again.

Beigewagon.

Yeah mate, no worries! The next trip looks to be the weekend after the 14th of November at this stage - I'm still churning through uni assignments atm, when I know what my left and right hands are doing I'll sort out a new thread with dates etc.

I gave Ruby Scoo a hose down with a high pressure hose - I originally just wanted to clean the windows but that went quickly went pear shaped! She's still dirty!

Cheers

Bennie

 

[mr turbo]

Great trip report mate, looks & sounds like you had a great time. There's nothing better than seeing pics of a nice dirty-muddy subaru. :ebiggrin:

Thanks for sharing.

Regards
Mr Turbo

 

[charlie]

Hi Bennie,

Thanks for the report. I really enjoy first 4wd lesson with you guys although it is somewhat scaring when Chris got his car jump on top of stone.

And hopefully, I can join you guys next time.

Kind Regards

Charlie

 

[El_Freddo]

it is somewhat scaring when Chris got his car jump on top of stone.

Hehehe... probabily not the best introduction to 4wd'n - Kris has a 4 wheel driving style all of his own!

To explain the situation, Kris got his L on a couple of loose boulders, gave it some, the car jumped, the rock moved and literally made the car "jump" to the right, landing the right hand side of the nose on a boulder that was probabily about office desk height, this is when the radius rod was bent. I missed it all too...

Glad you're hoping to make it to the next outing, I thought I may have scared you off - not my intentions at all mate, would rather ease you into it, that start was my fault through lack of thought.

We'll see you out there mate.

Cheers

Bennie

 

[Escher]

Brilliant! Wish that matte-mud paint was available OEM from the factory.