Crystalvale 4WD Park - September '07 Trip
Participants:
Errol Gordon (Trip Leader) Huby Vink, Allan Jefford and Minna Ludlow, Michael
Fenech, Mathew Dyer, Russell Kennedy and Phil Cuff, Rod Willett and Ian Proudman,
Glen Cottrell, Richard Murphy and Steve Biles
Approximately 10 cars turned up on the Sunday morning ready to
make the journey to Crystalvale 4WD Park. The convoy consisted of two
Landcruisers, a Patrol, a Triton and a number of Pajeros of different vintages.
I was somewhat nervous to be embarking on this trip. The last
time I was there, my Prado ended up getting a piggy back home on a tilt tray.
This trip was the first trip out in my new NS Pajero that had just clocked over
2,500 kilometres.
For those people who have not been to Crystalvale, it is a
privately owned 4WD park in Murwillumbah, Northern New South Wales. From
Brisbane City, it takes approximately 2 hours. It is well worth the trip and
despite my broken Prado, the fact that Russell rolled his Pajero on the last
trip there, and the reference below to bent steel, it is not typically a car
killer.
After making the necessary changes to out tyre pressure, we
headed off through the park. On the first 2WD hill, I learnt very quickly that
if you do not turn off the ASC, the car effectively dies as soon as any form of
traction is lost. A bit embarrassing for me!
The rest of the day consisted of us slipping and sliding our way
up some very steep and slippery hills. On most occasions, all cars made it up.
On numerous occasions, this took more than two or three attempts and a few more
revs than usual.
The most entertaining part of the day was the friendly banter
between Errol and Steve in regard to Steve’s attempts at some hills in one of
the play areas (the part where there is a few long hills side by side). Errol
was amused that the Landcruiser could not make it up the hills, so started to
display the Pajero’s capability under a number of different scenarios: (1) front
locker in; (2) front locker out, but in 4WD; and finally (3) two wheel drive.
Errol made it up under all but the third scenario.
The other funny thing that seemed to be happening all day was
that parts were falling off cars at a rapid rate:
· On hill two, I busted one of the hubs on my
new shiny wheels;
· Richard seemed to be dropping tail lights at
every intersection; and
· It sounded like Huby was dropping half of
his personal belongings every time the Triton went over a bump.
Now to the reference to bent steel. Matt in his Landcruiser and
Richard in his Patrol decided that they wanted to play in mud. After some
practice runs, Matt (with strap already attached) decided to plunge into a soup
bowl. After dropping down about a metre, it was decided to pull him out from
behind. From my position, it seemed that the front end of his bull bar caught
on the embankment and it bent the end flap of the bar right back. All seemed
shocked at the way it just folded. Some hammer work got us back on the road.
Matt was subsequently told that such bars are built for forward
protection. When you reverse the forces, the strength is just not there.
From the group, I would like to thank Errol for a very
entertaining day. We all had a great time.
For those interested, Tyreworks (formerly Fourby's), a
sponsor of the magazine, was able to set the NS Pajero up with Bilstein shocks,
king springs, after market wheels and Cooper STTs at a reasonable price. They
did a particularly good job tracking down wheels that would fit over the brake
calipers.
Michael Fenech
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