Northland Winch Challenge 2009

[wopass]

COOL,it will be great to see you guys up there ,If the comps only half as good as it was last year your going to have a ball

good to hear

hey i see in the rules yo have to have a battery isolator switch, does that include club class as well or just challenge class?? if club class as well im gonna have to do some major cable modification

[mudslut]

from my experiance mate i would fit one anyway, it gave me comfort in knowing all power was killed, when we were upside down and all you could smell was petrol

[monstr]

Hi Ben ,I think you would be wise to hook one up esp with petrol ,im in the same boat i forgot that this rule had come in so its another job on the list of things to do .havent worked out how im going to do it yet as diesel is a bit harder isolating the batteries isnt a problem its the shutting of the truck without causeing alt problems etc that is the problem.Steve

[wopass]

the whole being upside down doesnt worry me, been there done that has been a few years since ive been upside down tho...must be driving like a nanna and the ignition system i have kills everything off the key (hand made loom ) BUT, if i have to have an isolator i will have to re-rout the monster cable from inside the chassis rail from the rear (where the battery is) to the front and make it go inside the cab... not ideal ... trying to think of a good way to do it... will ponder some more.... have 2 weeks to get it done...as well as make my trailer able to carry the truck as its in a few pieces

[meatc]

Dude you got heaps of time.

My list
fit b pillars
tin top
mount twin batts (and mod wiring to suit)
reinstall front clip and finish inner gaurds
repair f/glass bonnet (has front corners missing)
put ply on rear tray
mount spare and highmount and ground anchor
mount prs
build spot light roof bat
paint new tray framing and new front bar and winch mount
mount winch
repair fibreglass doors
Plus a whole lot of other stuff I have prob forgotten
Like I said in an ealier post it may get paint and it may not.

Just as well I have next week off work

[new2zukes]

id say you better get onto it then lots of little things are always a pain.

[new2zukes]

id say you better get onto it then lots of little things are always a pain.

[monstr]

Hi Darin,Just re-reading through all the posts and cant find the answer so can you confirm that if we hold a log book in challenge class we only need a current WOF ,Cheers

[DieselBoy]

How soon can you guys let us know what number we are going to be??

Need to know ASAP so we have time to call in favours from people to get something half decent made up, other wise its just gonna be done with a white marker pen

[darinz]

Logbook equals current WOF only. Challenge class should have a logbook!

Kill switch isn't needed for club class but it is highly recomended.

Go to http://www.4x4challenges.org.nz/series/teams/
to register and get you number. The list of available will be bigger soon so maybe you'll be able to get the number that you want later on. We won't release people numbers until we have confirmed they aren't racing this year and haven't raced for 2 years. Everything else is on that webpage.

[darinz]

Last weekend we planned the stages so this weekend will be marking of everything and modifying them depending on the weather. Anyone with a spare day on Saturday is more than welcome to come and give us a hand.

There will be a ground anchor! One will be available for club class if you don't have your own.

There is a stage designed for Aaron. about a 200m run up before a river crossing. You will have seen the crossing as it is right by the start box so should make for a few big splashes!!!

There will be plenty of winching but most should be quite short and techincal rather than 30m swamps.

We don't expect you will have to damage you trucks at all but we can't plan for the 'muppet factor'. The site is quite open so damage and viewing should be pretty good.

I will contact all of you later this week to confirm the number scamping onsite. We just want to make sure we have enough facilities for you.

Lastly, for those that have said you are coming but haven't got you entries in yet, get your shit together! We have a lot to organise and not knowing if you're going to be there makes it very tough. Anyone who hasn't sent there entry form in yet will be penalised at scrutineering. Those that were there last year know what I mean

[wopass]

Last weekend we planned the stages so this weekend will be marking of everything and modifying them depending on the weather. Anyone with a spare day on Saturday is more than welcome to come and give us a hand.

There will be a ground anchor! One will be available for club class if you don't have your own.

There is a stage designed for Aaron. about a 200m run up before a river crossing. You will have seen the crossing as it is right by the start box so should make for a few big splashes!!!

There will be plenty of winching but most should be quite short and techincal rather than 30m swamps.

We don't expect you will have to damage you trucks at all but we can't plan for the 'muppet factor'. The site is quite open so damage and viewing should be pretty good.

I will contact all of you later this week to confirm the number scamping onsite. We just want to make sure we have enough facilities for you.

Lastly, for those that have said you are coming but haven't got you entries in yet, get your shit together! We have a lot to organise and not knowing if you're going to be there makes it very tough. Anyone who hasn't sent there entry form in yet will be penalised at scrutineering. Those that were there last year know what I mean

IN THE PROCESS OF FILLING OUT THE FORMS ETC NOW MATE..oops caps

made payment allready tho did you get it ?

waiting on confirmation of truck number

i wanna see some monster 70m swamp winches

[darinz]

Got your money
I'm waiting on 4 people who have said they are coming but haven't sent their stuff through.

And you definitely will be taxed at scrutineering!!!!!

[wopass]

Got your money
I'm waiting on 4 people who have said they are coming but haven't sent their stuff through.

And you definitely will be taxed at scrutineering!!!!!

paperwork is in the post now mate

taxed?? your not allowed to remove 50m of my rope!!!!

or is that beer tax

[darinz]

It all comes down to gaining favour with the officials. We are not above bribery Be advised that the preffered bribery method is cool liquid refreshment! Our mate Jim or something of the green bottle variety seems to work best.
But seeing as you drive a Toyota there is no chance of it being any help to you anyway!

Did we mention these events are about having fun! If it wasn't for the guys we race against, most of us wouldn't do it!!!

PS I don't want any stinking Toyota contaminated rope!

[meece4x4]

Dam it's a pity that it's a closed event, some of us plebs with w*nkmoble's (aka IFS 4x4's) would liked to have rocked up and meet you lot of undesiables since your in the hood'

psstt anyone need a water boy on the day???

[darinz]

Give me a call and we can sort something out. 438 7985 work, 0275 330637 or 436 1992 hm. No cell coverage at home though.

There is always room for someone who wants to get involved but it will require you to give us a hand for some of it. eg ,arshalling time keeping etc. No experience needed but the right attitude is essential.

And it's in Lovells road so really close to home for you!

[monstr]

Hi Darin,Will the site be sign posted as we wont get there untill dark ,and im bad enough trying to find something in daylight let alone at night.Cheers

[darinz]

Yeah we will have signs up. There will only be one as the other turn is at the last set of traffic lights in Whangarei so pretty easy.You will only have to make a couple of turns depending on where you are coming from.

[monstr]

Hi Mate what i meant was when we get to lovells rd ,(i know where that is) how far up the road is the property were running on ? will we be able to see the woolshed from the road? Cheers

[smiddy]

heya darin, maybe a help to some people if you could provide dirctions by means of a map to the exact competition site? if u have already i havnt looked at it haha, oops my bad. looking forward to the comp, should be good.

[darinz]

It is 2k up Lovells on the left hand side and the wollsheed is right by the road. We will also put a sign up before it so it will be really easy to find.
I sent a Link out to a google map in the original info but will be sending something else out over the weekend giving you last minute details, instructions and a map.
I also need to know who is camping and who isn't but will get you guys to email me that info to ensure we get it all acurate.

And it is still raining up here so it is getting wetter. Imagine that a comp in Northland and it will be wet and muddy!

How deep do think is OK for a river crossing I love setting tracks when I'm not racing!!

[monstr]

Hi mate Bonnet depth ,need to slow those V8 s down somehow seriously though i would think around the 1 mtr to 1200 mark would be fine ,any deeper and you might end up with a few dead trucks ..

[darinz]

Oh well we will find out on Sunday when we test the river!!! Not really sure but the flow is up a bit so could be interesting.

[smiddy]

yea what steve says, river crossing dont really need to be bonnet depth, wheel height is sufficient i think.

on another note, when i got my truck re-vinned a while ago, they went right through the cab to see if it has had water through it, when i questioned martin walton (nz trials competitior) about it, he said that any vehicle that has had water through the chassis and body MUST be taken off the road and 95% of the time are written off by insurance companies. So by having water crossings that are very deep is just going to cause future headaches for competitiors and may impact on the sport in the future also. Something for track setters to think about - not that i mind deep water crossings or anything, just thought i would mention it.

however would love to see how gene battys seat heaters in his hilux go in bonnet height water crossings - mite end up with a sizzled arse

[mudslut]

we are going to be camping

[darinz]

The water and writting vehicle off issue has always been around and is pretty much irrelevant as long as you do real maintenance and wash you truck completely! eg inside the chassis, inside the inner guards between the chassis and the body etc.
Not wanting to start a fight about it but a normal swamp crossing can end up with bonet deep mud and that is far worse than a bit of water.
All we are really talking about is maybe as deep as the stage at Vegas on Sunday morning.
The only time I've had significant water inside my truck was when my dumbass co-driver opened the door up in a deep hole. Then when he tried to slam it a piece of wood floated in and stopped it closing. Water and mud was tunnel hieght! But it took no more to clean up than a normal day in the mud.
Basically this is an issue that is part of the sport and you just have to manage it and it is just about maintaining your truck.

PS Maybe there are no river crossing and I'm just trying to wind you all up!

PPS Just what we need is something to speed Gene up!!!!!!!!

[mudslut]

could not of put it any better

[wopass]

heya darin, maybe a help to some people if you could provide dirctions by means of a map to the exact competition site? if u have already i havnt looked at it haha, oops my bad. looking forward to the comp, should be good.

for me (no snorkel) i would go for 1.2m ish

but haveing said that i think the smaller vehicles (club class zooks?)would have seriouse problems with it if it was more than 800mm?? to 1m??

and im camping in the back of the 80 next to my 40

[darinz]

You can always camp in the woolshed if you can handle the smell

I'll post a couple photo's after Sundays test to see if you are all happy!
As I wouldn't want any of you to be to think I didn't care.......


Yeah Right