Help with 4wd and safety tips

[waka]

Hi guys I'm new to 4wd I'm wondering g if there is any one keen to show me some basics to 4wd also safety and equipment that I should need. I'm not going to be doing series stuff just towing boat up rivers or driving the truck up rivers, a cross rivers etc. any help would be appreciated.

[mudlva]

i would suggest in joining a club plenty of good fellas around your way

[waka]

yip will do what clubs do people recommend here in chch? very keen to join and learn,

[WRNGLR]

hey mate, local clubs offer good advice, but if that isn't your thing I found a hi lift jack ( with a decent flat base to put jack on and somewhere strong on your truck to jack up on, can also be used as a hand winch ) a spade or shovel, and a couple of long strops will get you out of most stuck situations.

But still a club or similar to show correct use of aint a bad idea.
cheers

[Mudde1]

Club contact details can be found here.
http://www.nzfwda.org.nz/clubs/c67/

[kiwipete]

Club contact details can be found here.
http://www.nzfwda.org.nz/clubs/c67/

Not all clubs are members of NZFWA either, this one is a good club too http://www.cr4wd.org.nz/.

[waka]

thanks guys for the help i will make contact with a club and go from there and thanks for the info on the hi lift. looks like a good purchase for me whats the cost involved for one of these?

[juz]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-par ... 946650.htm

They come up on trademe often for $1 reserve from Topmaq.

[waka]

cheers mate so you think this should be what i need for the rivers here in chch? instead of a winch

[WRNGLR]

cheers mate so you think this should be what i need for the rivers here in chch? instead of a winch

these are good for lifting wheels to put stuff under to gain traction ( more rocks or logs etc for height under diffs if you get bellied). also called a farm jack at some places.
Areal good accessory to go with it is this thing called a lift mate
http://www.4wdbits.co.nz/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=4030, can lift the wheel without lifting the body first, or this but you run the risk of wrecking ya bumpers etchttp://www.4wdbits.co.nz/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=4031
hope this helps some

cheers
Greg

[waka]

The jack and the lift mate seem the go. I really appreciate your help I think I will invest in these two items. Do you think these two items will work better than a winch? Would I need a winch with these two items?

[tomsoffroad]

Personally I'd but a Hi-lift jack first, They're about 1/10 of the price of a winch. They work very well when used correctly.

[mbw]

Unless your loaded or planning on winning big wednesday and can afford to buy pretty much every accessory out there, I would really recommend going on a couple club day trips.

You'll pick up some good tips and techniques, safely. Also see what gear is necessary and whats could be bought at a later date as you get into it.

Just start off with the basics, make sure you have good recovery points, proper snatch strap and have a look on the club websites, most have minimum requirements of equipment. generally a good start.

[WRNGLR]

I've managed 5 years without a winch now, have had to do a bit of digging on occassion but you learn fairly quickly where you can and can't drive, rule of thumb I guess is "if you can't or won't walk through it, then you probably won't or shouldn't drive through it" keep in mind things like wheel placement, and it's easier to cross river heading downstream with current rather than fight against going up, shallower the better etc , atleast till you get more experienced or cocky and need the adrenalin rush.

cheers
Greg

[waka]

yeah i thought about how useful a winch would be on our shingle bed rivers with no where to winch from. The high lift sounds great and versatile

[WRNGLR]

you could still use a winch in a riverbed, but it would involve some serious digging in rocks, not much fun at all and take a bloody long time. The idea is to bury your spare tire as an anchor, but there is a certain way to do it so it doesn't just pull out of the ground, but like I said serious digging and not fun.
Don't disregard the mobile phone either, have had to ring a mate a couple of times to come and tow me out because I didn't listen to my own advice.

[mbw]

If your going to be doing a lot of river driving and have a winch then invest in a Lan-cor ground anchor. good bit of security if your by yourself.

http://www.lan-cor.com/

[waka]

even work on river beds here in chch? would it be hard work getting that into the shingle?

[Sadam_Husain]

even work on river beds here in chch? would it be hard work getting that into the shingle?

if it dosent work you can always dig a big hole and bury it in the riverbed and winch off it

[waka]

great just bought the high lift jack that juz suggested that was on trademe. Purchased it for $77 thought this is a good start and obviously essential just need to learn how to use it.

[WRNGLR]

great just bought the high lift jack that juz suggested that was on trademe. Purchased it for $77 thought this is a good start and obviously essential just need to learn how to use it.

good move mate watch ya fingers when ya disengage lever to let it down.

[Smurf]

The most important things to remember with a hi lift jack are, Always have the handle in an upright position before clicking the lever down to enable you to jack downwards, and NEVER have your head or body above the handle when operating it. If you slip or let go of the handle it comes up with a lot of force behind it.
I have been laid out by the handle coming out of my grip while using the jack.

[mbw]

even work on river beds here in chch? would it be hard work getting that into the shingle?

Yip, obviously takes a bit longer, but works well.

[waka]

Thanks guys for the tips sounds like these can pack a punch like TYSON if you get on the wrong side of it. I also need to get recovery points done, where is the best place to do this and how much ?

[Swamped]

Worse than tyson I lifted the end of a 40ft shipping container with mine the other day, if they decide to do the funky chicken on you the handle looks to move at almost light speed.

[Gravity]

great just bought the high lift jack that juz suggested that was on trademe. Purchased it for $77 thought this is a good start and obviously essential just need to learn how to use it.

Have a look on YouTube there are a number of videos on there. I am at the same stage as you but have resisted the purchase of anything yet except snatch hooks and snatch strap to get me past the club safety officer. The club I have joined advise not to go out and blow money on accessories until you know to what extent you are going to get into it. I am not even sure where on my truck I could easily place a high lift jack yet. Just a question for the experts, a couple of people have told me that the cheaper jacks are made in China and may be of inferior quality. What is the general feeling on that?

[3VILC]

Worse than tyson I lifted the end of a 40ft shipping container with mine the other day, if they decide to do the funky chicken on you the handle looks to move at almost light speed.

I can vouch for that, mine had a wire clip to hold the handle up against the spine, but long since bent out of shape and no longer 'clips', and when that unforeseen gust of wind blows the handle down off its sitting position thats all the force it takes to release the pin and inertia will do the rest with a great force until the weight comes off the jack. I generally try not to leave the mechanism in the down setting anyway, and rest the handle at the point where it contacts the lift mechanism so it cant fall down and release it. But best bet is to use the clip if it came with one or fashion a big rubber band from a tyre tube or something to hold the handle upright. I see you can get a proper hi-lift branded 'handle isolator', dont know how well they work but probably a lot more expensive than a bit of old inner-tube They also make a good short haul emergency winch when used with a drag chain setup correctly, but it is F***EN hard work (i know that from experience too haha).
Other than that as others have suggested, don't go too crazy buying this that and the other accessory until you get an idea what your going to use. Hooks, a snatch strap, and a shackle or 2 will get you started. If you go out with a group, you often find between you theres enough gear to accomplish most things, and you can see what others have and what gets used, and what you might find useful

[crazyclark31]

high lifts are good to get outa truoble with but yeh be careful when using it to lower something. Mine slipped outa my hand once and handle smacked me on the side of the head, when i came to i was in an ambulance halveway to town. luckily someone was with me.

Best tips i can think of are 1) cross pointing down stream,2) usually the shallowest parts are just at the top of a ripple/swift bit. River is usually the widest and slowest at that point. 3) Keep wheelspin to absolute minimum when driving in the loose gravel beds. And lastly but the most important ,If there is any doubt walk it or don't go through. Better of having wet legs that you can dry off in warm truck that a wet truck.

The more seat time you get the better you'll get at judging whats good and whats not.

One other thing. If your looking at towing a boat around river beds then i'd be seriously looking at a decent winch. A high lift will get just your truck out (with some real hard work) But with a trailer on it just ain't gunna happen.Remember a water logged truck weighs a damn site more than a dry one.Add some river current and there is some massive weights involved
Get a big bladed ground anchor with a long tail rope aswell and it'll just just keep digging in until it grips.

[waka]

thank you gentleman great tips from you keep the tips coming please im learning heaps here from the pros