4WD Training » 2Taylors

Driver Training

Posted by Elizabeth at 8:47 pm

Dec 052010

Last weekend we undertook our first 4wd driver and recovery training with the Toyota Land Cruiser Club at their Willowglen property near Goulburn.

The weekend was fantastic! We tackled roads that we would never have even contemplated attempting previously. We learnt how to negotiate steep, walled creek beds full of rocks. To traverse steep tracks full of deep holes and covered with gravel, wind our way through the bush and do water crossings. Recovery training was also part of the weekend and we learnt how to winch, use snatch straps and hi-lift jacks.

On top of that we met some great people and will hopefully be putting our new skills into practice with some club trips before we leave. (We are doing a trip in September with them).

I think we both feel a whole lot more confident in our ability to make our way around Africa and tackle the roads ahead!

Sand Driving

Posted by Elizabeth at 11:16 am

Dec 192010

This weekend we did a sand driving course with the Toyota Landcruiser Club at Stockton Beach. We had a great time! Once again, it is amazing what our cars can actually do. Whilst I don’t think we’ll be driving over sand dunes in Africa, we will definitely be driving on sand tracks and the course has certainly helped us to understand the basics for sand driving.

Trip to Koolandilly

Posted by Elizabeth at 1:20 pm

Jan 162011

Last weekend we did our first 4wd trip with the Toyota Landcruiser Club. After meeting very early at Hazelbrook, we took a leisurely drive past Jenolan Caves and out to Kanagara Walls. Here we took a walk down to look at the walls and to visit a cave. Back on the road and before too long we were into 4wd territory. Our car handled terrifically, hardly slipping in the thick clay descent whilst some vehicles were slipping sideways down the hill. There were a number of water crossings through out the day, one was deeper than it looked with a large rock in the middle but all in all they weren’t too bad and we crossed them all without any issue. Around 5pm we arrived at the club property which is close to Wombeyan Caves. The property has lots of grassed areas close to the river where you can camp and was really quite civilised with showers and toilets. We will definitely be visiting again for a weekend.

Weekend Practice Trip

Posted by Elizabeth at 8:38 pm

Feb 062011

This weekend we joined a trip with our 4wd club to practice our new skills. To say we got to practice a bit is an understatement! Some of the tracks we tackled were pretty full on for our stock standard Prado! We spent Saturday wandering the tracks on the club property at Willowglen. There are numerous tracks on the property with varying degrees of difficulty and plenty to put our skills to the test. For those that know the property, most of us decided to go UP the opposing wheels and the road building tracks for a challenge. The Prado made it up both, which is pretty impressive. There were a few tracks we didn’t try considering the guys with lift kits and lockers were having difficulty! (See the photos).

Sunday we took the long way back to Nowra through Monkey Gum Road. What a great experience! It was pretty challenging for both the driver and our Prado (a lift kit would have been useful!). If we can get through that road we should be able to tackle anything Africa can throw at us, well at least where we are intending to go. Not so sure we’d make it through the Congo! A few minor casualties to a couple of vehicles but all in all a great day and excellent practice for us. Not so sure though we’ll be tackling anything so full on again with our stock standard Prado, but we’ve done it, we survived and it was excellent practice. The photos just never do it justice, it was about 100 times harder than it looks!