fbpx
Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Blogs

  • Is a bow wave a good idea during water crossings?
    A recent discussion came up on my Facebook page about the merits of a bow wave during water crossings, so I thought I’d re-examine what to me seemed a self-evident truth because it is always, always, good to take another look at what you do as cars change over time, or assumptions are found to…
  • That Snow Recovery, and Kinetic Recoveries in General
    Yes, I have seen the failed snow recovery video – lots of people have sent it to me, thank you all as I don’t always get to everything of note so I don’t mind the resends. We should all be grateful to Caleb for the share, but I feel there are a few conclusions which…
  • Jeep Avenger EV non-4×4 to be released in Australia
    Jeep’s first-ever BEV, or Battery Electric Vehicle will be on sale in Australia from Q4 2024. That’s BEV, not just EV, as Jeep have had a hybrid Wrangler for some years now. A BEV has one power source and that’s the battery. Now about that non-4X4. “A pure expression of “concentrated Freedom”, it is the…
  • INEOS are launching the Quartermaster Cab Chassis
    INEOS just emailed to say the Quartermaster Cab Chassis is being launched. They say it has a “class-leading combination of off-road capability and load-carry versatility, coupled with comfort, safety, refinement, and features of today’s driver standards.” The Quartermaster is essentially the Grenadier as a ute, sharing, far as I can see, the same engine and…
  • Should you drive and winch?
    NEVER DRIVE AND WINCH! LET THE WINCH DO ALL THE WORK! I’m sure you’ve heard that before. Some manufacturers actually deactivate the winch unless the car is in neutral, or restrict its use to certain modes e.g. not in Park. But is this a good idea? As ever, it depends, but the short answer is…
  • The Responsibility of 4×4 Influencers
    Ever wondered how cavemen learned? It was by watching someone do something and then replicating that action. That’s the way humans have always learned, how skills were handed down from generation to generation. The watch-learn mechanism in your brain is also exactly why advertising is effective. Even showing you the logo of an advertiser places…
  • How to take a tracking photo
    A tracking shot is when you shoot from one moving vehicle to another. Here’s how this shot was done. First, you need to find a suitable road. To get the sensation of motion – blurred wheels and background – you need a slow shutter speed. That means camera shake is a problem, so you fix…
  • Why Australia should have a national towing licence
    Crash after crash. “People can’t tow.” Well you know what? We’re not born with the ability to drive, let alone tow. Now you may have been lucky to have learned about cars and towing by osmosis since you were a nipper, but that’s hardly the case for everyone, and my experience of such people is…
  • How to reverse winch
    Can you winch yourself backwards using your front-mounted winch? The only people who say electric bullbar-mounted winches aren’t all that useful are those that haven’t owned one, or just restrict their driving to dirt roads and the like. For the rest of us, the electric winch is fantastic; can pull you out of almost anything,…
  • How do you calculate pulley efficiency?
    A 2:1 pulley rig will, in the frictionless world beloved of physistics, offer half the effort for twice the force, albeit with double the distance. So that means you pull in two metres of winch rope but you only travel one metre forwards…but instead of needing to pull say 1000kg, you need only pull 500kg.…