4X4

Is a rear locker any good in sand for towing?

9 April 2021 Robert Pepper

Reader question: “Hi Robert, I hope you don’t mind me asking a direct one on one question. I have a 2016 200 and tow on sand quite a bit. ABH, that kind of thing. I have generally been very happy with the traction control but feel the one situation where it lets me down is […]

4X4

Should I take a camper trailer into the Victorian High Country?

23 March 2021 Robert Pepper

Question from a reader: Hi Robert, I appreciate your informative Youtube videos and appreciate your approach to explaining things. I am looking a purchasing an offroad trailer, with most of my 4wding is in the Vic high country I would like your advise on how (or to avoid it altogether) to deal with tricky situations […]

4X4

Let’s try and understand Land Rover and Jeep owners

10 March 2021 Robert Pepper

This dates back from 2005, but I think it’s still valid today. Most of us decide on a vehicle, and use it. Sure, if you do well with a particular brand you’d be inclined to look for vehicles from the same manufacturer, but you wouldn’t necessarily stick with them, or start a small collection. That’s […]

4X4

Why didn’t I measure the return force?

24 February 2021 Robert Pepper

Many people have watched my video on Pulley Efficiency where I figure out just how much energy is lost on snatch blocks and snatch rings: And there’s one question which keeps coming up, so I’m answering it here in a blog post. And that is: Why didn’t you just attach the second loadcell to the […]

4X4

When I sold my Defender

23 February 2021 Robert Pepper

This is the sad story of the sale of one of the finest vehicles I’ve owned, or that anyone could own for that matter. Of course, that would be a Land Rover Defender 110. I say ‘sale’, but while money changed hands, I don’t like to think of it as a sale any more than […]

4X4

Land Rover Discovery 2 ute conversion

19 February 2021 Robert Pepper

From the archives of 2011… Utes have come a long way in recent years, with improved comfort, ride, handling and all-round performance. Even the bodies look new and stylish, but if you look beyond the panelwork the current crop of utes are very similar – and a long way behind the technical advancement of the […]

4X4

RED Winches release the Recovery Ring, a snatch ring with bearings

17 February 2021 Robert Pepper

Snatch rings have been around for a while now, and one criticism has been efficiency…or lack thereof, compared to a conventional snatch block with bearings. I’ve done some testing and found that the concerns are rather over-stated, and the efficiceny of a ring is much closer to a block than has been reported and that […]

4X4

How much can I carry on my roofrack?

16 February 2021 Robert Pepper

Worried about your roofrack load limit, or your car’s roof load limit? Every vehicle has a roof load limit, which for modern 4X4s is around 50-150kg – but that’s very much dependent on the specific make and model of the vehicle, so check your car’s limit and don’t assume one close to it will be […]

4X4

But MAXTRAX are no good in mud!

16 February 2021 Robert Pepper

First time I heard this I thought it was a one-off. Then I heard it again. And again. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Traction ramps are great in any compression terrain (term I’ve learned from Bob Wohlers). Sure, they are most famous for use in sand, but they work very well in mud too, and the techniques […]

4X4

You can get mechanical advantage from a snatch block that doesn’t move

13 February 2021 Robert Pepper

A pretty frequent comment on my videos about winching physics is one like this: and this one: So let’s be clear. It is entirely possible to gain mechanical advantage from a snatch block that doesn’t move, such as in the title photo. And, you can’t count the number of lines coming “from” the load…it’s the […]

4X4

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