Life’s too short for boring cars

I’m Robert Pepper, a journalist specialising in 4X4s, sports cars, towing and camping. This is my professional site where you can find out more about what I do and check out some of my work – I make videos, write books, blogs and articles, and maintain an active Facebook page. Here’s my latest writings:

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

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,

INEOS Grenadier – High, Low and Locked?

The INEOS Grenadier has a four position transfer case which is rare these days, but has taken some owners by

Who can weigh my caravan/trailer in Australia? List of mobile weighbridge professionals

I have produced a lot of content explaining how towing works; what the weights are, what causes sway, offroad driving

Some INEOS Grenadier deliveries delayed – Jan/Feb 2024

The INEOS Grenadier has been much anticipated and many customers have been waiting a long time for their cars. In

What width rim do I need for my tyre?

This was a question from a YouTube viewer: Well, a suitable rim width for a tyre isn't an "opinion" thing.

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

A pretty frequent comment on my videos about winching physics is one like this: and this one: So let's be

The difference between 4×4 and sports car owners

Both car enthusiasts, but so very, very different. Why is it so few people are both? Directions required to a

« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 … 37 Next »

And more about what I do:

Video

My YouTube Channel is where I create videos explaining how things work, techniques to use and plenty more. It’s a bit different to the average automotive channel. I don’t do hyped-up enthusiasm, insincere product promotions or gush about awesomeness. I also interview people with interesting things to say for my webinar series.

Facebook

I’m proud of my Facebook page where a small but loyal group of people interested in my work discuss all sorts of related topics. It’s a tough crowd at times, so knowledgeable but fair.

Calculators

I’ve written two calculators, one for towing weights and the other for tyre sizes.

Books

I’ve written four books, and you can find more about each of them on this site:

The 4WD Handbook – a very comprehensive book on offroad vehicles, covering how they work and lots of different driving techniques.

The 4WD Glovebox Guide – designed as a field reference for offroaders on trips, covering key driving techniques and instructions such as tyre repair. The Glovebox Guide complements the 4WD Handbook which is more detailed.

4WD Treks Close to Melbourne – describes twenty offroad trips accessible to all levels of driver and vehicle, each of which is less than two hour’s drive from Melbourne’s CBD.

GPS Vehicle Navigation in Australia a specialised offroad navigation book.