Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2019 i NZ4WD

Narva has made it easier for technicians and home handymen to see what they’re working on in poorly-lit areas with the introduction of convenient, hands-free head torches. The new ‘Advanced Lighting Systems’ (ALS) Head Torch range, now on sale in New Zealand, is ideally suited to a variety of workshop, trade and leisure applications. It includes two rechargeable models (Part No. 71424 and 71462), both of which are worn with an adjustable head strap, allowing the wearer to maintain full mobility and the use of both hands, while benefiting from brilliant white light. Both ALS head torch models are magnetised, so they can be removed from the head strap and securely fixed to any metal surface if required. The tough housing features impact-resistant construction rated to IP65 for dust and…

Typical! What started out as another muggy, overcast – but dry – day in Auckland quickly morphed into one in which the sky darkened and the first fat, heavy raindrops splotched onto the windscreen of the trusty Terrano as I turned into the driveway at the Castaways resort at Kariotahi Beach. A hour or so later, as the gathered ladies and gentlemen of the press were being briefed on the features of the new, fourth-gen model, the odd spots combined to produce a soft veil of light summer rain. Then just as some of us were wondering if we were ever actually going to get to drive the thing, Suzuki NZ GM Tom Peck had to raise his voice as the light shower turned into a mini-storm blown in on…

Following 4x4Explorer on Facebook and knowing that I was in the Queenstown area, Scott Gray gave me a call asking if I would like some company and offering to drive down from Timaru. The answer was a strong YES and the next day, Scott and Steve Bate arrived. I was amused that Scott’s Toyota Prado is still the same purple colour that mine used to be. And I had to remember to watch what I said if he questioned me about the black rubber dip that now covers mine... Of course, the Macetown track is an absolute “must do” for any Overlander with a day to kill in the Lakes District. At 15 kilometres, it’s not a very long track, but the varying scenery, multiple river crossings and history, make…

Ground anchors are a great idea, allowing you to winch yourself out of trouble when there isn’t a tree or other suitable anchoring point in sight. But carrying around a large, bulky ground anchor isn’t always practical. Enter the locally conceived and made Lan-cor version. While traditional anchors are big and cumbersome, when packed in its carry bag the Lan-cor is less than half a metre long, weighs just nine kg and can easily be stored with the rest of your recovery equipment in your vehicle. New twist on old principle Not only that, but when you need it, it is easily unpacked and assembled into a strong, easy-to-manage anchor which, once set in the ground, is able to withstand enormous pulling loads in most terrain and, amazingly, is at…

Getting stuck may now be something you aim to do, just so you can put your Ironman 4x4 recovery gear to good use! Ironman 4x4 products have been developed in the harshest proving ground in the world – Australia, and have been the first choice for Australian customers for over 50 years. Sold in more than 120 countries, Ironman 4x4 will deliver the comfort and safety you demand as well as quality and value for money. Monster redesign Ironman 4x4 has totally redesigned and upgraded its range of Monster winches, including stronger motors, heavy duty casings, synthetic ropes, competition-style solenoids and are the only winch on the market with a motor breather. With two in the range, a 9500lb and a 12000lb and with the option of steel or synthetic…

Travelling once again with Gillian and Ashley, the first leg of this trip was to travel from Woodville to Dannevirke, using Pinfold Rd and Top Grass Rd to stay as close as possible to the Ruahine ranges, exploring the road ends along the way. Being quite close to civilisation, the main route and many of the side roads were sealed, and we only encountered a few short sections of well-maintained gravel. After a couple of less than exciting road ends that took us to locked gates leading into farm properties, we struck gold, or actually copper, with Coppermine Rd, an easy detour off the main route that ended at a car park at the boundary to the Ruahine Forest Park, complete with a grassy-banked stream perfect for picnics, and pools…

For me, getting to this Desert Defenders Offroad Club-organised event is a four-hour bomb North on SH1 early on a Saturday morning. I get a lot of joy seeing the other weekend warriors heading off on their chosen leisure time option, it doesn’t matter what it is, just the fact that you have got up and headed out somewhere. This particular Saturday there seemed to be a Drifting event at Manfeild, a drag race in Masterton, horses going somewhere, and mean mother truckers everywhere. The other thing that makes me smile is the billboard in Hunterville for Peach teats, “calves love them!” “Desert defended Mitsubishi broken Hearts broken Mitsubishi fixed Result!” Looking back on it, the big news at this particular event was just how serious our female competitors (aka…

On the weekend of the 6th and 7th of April 2019 the Auckland 4WD Club celebrated their 50th Anniversary. Three weekend events were arranged with the idea of bringing together current and past members, associates and friends to enjoy some memories from over last 50 years. On Saturday afternoon there was a Vehicle Car Park Show with some of the iconic vehicles from over the years accompanied by club trucks plus a select few of the latest 4WD offerings. In the evening there was an informal dinner with a few drinks and more reminiscing, while the weekend was completed with a drive on the Sunday afternoon. NZ4WD will have full coverage of the Golden Jubilee event in the June issue.…

April 20th – 21st 2019  Off Road Racing North Island Championship; Round 1 Hosted by All Terrain Racing Club at Makarau. Short Course and Enduro Course. www.oranz.co.nz April 28th 2019  Suzuki Extreme 4x4 Challenge; Back for the 5th year this is the only event of its kind in NZ and is created and hosted by CowperTrucks. Held at 2278 SH3 Turakina it will feature the top 10 drivers from the National 4x4 Trials season. This year the top 10 drivers and vehicles will get automatic entry through the new drivers qualification system meaning only the best from the National series drivers & 4x4 Trials competition vehicles in the country are eligible. With awesome spectator viewing, live commentary, steep hills, vertical banks, massive jumps, mud and speed, combined with good food,…

Mahindra’s new NZ distributor is an Auckland-based start-up called DDW, a company targeting the local SUV and Ute sectors with a range of new vehicles, financing, warranty and back up for comparable prices to an eight-year-old second-hand from Japan. As well, Mahindra has the rural sector in its sights pitching it’s traditional utes with conventional transmissions against Quads and CVT-equipped UTVs. Of course, anyone wanting an affordable seven-seat SUV or, more appropriately here – a double or single cab utility – will be welcomed as well. So what’s in it for the 4WD’er? If you’re one of those who laments the loss of the Lada Niva or is sorrowful at the sunset of the Suzuki SJ410 – chin up, Mahindra’s Pik-Up is here for you. We loved those little ‘battler…

Started 18 years ago by the Rodney club the event had been held on November each year, but reverted back to March a couple of years back and so it was again for 2019. Ahuroa is a small community in the Rodney district with Puhoi to the south-east and Warkworth to the north east with the northern railway line passing through the area. The line reached Ahuroa in 1905 from Kaukapakapa allowing exploitation of the forests and because there was a railway station the road between Ahuroa and Glorit on the western coast was chosen to be a highway in the late 1920s. These days the area is a mixture of farming and forestry, and offers some good four-wheeling with views of the Kaipara from high vantage points. Event base…

When your vehicle’s caught in a torrential downpour on a steep mountain track, stuck in knee deep mud or bogged in an isolated desert in sweltering temperatures, the reliability, performance and durability of your recovery gear is paramount. Don’t trust your vehicle to substandard recovery products that could jeopardise you and your vehicle’s safety. ARB’s vehicle recovery accessories are engineered and manufactured to the highest standards, making them ideal for recreational use as well as competition. Included in the ARB Recovery product line-up available here in New Zealand are the recently launched ARB Jack hydraulic jack and TRED Pro recovery boards, plus a number of different Recovery kit packages, winch options and individual products lines like winch extension straps, snatch straps and snatch blocks, tree trunk protectors, recovery dampers, recovery…

“We don’t know how lucky we are, mate. We don’t know how lucky we are!” as John Clarke, aka Fred Dagg, sang in 1975. Back then, four wheeling in New Zealand was relatively simple with the plantation forests managed by the NZ Forest Service and most other public lands by ‘Lands and Survey’. The Department of Conservation was not even contemplated by our politicians. It didn’t mean that access was unrestrained... just a bit more liberal and without squeals of dismay about mud getting into waterways. Personally, I do now have reservations about activities where muddy water is not managed so that it is allowed to leave a property in a discoloured manner, when it has been generated by vehicle activities. However, it does rain in New Zealand and it…

Many of the modern four-wheel drives coming onto the market these days lack a low ratio transfer case and instead are fitted with 6-8 and even 10 speed gearboxes with a very low first gear which is intended to be used only when the vehicle is off road. However the lack of a dual range transfer case is not entirely new with Land Rover launching the hugely popular Freelander in 1998 with a five-speed gearbox and what was then some ground-breaking technology, Hill Descent Control. Hill Descent Control (HDC) used the vehicle ABS braking system to control the speed of the vehicle while descending a hill. Since those early days a number of manufacturers are using similar systems in their vehicles including Volkswagen with the Amarok, BMW with its X5,…

Suzuki has upgraded its Vitara five-door for 2019. The updated model can be distinguished from the front by a vertical chrome accent/ five-slotted grille plus changes to the lower sections of both the front and rear bumpers, and from the back by new taillights which now incorporate LEDs. Suzuki has also added two new colours with bright Solar Yellow Pearl Metallic and Ice Greyish Blue Metallic and contrasting Cosmic Black roof. Inside there is a new 4.2-inch colour LCD in the instrument cluster which on the AllGrip models shows four-wheel-drive mode and hill descent control animations. All facelift models also get a new front centre armrest with console box. The upgraded model comes as standard with 17-inch aluminium alloy wheels fitted with R17 215/55 series tyres, keyless entry, LED daytime…

As regular readers will know by now, at the end of last year, we had agreed to sell our house in Auckland and move to the South Island, the true Mecca for Overlanding in New Zealand. Whilst we had done many trips away over the years, this was the big one! The Prado was not only going to be our means of transport but our home for the foreseeable future. This is the story of what we did to create our Overlanding home. Mechanical The Prado has always been regularly serviced by me and my father before, but I wanted to make sure that we weren’t going to run into any unexpected maintenance issues on our travels. The truck was fully serviced including all oils, filters, brakes, wheel alignment, etc.…

Want the trickest-looking Jeep Wrangler Rubicon this side of a Utah ‘rock garden?’ Easy. To show you just what you can achieve with a Wrangler, the official Jeep parts book, plus a ‘parts & accessories’ budget of a little over $33K, local importer Jeep NZ pulled a new ‘un out of stock and specced it up like a Boss! The result is a real head-turner, to the point when I had it for a week I spent as much time – or so it seemed – talking to punters about it as I did driving it. After years of being the 4x4 of choice of the true Tuff Truck set, Wranglers (in case you hadn’t noticed) have broken through into the mid-range ‘lifestyle’ market, as evidenced by the number of…

The type and amount of Recovery equipment that you carry depends on a number of factors. Included in that list are; the difficulty of the tracks that you will be driving, the likelihood of getting stuck, and the number of vehicles that you will be travelling with. This subject is vast and there are lots of very good videos available on the internet which you can watch to help you learn. So this is really just a quick explanation of the equipment that I carry and why. Starting out When I started exploring the South Island of New Zealand, I was driving a factory-standard Toyota Prado and my recovery equipment consisted of a tow rope. It’s probably safe to say that, in the early days, I got away with more…

Cookes first introduced their Snatch Master 4WD eight-tonne Recovery Strap to New Zealand over 25 years ago. After listening to feedback from 4WD club members, Cookes worked with a New Zealand webbing manufacturer to develop a high quality, high strength Nylon webbing that would offer sufficient elongation to aid recovery of heavily bogged vehicles. After some months of trialling various threads and undertaking many elongations and breaking load tests on manufactured strap samples, the first prototypes were finally considered ready for field testing. Snatch Master Recovery Straps were provided to several 4WD recovery event enthusiasts who put them to the ultimate test. The feedback received by Cookes confirmed they had a winner. With an in-house ISO 9001 accredited manufacturing facility, Cookes Snatch Master 4WD Recovery Straps will long remain the…

Aaron Rich is a Kiwi 4WD overland adventurer who returned ‘home’ in 2016 after living and working in the UK for ten years. With partner Sylvia he has a son and two daughters; the eldest is 10. Whilst in the UK Aaron bought a Mitsubishi Pajero (Shogun) and converted it into an off-road tourer suited to the type of (well) off the beaten track overlanding he prefers. To date Aaron and family have used their modified Pajero to tour 26 countries spanning North Africa, Europe, the Balkans and ultimately reaching as far as Turkey. After checking out what his own country has to offer 4WD adventurers since his return, Aaron and family are preparing to set off on a new international 4WD adventure. Commencing early May they will drive their…

A weekend event called. Yay, road trip, let’s go south! Wake up the camp fridge – it’s midsummer! Off to Otago, nice, lots to see, places to go. Some good 4WDing, though I probably won’t be able to get too serious alone and well laden. Tally Ho, across Canterbury Plains, smoko at Staveley, good coffee and a scone. Shortcut Geraldine’s main street, grab supplies and score a couple of historic Kiwi books from the second-hand shop who’s owner was selling up. Forsake usual back-roads route to Mackenzie for the main drag then bypass Fairlie and on to Burkes Pass and Lake Tekapo for a late lunch with a view. Nice day to travel though rather hot even using MS Windows A/C app. Cruise to Omarama, coffee and Lamington then into…

New Zealand’s junior off-road racers are coming of age at an alarming rate. The Kiwitruck classes seem to have stabilised around the originally proposed J and M types: non-shift, and a proper gearbox, manual shift, up to 250cc engine. With a new wave of young hotshoes on the way it’s a good time to take a look at the classes and how they work. J class (Junior) trucks are single-seat mini race trucks, custom built to a single design, with a nine bhp 270cc four-stroke engine. The class caters to drivers aged between eight and 15 years. Brakes are single-axle, though all-wheel brakes are optional. M is for Modified! M class (modified) trucks are single-seat mini race trucks, custom built to a single design with a 200cc four-stroke farm bike…