Being a complete novice to 4WD'ing, I thought I'd take the easy learning route and go to Landcruiser park and try out the easy graded tracks.
My vehicle is a GQ 4.2 Diesel with 2" lift and wearing 265/70 x 16 tyres. (30.6")
I had the missus, kids, and big esky full of ice, food & drinks in the wagon.
We had done a few of the easy tracks without any drama and I was getting the hang of it.
From Figtree camping ground we went Diaper Rd, Hawkins Rd, Sahara Sidetrack, and Ironpot Rd back to Kings Rd.
Decided we hadn't had enough yet, so turned right into Kings rd intending to follow Kings Rd around the park boundary back to Hawkins, back to Diaper and back to camp.
We arrived at a signpost showing arrows pointing left and right saying "Kings Rd"
I thought (without looking at the map) that I was at the Southwest corner of the park and that I had to turn right to continue North along Kings Rd.
The track narrowed and had a lot of grass growing in the middle, which I remarked on to the missus. I actually said "it looks like it doesn't see a lot of traffic."
We then saw a 'roo bounding alongside the track and I tried to catch up to show the kids.
If I hadn't seen the roo, I might have stopped to have a look at the map, to make sure what track we were on, as the long grass seemed unusual.
I continued around a bend on what I thought was Kings rd, and the track turned steeply downhill and a bit lumpy. After another 50 Metres or so, I got out to survey the track ahead as it looked decidedly scary. Big washouts, rocks, and loose dust. It was slippery on foot and I would have reversed back up the track if I thought I could.
So on we went...
Low 1st and crawling. Had to go over a slippery large rock on a steep downward slope. She started slipping in the loose gravelly dust, so I gave her a little more throttle to stop the slide and we slid and bumped our way to the bottom of the drop. At the bottom, there was a 90 degree right turn with a tree in the middle of the track that you had to go around. (tree had some scars from previous passers by.)
Tree was impossible to go around in one go, as track was very narrow at the bottom of the drop, so a mandatory 3-point turn.
I thought the worst was over with and we'd just climb up out of the gully on the other side.
Started up the track and saw the track was steeper on the way up, than on the way down.
Not only that, the track was strewn with large rocks that looked as though they were too big to get over.
There was also the loose gravelly dust that provides little grip.
I had to maintain momentum and just picked the least scary path and gunned the engine.
The wheels were all spinning, and we were just moving. We hit a couple of large rocks with a loud crunch, but managed to get out of there.
I think my heart rate was about a thousand beats per minute after that.
We had been expecting only a yellow rated "Very Steep" bit at the end of Kings Rd.
After much consultation with the map, we discovered that we'd actually gone down Cooper Corner, which is rated on the easy bits as "rough track" (yellow), with the steep nasty bits rated as "Very Steep Extreme" (Red).
After that, we decided to curtail our 4WD'ing activities for a while and went back to camp for a well-earned drink.
I must say that I was impressed with the GQ's capabilities. I don't think that I'll be taking it down that track again in a hurry.
I think luck was on our side getting through.
The only damage incurred was the drain plug on the front diff got a bit bashed around by a rock and also a small dent on the muffler.
The patrol lived to tell the story.
See map below with my path in green (outward bound), Red dot for where I made the wrong turn, and blue on the return back to camp. Where the Red dot is, I thought I'd been at the bottom left of the map.
Cheers, Ross.
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Originally Posted by pig75
