I attended a 4wd training day conducted by the Landrover Club of the Australian Capital Territory on the weekend. It was conducted about 60km north of Canberra on a members 5000 acre hobby farm (grows firewood). The area is hilly, scrubby country with a number of firetrails and tracks.
I attended in the Haflinger and played with the big boys comprising some Lancruisers, Jeeps, Landrovers and other makes. The main aim was to show the different drive systems in various vehicles and how well they cope in terrain with deep holes (we call them wombat holes) that test wheel articulation and traction. After that we all went on a 20km drive scrub bashing in convoy.
Here are some pics
The property owner's temporary camp
The first wombat hole - the tubby driver didn't help with stability
Coming back the other way
Going this way the fat boy helps with stability
Day finished and about to leave for home
The Haffie went really well but the Wombat Holes really showed up the advancement in modern 4wds and their electronics over older systems. The limited travel suspension of the Haffie caused some problems and with only one front wheel on the ground steering becomes almost non existant but overall even without diff locks engaged, drive is maintained. The star was a modern Landrover Discovery 3 (LR3) that just drove through with no drama but the Haffie is much more fun
When driving from the meeting point up the highway to the farm I was in convoy with the modern vehicles and this is where, and as expected, the slower speed of the Haffy really shows up. On the flat I could keep up with the 70-80kph convey speed but hit a hill and speed drops down where the modern vehicles maintain speed. It is not as noticeable when you drive by yourself but is very noticeable when with modern vehicles. Offroad though, everything changes as I was easily able to match the big boys and had far better manoeuvrability.
I now have a dash cam in the Haffie and some other video but I do not have the software to make up a clip from the different formats so I may put up some video later when I work out how to do it.
It was a fun day.
Cheers
Garry
Oh PS - bouncing around highlighted where my occasional brake fluid leak in the cabin was coming from - even though the reservoir is only half full fluid is coming out the cap when the little truck is being bounced around. I guess it is not seating at the top properly. I have the same issue in my 101 so maybe new reservoirs all round are required.