I did the Dewildt trail last Saturday with the new (to me) 4.8 to get to grips with it. Went with some mates, one with a Fortuner and one with a hilux d4d.
Ive done Dewildt a couple months before with my previous GQ Patrol, so I knew there was nothing extreme to worry about this time.
We started the trail a little differently, instead of starting in the normal direction we went to the right, and started at some very rocky obstacles. At first glance it didnt look too bad, although it was almost impossible to even walk up the rocks as they were so slippery, but still, I wasnt worried. The fortuner went up with very little fuss, then it was my turn. Man, did I make a meal of it - I realise now that I should have been a bit more patient and let the tyres down properly, but I thought I would be fine. I slipped and skidded all over the rocks, and really struggled to find any kind of throttle control - this is my first automatic 4x4, man did I struggle, I just couldn't be smooth, the throttle was either on or off, so I was lurching forward through the obstacle, and with every lurch over a rock, the towbar or bumper would smash into the rocks as the vehicle bounced through! I eventually took it out of low range to try and reduce the sensitivity of the throttle. It was serious amateur driving, and by the time I got to the top I was ready to call it a day and go home!! So on the first obstacle I had spun out about R1000 worth of new BFG tyres, ripped off the rear mud flap thing, and torn the underside of the rear bumper!
The hilux then went through with a bit of spinning, but no where near the drama of me.
After that it was plain sailing though, the mud and cross axles and everything else were as easy as anything, and in true Patrol fashion you look for the deepest ruts and axle twisters and steepest climbs for a bit of a challenge.
Gert se Klip was nothing as well, even though it was very slippery from the rain, at least I kind of redeemed myself there as the hilux and fortuner didnt get it on the first try like I did.
So ya, at the beginning of the day all I wanted was my old GQ back, and I was really not a happy chap, but by the end of the day I was happy again.
I think when I get the proper suspension on that will help alot too, the suspension in at the moment is extremely soft (and very dangerous I feel), so that should help things.
Oh, and next time I'll deflate the tyres properly too!
Heres some pics:
- Lifting wheels on the first obstacle
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- IMG_5121.JPG (291.58 KiB) Viewed 6709 times
- IMG_5138.JPG (397.74 KiB) Viewed 6709 times
