After a long week at work, we packed up the truck and headed off for the We-Leaser to be ready for our driver training starting Saturday at 8.30 am.  Greeted by Bob and Monica and the fellow DTU guys, Neil, Steve, Troy and Simon. This team was bravely backed up by Bev, Tappy and Cheryl.  Accolades have to be given to these members who tirelessly give up their weekend to assist others in developing their skill and competency in developing their 4×4 driving and recovery techniques.

To begin the morning we did a fairly comprehensive vehicle safety check, as you would each day when heading out 4x4ing.  Engine check of all fluids, hoses, belts, radiator, battery and any filters.  An interesting task for someone 5ft 1, and definitely a different perspective than Simon’s 6ft 4. At one point he encouraged me to lean over further to get a clearer look at the filter connection.  I was already standing on tippy toes on a stool, there was no more further!

Then a check over of the vehicle, a good shake, rattle and roll. Check of the tyres, wheel nuts, under chassis, lights, roof racks and a little hint here, check your recovery and tyre changing facilities as we will write about a little later.  A little drawer envy was felt by others in the carrying capacity of a bloody good ute and it’s ample space to carry containers of replacement fluids, hoses, belts and bibs and bobs.

We had a refresher on the stall start recovery technique.  An important technique to perfect.  To refresh others…

Step 1- stall the car                                                                                                                            Step 2- foot on the brake and apply the hand brake                                                                     Step 3- put the car into reverse                                                                                                      Step 4- release the hand break                                                                                                      Step 5- slowly release the foot break until the car is holding its own weight                              Step 6- check behind you, that your rear exit path is clear                                                     Step 7- quickly flick the ignition on                                                                                              Step 8- slowly reverse to a more level position.

 Next onto changing tyres. Another little hint here.  Pack your tyre changing equipment securely, particularly any smaller pieces such as Allen keys or patterned keys to lower your spare etc.  You may think you know where a piece is but it can easily rattle and dislodge.  Luckily, in our tyre changing exercise there was another Landcruiser 100 series that we could take the spare from. Here we learned that there is an easy technique to changing a tyre!  What a handy tool a long handle shovel can be.  After learning to carefully chock a car, we practiced walking a tyre in to match the studs then levering the tyre up. Now that was easier than we had done 3 times previously!

We then began to practice our snatch strap recovery.  Protocol is such that if needing to be recovered, we use equipment of the stuck vehicle, so long as it is in good condition and appropriately weighted.  We each had the opportunity to be recovered and to recover others. This ensured we had the opportunity to feel what it felt like in both situations.  As a sideline here, and remembering this is written by a proud Nissan owner, the only problem we had in this exercise was that the Navara refused to be ‘stuck!’ I drove into the ditch 4 times in an attempt to have one wheel off the ground and no matter the angle, she just rode with the terrain. (Guess that’s because she’s not a Jeep!)

At this point in time it was a well earned break for lunch. Please be sure to ask Bob how his lunch was, and Simon too for that matter.  What would they do without Monica and Cheryl?  Oh I know, Simon would forget his lunch had been packed in Bob’s fridge and Bob would think, wow, not only do I have the makings for a chicken wrap but Mon has left me a wonderful ham sandwich too!

Now it was onto the track work with our friendly trainer on board.  The tracks were not difficult, care just had to be taken on wheel placement to negotiate a few larger obstacles.  With standard everything on the Nissan and a very low clearance height, I did sadly on one occasion scrape her belly.  With Simon and I having a check underneath at the next stop, we realised how few options there were to avoid, sump, diff or transfer case as they sat staggered across the chassis.  Well, I’m going to have to be very careful now to perfect that placement as the margin of error is greatly reduced.  Over a few minor creek crossings, just to have some fun and then onto track based scenarios of stall starts and tyre changes.  The tyre change and snatch practice in puddles made for some dirty fun. The thing to remember is to take that break if needed before making decisions, have a cuppa if that what it takes rather than rushing in to a decision.  Sadly no tea break here with Sergeant Bob on the job.   Back to base for our Q&A session as the lovely Monica, Cheryl and Bev cooked our yummy BBQ dinner.

 Our short break after dinner was then followed up by an easy cruise through tracks to experience the perceptual changes that occur when driving at night.  A back creek crossing on this occasion was interesting in the dark. (Where was Troy’s nuclear blast bright light bar when you need it?)

The beautiful Dungog night sky shone for us as we finished our evening by the fire.  In closing, I’d like to reiterate again what a marvellous job our DTU team does and how very grateful we are for having this opportunity to improve our driving techniques.  Many, many thanks to Bob, Neil, Steve, Troy, Simon and their very helpful back up crew of Tappy, Monica, Cheryl and Bev.

Narelle and Maria