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Going off road for the first time


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I've been convinced by my neighbour (not that it took much) to go to a play day at speen at the weekend.

Now this will be the first time I've taken my 90 any where more off road than my allotment

Does anyone have any tips on what to do and more importantly what not to do?

Any tips on how to deal with slopes?

Thanks

Steve

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i would say speen is a good place to start, its very small, muddy but solid underneath so plenty of traction. Theres two holes with deepish water, the smaller hole you cant really get out without winching.

its the type of place you go once

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keep your thumbs on the outside of the steering wheel.

Dont go too mad.

If unsure, dont attempt it.

Dont be affraid to ask for advice/help.

Failed hill climbs- Always use reverse gear to go down, dont freewheel.

Try to use low gears for descents, not your brakes.

have fun!!

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I have always found an excellent rule is to find someone with a similar vehicle to yours, and either ask them if you can tag along or just follow them around for a bit. Then it's a simple case that you can watch what they do, how they drive it, and then you know that if they can drive it you should be able to as well.

I tend to start off slowly with most things, if the vehicle stops going forward you can usually stop before you dig yourself a hole and reverse out. Then try again with more throttle if it looks like it might work.

As for the rest of it, there's not-too-bad advice for newbies on David Bowyer's website here if you can ignore the fact he's trying to sell you a winch and all sorts of other equipment.

A few rules to avoid making yourself unpopular:

- Have a towrope & strong recovery points

- Be prepared to get yourself dirty attaching the tow-rope if you're the one who got stuck.

- Don't be too ambitious, if a truck with huge tyres, lift and lockers ploughs through something and only just makes it out the other side DON'T then decide to see how far you can get in your stock 90.

- Be careful about who's doing what with recovery gear, some people have a rather happy-go-lucky or gun-ho attitude to recovery so if you're not happy about what's going on, FFS say something or least least stand well back. Search for "dangerous recovery" on this forum for examples of how not to do it, and the consequences when it's done that way.

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  • 2 weeks later...
- Be careful about who's doing what with recovery gear, some people have a rather happy-go-lucky or gun-ho attitude to recovery so if you're not happy about what's going on, FFS say something or least least stand well back. Search for "dangerous recovery" on this forum for examples of how not to do it, and the consequences when it's done that way.

Can't agree with this more - don't be afraid to say NO - especially where recovery is involved.

I once turned down a snatch recovery, because the chap who offered had a strap wrapped around a drop plate and wanted to use that to attach to our snatch rope. Rather annoyingly one good snatch at that point might have got us out, rather than the three hour long mammoth wiching session in a blizzard that it turned into, as the vehicle sank further! I am still happy with that decision, because failure of the rope is potentially catastrophic!

Most of the best driver I have met have built up there skills gradually rather than thrown themselves off at the deep end!

H

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dont drive into water unless you know how deep it is

dont cross fast flowing water thats deep

dont drive (single vehicle) somewhere you are likely to have a problem

if you cant stand on it, then its unlikely to take the weight of your vehicle

always have an escape route

dont drive flat out into a green wall when you havent got a clue whats coming next

dont drive something loud and offensive in the countryside - its not impressive, it hacks everyone off

drive with consideration to other traffic (moose, walkers, tank transporters, atvs, mushroom pickers, large logging trucks)

never drive under the influence of a Finnish dwarf

erm.... ahh... hat, coat, slink out of side door........ :(

in all seriousness, it cant hurt to join a club, meet people, watch, ask, learn :)

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Some quality sound advice there.

Especially the dwarfs and camera pointing

Seriously, thanks fr the advice.

It didn't happen the other weekend but I'm itching to get my 90 muddy so it won't be long before i have this thread stuck just above my head so I can see where I went wrong

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