Turbocharger Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 After Christmas I led a group of three vehicles out around the Peaks to enjoy some good scenery and see if we could find anything to tax the newcomer to our group, a bog-standard Suzuki Jimny on road tyres. After a few muddy rutted lanes south of Bakewell we headed towards Sheffield and crossed Houndkirk Moor: Both the Ninetys were taking it well despite some snow still lying where the sun hadn't caught it, and the Jimny was surprisingly composed over some very rough ground. Encouraged, but mindful of the conditions we headed to Stanage, down hill and with the Jimny leading so we had the two winches behind it in case of trouble. The Jimny struggled a little with ground clearance to the radius arm mounts (some big clonks!) and was a little short of wheel travel, but very impressive for the toy offroader we all thought it was. Some lovely scenery up there. The ramblers lined up silhouetted like the Mafia from the Italian Job to watch our red, white and blue convoy, but none had a bad word to say (to our faces) and most were very impressed with the Jimny in fact. Buoyed by the good, dry conditions and the ability shown by the Jimny, we decided to have a look at Roych Clough. This Discovery was at the top (after Mountain Rescue had retrieved the owners) - a bad omen perhaps? I have more photos from about 3pm on 28th December if they'd be of use to the owner, please PM me. We headed on down the track, as slowly as possible with the Jimny in the middle of the convoy to give best chance of recovery if it got beached or stuck. Bearing in mind that it was growing dark and the temperature was slipping towards zero, we tackled the steps individually - some were rather large which was a little concerning for the Jimny! In fact, the Jimny bounced down fine, with just a couple of scrapes to the radius arm mounts. However, the second Ninety didn't fare so well, slipping on the wet/icy rocks and one wheel climbed the bank just as another dropped down a step, and the whole car tipped slowly onto the driver's side. Everyone was ok, no injuries and the situation was safe with everyone out of the car within 5 mins. With two support cars and six people, we felt able to tackle the recovery although we needed to winch the Ninety from behind - the best car was mine, but it was at the front of the group. We looked at the ground to the side of the lane but didn't want to cause any more damage than was entirely necessary, so with no time-critical issues I drove the rest of the lane (which I am familiar with, albeit twelve months ago) down to Chapel and then back up to come along behind the stricken Ninety. The rest of the party planned the recovery and waited in the warm Jimny. With a group of four in the right clothing and state of mind, I had no qualms about leaving them. Once back with the group, we put a winch cable on the bulkhead outrigger to pull sideways and from behind, got everyone uphill of the recovery and pulled it back onto the bank. Carefully re-entering the rolled car through the uphill door, it was driven on RH lock back onto the lane with a combination of the starter motor and winch cable, until squarely back on all four wheels. We checked the oils and fluids, topped up a little lost engine oil and assessed the damage: one bent sill, one bent mirror arm (but no smashed mirrors or glass!) but a rather distraught Brownchurch roofrack. In truth, I think the rack took the impact of the three-foot fall and saved the rest of the car and its occupants from further damage. With everything and everyone checked over, we drove the rest of the lane with similar caution and then headed for home. I don't mean this writeup to sound overly cautious but I don't want to be tarred with the "gung-ho" attitude that I assume other groups have had when I've seen six or seven vehicles out laning, tackling banks and ditches which aren't on the ROW and treating vehicle rollovers as entertainment. This was a serious incident for our group and we were very aware that we could have seen damage, injuries or worse, during the roll or during the subsequent recovery. We did consider calling mountain rescue when the vehicle rolled, but thought they'd see us as stupid for ringing when we still had two working vehicles. We also considered leaving the recovery until the next day, for better light and warmer temperatures, and indeed this was our backup plan if the simple winch righting had failed. Overall, an enjoyable day but with a two-hour pause for thought at the end. Impressed with the showroom-spec Jimny though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharger Posted January 1, 2010 Author Share Posted January 1, 2010 Can a mod delete this thread please? Stupid me clicked again, thinking nothing was happening... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T1G UP Posted January 1, 2010 Share Posted January 1, 2010 Jimnys on my list as they are very capable once lifted with some decent tyres Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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