Getting to know you ...

Ian Miles
Q: What 4WD do you own?
A: 1991 Toyota 80 series turbo diesel. Started with a 60 series.

Q: How long have you been wheeling?

A: About 20 years

Q: What’s the best place you have been?

A: Vic high country, Flinders Ranges. (We
won’t mention Lower Light)

Q: What mods are on your wish list?

A: Rear locker would be nice. Pipe dream-
portal axles.

Q: What is it that attracted you to CORE 4x4?

A:Not being forced to do anything, but encouraged to try.

Q: What has been your scariest moment when wheeling?

A: I chicken out before then.

Q: If you could have any 4WD what would it be?

A: Unimog

Q: What do you love about 4WDriving.

A: Doing things that you don’t think you can
and the feeling after you’ve done it.

Q: What other things are you interested in?

A: Anything with an engine. Love the sound
of a Merlin piston engine from a Spitfire
plane.

Q: If you could be anyone in the world who

would you be?
A: Anybody who doesn’t own a Patrol.
 Been there ...
GRAMPIANS
The Grampians trip, well where do we start? What a trip this was. We had a great turn
out with a total of six 4wds all up, with the BIGGEST group of children we've had on one
of our trips, and everything went fantastic!

Upon arrival everyone set up camp however, The 'Moonraker' clan were about 8 hours
behind due to a sick wife, well once the handbrake came good and gave me the all clear
we were off and we arrived at about dinner time. Well we're still not sure if it was us or
just a coincidence that the days to follow was something unexplainable when like clock-
work one person after the next, including most of the children, fell crook with the 24hr
bug that Rachel had, and only a few survived the trip without needing to spend a day in
bed with there head in a bucket! At least everyone got over it very quickly.
Sunday we decided to explore the “Hungry Ranges” however we had to wait for
another 4WD group so we spent some timeAfter
onarranging
the “test to meet the
track”. local aranger
I made point down
of
at the info centre we were able to find
avoiding the ‘bottomless’ puddle which apparently had claimed two other vehicles out
which tracks were closed and which ones
from different 4Wd groups over the weekend.
were still open and that crossed a lot of tracks
off our list (most of the good ones of course)
but that didn't stop us, there were still plenty
of tracks
We followed the Ridge Track over the Hungry around,
Ranges so offhad
which we went!!
many of the ve-
hicles lifting wheels whilst coming down a particularly steep section. Then we
Words can't describe the amount of fun we
followed an easy track around the base ofhad thewith
mountain before
some very longheading
and some upquite
the deep
Billy Goat Track. This was the hardest track waterincrossings,
the area deep
and succeed
enough thatin raising
'Black the
Baron'beat
heart in hisofJeep
manytook a nice in
drivers gulp
theofgroup.
water big enough that his
Approximately air filterupgot
halfway ona anice
verywash,
luckily no serious damage. Just
steep part of the track, a rock step and loose gravel made for a challenging obsta-
goes to show that we should
cle.
always remember the basics!!
 ... DONE THAT
Followed by some nice wet muddy tracks were a few more trucks managed to create
some havoc and get stuck needing the
snatch strap, Max Trax and even the
winch was used.

One incident that happened and again

highlights the need for safety was
when Bubbles was stuck in the mud
and after a few goes with the snatch
strap led to his factory rated recovery
hook at the front of his rig to break off
and set a new air speed record flying
straight over the top of my car and the
snatch itself leaving a nice dent in my back door! Thankfully no one was in the way.

Obviously God isn’t finished with us yet!

Well what else happened ... Oh Yeah 'Blue Thunder' staked a tyre leading to a rather
expensive upgrade with some nice new MTZ's, bugger
hey!!

The Halls Gap caravan park had some nice

fire pits, an there was plenty of fire wood
around, this provided us with a great fire
every night for the kids to melt there marsh
mellows in before bed, and for the rest of us
to sit around till all hours and tell some good
stories, and some not so good ones, with
plenty of laughs, a few coldies and even a few
reds while we get to know each other a
whole lot better. There really was some great
fellowship and great fun.

If you want to know some more well just have a look at the photos or catch up with one
of us who went.
See you on the tracks,
Moonraker out.
 What's Coming Up
DECEMBER '10 – JANUARY '11: 27/7/10 – 7/01/11
Grampians

FEBRUARY: 19/2/11
Kadina Quarry

MARCH: 12/3 - 14/3/11

LOVEDAY 4WD PARK

APRIL: 2/4/11
Spalding

MAY: 14/5/11
Pt Hughes

JUNE: 10/6 – 13/6/11

Langkoop
 What's Coming Up
JULY: 23/7/11
Spear Creek

AUGUST: 13/8/11
Quiz Night

SEPTEMBER: 10/9/11
Training Day and Articu-
lation Ramp Flex Test

OCTOBER: 1/10 – 15/10/11

Alice Springs

NOVEMBER: 19/11/10
Gawler

DECEMBER: 10/12
Morgan & Christmas Break-up
 TECH REPORT
‘RECOVERY POINTS’
What is a ‘recovery point’ ?
A recovery point is a convenient attachment point on a vehicle for connecting recovery
equipment such as ‘snatch straps’, winch ropes, chains , cables, etc for purpose of removing a
‘stuck’ vehicle. This ‘recovery point ‘ must be sufficiently strong to handle the high loads
encountered during a ‘recovery’ without failure.

Every vehicle should have at least one recovery point at the front & one at the rear before
venturing off-road. If you don’t have a recovery point on your vehicle & you need recovering you
may find that no one wants to connect their vehicle to recover you as the risk is extremely high.
There have been quite a few fatalities , not to mention near misses & vehicle damage, caused by
inappropriate recovery points being used so its of the highest importance that you ensure your
vehicle has recovery points up to the job.
If you find yourself in the position of
recovering somebody else, make sure the
recovery point is up to standard before
continuing because you ,your vehicle &
bystanders that are in the firing line
should something fail.

‘Rated recover points’

If you hang around off-roaders enough
sooner or later you will hear talk about
‘rated recovery points’. When we talk
about ‘rated’ recovery equipment ,we
mean that it has been tested to Australian
standards & can be ensured to handle the load stamped on it under conditions set out in those
standards.

The problem with ‘rated recovery

points ‘ is that only the actual
hook or eye is rated & even then
only in a straight line situation.
Unfortunately recoveries aren’t
always in a straight line , recovery
points are only as strong as the
mounting system & what they are
mounted to.
 TECH REPORT
This being the case the only way a recovery point could be rated is if an engineer (or com-
pany) was to be willing to rate the entire assembly, as a whole, for each particular model of
vehicle & assume responsibility if it failed. For this reason none of the major vehicle or after-
market parts manufactures are prepared to rate their recovery points once fitted.

Recovery points vs tie down or tow points

Adding further confusion to the whole situation is that vehicle manufacturers have to fit tie
down points to comply with Australian design rules & may also choose to fit tow points. Tie
down points usually are light weight pressed sheet steel or steel loops and are there to se-
cure the vehicle during transport (on truck ,ship ,rail, etc). They are not strong enough to per-
form a recovery with.

The other, even more dangerous, device is the tow point. These are designed by the manufac-
turer for flat towing (towing vehicle with all wheels on the ground) for break down situa-
tions ,etc. Many people mistakenly think these are factory recovery points as they are often
fairly strong looking but they are not up to the extremely high (many times vehicles own
weight) forces involved in some recoveries.
 TECH REPORT
How strong?
One off the favourite recovery tools to the offroader is the ‘snatch strap’. This device is similar in
operation to an elastic band , it allows the momentum (speed x weight) of a tow vehicle to be
transferred into pulling power at the ‘stuck’ vehicle. Consider a 2.5 ton Landcruiser going 30km/h
before the strap goes tight, that means the force exerted on the recovery point is equivalent to
that same Landcruiser hitting a brick wall at 30km/h. This is why ‘snatch straps’ are often rated at
8 tons or 12 tons for a heavy duty strap.
If the snatch strap breaks during a recovery it will spring back just like an elastic band ,
fortunately straps are fairly light & this limits the
potential damage should it hit something.
If ,however ,the recovery point breaks , you’ve now
got a heavy metal bracket ( & maybe) a shackle
springing back with tremendous energy.
So the answer to how strong is ,stronger than any
recovery straps ,chains ,shackles, etc that you may
attached to it. In most cases this will be 8 tons. Note
that a shackle rated at 4.5 t will have a breaking
strength greater than 18.0 t.

Some common recovery points

Many offroaders will utilise a strong towbar as a rear
recovery point either by attaching the strap with the
tongue receiver mounting pin directly through the
loop or with an aftermarket recovery point that goes
into the receiver. Both off these methods are generally
considered good practice since heavy duty towbars are
well made & mounted. Do not ever use the towball as
a recovery point as they can (& do) fail & you have
essentially a cannonball flying through the air. If the
vehicle hasn’t got a removable hitch type of towbar, its acceptable to remove the towball & use a
rated bow shackle (3.25t minimum) to attach the recovery strap.

For the front recovery points be careful using eyes provided

by ‘bull bars’, often these will be adequate, but only when
mounted suitably & using high tensile (grade 8 or better )
mounting bolts. Its always better when doing a heavy
recovery to use two recovery points to equalize the strain on
both sides of the chassis & reduce the strain on just one
point.
 TECH REPORT
This is achieved using a bridal or equalizing strap, don’t attach
snatch strap to it with shackle, but rather feed loop of snatch strap
through bridal strap.

Recovery point hooks vs eyes

Both are acceptable with pros & cons. Eyes will require a shackle
for attachment which means an additional missile should it fail but it
has the advantage of nothing can slip. They are usually fabricated
from mild steel which means they will bend & stretch a long way
before failure. Hooks are much quicker to connect & no additional missiles in a failure, but
straps can slip off. Also, they thin toward the end so if the pull is in this direction they are con-
siderably weaker than their rating. They are usually made from hot forged steel so they will
tend to be more brittle & will break suddenly with little deformation. An equally important
point is the angle or orientation that a recovery point is mounted on, this could make the dif-
ference between a good recovery point & a poor one.

So how do I make sure my recovery point is safe?

As mentioned above its very hard to categorically state if a recovery point is safe or not, but
there are things we can do. You can consult your owners manual to find out what points are
fitted so you know what not to use ,talk to aftermarket parts suppliers, your trusted 4wd me-
chanic,4wd clubs ,model specific forums & websites.
CLUB Photos
Cool Pics
We have some changes as a committee to announce that may upset a few and make
others breath with a sigh of relief. As a committee we have discussed the safety issue
when we are out and about on our CORE trips and have decided to make mandatory
the following changes which need to be followed on our trips.

1. Seatbelts must be worn by ALL occupants of your vehicle both on and off-road
as required by the Australian road rules at all times whilst vehicle is in motion
or on route to destination. This includes both children and adults.
2. No children are allowed to sit on the laps of parents whilst on CORE trips
whilst four wheel driving or on route to destination.
3. Only licensed drivers to drive the four wheel drives on trips and if you hold a
learner's permit then a fully licensed passenger must be present in the vehicle.
4. During a recovery only the designated people (usually trip leader) must coordi-
nate the recover and ensure safety is maintained prior and during the recov-
ery and his instructions must be followed as the third person of the recovery
(being the recoverer, the recoveree and the recovery coordinator)
5. As per our constitution and the excellent write up within by Marty (AKA Knight
Rider) you must have a recovery point on your vehicle, ideally two at the front
and one in the rear. Otherwise you risk no-one snatching you from your situa-
tion which I will enforce should you not have a recovery point.
6. Only the people who need to be in a vehicle should be within the vehicle dur-
ing a recovery, should there be an unfortunate accident where a recovery
point breaks (as it did at the Grampians) we will be minimising the risk of un-
necessary injury to persons.

I hope you all understand the reasons why we must put this into practice and be proac-
tive in what we do regarding this as your safety is of our concern and the last thing we
want is to have to call your next of kin explaining what happened. You may think this is
unlikely and wont happen and you may very well be right but there have been many
examples of deaths by people not doing the right thing like in the above points.
If you have any concerns in the above matter please feel free to speak to me ( Ben) or
any of the committee and we will be happy to answer your questions.

Thanks in advance for your understanding in this matter

Ben
Top Dog