Saturday 18th December laning in Wales

[karl webster]

Great write up cris/gav.

Mummy had a telling off on the phone tonight as i said i was a 30 year bloke!!!!!!!!!!
One thing mummy did teach me tho cris was how to keep on the road!!!!!! She always told me to keep my wheels on tarmac
Good job veggie mux is good at pulling.

Anyway lads. Whats all this about black smoke??? Veggie mux doesnt smoke at all and neither does daves truck. Yes we had a chat about it on the cbs on the way home and we decided that no smoke comes out of either truck.

To be honest cris i think your right, Think gavs camera must be ready for the bin.

Your write up did make me chuckle cris with the hat situation and the grubby bloke bit.First time i came lincomb i was in my good cloths and had my cv go so got coverd in oil etc. Wrecked my expensive jeans so now i come on the trips on full tramp gear.Everytime i leave the house something goes wrong.

Crispin camping was great we all loved it,wasnt cold at all mate

Anyway all good fun

 

[karl webster]

You can come next time jonnie as long as the wife gives me a spare set of keys for your truck so we can get you out the sxxt a bit easier

 

[Chris]

Karl, I think that you'll find that it says grumpy, not grubby.

I'd never call anyone grubby, that would be rude.

Chris

 

[SpinDrift]

Hi All,

Group 2 set off on the first green lane after a suitable interval. The first part of the lane was fine. We drove in Group 1’s tyre tracks. It was up hill and covered in snow, but not a problem at all. About ¾ of a mile into the lane the track became steeper as it approached the top of the hill. Initially not a problem but then there was a particular stretch where the snow was packed down hard and was polished to a glass finish by the previous group’s tyres. I tried to climb this part several times but could not get enough traction but in the process my wheels continued polishing the surface making it more slippery. At one point I slid back about 15/20 metres towards Jonnie’s LC thinking ‘Oh sh**’ while shouting a warning on the CB. I had absolutely no control. Somehow I came to a stop within a couple of metres of him. Talk about butt clenching!!

Chris and a few others came forward to see if they could help and we did make some progress with the help of some mats (Where did you get them Chris?) but at one point following a bang I came to a standstill. Oil (hot grease) could be seen trickling down on one side and the bands securing the boots on front diff side were off. At this time there was no option but to go back. I can tell you that reversing/sliding ¾ mile down an icy hillside track with limited manoeuvrability is not a pleasant experience. At one point I partly slid into a ditch and had to be winched out by Chris.

Back at the RV I had to call it a day. At this point I found that reverse had developed a grinding noise and no movement. I had forward drive (as long as it was not polished icy hills) so figured I could hobble home. No such luck. Within a few minutes on the road I was hearing new noises and had to call for a flat bed, arriving home 30 hours later!!

Not sure what the damage is yet. It is definitely a transmission problem but I need to have someone take a look! Could be a cv, shaft or maybe even the diff. Given that I seem to have lost reverse I am fearing the worst.

On the bright side, my diesel costs to get back were zero.

I am sorry the incident might have ruined the day for the rest of you, although I suspect that even the rest of group 2 would have struggled on the final part of the climb. Many thanks to all for your assistance.

I will volunteer to lead again, if there are any takers ....

Many thanks to Jon for organising.

cheers

 

[Chris]

Reinhard, no question of you ruining the day. All of these activities pit man and machine against the elements. The elements have a pretty good track record so far. I have been there as have most at some point. Shame we couldn't do a roadside fix for you. 90's are not so easy to fix as the 80. Glad you got home OK. Let us all know what the problem is. I can't figure the reverse thing at all.

The very handy yellow mats which are excellent in snow are from CCC Go Outdoors. In Sheffield, but there are nationwide branches. They are for caravans actually.

They don't seem to be on the website, so I shall have a look at the product and post later. Cheap, lightweight and bloomin effective.

Had a search - these are very similar things.

http://www.towsure.com/product/411-Grip_Tracks

Chris

 

[spackrackman]

At one point I slid back about 15/20 metres towards Jonnie’s LC thinking ‘Oh sh**’ while shouting a warning on the CB. I had absolutely no control.

Yep.. I thought it was going to be messy. I was looking back and suddenly heard the panic over the radio, I looked up and there you were sliding (fast) towards me. flapping like a girl I had no idea where reverse was and at about two meters till impact I finally managed to pull it together and move back.

I am sorry the incident might have ruined the day for the rest of you

nonsense! all part of the fun! and if it did I have to take half the responsibility!

 

[SpinDrift]

Hi guys,

yes, you are right. There is always the possibility of mechanical failure when taking part in such activities.

I think yesterday also highlights the risks of the sport. The slipping and sliding on the hillside track certainly brought these to the fore. We always need to be aware of the risks in order to prevent accidents. Some of our trips have been sedate 'strolls along a green lane', so it can be east to push the risks to the back of our minds. However this is a motor sport and we always need to be aware of the risks involved, However yesterday was severe, so the level of risk was significantly greater.

Cheers

 

[karl webster]

Cris, Reading it back,funnier still. Must learn to read better!!!!!!!!!! Didnt find it rude mate.

As group two found out on there run where The leader of the group started sliding back. I had the same with jon. He was going up the hill infront of me and started coming back towards me,i droped it into reverse and went backwards. Jon had it undercontroll, even tho i did panic quite alot.

When we first set off jon said on a few different parts of the lane to give each other plenty of room. To those comments i didnt see the dangers at first. As the day went on i soon realised that myself for sure does travel to close to others most of the time. We have had problems in the past with those types of conditions.
This is where Driving with people with experience really helps you build your own skills.

karl

 

[Chris]

I have wondered just how well any of us in group two would have managed that first section (the bend) after everyone had been over it. Might have been a winch challenge that one.
When I drove on fresh snow, I had no problems, but being at the back it was getting pretty polished.

Chris

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I think you would have been ok with more momentum Chris. I don't know how the guys behind me found it but we went most of the way up the hill at a fairly brisk pace and then I pushed us on a bit faster up that section. Easy to call in hindsight but pushing through the fresh snow up there gave a lot of resistance and on some of the down hill sections the other side it took a fair amount of throttle just to move forwards! Anyway, in slippy conditions it's always best to leave a lot of space, for the guy in front to slip back or for you to catch him up unexpectedly

 

[karl webster]

Did find traction ok through the day really. we had been over part of the lane three times as a group. I had no lockers as a few of you have heard over and over again.
The only time i did find bit demanding was where some got some good pics of us on the second lane where gav lead great bit but i had to give mux some serious hammer to keep me going. Pop wasnt very impressed but it was great fun in the snow.
karl

 

[Gav Peter]

Lockers schmockers - I only needed them once to get through that gate I didn't open properly I didn't find driving on the compacted/polished snow on the roads too bad but it would have been interesting to try 'Jon's hill' to see if MT's would have made an impact on it... It was quite a sight watching the 100 luge'ing backwards down that slope!!!

Spot on weekend though - we'll look forward to you navigating again soon Reinhard Hope you get the truck sorted out without too much 'wallet-damage' - have you managed to have a chat with Paul @ WCO yet?

Cheers

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Shame we didn't stop long enough for you to try it Gav, would have made for an interesting comparison and we had plenty of time in the end.

 

[Gav Peter]

Aye, I regret not trying it now... Worra bottler!!!

I think I was a little put off seeing you bouncing around up there Jon!!!

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Always better to come home regretting not finding out if it would have made it than coming home with a bent/broken truck, it is just for fun after all?

 

[Gav Peter]

Especially after the events leading up to this

 

[SpinDrift]

Hi Gav,

Yes I have spoken to WC and to a recovery company. Hopefully will have the vehicle transported tomorrow but they won't actually start work on it till after Christmas. Looks like I am going to be grounded for a while. The LC was also my daily drive so its a bit of a pain.

cheers

 

[SpinDrift]

Always better to come home regretting not finding out if it would have made it than coming home with a bent/broken truck, it is just for fun after all?

Yes, I think I agree with that

 

[karl webster]

Come on then Jon when's the next trip?
My name defo on the list please.
Time to open another post me thinks

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Don't know when I'll be out next yet Karl but I'm working on it