Bush & Hills Off Road Challenge
& Recovery:

If you enjoy a off road challenge and are making regular trips to the bush for some 4 Wheel Driving you could expect to get stuck from time to time, especially if you’re a bit adventures.

Most bush land/state forests and national parks in W.A. and the rest of Australia for that matter are large to simply huge in size. So getting stuck in the bush with no recovery gear or companions

to help out can pose serious problems. A passer-by may not come down that particular track you’re stuck on for days or even longer.

There are many different ways of getting stuck in the bush; bogged/stuck in mud, damaged or disabled 4x4 during a steep hill climb, cross rutted in the wet and taking on an off road challenge too hard to continue and too hard to back out of!

Any terrain requires lowered tyre pressure. That includes mud, rocks, gravel trails and clay tracks. Over inflated Tyres will damage the tracks,

increase the chance of getting stuck due to less traction, put unnecessary stress and wear to the 4x4's tires and drivetrain.

An impossible hill climb can become easy by just lowering the tyre pressure!

Snatching up hill.

General Bush recovery situations:

The winch is the most powerful recovery aid in the bush and may be the only way in some situations.

If traveling a solo vehicle the winch will pay for itself should you get stuck, providing there is something to winch off. A solid tree makes for a good anchor but if there is nothing to winch off the winch is no help.

Traveling in convoy an anchor point will always be with you, another vehicle can be the ultimate anchor point as it can be moved around to suit.

Other than the winch there is the snatch strap, a fast way but less controlled given the sudden forces required to make it work.

Very effective if stuck in a river crossing as the winch will take too long allowing water to enter the vehicles cab, not a good thing to have happen.

A snatch strap is a very effective in recovery situations requiring a speedy escape or momentum to break free. Sticky mud is one of them.

Advanced Winching tips and tricks:

Follow this link.

Steep hill recoveries:

General info only.

Hill climbs are exciting and can be a great off road challenge. We all love them (well most of us do), not making it up the first go happens to us all and sometimes someone will get stuck half way or nearly at the top.

If reversing down is not safe or this is the 5th attempt and the vehicle can't make it to the top for whatever reason it may be time to get the winch out.

If the vehicle has a winch simply find a good tree that is solid and will allow the desired direction in which to continue up the hill.

If there is no tree then use a vehicle at the top.

Remember you just need to get the vehicle past the tricky/though section, just far enough for the vehicle to continue along on its own power.

Stalling on a hill:

Stalling during a hill climb is not uncommon, especially when taking on the steeper ones. Most of the time it's easy to just restart the engine, selecting a gear (1st low or reverse) and releasing the handbrake and away you go.

On the real steep hills leave it in gear with the handbrake on while you access the situation and take your time picking the safest option (forward or back).

Some hills are so extreme it's dangerous to reverse down given the lack of vision. The deep rut you may have gone around before will be near impossible to reverse over.

In situations where you can't go forward due to lack of traction and going back down in reverse is too extreme get the winch out!

If no winch, then lower the tyre pressures even more and try again in 1st low range gear.

Stalling on a hill is likely to happen to you or a mate and it’s just part of the off road challenge.

Starting problems on steep hills:

Fuel injected vehicles don't really have any problems restarting on steep hills if a stall occurs.

A carbureted vehicle on the other hand will struggle to start again as gravity will be working against the fuel reaching the engine. This can be a dangerous situation to be in.

First thing to try before anything else is to get someone to spray WD40 into the crabby and then try and start the vehicle again, that should work, but if it doesn't I hope someone has a winch to pull you up or slowly lower you down the hill.

Reversing down a steep hill with no engine powering your brakes is extremely risky, do everything to avoid having to do this.