It was good to finally get back off-roading after a couple of months rebuilding the car. TV4x4's monthly event was at Avon Dassett, a quarry located just south of Warwick. Following a couple of days heavy rain the normally dry and rocky quarry was transformed into a mud-fest.

After our previous visit to Avon Dassett I found I had trashed the wheel bearings, brakes and Kingpin bearings driving the 80 miles home with the mud and water jammed in the wheels and axles. This time I borrowed a trailer so that I could strip and wash the car at home without destroying everything on the long journey. The trailer provided the first excitement of the day as the car tried to slide off the side of the trailer as I attempted to unload it, this was because the trailer was a tilting type with a plywood platform, very slippery in the pouring rain and mud.

So for out March event, TV4x4 went to Childrey Quarry just to the west of Wantage.

Being a quarry it consists of a lot of "ups and downs" and rock.

 

 

As a special treat we went over to the MacMillan Charity 4x4 Drive around at Slab Common. Slab Common is a military driving area where REME practice large vehicle recoverys. Therefore it is chewed up by tanks and strewn with wrecked vehicles. Some very challenging sand (they also practice Army desert maneouvres here) led to some sticky moments.

Thames Valley 4x4's February event was at the club's home site of Oxley's Shaw. Following the recent rain the site was the wettest its ever been, with simple muddy tracks seeing every scrabbling for grip.

The Jimny, with its relatively light weight and fat tyres struggled for grip. Instead of cutting through the mud to the grip below it floated on the muddy surface and ground to a wheelspinning halt.

These conditions really needed tall thin tyres in order to be successful.

January 2008 took TV4x4 club back to Speen. This small site to the north of High Wycombe provides muddy trails through woodland with a few hidden bombholes.

Just getting to the site was an exciting trip, early morning frost coated the approach road with ice which caught me out and saw the Jimny travelling sideways down the raod before I managed to the recover the skid.

Yet again the Jimny performed well, showing up a couple of heavier Landrovers (and heavy footed drivers!) with its much lighter approach. The muddy surface was very slippery which saw vehicles sliding off the track in all directions.

However the day was not without problems, by the end of our outing the brakes were making a terrible grating noise from the front which could be felt through the pedal, I suspect the front pads are worn down to the metal. Also the handbrake was jammed in the down position, perhaps something such as a branch is caught under car. Therefore we called it a day just after lunch and returned home to clean down the car ready for repairs!