Gary, Brett and Richie from this forum decided to rough it with some Vitaras  (Sorry Dave! - still he does have a Jimny for real driving!) for a bit of greenlaning.

So with it being the first Sunday of the month it was off to Nellies Dell. As always it's been a bit touch and go whether we would be able to go. The replacement (updated design) axle shaft retainers from Muddyzook appeared at the end of last week and had to be fitted before I could go anywhere as my use of the hub backing plate was causing problems. However, I decided that one of the rear wheel bearings needed to be replaced whilst I had it all in bits so I did that as well.

I managed to get the new axle retainers and replacement brake pads fitted to BigJimny last night (an updated article on fitting the rear disks will follow soon). Therefore we are ready for the Thames Valley 4x4 event this weekend at Nellies Dell, Hampshire - see DETAILS HERE - Does anyone else in the south feel like coming along?

Of to the TV4x4 monthly off-roading event, this month at Oxley's Shaw. We ran a tracking device so you can see where we went, if you track over to the left hand side of the overall picture and zoom in on the end you can see us going around the course!

Well not such a good day out. It poured with rain at Broxhead today and we got soaked through. Very quickly after arriving we were going to climb a hill in the mud run when there was a bang from underneath and we lost 4WD. Once we had winched out a quick inspection showed that the drivers side front wheel rotates happily on its own, so either the halfshaft has snapped or the CV joint has failed. I would put money on the CV joint as this is the weakest part and the steering gets very stiff on full right lock. I unbolted the freewheeling hub to ensure nothing could jam and we drove home very carefully!!! Also disappointing were the brakes, they were extremelt spongy and the handbrake was very poor. I guess I still have some work to do somewhere on the brake conversion.