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.
In the picture below I had forgotten to engage the diff lock and got stuck on a fairly easy bit, I decided I needed to winch out before noticing the difflock was not engaged!
In the picture below I am suffering the classic Jimny problem. The ruts in the track are so deep the differentials are high centred and it was impossible to go either back or forward. So I had to winch up the hill.
All in all a good day, but it ended on a down note. The clutch has been giving signs of being worn during the last few events, it emits smoke and smells of buring as soon as the going gets hard. By the end of the day it was going "bang, bang, bang" everytime it was released as it slipped until some grip was available. So here comes the "How to change your clutch" article!