Bushranger 4WD gear gets serious with SUVs
November 27, 2008 by Anthony Crawford
Some sound advice from Mick McCulkin of Tri State Safaris who often works with the Bushranger development team, who says to lower your tyres to around 20psi before hitting the dunes and then if you need to, drop them further by 1psi increments only.
Bushranger reckons that the ideal recovery kit would include a decent quality snatch strap, a couple of bow shackles and a 12V powered air compressor (with tyre pressure gauge) for reinflating tyres once you come off the beach.
But they also advise to kit up with some additional items such the wonderfully effective X-Tracta hand winch, which with a little bit of elbow grease can pull you out of almost anywhere.
Dig a little deeper into that recovery kit, and you might find some sand tracks, a tyre repair kit (a must at $39 and dead easy to use) and one these marvellous inflatable jacks called the Xjack Exhaust Jack, which any able bodied person, no matter what age can use effectively, within seconds.
Let’s just say you wake up one morning and decide to plan a trip from Alice Springs across to Western Australia in your Nissan X-Trail. You might want to add a set of side steps. Always thought those things looked like 4WD accessory overkill to be honest, but how wrong was I.
As well as being helpful for getting in and out of your SUV or reaching the luggage (even washing it), they provide panel and paint protection from the constant pounding by stones kicked up by those brutal corrugations you so often find in the Outback.
Driving lights are relatively cheap and should be mandatory, if you intend covering long distances in remote areas. They will afford you ‘road ahead vision’ so that you may avoid colliding with wildlife together with providing plenty of warning for Road Trains, which inhabit those parts. These can be fitted to Bushranger’s brilliantly compact XBar without affecting the car’s integrity.
I have had a Bushranger Max Air compressor as shown in photos for 5 years.
Has been great on our beach runs, inflates a tyre quick and was a lot cheaper than some of the competition.
It sure makes the Subaru Forester look like it had to work extra hard when a VT Commodore wagon made it on the beach (in the background of the photo with CEO Evan Black)…
Brent, you’re not too observant are you old mate. The commy wagon along with tents etc are clearly on the flat hard packed ground as opposed to where the Forrester is in the foreground. The Commodore would not make 10 metres in the soft stuff before the Forester driver would need to hook up the snatch strap and pull her out.
Yes but Anthony I’m sure you’d realise it had to get there somehow, and I’m fairly sure a helicopter didn’t drop it down there…
I’ve been there with my best friend and his sky blue combi following his dad. As we tried catching up to dad in the 4WD, we launched over a dune and all his dad saw in the rear view was the underbelly of the 1960 van.
A kodak moment.
Most people would be surprised what a bit of ground clearance can get you. 4WD’s can be overkill.
Where you get to depends on how you drive it. Surprising what happens with lower tyre pressure and lower speeds. I did 60,000km around Australia in a 1986 L300 4wd campervan ( full Suncamper Conversion) with a 2l petrol. The advice on tyres can not be ignored, I did it on BF Goodrich All Terrains and did not get flat. I travelled the Bloomfield Track & Lakefield NP, remote parts of Kakadu, Mereenie Loop, Gibb River Road, Cape Leveque etc.
I took one of the Bushranger Air Jacks but did not use it. When I tested it before I left it worked as expected. Tried to used on my current Troopy and it burst.
Can anyone attest to the capabilities of the Forester on the islands of SE QLD?
Darren,
I can attest to the 2007 Turbo manual ability on SE QLD beaches. I have personally driven ours fully loaded (seats folded packed to the roof and full roof rack) in Kinkuna National Park (Bundaberg) Very Soft sand and steep narrow gravelly beach. Burrum point, soft sand track entrance and about 8km of beach, Rainbow beach and Leisha Track, Noosa Foreshore, Freshwater camp ground, Stradbroke Island Flinders and Main. I am heading to Fraser for a week in September which will be our last trip in it on the beach as my wife will be giving birth soon after and we simply won’t fit the baby in next time!
It actually went more places than a 2004 V6 Hilux, I went up dunes and through soft tracks faster and easier than the Hilux because of its leight wieght and WRX like acceleration.
I have plenty of photos and videos of it tackling beaches with ease. Just rememeber to let the tyres down to 18psi and get a subextreme bash plate.