Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006 at 19:15
Hello again "Our Fing" and fellow Boggers. My comments are more for everyone reading this, as you sound experienced, but this relates to you as well.. Two things will make or break the trip:
The major issue in the trip will be timing. It is important to be watching the weather, and when the tracks are graded... A few calls to the Locals might be in order, as the washed out, rutted up, rotten track after a dozen storms, is nothing like the track after it has dried out and a grader run through... This is true everywhere, and you probably already know this, but it accounts for the different reports like one saying "Horrible, diff locks engaged, 15 km per hour, all day going 100 km" and the next person saying: "I don't know what all the fuss is about, it was a beautiful track, no worries"... Ha!
Second Important Issue: Interestingly on the damage front as you have asked about, there is an anomaly of occurence of minor damage... Now this is not necessarily a scientific indicator, and the statistical base is not large enough, but it appears those going to the Cape with Fords have done more minor damage to their vans or personal cargo, than those with Landcruisers... This is primarily the fault of the driver, in using too much available power which in the Fords off-road can be excessive speed on the vans, where the Cruisers barely had enough power to do it in rough going so they tend to travel at a slower pace... The Fords just breeze through rough tracks with long wheelbase comfort and heaps of grunt. Also, some of the Fords are a bit overloaded with boats and motors and freezers and such, and have added air-bags on the back. This tends to stiffen up the rear of the suspension too much and make the ride a bit hard on the van… What people really need to do is manage the available power to suit the ride on the van, not just use all available power in a big hurry all the time, and this goes for all tow vehicles- Even your V-8 Cruiser. With Fords, they need to relax, and not use all the power available and just slow down a bit. The longer wheelbase of the Ford allows them to travel over rough tracks with more comfort than the shorter wheelbase of the Cruisers, so people in a Ford just tend to travel faster, hence more potential for shaken up goods. (Da Ranger knows from personal experience: Owns and towed with both for many many moons).
Further proof? I have had Landcruiser people mention in traveling with the Ford towed vans: "They always ran ahead and were there already waiting up for us"... Or words to that effect.
The key to minimizing damage, to the van or the contents and personal gear and goods chafing the fridge and such; is really Driver self control. Now that is really simplistic, but it is the root of almost all damage done, and you need to take it easy; not as fast and hard as the tow vehicle is capable of doing. Rather, "take it easy", and the ride on van and cargo will be a breeze. Most of the damage done to van or personal goods is self-inflicted by people getting in too much of a rush. They need to slow down and leave the "Big City Push" attitude behind, slow down and enjoy the process and not be so "Goal Oriented"... The purpose of a trip to the Cape, should not be the "getting there" as there is nothing up there. The purpose should be enjoying the trip along the way.
My biggest regrets in travel have been to breeze through a magical spot, in too much of a hurry to get to an imaginary agenda, and then in hind sight thinking: "Gee I wish I had just stopped there and wandered around that area for a little while"...
Anyways if you follow these guidelines, you should have no problems...
Regards, a few words for all from da Ranger
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