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Jeep Club, Day
trip, Scenic Rim, near Beaudesert |
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JeepClubs.htm |
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Introduction |
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Having just
bought a Jeep Wrangler 2 door Sport, I |
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discovered 2 local Jeep owners clubs :- |
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a) Sunshine
Coast Jeep club |
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b) Brisbane Jeep
club |
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These clubs are
for Jeep enthusiasts, and organise |
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various trips
and functions for Jeep owners in Brisbane |
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and the Sunshine
Coast. |
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They both have
very active Web Forums, which keep |
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members well
informed of what is going on. |
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The members
Jeeps range from stock standard models |
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to highly
modified vehicles which can master incredibly |
Meeting at Hungry Jacks, B'desert |
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steep and rocky
slopes and difficult terrain. |
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Some of these
make the highly modified factory "Rubicon" models look tame in
comparison ! |
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Both clubs
proudly claim they always bring back
ever member and vehicle from their trips, including |
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cars that have
become immobile from rollovers or trail damage or breakdowns. |
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I went to test
this thesis with the Brisbane Jeep club, on a day trip to the Scenic Rim
adventure park. |
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This park is
located about 30 km south of Beaudesert, and is similar (but more difficult
!) than many |
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other 4WD parks
on private property in Australia. The trails range from medium difficulty to
absolutely |
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INSANE, at least
to beginners. As a minimum, you would need a Heavy Duty 4WD with low range |
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and good off
road tyres. The clubs "minimum" KIT requirements to do this trip
include :- |
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a) A two way UHF radio, for communications,
instructions and calls for help ! |
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b) Tow hooks on vehicle, front and rear. |
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c) At least a Snatch strap + shackles. (most
serious members have winches) |
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d) Fire extinguisher and 1st aid kit. |
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e) Recovery gear, including axe, spade and
MaxTrax is recommended. |
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Having kitted
myself with all the above (except for a winch) I fronted up at 7.30 am at the
meeting |
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place at Hungry
Jacks, Beaudesert, for a kit inspection and briefing. All vehicles were
inspected for |
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the above and
UHF radios were set to channel 15. I was pleasantly surprised at how well my
1 watt |
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Uniden hand-held
UHF performed. In very hilly country, while in convoy, radio messages were
loud |
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and clear,
within convoy range, say about .5 to 1 km. Only problem was the radio ran out
of battery |
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charge after
about 3 hours. Could have been old batteries from shop, but easy fixed in
future by |
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having a
Cigarette charger in the vehicle. |
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Meeting &
briefing @ Hungry Jacks, Beaudesert. Only 20-25 cars were allowed into the
4WD Park |
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From the meeting
place, we headed South about 30km to the Scenic Rim adventure Park. Most of
us |
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had
pre-registered and paid our $45 Park use fee, at the previous club meeting,
to avoid delays. |
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At the Park, we
had to sign in, on entry, and sign
out, on exit.The trip leader explained that beginners |
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could avoid the
so called HARD sections, but his interpretation of easy, medium and hard, was
often |
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questionable ??
I suppose the experienced guys, with highly modified cars, can get a bit
"blasé". |
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Signing in at
Park entry, $45 per day. |
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Easy mild track, leading into Park |
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I was surprised
at how good the UHF radio reception and transmission was, in the hilly
terrain. |
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Mind you, the
convoy was never more then about 1km spread out, but I always thought UHF was
more |
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or less
"line of sight". Also, being in an enclosed air-conditioned car
made reception much better then |
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in an open Beach
Buggy, copping wind roar at anything over 30 kph. |
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