Just came back from a week in the NW NSW and ventured into the Piliga anybody that has been in there will know the roads are a combination of sand and rocks coupled with dips ,stupid me decided not to lower the tyre pressures on the vehicle or the CT and no 4WD engaged, not because i was lazy only because i had to go 30kms, BIG MISTAKE !!.I had travelled about 25ks no problems at all speed i thought safe 50 to 60 kph through rocky section and every few kms there were dips fairly deep for water run off so on each one i slowed to go down and up the other side in a lower gear the road had been graded all the way so everybody that had been out travelled in the centre as along the sides it was deep sand where the grader had pushed it.Well i was just about at my destination and slowed down to about 30kph to go down a dip as i got to the bottom ther were pot holes, bang left hand front drops in and out the other side but into the deep graded sand beside me because i was on solid ground on the right the vehicle shot out sideways outa control feeling like it was going to roll and then shot left also feeling like it was going to roll over it all of a sudden straightened i looked in the mirror to see the trailer tipping to the right up on two wheels and all of a sudden drop back to the ground with the wife and i both looking at each other and commenting how very very lucky we were.After thinking about it i came to the conclusion that the DO35 because it articulated saved us from a certain roll over,if it had of been fixed id say the trailer motion would have tipped us.
It was a good lesson learnt as i have travelled over thousands of kms of roads both in the Defence Forces and for lesuire and never had this happen.I will never take things for granted again no matter how far the destination is .I will now always lower the presures and engage 4WD as this showed us how easy a disaster can happen when you dont do the right thing.
