A WINCH
A 12V winch is one of those bits
of gear that gets lumped into
the wrong category. At face
value it’s easy to look at it like
a set of lockers or mud tyres,
something to get you further
down the track. The reality
is they’re one of the most
essential bits of emergency
gear money can buy. A 12V
winch, a couple of pulley
blocks and a few extension
straps should find their way
into any 4WD. If your trailer
slips sideways off a steep track
they can be used to get it back
on solid ground; they’re also
able to right a rolled 4WD and
get you back on the tracks, lift
fallen objects off people, and
perform running repairs.
JUST
IN CASE
A spare CV joint and
driveshaft? You’ll need
to juggle how likely
you are to need it, and
how difficult it is to
bring the parts. In many
cases, most things can
be slapped together
enough to get you back
into town with a few
basic spares.
For those items you
deem useful and
necessary but only need
to access once in a
blue moon, a good trick
is a couple of easily
removable covers in
the back, which can
seriously open up
storage space.
SPARE
PARTS
Ever heard the story about an old mate who used
to do an annual desert crossing? It’s chopped
and changed between an old Series Landy and
an FJ40 more times than it’s been told. The story
goes that year in and year out he’d blow a diff
halfway across the Simmo so would also carry a
spare centre. Except one year he couldn’t get one
in time and nervously set off without it, and low
and behold didn’t need it. The