also often unsealed, which can be the main water entry point when it’ s submerged in water.
DIFF BREATHERS
A 4WD’ s differential housings will have a diff breather, which allows air to escape to prevent it from pressurising and popping the axle’ s seals or similar. If you’ re new to 4WDing, one of the simplest, yet important modifications you can make is to extend the differential, gearbox and transfer case breather lines to a higher location to prevent water getting in and contaminating your oil. It’ s equally important at every service to ensure the breathers aren’ t blocked up. This can be done by simply blowing through the breather to ensure air flows through.
BATTERY TRAY
One of the most common parts of a 4WD to rattle to pieces is the battery tray. It’ s also one of the most dangerous, with the risk of a short circuit and fire being quite real if too much movement
SPARES TO CARRY
A quick inventory check should be a part of any pre-trip check over for a big adventure. Believe it or not, even your spare parts can get lost or damaged over time, and there’ s nothing worse than thinking you have a spare part ready to go when it’ s buggered even more than the one that needs replacing!
For an older truck like the Troopy, I like to carry half a workshop full of spares with me. Things like spare fan belts and radiator hoses are a given, but it pays to have a good think about spares you may specifically require for your vehicle. For example, the Troopy’ s got a nasty habit of either wearing out rear wheel bearings or snapping the axle studs. So I carry a full set of fresh bearings and an entire hub assembly just in case.
BELOW: Tyres should also be part of the pretrip check over ritual.
BOTTOM: Bearings should be packed with grease prior to embarking on an extended trip.
WHEEL BEARING WOES
One of the most important parts of a pretrip check over is the wheel bearings. After all, you won’ t get far if the wheels don’ t turn. At a bare minimum, you should be checking for any signs of excess play or movement by simply jacking the tyre up and off the ground and wriggling it from top to bottom.
For bigger trips, it’ s highly recommended to repack the bearings with fresh grease and re-adjust their pre-load. At a bare minimum, you can at least peek inside the hub and see what sort of condition the grease is in. If you’ ve tackled a few water crossings since your last wheel bearing check-up, there is a better than average chance water has penetrated the hub which contaminates the grease and renders it useless.
The other sign that should ring alarm bells is if the grease has gone runny, which indicates diff oil has leaked into the hub assembly. This is usually caused by the axle seal being damaged, and is one of the reasons regular wheel bearing checks are an absolute must.
ADVENTURES 89