What a week for Bushman Bud

G’day all,

What a couple of weeks it has been since our last post regarding Jeffery’s Track in Hobart.  Since then we have discovered we did the Balfour Track and Montezuma Falls/Ring River Road Track in two wheel drive.  The drivers side manual hub lock had failed meaning know front end traction…I thought things seemed a little wierd, but hey I am driving a Nissan!

Well the manual hub was just the start.  Whilst completing the Jeffery’s Track we also discovered the front locker was playing up???  Turns out it was the rear locker.  This had been installed by ARB about 3 years ago.  So I fired off an email to ARB to find out if they were willing to help me out.   Next morning I received a phone call from their head office booking my car into Hobart.  Awesome service!  After taking the car into ARB the problem was actually the rear locker.  Turns out ARB had installed the wrong locker in the car causing somewhat of a mess.  Well I always say that everyone makes mistakes and what really counts is the way the person deals with correcting the mistake.  To me this is where King’s (ARB) in Hobart were awesome.  They saw the wrong thing, kept the customer in the loop and fixed the problem, far exceeding any expectations and believing in delivering the ultimate solution for the customer.  How refreshing to see this…and no doubt they run a successful business and with that kind of customer service who could go wrong.  I highly recommend them.  Further we have also had some issues with the Kedron van.  Hello King’s caravans and the problems went away, smoothly and we care and attention to the customer.  Well done!!!

Readers may remember a problem with the turbo and due to a mistake the turbo ended up blowing itself to bits.  Seems that wasn’t all that went wrong.  The manual hub that failed was due to water damage that also killed the wheel bearings on the front end.  So…$1,500 later when you add up a patch job on the turbo, new wheel bearings and new manual hubs and still a poor performing turbo, you are left wondering.  Now before I  mention this company I have given them a chance to rectify this.  So far no joy but that is due to phone tag.  The owner is away until the first week in June.  After that we will get a solution or at least warn our thousands of readers who not to use in the future.  Come on Glen…sort out these issues just like a reputable company and take a leaf out of ARB’s and King’s books.

Next was a trip along the Montrose Track or also known as the East-West Track.  We were surprised the next morning (after the Jeffery’s Track run) by members of the Trekka Club who had acquired the key for the gate.  I will put together a full trip report of that day but in the meantime lets say it was an awesome day, the views were spectacular as was the company and the bicuits donated by Gaye for the kids!!!  The day ended with a play in the ever muddier Jeffrey’s Track which saw my car performing on two wheels before sliding side ways on a small hill climb and in in an attempt to go down the same hill – the front diff sliding into a rock requiring recovery by…a Range Rover…damn it hey!  Amzing what you can do on two wheels when you have to…in fact I think many others would have probably called it a day and gone home…not Bushman Bud…and not to the delighted people with the video camera.

The next week was spent getting the caravan and car fixed and Lynda flying home to Perth when her 97 year old Gran had a fall and became very sick.  We did however manage to catch up with the Southern 4WD Clubs at a inter club meeting put on by the Trekka Club.  Anytime someone cooks you lunch and the ladies bring out the home cooked food, its going to be a good day.  This was no exception.   It was also a good day to sign the petition regarding the closure or rather keeping open the tracks around the Pieman area on Tassie’s West Coast.  This is Tassie’s premier 4WDing area and its great to see clubs banding together to keep the tracks open.  It appears they are having some success too so that is awesome news.

Looking ahead, we leave Hobart for Strahan on Tuesday and meet up with some members of the Ulverstone 4WD Club where I am running a West Coast 4WD Club trip for them www.westcoast4wd.com.au  This should be a great day out and weekend for those keen.  This starts our tour of Tassie’s West Coast with a get together with the Devonport and Tamar Valley Club on the June LWE around Guildford.  Apparently that weekend is going to be hardcore…we will see, but having experienced the setup on some of the vehicles/trucks in the Devonport Club, they are certainly ready to tackle some serious terrain.

Well thats it for me…look out for the Montrose Track writeup and stay tuned for Tassie’s West Coast.  We will be bringing you more free camping and 4Wd tracks in Tasmania throughout June.

Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia

Tags: 4WD, 4WDing, 4x4, Adventure, Bushman, Bushman Bud, Free Camping, Offroad, Tasmania, Track