Date: August 13th 2010

Westprint Friday Five August 13, 2010 

Included this week: 

·        Tom Kruse

·        Recover Me Please

·        Losing Wheels 

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Friday Five are valid for seven days. 

Friday Five (plus two) 13.08.2010

Last Copies. The following books are now out of print.  

1. 4WD Treks Close to Sydney. Fifteen of the best day and weekend destinations around Sydney. From the beaches to the mountains you can escape the hustle and bustle and find the little known treasures on Sydney's doorstep. One copy only $28.00 including post. 

2. GPS Fishing Marks. Compiled by the Australian Fishing Network. Over 2000 Marks! 191pp. One copy only $33.00

Prices slashed on the following DVDs now $24.00 each including post in Australia. These are DVDs we have less than 5 of in stock. Price crash only while stocks last. 

3. (The) Four Minute Mile. The true story of John Landy, Roger Bannister and the "race of the century". Though Bannister will always be remembers as the first man to break this barrier, this film continues to the 1954 Empire Games and their first head to head race. Was $27.50
4. Big Fish. An amazing journey into the depths of the ocean, and witness the fish at the top of the food chain. 45 min. Was $29.95
5. Exploring NSW & Victoria. 'Exploring New South Wales' - As diverse as it is beautiful New South Wales offers something for everyone. Explore Sydney, Canberra, Mt Kosciusko, Cowra, Blue Mountains, Byron Bay, Tweed Heads and Broken Hill. 'Exploring Victoria' - With its history, food and wine, major events, skiing and natural attractions Victoria is the place for you. Explore Melbourne, Phillip Island, Geelong, The Apostles, Murray River and the Victorian outback. Was $37.95
6. (The) Great Barrier Reef. The only living organism that can be seen from space. It is a collection of many individual reefs. Was $37.95
7. Life in the Graveyards of the Pacific. Explore the Rainbow Warrior, Waikato and Tui in New Zealand waters, but rather than focussing on the wrecks, this DVD instead looks at the sea creatures that have now made the wrecks their home. 60 min. Was $29.95

Books are allocated on a first-come first serve basis. To reserve your copy of any of the following books please email info@westprint.com.au with the title you are interested in. All emails will be answered during the following week, either with details of how to pay, or a ‘sorry, the item has already sold’ email. Where possible, postage on multiple items will be recalculated to offer you the best price.  

Postage Rates. These items will usually not be found on our website. Orders will be supplied on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis. Westprint normal postage rates are now $8.50 for one book, $11.00 for two books, $13.00 for 3 or more books. Free post applies to orders of more than $150.00. Postage rates apply to Australia only. Airmail postage rates apply to overseas orders. 

Friday Forum

Jo’s comments are in green. 

Disclaimer.

Please note that the opinions and articles included in the Friday Five are not necessarily those of the Westprint mob. Nor do we endorse any products (other than our own), or tours listed in contributed articles. 

Tom Kruse MBE

Media Release - August 2nd 2010  

Tom Kruse bust for Alice Springs Hall of Fame.  

The fifth of five bronze busts of 96 year old Birdsville Track mailman E.G. (Tom)

Kruse MBE will be unveiled by Ted Egan AO at 2.00 pm on Sunday August 29th 2010 at the National Road Transport (NRT) Hall of Fame in Alice Springs.

Tom Kruse will fly from Adelaide to participate in the ceremony. The unveiling ceremony will be one of the highlights of the 2010 Reunion Public Open Day at the National Road Transport Hall of Fame. Reunion details can be found at www.roadtransporthall.com

The five bronze busts of legendary outback mailman Tom Kruse MBE have been produced by highly regarded Robe (South Australia) based sculptor Ms Patricia Moseley.

Birdsville, Marree, the National Motor Museum (NMM) at Birdwood in the Adelaide Hills and Tom’s hometown Waterloo in the Mid North of South Australia are the locations of the first four life-sized bronze busts.

His Excellency Governor-General Michael Jeffrey unveiled the first bust at the National Motor Museum in March 2008. The NMM is the permanent home of the 1936 Leyland Badger which featured in the classic 1954 Australian docudrama The Back of Beyond. Tom Kruse was inducted into the NRT Hall of Fame in Alice Springs in 2000.

The Badger Restoration Group, headed by Neil Weidenbach and Corrugated Air

Productions, headed by Executive Producer Ian Doyle, raised the funds needed to complete the Tom Kruse Bust Project.

“Our original target was three busts. Much more was raised than our original target and as a result, we are delighted to produce the fifth bust for the NRT Hall of Fame,” bust Appeal Co-coordinator Ian Doyle said.

The project attracted significant support from a number of organisations including the CMV Foundation, the RFDS, the Birdsville Hotel, Pilatus Australia, the National Motor Museum, the National Road Transport Hall of Fame, Corrugated Air Productions and numerous private donors.

 “The NRT Hall of Fame believes this is an important project which recognises the significant contribution made by Tom, his trucks and all the Birdsville Track mailmen to outback Australia. This will be the first of a number of busts of significant contributors to the Australia’s road transport history for the Hall of Fame,” CEO Liz Martin OAM said.

Tom’s mail run re-enactment in his fully restored 1936 Leyland Badger was the subject of an evocative, colourful and emotional documentary Last Mail from Birdsville – the Story of Tom Kruse produced by Corrugated Air Productions in 1999. (Available from Westprint).

“Tom’s travelling OK at the moment and the organising committee is keen to have him participate in unveiling the bust at Alice Springs. We are absolutely delighted Ted Egan AO has agreed to unveil the bust with Tom,” Ian Doyle said.

The Back of Beyond introduced Tom Kruse, Henry Butler and the 1936 Leyland Badger and Blitz mail trucks to a generation of Australians. Most never forgot the extraordinary images of the men and the battered trucks doing battle each fortnight with the sand and isolation along the 500 kilometre Birdsville Track -outback Australia’s toughest mail run. Shot in black and white, The Back of Beyond remains one of the most critically acclaimed and awarded films ever made in Australia.

"Tom Kruse is a dogged, tough giant of a man who was awarded an MBE in 1955 for services to the people of the outback. We recognise far too few of our heroes. These bronze busts celebrate the life of one of this country’s living legends," Ian

Doyle said. More information: Liz Martin OAM. CEO, NRT Hall of Fame 08 8952 7161 

E News

·        The latest version of E News is now on the Four Wheel Drive Victoria website.  

 Please log on to www.fwdvictoria.org.au and follow the prompts to E News for further information 

Losing Wheels 

·        I lost a rear left wheel on a Navara a few years back at Timber Creek, We had done a couple of thousand Km on dirt tracks (standard steel rims) I think the Left  side is vulnerable because of wheel rotation  (not to take anything away  from the other plausible suggestions with Alloy rims).    In my youth I salvaged wheels for a trailer from a Morris oxford about 1950’s vintage that had reverse direction thread on the wheel studs on the left to compensate for the rotation on that side. Geoff 

·        Serious, modern 4x4 trucks eg Isuzu NPS 300 have Left hand threads on the LHS/ off side. (The Japanese do understand this problem they just don't bother with domestic products.) Your domestic 4X4 have right hand threads all round.  The forward rotation of the wheels tends to tighten the RHS nuts and loosen the LHS.

Try this; tighten all wheel nuts to manufactures torque figures then take the vehicle through sand, mud etc to load up the wheel nuts. After 100K's you will find the LHS will be a lesser than the original torque figure, the RHS side will be greater than the LHS and equal to or greater than their original settings.

The wheels falling are a combination of the LHS natural tendency to undo, add to this small manufacturing problems with alloys and the wheels come off your day. I have seen vehicles under extreme sand work over 100s of kilometres losing their steel wheels on the LHS. However it was a troopy.

Of interest Rangies, Discos and Defenders to my knowledge do not throw wheels, they have very large wheel nuts and studs in relation to wheel size and loading. I would be interested if anyone has observes a Land rover throwing a wheel?

It seems that Right hand drive vehicles suffer this problem more than LHD. On RHD the camber of the formed roads throws more vehicle weight to the LHS which exacerbates the nuts undoing from wheel flexing. (Some outback roads have serious forming to prevent water erosion.) On LHD the road camber tends to help tighten the RHS nuts.

Solution to wheels falling off, use steel wheels and torque them every day.  Also alloy wheels tend to shatter under impact loading they should only be used on school runs or Sunday driving to show off your rig. They really look good but are useless as a stressed item on your rig, just observe the scrap alloy littering the outback roadsides.

 Of interest, the original 1960s Valiant's had LH threads on their LHS to resolve the chance unwinding of the wheel nuts. Unfortunately this did not stop the LH wheels coming off. Mechanics not knowing the LH thread would inadvertently tighten the nuts in their endeavour to undo the said nuts. Often they would neck the wheel studs, so down the road they would break and again the wheel would be lost. LH threads were removed on later model Valiant's to prevent this problem of over tightening. You can't win. Hope this helps your outback readers get to their destination with all their wheels. Graeme. Malmsbury, Vic.      

·        My brother purchased a set of alloy wheels for his Ford Explorer so he could have different tyres for everyday use and for trips away. On one particular trip there was a sudden vibration at 100kmh and after stopping and checking, found all the wheel nuts had come loose to some extent, with the two rear wheels  having snapped studs. He tightened the remaining nuts and managed to limp home. On closer inspection he found that the wheels and nuts that he had been sold did not match, with the taper inside the wheel hole and the taper on the nut being different, giving only a small point of contact. After much arguing with the retailer (a large national company), he was compensated with a new set of alloy wheels and correct nuts. So possibly a lot of the problems people are having with alloy wheels could be related to incorrect wheel nuts. Glenn  

·        Check your drivetrain bolts!

While people are having Patrol wheel retention problems, check this out.

On a Toyota 1995 Landcruiser HZJ79R 4.2D I lost 3 of the 4 rear drive shaft bolts and nuts, all in one go. When the nuts came off I don't know, probably over a couple of kilometres between wells 5 and 6 on CSR. I had stopped and had a no-drive situation on start-up. Clunk, clunk. One rear driveshaft bolt, loose, remained. Found the other 3 bolts about 30m back up the road, all in one spot. I never thought a Mr Toyota drivetrain bolt would undo. It had never been worked on, so can't blame the mechanic. The rear drivetrain flange bolts are a special, with a fine metric thread, M10x1.25, and need a 14mm ring spanner, AND some form of extension tube unless you have the strength of Samson (leaves us grey nomads out). Problem fixed with some other HT bolts, and a Pajero bolt, until back in Perth.

It may be as well to check out the genuine Toyota parts; one site (US) sells aftermarket bolts with loctite on the thread and that may be a good idea.

The M14 ring spanner also fits the front driveshaft nuts, even though the bolts are smaller diameter. The vehicle had only 180,000 Km. We had done CSR from Newman via Talawana track (that was rough) two years ago. And this time did Wiluna to Carnegie and back to CSR via Granite Peaks. So, apart from the Talawana, no hard work. I think that if ever I had drivetrain work done, I'd put in new bolts. And really check the torque. John  

Recover Me Please  

·         The following is from the FWDV website. Full details are in the June Trackwatch magazine. It sounds like a great initiative. 

·        As was announced last month, a joint partnership commenced between Victoria Police and FWDV to free up police resources. This partnership is a service to recover stranded or bogged four-wheel drive vehicles from four-wheel drive tracks where the Police and normal accident towing services are unable to assist. This new initiative is called "Recover Me Please" and is available day and night via a phone call to 000 which would then be redirected to a FWDV coordinator. Initially it will operate in the Wombat Park and Lerderderg State Forests in central Victoria.

No sooner was it announced when the first request came in! Following the initial call to Police it went through the system which eventually found several members of the CityWest 4X4 Club called out to recover a guy who had gone four-wheel driving by himself in the Wombat Forest. (Full details are in the June issue of FWDV's June Trackwatch magazine). The stranded motorist was very grateful for being retrieved from the depths of a lonely dark forest after a 15km walk into Blackwood to seek assistance.

This new initiative frees up Police from this time consuming task and provide information to the assisted persons about driver training and further education. About twenty calls annually are received by Police in the Moorabool Police District alone to recover members of the public, who are stranded in their four-wheel drive vehicles in the local parks and forests. FWDV can now draw on the resources and skills of trained and competent four-wheel drive club members who will recover the stranded vehicle for a set fee. The volunteers who are trained in vehicle recovery and First Aid are a welcome support in this area. The CityWest 4X4 Club is to be congratulated on their prompt response to this call, which was also much appreciated by the Trentham Police.  

Road Closures - WA

FITZGERALD RIVER NATIONAL PARK - ROAD CONDITION UPDATE - 12 AUGUST 2010

Pabelup Drive (Pt Ann) - 2WD CLOSED - Closed until further notice due to wet weather
Twertup Track - 4WD CLOSED - Due to wildfire damage to the Field Studies centre
Fitzgerald Inlet Track - 4WD CLOSED - Closed until further notice due to wet weather
Quaalup South Road - 4WD OPEN
Hamersley Drive - 2WD CLOSED - Closed until further notice due to wet weather
Quoin Head Track - 4WD CLOSED - Closed until further notice due to wet weather
Pitchie Ritchie Track - 4WD CLOSED -  Closed until further notice due to wet weather
Moir Track - 4WD CLOSED -  Closed until further notice due to wet weather

NOTE: The status of these roads could change at short notice or during your visit after rain. 

Friday Funnies

·        The math teacher saw that little Johnny wasn't paying attention in class.
She called on him and said, 'Johnny! What are 2 and 4 and 28 and 44?' Little Johnny quickly replied, ‘Prime, Win, Foxtel and the Cartoon Network!' 

·        Two young blokes were sitting at the bar having a cool soothing ale.

“How was the party you went to the other night?” asked Paddy.

“Embarrassing,” said Mike.

“How come?” asked the intrigued Paddy.

“Well, the invitation said, ‘black tie only,’ and when I got there, I found everyone else was wearing a suit.” 

·        A police officer pulls over a speeding car. The officer says, “I clocked you at 80 miles per hour, sir.”

The driver says, “Gee, officer I had it on cruise control at 60, perhaps your radar gun needs recalibrating.”            

Not looking up from her knitting, the wife says, “Now don’t be silly dear, you know that this car doesn’t have cruise control.”         

As the officer writes out the ticket, the driver looks at his wife and growls, “Can’t you please keep your mouth shut for once?”

The wife smiles and says, “You should be thankful that your radar detector went off when it did or you may have been going faster.”            

As the officer makes out a second ticket for the illegal radar detector unit, the man glares at his wife and says through clenched teeth, “Damit woman, can’t you keep your mouth shut?”

The officer frowns and says, “And I notice that you’re not wearing your seat belt, sir. That’s an automatic $75 fine.”       

The driver says, “Yeah, well, you see officer, I had it on, but took it off when you pulled me over so that I could get my licence out of my back pocket.”         

The wife says, “Now dear, you know very well that you didn’t have your belt on. You never wear your seat belt when you’re driving.”         

And as the police officer is writing out the third ticket the driver turns to his wife and yells, “WHY DON’T YOU PLEASE SHUT UP??”            

The officer looks over at the woman and asks, “Does your husband always talk to you this way, Ma’am?”

She says, “Only when he’s been drinking.” 

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Cheers for now,

Jo

 

 

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