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4WD History

A number of people who have been visitors to this site & many others may want to know, what basic stuff can be done by an everyday person to help prepare the vehicle for a weekend trip or the like.

With a number of trips coming up on my calendar, I have taken the opportunity to get a few shots of what I do to get the lil' troopy all ready to go out & play. Please note these are basic preparation tips, not a full service that a mechanic would perform in preparation for the "big trip"

I always start at the front of the vehicle & then work my way through it. To me, all of the fluids need to be checked. It will run with them below the optimum level, but it will not be at it's best & the longevity of the engine & drive train to me are the most important parts to the vehicle.

First up was a coolant check. Mine as you can see if pretty full, but although it was changed at the last visit to the mechanic (about a month ago) I am not happy with the colour of it. To me it looks a little weak in the concentration of coolant, so I will be changing this when I perform the next oil change.

Following the coolant check, I checked the oil. This was a little low, so I added about 1/2 litre of Castrol GTX for diesels to it to bring it back to the full mark.

Again I could have left it at the 1/2 way between the add mark & the full mark, but I prefer it to be full before I start, that way I can monitor if it is using any.

After the oil top up, I checked the transmission fluid & the power steering fluid.

Both of these were at the correct level.

From there I started with a check of the windscreen washer fluid bottles.

My vehicle is unique in that it has 3 bottles to check. There is one at the rear of the vehicle for the rear windscreen washer / wiper. There is also the normal one at the front of the vehicle for the normal windscreen washer & lastly there is one for the headlight washers. When I first bought the vehicle, I thought this last one was a real waste of time, but after a few muddy trips followed by some night driving, they are certainly showing their worth.

After a check of all of the fluids, it was time to get the grease gun out & go through the routine of greasing the universal joints & so on.

I generally give them all a good dose of grease until I see fresh stuff coming out from around the seal. Just a squeeze to see some old stuff to me is not enough.

Once I was happy with the fluids & so on, it was time to change the wheels from my All terrains to something more robust, being my BFG Mud Terrains.

To do this, I needed my floor jack, speed wrench, extendable socket drive to help loosen the wheel nuts, a 21mm socket & finally a torque wrench to ensure the wheel nuts are done up to the correct tension. I recommend that only quality tools be used for the job, as they will be a lot more reliable & in the case of the torque wrench, you will get a more accurate reading.

I always start with the rear wheels. Firstly chock the front wheels both in front & behind them, to ensure the vehicle will not move & then before lifting the vehicle off the ground, loosen all of the wheel nuts using the extendable socket drive & the 21mm socket.

Once all of the wheel nuts have been loosened slightly, then jack the vehicle up from a suitable lifting point & support the axle on a stand. Then undo the wheel nuts with the speed wrench & remove each wheel. When putting it away, mark the tread with a piece of chalk to remind you which wheel position it was, so when you reuse these wheels later, you will know where to put it back on, or if you want to rotate the tyres, you again will have the information available.

After removing the AT tyre, putting the MT tyre on is a little difficult, due to the extra weight, but if you have the vehicle jacked to the right height, it is pretty easy. Once you have done up the wheel nuts with the speed wrench & 21mm socket, remove the axle stand before moving to the other wheel.

Then lower the vehicle to the ground & tighten the wheel nuts to 90 foot pounds with the torque wrench.

Once the rear is complete, do the same for the front wheels. (note drivers axle stand has been removed as that wheel is complete)

Once all of this was done, all I had left to do was to check my recovery gear & load it all up ready to go.