A few words about scrutineering

We often get asked about the process of scrutineering, which takes place before any vehicle is allowed to compete in IOW 4x4 Club events.  It might seem a bit daunting to the first time competitor, but it needn’t be – we just want to make sure your vehicle is safe and won’t harm the competitors and spectators!

Portal Axles: have you spotted the advantage yet?

Scrutineering also enables us to check your vehicle for items such as diff-locks and portal axles (although we should be able to spot the latter from some distance away!)  These items are used to place the vehicle in different classes, to make sure everyone has a fair chance in the competition.

As well as basic safety of operating components there is some checking that your vehicle complies with the appropriate rules set down by the MSA.  These are pretty much common sense. If your vehicle can pass an MOT, it should pass scrutineering!.

The following list is taken from the check sheet the scrutineer will use, along with a basic explanation of what is required.

1. Footbrake operation. Just to check the brakes work, this is not a dynamic test, the scrutineer will simply push the pedal to check it is not spongy or does not travel all the way to the floor. As most entries are RTVs and have driven to the event on the public highway it is hoped that the brakes work!

2. Handbrake operation. Just a check that the handbrake level pulls up and feels ok. The handbrake will probably be on as most of our sites are sloping: the fact that the vehicle is not rolling away should indicated the handbrake works.

3. Seat security. Just to check the seat is bolted down, and the back is locked in place.  A firm pull will check if the seat is loose.

4. Seatbelt condition. A quick visual check for cuts and frays; a pull to check inertia belts lock up as required and a check that the mechanism locks shut and releases.

5. Steering operation/condition. A check for loose/damaged components and leaks. Any clunks or rattles as the steering is shaken will be noted and if serious the vehicle will not be allowed to compete, so replace all those worn out track rod ends!

An experienced scrutineer checks for steering faults

6. Battery security. The battery needs to be fixed down or bolted into place. If loose and the vehicle rolls then the terminals can touch the underside of the bonnet, causing an electrical short, sparks and quite possibly a fire, which could ruin your whole day!

7. Effective self starter. It's an MSA requirement to have a working starter! It also won’t earn you many friends in the club if they have to push you vehicle every time you need to start it.

8. Secondary throttle springs. It's an MSA requirement to have at least two springs to close the throttle butterfly. This also applies to diesel injection pumps. Most manufacturers systems have at least two springs in them, if your does not then a second light spring should be fitted.

9. Tow rope. All competitors should carry a tow rope. Please note that this should be a proper off road tow rope, not a strop, or a chain, or a bit of old sash cord. No amount of arguing about the breaking strain of some bit of old climbing rope will convince the scrutineer that it's ok to use! For anyone who would like to see the forces involved, have a look at the rear door of Sean's 90 to see what a tow rope does when it snaps, and this was a proper rope!

10. Recovery points. Should be fitted front and rear and need to be strong enough for the job. A 3.5 ton tow ball on the back on a manufacturers hitch is ideal, the front can get a bit tricky. See the website for further advice, if you’re worried.

11. Fan belt cover. Really only for the modified classes, where rear engine cars might have exposed fan belts/pulleys.

12. Exhaust Systems. Exposed systems must be covered with mesh to prevent someone being burnt from touching the exhaust. This only really applies to modified vehicles, or those with side-exit pipes, where the route of the exhaust may be exposed above the underside of the vehicle.

13. Wheels/wheel nuts. A check on the general condition of the wheels and that the wheel nuts are done up. Many a competitor has swapped to his off road wheels at home before leaving for the event and got distracted before finished the job.  It’s normally a nasty surprise at scrutineering to find they've driven to the event with finger tight wheel nuts!  Any snapped off studs need to be replaced as well.  Missing studs place additional strain on the remaining ones – something that needs to be avoided when testing out your vehicle off road!

14. Tyres. Some venues may not allow very aggressive tyres and if this is the case they will be checked for at scrutineering.

15. General condition. Just a general check that your pride and joy is not a death trap/complete shed. Also a chance for the scrutineer to make rude remarks about the colour/make/model/your welding or any other item that takes his fancy.

16. Loose items in cab: obvious really.  If you roll over and an ammo box full of spanners flies around inside the cab it's going to hurt when it hits you in the head!

17. Spill proof fuel tank. Modified class vehicles need a tank with the correct spill proof vent/roll over valve. RTVs only require a secure manufacturers cap on the tank.

18. Roll Bar/cage. Your vehicle might have one installed from the factory – great.  For the modified classes if there is one installed it needs to comply with the appropriate regulations, as outlined in the MSA’s Blue Book.

19. Fire extinguisher. Required for the modified classes but a good idea for any vehicle. See Item 16 above and then mount it properly.

20. Battery isolator/ignition. Modifieds are required to have a battery isolator which also kills the engine, In an RTV a normal ignition switch is fine.

Suitable battery isolator for mod vehicle

21. Crash helmet. Only for open-topped modified vehicles and not required if they have a roof panel above the driver/passenger.

That about it: mostly common sense and apart from a few items most would be required to legally drive on the road.


If you want to read more, cruise on over to the MSA's website and have a look through the Blue Book - it's pretty extensive: link to the 2012 Blue Book

October trials scores and update.

October Trial results
Fantastic trial and great turn out once again.  Many thanks to all who came and made it such a top event.

Class 3	Winner	Nick B	44 points
		Michael B	58 points
		Allan M	65 points
Class 4	Winner	Trevor P	38 points
		Stuart A	53 points
		Nick A.	54 points
		Alex B.	54 points
		Stephen G	60 points
Class 5	Winner	Jack M	66 points
Class 6	Winner	Thomas C.	46 points
		Derk	54 points

Driving safety

As demonstrated during the event on Sunday it is very easy to 'get it wrong' when driving off road, with fairly disastrous consequences, if the motor is your daily driver! We now have quite a number of relatively inexperienced and young drivers competing at the events. Please use the contact form on the website to let us know if you would like us to organise a training session for help improve basic off-road driving skills.

If there is sufficient interest we will run an education event to give folks a bit more experience in some of the most commonly experienced challenges when driving off road. Ask for it and we will see about delivering it!


Recovery ropes

We did quite a lot of recoveries last weekend. Recoveries are one of the most dangerous activities in which we participate during any of our events. Although we have a number of ropes in the vehicles at events, it is best that each vehicle/driver has its own rope.

Lightweight webbing-type strops and recovery ropes commonly sold by auto-accessory shops are not sufficient in the circumstances from which we are recovering. Please do not bring them! A good rope will last years and many, many safer recoveries.

If you need to buy a rope, please consider something like the one at the end of this link: Link to buy a good quality recovery rope

Please when considering buying a recovery rope, DO NOT be tempted by 'KERR' ropes. If you have not come across the term before, these may seem like amazing devices, but we will not be using them at our events for two reasons:

1. they have a finite number of recoveries in their design life. We have no way of knowing if this has been exceeded.
2. recovery with a KERR is unpredictable in nature - these devices are designed to act as a big energy store - they yank the vehicle out of where it is stuck.

Please stick to 'dead' ropes, which do not store energy during the recovery. It makes for safe and reliable vehicle recovery.


Recovery points

Another item highlighted during scrutineering was the lack of recovery points on a couple of vehicles. Please ensure there is a good, solid recovery point on the front AND rear of your vehicle. Really the original towing points on some vehicles are not sufficient, as they are pretty lightweight.

The worst possible outcome during recovery is where one of these flimsy points fails and the rope recoils at the recovery vehicle. This is why we don't really like using shackles in recoveries! Being hit by a flying rope is one thing, being hit by a steel projectile on the end of a rope is likely to be significantly more painful!

If you're not involved in the recovery, please stand well clear. If you are involved in the recovery, please consider the path of any recoiling rope and stand out of the radius it might cover.

For those concerned about their existing recovery points, please review NATO hitches and JATE rings for your vehicle.


Next Event

Next event November 6th. We're going to survey the currently open green lanes on the Island. For this we need vehicles running timelapse cameras in the windscreen.

The plan is to run in two groups. One will start from Yaverland car park. The other will start from Freshwater and aim to meet up at the Blacksmith's Arms for lunch. Results from this will be collated and placed on our Youtube account, as a record of the condition of the Island's byways. We will aim to do this survey on an annual basis.

If anyone has a Blue (Disabled) badge we would like to get access to the Tennyson Trail. This is for permit holders only. A blue badge holder would be able to get a permit, although the Tennyson Trail would need to be driven prior to the event.

See you soon and drive safe and legal!

Thomas Cowley
IOW 4x4 Club Chair

Driving Day Demo Runs

Just a brief update on the car after Sunday’s Driving Day. Firstly I’d like to thank everyone who made a donation and had a ride in the car. As the car was built solely for racing, and not being road legal, I usually only get to drive it for a quick couple of minutes on the farm where my workshop is or when racing, so Sunday was an opportunity for myself to get some time in behind the wheel before the next race and do some testing. I hope those of you who had a ride enjoyed it as much as I did. Oh, and could I ask all of you who did have a ride to take a look at your left arm to see if you are still wearing an elbow pad, as I seem to have mislaid one of mine. If you do have it please get in touch and I’ll collect it.

Unfortunately, as those of you who were there will know, there was a slight issue with the gear change which brought the runs to a premature end. My apologies to anyone who missed out on a ride due to the unfortunate demise of the gearbox. I now have the car back at my workshop and it would appear that it is only the gear change housing casing which has broken.

As can be seen, some of the newness has worn off, as the end of the casing has been snapped off! This will be replaced and strengthened to try and stop it happening again in the future. I am also going to upgrade the brakes and of course as the car covered 20 to 25 miles at speed over the weekend it will need a full check over. Then it will only need a clean and polish and it will be ready for the next race, which as I write this is a whole 18 days away on the 2nd October at Sidbury Hill just outside of Tidworth. The car will be travelling over the day before, so that only gives 16 days to get all of the works done, and of course I haven’t got the parts yet! So another last minute rush looks likely. I’ll post here to let you know it’s finished and hope to see you there.

Sean

August Trial Scores

Fantastic trial and great turn out.  Many thanks to all who came and made it such a fantastic event.

Class 3	Winner	Allan M.	48 points
Class 4	Winner	Stuart A.	38 points
		Stephen G.	52 points
		Nick A.	retired
Class 5		Alex B.	retired
Class 5	Winner	Andrew P.	37 points
		Mike P.	43 points
		Rob S.	45 points
Class 6	Winner	Thomas C.	18 points
		Steve D.	19 points
		Sean B.	32 points

Next Event is 11th September which is a charity driving day.

SCOR Safari 24th July 2011

After the long haul of the all the repairs from last year finally completed we managed to make it to our first safari of the year, it's just a shame it was round 6 of the championship! A last minute site change meant we were at Broxhead rather than Hogmore. Those of you who followed my progress last year will know that Broxhead was the scene of many car to tree impacts last year so I was a little apprehensive about the prospects of more damage! My usual co-driver (Jane my S/O) was away in London (conveniently) so my Dad stood in. The weather was kind to us as the sun shone, but after a week of rain there was going to be plenty of standing water, so lots of work for the co-driver on wipers and washers.

After signing on and scruteneering we walked the first couple of hundred metres of the course, just to make sure we didn't have an 'off' within sight of the start line. In the mean time Russ had got the kelly kettle into action so the serious business of a cup of tea was attended to. After the drivers briefing we joined the queue for the start. Once again the course setters had done a top job with the right mix of tight bits and fast bits and off road bits. SCOR's safari courses are proper off road, so off road driving skills are definitely required. A background in trials is of more use than one in say rallying.

After the first 4 laps we were getting into a bit of a rhythm and starting to know the way round. We were not taking any chances, and could probably have gone faster, but would have to risk an off if we made a mistake. Then the lap times started to increase over the next 2 laps and this, coupled with a few near misses, was enough for me to realise that a break was needed. A couple of salami rolls, a banana and a Red Bull later and we were ready to go again.

After the lunch stop I decided that a more relaxed approach was required and so backed off at the locations were the trees were calling my name. With 4 more laps completed at a pace some 20 seconds slower than the before lunch pace we were going well and just having fun. Then shortly after starting our penultimate lap the steering went heavy and the ignition light came on. I immediately knew that the drive belt must of come off/broke, but pushed on anyway. After not much further smoke started to come out from under the bonnet so we were forced to stop and have a look. I pulled the damaged belt off and we headed off to complete the lap. With no belt to power the water pump the temperature started to rise. I kept the car in the highest gear I could and kept the revs down and we made it to the finish with the water temperature just at 105 degrees and thankfully no damage to the engine.

The cause of the belt failure turned out to be a seized power steering pump, which despite some good blows with a hammer refused to un-seize. So we took a maximum for our last lap. This dropped us to 7th, which also happened to be the last placed finisher. Despite this we had a great days racing and didn't hit any of the trees :-) Our thanks go to all at SCOR who put in so much effort on the day and behind the scenes to make these events happen.

The car now just needs a new power steering pump and a good clean and polish ready for the driving day.


Sean

Green Lanes and off-roading on the Isle of Wight.

One of the recurring enquiries we get from the contact form on our website is ‘I want to come and drive the byways on the Isle of Wight, where can I go?’.

The immediate answer is ‘you can drive on any of the Byways Open to All Traffic (BOATs) marked up on the Ordnance Survey map, subject to any restrictions currently in force’.  Of course you can and you can check with our local rights of way department for any restrictions – standard procedure for planning a green-laning trip isn’t it?

The big issue is that there is an elephant in the room few people want to talk about, with regards to vehicular rights of way on the Isle of Wight.  The Tennyson Trail.  This is a beautiful approximately 10mile trail that runs from Freshwater, in to Newport over a high ridge of mostly chalk downland.  It was converted from a bridleway to BOAT in the early 1990s. 

This is the trail you will have likely immediately noticed on the map.  It’s by far the longest trail on the Island.

The conversion of the trail from bridleway was not a move greeted with much enthusiasm by local landowners through which the trail runs, or the National Trust, or the department that sets the policy associated with the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Since the trail was made legally driveable it has been contentious and these bodies have monitored the use of the trail.  With the increase in 4x4 ownership through the 90s and early 2000s traffic on the trail increased significantly.   This included illegal off-trail use, over tumulus mounds and into Brighstone Forest. 

The amount of damage wasn’t that great and certainly not significant in comparison to the damage already present from years of wear and tear from walkers and cyclists, but it was sufficient evidence for the rights of way office to put a traffic restriction order (TRO) on the Tennyson Trail.

For some reason the Isle of Wight Council decided that despite the TRO they would still issue permits to *certain* classes of users.  These include disabled badge holders, taxi license holders and ‘community vehicles’.  It is our understanding that at least ten such permits have been issued, so if you think you vehicle falls into the exempt categories above, as a club we would encourage you to apply for the permit and to drive the trail, under the current TRO.  Various Isle of Wight 4x4 Club members have applied for permits to drive the trail, but these have not been granted.  We will be making a freedom Of Information Act (FOI) request, to get further information and will update this data here in due course.

If you’re planning on coming to the Isle of Wight and you’re a Disabled Blue Badge holder, or have a taxi license for your 4x4, or you own a ‘community vehicle’ (whatever one of those is) then we recommend you apply for a permit.  Here is the application form and the current email address to send your application to is:

Darrel.Clarke@iow.gov.uk

Click to download the application form here. 

If you don’t think you qualify for a permit under the current application system, then obviously you can come and drive the smattering of other BOATs on the Isle Of Wight, but they really aren’t terribly exciting; there aren’t very many of them and they’re not very long.

This autumn the club will be completing a survey of the current BOATs on the Island.  We will also outline other seasonal TROs that are likely to be in place, should you choose to visit (there are others in addition to the Tennyson Trail).

The nub of this really is, if you’re looking for a holiday destination in the south if England for green laning then the Island isn't it.  Wiltshire has miles and miles of lanes and would be a much better choice.  Very few of our members go green laning on the Island.  If you’re coming over from the mainland there simply aren’t enough lanes to justify the +£40 ferry fare over here, unless you were coming over with the family anyway.

As a club we keep a careful eye on the local press for official notices about removal of existing and any additional TROs issued on the Island and we will update here when there are changes.

Don’t despair though, we hold 4x4 trials most months and you’ll be most welcome at those events, to spectate, or drive.  We also normally hold a couple of promotional driving days over the summer, so why not come over and meet us at an event?

Safari Racer Update - Come In Car Number 202 Your Time Is Up....

I’ve been promising for some time to post regarding the status of the Safari Racer…

Those of you who followed the website last year, or who are unfortunate enough to know me personally, will know that after 8 years of work my Comp Safari racer was finished in time for the last 3 rounds of Southern Counties Off Road Club’s 2010 Safari Championship. The 3 rounds I entered went much better than could be expected for a brand new and untried car with a 7th, 2nd, and 5th respectively. However, those rounds did take their toll and a list of repairs and improvements was accumulated ready for the winter break. That list grew considerably after some impacts with trees at the last round of the year and so the winter upgrade became a winter rebuild.

Cutting a long story short, after 2 new wings, a bumper, new front axle case, repairing the suspension mount on the chassis, repairing the roof and rear bodywork, rebuilding the engine and a dozen or so other minor jobs the car was nearly ready to go by mid March, still past the start of the 2011 season but only by a few rounds… however… a quick run on the farm showed that the clutch had started slipping. To be honest, there had been a suspicion that the clutch had been slipping since Rolands Castle last year, but in the wet of Sidbury and the ice of Broxhead it didn’t really notice!

A new snorkel and a new air box designed to keep the water and mud out of the engine were still outstanding. The clutch was ordered, an up rated AP Racing paddle unit and cover, which would definitely not slip, and work was started on the snorkel and air box.

Unfortunately the clutch didn’t arrive until the 2nd of June! This did give plenty of time to work on the air box. The car is now 97% ready, just a oil catch tank to make, as the breather is no longer connected to the air box, and some drains to add to the bottom of the air box to let any water which goes down the snorkel back out.

So there it is, after 6 months of work we should be ready for the last 3 or 4 rounds of this years SCOR championship. I’m hoping to get the last jobs done and give the car a proper test in the next couple of weeks, and maybe even measure the performance with some GPS trickery. If all goes well I’ll post an update.

Sean