Off road driving technique

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Originally Posted by the evil twin

Uuummmm... Bullshit, sorry, but it is... and any Instructor teaching that the "one and only purpose of a hand throttle is immediate high RPM on ign start for extreme hill starts" should be immediately stripped of accreditation assuming they hold some in the first place.

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So what do you think its for then, warming up your car, or cruise control? Must be one of the two, surely.

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Originally Posted by TroutNut

So what do you think its for then, warming up your car, or cruise control? Must be one of the two, surely.

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Must be for getting me bacon and egg butties warmed up quicker ;)

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Originally Posted by Clunk

Must be for getting me bacon and egg butties warmed up quicker ;)

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Actually I use it as a place to hang my manbag when negotiating those nasty speed bumps at Bunnings

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Originally Posted by the evil twin

Actually I use it as a place to hang my manbag when negotiating those nasty speed bumps at Bunnings

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Woah slow down there mate, that just seems a wee bit adventurous for my liking

If no one cares I might get back on track?? If you do care about staying off topic for what Cuppa asked, then well ... :)

I've never had a truck with a hand throttle and agree with the many different descriptions of basically the same thing. Even without the hand throttle you can get used to positioning yourself and keeping it somewhat stable most of the time. Some days things will take you by surprise and you won't!

The hand throttle sounds good to me to have a slightly higher base to avoid stalling. But I think that would also take time to get used to. Don't think I'd want it set too high, but can see the logic in using it.

So, the conclusion to all this (which was also mentioned several times above)? Get out and practice! Then get out some more. Try some of the ideas from above and after a while you will have a system that works for you. If not, get out some more and eventually you will. You'll feel comfortable and do whatever it is you do and it will work without thinkimg about it. Kind of like learning to change gears really?? Can be awkward for learners but with time it just happens.

So, when are we going next? :)

Yep, I personally prefer to keep me foot wedged up against the kick panel, irrespective of whether im driving the auto or the manual. However, I have also used the hand throttle locked in for a slow even controlled ascent. Might even try the sponge one day, for shits n giggles

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Originally Posted by cgm

If no one cares I might get back on track?? If you do care about staying off topic for what Cuppa asked, then well ... :)

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Spoilsport

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Originally Posted by TroutNut

Gotta love the way you word things. 'A very significant risk' is what im getting at. Im talking about slopes where compression isn't going to hold you. I realise most 4wdriving uphill starts don't need hand throttle, im only talking about extreme cases. If you have to go somewhere you don't want to go, with a bushfire up your backside, then some slopes are your only option and not recovering from a stall isn't an option. Plenty of people go up big slopes for the fun of it, and anyone doing it needs to know how to drive. There's also plenty of dead or wheelchair bound people who didn't know what they were doing.

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Mate , ET is on the money. I have never been on a 4wd course that teaches anything about a forward hill start and hand throttle (and I have been on a few). That is completely incorrect driving technique. Stalled on a steep hill requires correct use of the stall recovery technique which requires you to descend the hill backwards to a flat position where you can safely make another attempt at said hill. I've driven some ridiculous gradients and even the (relative lack of) compression in my petrol has held me on those slopes enough to complete a stall recovery safely. In extreme cases where it is not safe to descend, it's out with the winch.
A FORWARD HILL/HANDBRAKE START IS A DANGEROUS PRACTISE EVEN ON MILD HILLS.
I would suggest you take a refresher course on correct driving techniques before giving dangerous advice to others.

The hand throttle is used to ascend hills (as Winnie pointed out right at the beginning of this thread) by setting the RPM at the bottom of the climb and is a good way to help smooth out any surging. Personally, I generally use the wedged knee technique as also described in this thread as it gives me a little more fine throttle control. Sometimes I use a bit of a combination of the two......hand throttle and a little bit of brake or throttle as required.

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My troopy had a hand throttle ,,,,,,for rocky,, slow,,, even work it was fantastic, I never used it for going up or down a hill
Did freak some mates out once when I jumped out of the Troopy and started giving hand signals in front of the 4x4, mates following thought
who the hell is driving TDs 4x4 lol, was a carpark type situation, Firth Park to be exact
Try not to form bad habits they will linger

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Originally Posted by Drewboyaus

Mate , ET is on the money. I have never been on a 4wd course that teaches anything about a forward hill start and hand throttle (and I have been on a few). That is completely incorrect driving technique. Stalled on a steep hill requires correct use of the stall recovery technique which requires you to descend the hill backwards to a flat position where you can safely make another attempt at said hill. I've driven some ridiculous gradients and even the (relative lack of) compression in my petrol has held me on those slopes enough to complete a stall recovery safely. In extreme cases where it is not safe to descend, it's out with the winch.
A FORWARD HILL/HANDBRAKE START IS A DANGEROUS PRACTISE EVEN ON MILD HILLS.
I would suggest you take a refresher course on correct driving techniques before giving dangerous advice to others.

The hand throttle is used to ascend hills (as Winnie pointed out right at the beginning of this thread) by setting the RPM at the bottom of the climb and is a good way to help smooth out any surging. Personally, I generally use the wedged knee technique as also described in this thread as it gives me a little more fine throttle control. Sometimes I use a bit of a combination of the two......hand throttle and a little bit of brake or throttle as required.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

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So now im the one giving dangerous advice!! Sometimes decending backward isn't an option, and winches don't come in 100m+.
There seems to be a few class clowns here, or maybe just self designated smartarses who crave the attention.

I did my 4wdriving course with Peter Reynolds during my time in the emergency services. He has an OAM for his 4wd training services for his various training of government departments. He trains a lot of our ES departments. I think he's got a little more credibility than you, and anyone else who doesn't seem to know what the little stick that makes the engine rev is for other than being a bit of a novelty.
Maybe you'd like to google him, all you smartarses and expert keyboard jockeys. Im sure he'd even take the time to have a chat with you on the phone, that'd be 0428 623458