DIFF EXPLODES & Terrifying Runaway Diesel... Did we save it? CARNAGE on NSW Toughest tracks

What the hell just happened there? What do you do when you put a bog stock Zouk, a sooty and three other rigs on a four day mission on some of New South Wales' toughest tracks? Got a rig! Absolute... He's just taken off, I think he's got some power! Complete and utter... That was a save mate. Carnage! If it could go wrong... It did. Maybe she's on a rear axle. Hold there Jocko, pop your bonnet mate. It's boiling. Come on. Jocko. Get down to the drama. I'm meeting everyone in the Wadigans to go wheeling in a couple of hours, but I don't have a single working four wheel drive. The Pony, the Saslux and the N70 all need some much needed TLC. If only there was just some other four wheel drive that I could take. You know, something that's capable, reliable, would out wheel Sean and he's a lot of fun. That's right, we're taking on one of the toughest four wheel drive destinations on offer in New South Wales and I'm doing it in the mighty Zouk. Last year, I bought this little rig for Jessie and we took it down to the high country. This little Suzuki really stepped up to the challenge then. So whilst it was down here in the shed, I thought, why not take it one step further and go wheel some tough as nails tracks in the Wados. Running a little bit behind in the big Zouk, but the guys sent me a pin for up here. So there they are. Oh, wait till they see what I'm rocking up in. Is that Jocko? That's Jocko. What on earth is he driving? Look at this. It's like a four wheel but smaller. Holy heck. Jocko. What a rig. It is you. How do you fit in that one, Jocko? Only just. How are you? I am so excited you brought this. I obviously thought you were in the Horlux, mate, so I planned some really tough tracks. Heck yeah. The good news for you is not changing any of the plans because that's all I've got in the bank, right? Obviously you've got twin lockers and all that sort of jazz. No. You don't? No. Brilliant. I've got nothing. Brian, keep up. You're going to have an absolute ball, mate. It's going to be so funny. These things are the most fun to drive. I don't need to tell you that. Mate, if you're driving the highway, it was just fun enough. We're going to be doing a heck of a track. All right. We're going to jump in, mate, lock and load. A couple of really cool tracks around here. You'll be familiar with all of them. Yep. Definitely. I guarantee you, you've never done an unlocked zoo before. It's going to be wild. Good luck. All right. Let's do it. If you've wheeled in the Waros before, you'll know the first track we're taking on, CPT 80. It's an awesome testing ground for the rigs and provides a number of wild challenges that should put the wind up us. We've got a pretty cool convoy for this trip. I'm really excited, actually, because my first vehicle I ever bought was a Suzuki Sierra wide track, just like that one. Then, of course, behind that, we've got Justin in the big Defender. Love that thing, a 130. He's got some reduction gears in it this trip, so he's very excited to give that a little go on the tracks. Then we've got Bell in the big Steady 200. Now, just when you thought it couldn't get any more lights, they've actually got some new lights hot in on that thing, so I'm pretty keen to see how that all works out, but that vehicle's super capable. It's going to go places. Rounding out the convoy is Josh in the TC Boxer's Gladiator. Of course, I've wheeled the JK Rubicon over in the U.S., but to see a Gladiator on the Aussie tracks, well, I have a feeling it's going to be an absolute weapon. My first track is just around the corner. Of course, to get around that corner, I thought it would be fun to test the waters in Old Soot, and well, I might have gone and got stuck straight away. It stinks. Absolutely stinks. What a way to kick it off as well. Soot was looking pretty clean. I just dropped it into this one. I hardly even gave it any revs, thinking it was absolutely nothing, and here we are. Luckily, the boys were on the recovery real quick. That's one way to start the trip. Sorry, Sooty. Day one, five minutes in, and I have a foot spa. It's fantastic. Can I go down the Zouk with you from now on, John Blake? Oh, no. Look at that. It smells. Look at that. And the smell of it. The smell of it. We're about 70 metres into the track. I'm just standing down. I wasn't expecting to have wet feet and the inside to smell this bad on day one. Yeah. Oh, dear. Well, that's part of the fun, isn't it? The little Zouk is tough, but it's basically stock with no lockers and small tyres. It's going to require some precision driving and a fair bit of right foot. More beans. Give it more beans. More beans. I'm just dipping out. You're pretty hung up, mate. Yeah, I'll do some. I'll try and straddle it. Climb, sweet maiden. Yes. Oh, no. I have a feeling it's going to be a long day. Yeah, from behind. We're going to get covered in mud. We'll give you a little push from behind. All right. I just won't speed it. Don't squirt us with mud. All right. Ready? Go. Oh, nearly. So close. It's in my mouth. Welcome to a four-wheel drive 24-7 trip, mate. Righto. We'll give it a little winch, I guess. Not silly if it works. Very good, mate. Very good. Best bit about it, he hardly made it look hard. With the rest of the vehicles through with literally no troubles, we finally make the corner that leads to our first real tricky climb of the day. And the rut is about two Suzuki's deep. This should be interesting. This is a big step. There's no two ways about it. And one of the dramas about going first, you just don't know how hard you can sort of hit it or if you're going to lean into the bank a lot. He's got to sort of work it out on the spot, which is a bit tricky. But we'll just nose up and see what it looks like. Oh, man, that's a big step. That's the line. I have to give that another crack. Yeah, I think so. If you want, we can pack this hole. Most of you know Suti and what she's capable of. But for those who don't, it's pretty important to note that while Suti's super capable, she's set up as a tough wheeler and tourer. That is super steep. Meaning there's a fair bit of weight in the rear of the vehicle, which is what's ultimately stopped me here. Really undercut. It doesn't feel like it's going to pop. As you come up, steer to me. That's pretty hard on the gear. Yeah. That's a pretty wild angle. And Suti's not having a bar of it. Last attempt. Come on, Suti. There it is. Well done. There it is. Well played. Reshuffle. Mate, that was mint. Well done, mate. That's a good ride. I'm excited. I don't even need my pencil. You know what, mate? That was well driven. Let's see how she goes on this bit. Up we go. That's it. Yep. Super cool. What do you reckon? Pretty cool. Well executed, I reckon. He just had a few little reshuffles. Just a bit of left, right, goodnight. Off he went. That was mint. Well done, mate. I'm going to be honest with you now. I didn't think I was going to drive that. Nah, loved it. I thought that's going to be a little bit out of my price range. Well done. That was awesome. Jocko's found a zoop line. Now this is surprisingly steep with a couple of big rocks at the top. So he's going to need a fair bit of wheel speed to get up here and pick the right line. It's going to be a challenge, there's no doubt about it. He's small from ear to ear. Righto, mate. Give it a go. I'm going to stand back. Oh, there he is. There he is. The Zook's on full noise, and believe it or not, this is just how you've got to drive a vehicle like this. Plus, the exhaust has rattled loose a bit, making it seem all the more chaotic. It's like two rocks at the exact same time on the big old Zookie wheelbase. Even this B-line is a big ask for little Clifford, and my foot is to the floor. Yeah! Oh, this is so much fun. Justin gave his Defender a spin last time out in the Glasshouse Mountains with us, and since then has put in some reduction gears, so this thing should be prime and ready. That's you. Oh, it wants it. I think I'm stuck in the same bit. All right, let's have a little look, mate. What do I need to do? I reckon a little bump to the right-hand side, you'd probably have that. Yeah. Hey! The leg is shaking. But he's executed that drive to perfection. Well done, mate. I always thought long wheelbases and Land Rovers were just, like, such a disadvantage, but that's been pretty neat. It's been really good. I think it actually helps in his favour. Yeah. The front's sort of up, and the rear gets its own going. It's all the way back down there. Yeah, that's it. We should wheel limos. Well, the closer you get to it, the bigger it looks. Maybe if we rock-pack the back a bit, just to help bump up. That will help a lot. Yeah. Yep. I reckon we might just chuck that winch on, Belle. Yeah, no worries. Similar to Soot, there's a fair bit of weight in the rear of that 200. At the risk of breaking a CV, which is known to happen to these, the winch is the right call. Yeah, left-hand down, left-hand down, left-hand down, if you can left. Yep, that's you. That's it. Just a tiny bit. Just a little bit. Just a little extra help. That's it. Drive through that. Yeah. Hello. We got there. That was epic. Goodness. That was awesome. Geez, I don't think many 200s have wheeled up here. I don't reckon any, mate. That is seriously impressive. Gladiator, are you ready? Let's bring it on. Low floor locked up, ready to roll. The Jeep is as capable as all heck as we know from our wheeling in America, but Australian wheeling is a whole different ballgame, so it'll be interesting to see how Josh tackles this one. A bit of left-hand down, mate. That's nice to get the time. Not that much. That's a good one. Yep. Give that a little drive. Keep going, keep going. Yeah. Unreal. Awesome. Yeah. Once again, the Jeep has towed everyone up and got up first go. Up you go. Let's go. I'll tell you what. Those Jeeps are a thing of beauty when it comes to technical wheeling, and Josh has nailed that. That's pretty impressive on 33s. Yeah. It's basically showing me once again that I've wasted my life building Highlanders. I should have built one of them. You know what, ditto. Well done. Nailed it, dude. Well done. And girls? So good. I like it, mate. I like it. If you've wheeled in the Watergans Forest before, you'll know it's big truck territory. Having big tyres and twin-locked vehicles is usually the best approach. Taking the little unlocked Zouk through here was always going to have its challenges. Whilst the rest of the convoy is breezing through these little challenges, the Zouk is at full beans all the time, and that can cause dramas. All right, Zoukie, let's see what you can do up here. Oh, a little bit over and you would have had that. Get your drivers up here, but not as far into the bank. Really straddle. Oh, I can smell coolant. Hold there, Jocko. Just pop your bonnet, mate. She's bubbling. Is it overheating? Yeah. Oh, she's hot. It's singing. Maybe I'll get her back on the flat and let it run. Yeah. Yeah, get her back down on the flat. She's hot. Come on. It's not a great sign, I'm going to be honest with you. Overheating, which sort of worries me. You can see the smoke just, oh, steam coming out, and it's boiling. It's sort of pushed a lot of coolant back into the overflow, and of course that's exploded, and there's a bit of steam coming out of it. With how much we're pushing the little Zouk, it's inevitable that some of the older parts weaken and eventually go. There's no fan left. That'll be why. Jocko. Get down to the drama. You know what? Nothing wrong with the Zouk. You know, that in Suzuki language, it's telling you off, mate. It's saying you just drove him in too hard. He went through that bog aisle at warp speed and unfortunately deleted all the fins off the fan. There we go. Well said, well said. Yeah, because usually when you do that, you put the fan through the radiator. No, you didn't. You put your fan through your cab door. I just deleted the fan. It's gone. It's just a hub. Look, we're going to get this through no matter what, mate. We will. You can't have two broken Hiluxes and now a broken Zouk. Yeah, that's not ideal. It's not ideal. With how jarring this vehicle is, what's probably happened is the engine's torqued over and the fan has clipped a part of the engine bay. We don't have a spare, so for now, it's on to the snatch strap. Clifford is mounted up and ready to go. Gotcha, mate. I'm going to go pretty slow, obviously, to start with and just see what it's like on the back of the suit. Hopefully, it's not too hard. Hold the steering wheel. I can either talk to you or hold the steering wheel, one or the other. Oh, wow. That was funny. Every time I got a little bit heavy, I just let the clutch out. Just towed it. We need to figure out how to get a spare sorted for the Zouk, but before we can do that, we still have a long way to go on this track with not many options except forward. What we've done here is just taken the snatch strap off the back of the little Zouk. It'd be pretty wild if I tried to tow the Zouk up here, but this just links up with the main road, so Jocko's going to be able to quickly drive around there and catch up with me. This is going to be pretty wild, I think. He wants it. Close. That's it. Yep. Yes. Suri, you absolute weapon. Yeah. Oop. Yeah. Hug this bank. Yeah. That's it. Straighten her up. Keep driving. Drive, drive, drive. Just like no front lock or anything. Yeah. I reckon he'll get this with a bump. Yep, go. That's it. Well done. That's a commitment. The big 200's up next. Now, she will need a little bit of momentum, but you just want to find that sweet spot. Not too much. You could break something, could shock load the front. You don't want that in a big IFS rig. It's a tricky one, this one, because you don't want that front to grip and then just shock load and go snap. Yeah. And you did the right thing. Just try rolling back. We'll give it a little load up and have a go. Nothing ever goes wrong when you say that. Load her up and off you go. That was a CV. Was it? Yep. Unfortunately, that was a front passenger side CV, the one that generally likes to go on the 200, or maybe, hopefully it wasn't the intermediate shaft, but we'll get it onto the flat and get some inspecting going and see if we can sort it out. Not even a full day in and already two vehicles are out. Let's see how Josh handles this one. Get up! Yes! Send it, baby! Jeeps, man. Jeeps. We're no strangers to a blown CV on a 200, as it's such a common thing. But before we jump the gun, we're going to get the tyre off and have a proper look. What usually is probably about a 20-minute job for us has turned into a mild stitch-up. We can't seem to get the inner cup, if you will, of the CV. Usually they've got a little circlip on them. Usually pry them straight out. Let me show you the state of our pry bar. Where is that? Here it is. It's missing the pry bit off the bar. We're thinking maybe the splines have twisted on the CV or something. It's really bound up. Yeah, it's bound up enough to break a pry bar. So we're just trying to think outside the square. We've got two broken four-drives. Covered in dirt. It's day one. It's starting to get dark and it is starting to rain at the moment, so we're just going to put this back together. We're actually going to grind off the other end of the starved axle and put it together. And we'll drive this in three. We'll drive and we'll get back to camp. I reckon we'll have a better look at it. Maybe get some parts. We'll need some parts for the Zouk anyway. But for now, let's get it back together, eh? Day has very quickly turned to night. And with a few more challenges to navigate, it looks like we have a night run on our hands. I reckon at the start of this day, if you asked me what time I reckon we'd get off this track, I'd reckon probably about three o'clock. Being at camp by about four. Cracking a beer by about one past four. Oh, it's all happening in here. There's stuff falling everywhere. I think I have some spinal issues after that. Hi, Jocko. You've got to somehow navigate around these trees, mate. This is the way out, obviously. Yeah, roger that, mate. Well, I'll follow you because I don't have much choice. The good thing is, though, because the Zouk's already manual steering, I don't need to have it running to steer. That's true. That's true. You can steer around. And, um, look, I'm going to probably get two hands on the wheels pretty soon, maybe chuck a couple of lockers on. This is a bit shaley, a bit steep. I'm going to probably get into it a bit. Like the both of us. Oh, I just heard Zouk get on the noise. This is going to be fun. Oh, he's changed gear. Ah! Just as we make our way out of the track, we notice something more sinister going on with the 200 as Bell comes on the radio to let us know it's lost rear drive. We suspect a rear axle, but without light and a workshop, it's going to be difficult to diagnose what's going on, so we'll have to take a look at it tomorrow. With now two vehicles in tow, we point our weary heads towards a flat bit of land that'll do for tonight's camp. With everyone pretty knackered and a big day on the tools tomorrow, it's an early one for the crew. Fingers crossed we can get these rigs back up and running in the morning. After a good night's sleep, we were able to have a look under the 200 this morning, and we've come to the conclusion that the rear axle has snapped clean off. It's a complicated fix, and we need to get this rig on a hoist to see what's going on. The beauty of the Watergans is that you're not too far from town, so we've popped in to get a helping hand from a local workshop. Oh, yeah. That's twisted. Bell, I present this to you. Thank you very much. I'm going to put that on my fireplace. Yeah, it's a trophy. With a hoist and the right tools, it really does make a world of difference when repairing vehicles. I've done my fair share of bush mechanics on the ground, and let's just say I'm glad the boys at the workshop were there to help out on this one. With the axle and CV fixed up, it's a big thanks to the boys and straight back out into the bush. Jocko, it's pretty refreshing to have some dirt back under those tyres, mate. All the rigs are fixed, and we're ready to get the tracks again. Roger that, mate. And by the sounds this Zook is making, she is ready to party on some tracks. What have you got in mind? Well, mate, a couple of little rock steps, a couple of little hill climbs down here. You've done these a million times before, but I guarantee you've never done them in a Zook, mate. And I'm pretty keen to see how it goes, to be honest. Big rock step. Yeah, mate. As I was thinking before, in the terms of rock steps, this is what's known as a big boy. A big boy. And it really is. Look, I think I'll give it a go, but there's heaps of trees to winch. If it goes wrong... And there's also heaps of rocks to pack, but it is a double step, so it's going to be interesting. I know, because the front will come up, I think, quite easily. But then as the front wants to start climbing up, the rear's coming up here. Yeah, classic. It's a classic rock step stitch-up. You guys going to give it a go, or...? We'll see. We'll have to be short-winded. Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, the guinea pig. We'll send the guinea pig up. We'll wait and see how you go first, mate. Yeah, there's not a lot of confidence in the convoy. Let's bring the suit up and see what happens. All right. I've spent a fair bit of time at the front of the convoy, tackling obstacles first. I wonder what it's like at the back. Oh, well. Sooty, let's get this one done. What was that? Exhaust. That's it. Fine. We might need to get your bum out of that hole. Yeah, that's it. Now steer a bit left. Yep. Beautiful. Ah, that's the line. We just need a bit more traction. Yeah, that. Come on. Have a little start. Do you want me to give it a smack? Good time for a starter motor to go, hey. No deal. I'm leaving the chat. Do you mind doing me a favour? I've got the handbrake on. Do you reckon you could jump in and hold the brake? Yeah, I can do that. We've got one other resort to start this car. Don't laugh. Roll away, tackler. Roll away. Ah, this is wild. I'm in neutral. You're definitely in neutral. Yep. That's good. Come on. Whoops. Hey! The old other key. A lot of sparks down there. I've got welder's flash now. It's not going anywhere, he says. Hey, that was it. Don't try that at home, folks. Right hand down a bit. Come forward on that. It's going. It's going because of the exhaust. Oh, yeah. Can you go back? Left hand down. Just not getting... It can't get rid of the soot. Sooty! That exhaust was like just... I had no power and I wonder why. Exhaust was like on a rock. That's how steep we're talking, folks. That's a lot of soot. Oh, soot. Live it up to your name, all right. There you go. As soon as that front came up, the rumbler did the rest, I suppose. Just winched me straight up and over. I actually felt really safe. Although it was steep and there was a lot of little noises that you could probably hear of exhaust heat and the dirt and all that sort of jazz. Nice and easy winch at the end of the day. Ah, just when I was rearing and ready to go to wheel this track, the Zook has probably taken a leaf out of Sooty's book and the starter motor's packed it in. Tried giving it a smack, nothing worked, so might just need some muscle. Come down and give us a hand. Some Australian and New Zealand muscle. Hey, guys, can you come down and give us a hand? Tell you what, I don't know if we've done something wrong in a past life or if this forest is haunted, but we've had absolutely no luck so far on this trip. Let's hope things get better from here. Ready? Three. Thanks, guys. This is the moment where I'd say, Jocko, yo, it was a carton, mate, but he had to push me out of a servo today because my starter motor also went, so we'll just stick together, I think, you and me. Yeah. All right, Zookie, show us what you got. Oop, that's a good start. It's like a perfect-sized rut to dip out of here. There we go. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! There we go. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Might be a little tricky to wheel, but at least I'm having a ball while doing it. That's it. Into it. You need more wheel speed. Right to that. John's a Zookie master. He cut his teeth in one of these, and he's telling me, more wheel speed. About as much fun as you can have with your pants on. He's loving life. Ha-ha-ha. No, you got this. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Steer down, and we'll get you up in here and then reverse back. Yep. It's an arm workout for a little car. That's sick. Just any line you think you need to take, that's probably not the line you need to take in the Zook. Awesome. You've got to understand, this is a serious challenge for a little unlocked Zook. This is like, I don't know, competing in Outback Challenge for your first time. There's going to be foot to the floor, there's going to be dust going everywhere, and a heck of a lot of fun. Bring her up, mate. You've got the perfect ramp. Straight up here, mate. See this rock? Unbelievable. So much fun. That takes me back to my 18-year-old days. So cool. Now Justin, if you don't get 18,000 RPM coming up here, you're not even driving like a Zook. Come on, mate. Ha-ha. Look at it. Yes. That's it. You know, if you had a front locker, you'd probably drive that, hey? It felt nice in that first bit. Just go back, mate. Left hand down. Try to come up this way. That would be the line, hey? This is where we put you. Nah. Yeah, it's not going to do it. Justin, mate, it's a huge effort to even attempt this one in the Defender. Well done. The Rump has still got its work cut out for it, though. Yep. Oh, that wheel. There goes that rock. Starting to winch, mate. Oh, look at that rock. Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Stay on the winch. Trust your button. That's it. That's it. Trust your button, baby. Well done. Keep going. Keep going. Beautiful. Well done. That is the biggest rock this lodge. Also specialising in earth moving. Ha-ha. I reckon it's probably drivable now. He's honestly done you a favour. Josh has seen the Defender and wants to see what the Gladiator can do on this challenge. Yeah. That's it. That's it. I'll go right hand out. That's him. That rock's going to help. Yep. Forward on that, mate. Just back and bounce it a tiny bit. Just go back a little bit. Keep coming. Keep coming. That's you. That's the line. Just give that a little steer from there. Bit of commitment? Little bit, but just to get over that rock. Just a little bit. That's it. That's enough. Oh, well. I'm glad I had a crack at it. That's really good for a vehicle with 33s, I mean. Pretty darn decent. Well, it's safe to say this one got the best of all of us, but we're all up and on to the next. Unreal, mate. I was worried about your toolboxes. I thought, oh, here we go. You're going to feed those. No, it's good. No scratches, no dents. Yep. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Very well done. Picked up that mega rock again. Yeehaw. That's you, mate. Well done. Well played. Oh, yes. Far out. Good zap. Last vehicle up. Unreal. Just thought I'd take a sec to check over the big TC Box's Gladiator. Obviously, I was lucky enough to wheel a JK Wrangler over in America, and that thing was a weapon. It drove everything I pointed it at, and I've always wanted to see one on the tracks in Australia. I think this is the very first Jeep we've had on Australian tracks. Being a Gladiator, it is really long, but I'm amazed at how capable it is. Even with that ramp over angle, it's set up a bit more for touring with the canopy and tray on the back, but it's been an absolute weapon. I'm pretty impressed. If you guys would like to see a Jeep a bit more on the tracks, let us know in the comments below. Here's an interesting fact about this Jeep in particular. So Josh was saying that it's a Night Eagle, and it's got the Rubicon, which is the top-of-the-line factory twin-lock disc centres in it. They're just not wired up, so the boys before they came on this trip were able to tap into those lockers. They're already there, and they've got a twin-lock Gladiator, and this thing has been a rig. I'm actually coming around to Jeeps in a big way. With the wheeling itch well and truly scratched, and plenty of new love marks on the rigs, I reckon it's about time we go find a nice little spot to call home for the night. Jocko, how's this view, mate? Mate, if you reckon the view's good already, just wait until you get to the end of this track. It is one of the best views, I reckon, in New South Wales. I'm gonna come out and say it. It's a big call, mate. I'm very excited when you told me about this campsite. I was all ears, mate. Now, it's been a big couple of days out on the tracks. Lots have gone on. The crew, everyone in this convoy has been amazing. There's been breakages, there's been winching, there's been all sorts of stuff. The stuff you expect in New South Wales, mate. Come to think of it. But I'm pretty keen to get to a campsite, and guess what? Before dark. Look at that. Stunning. Truly stunning. We've got a pretty amazing backyard, I reckon. Now, normally when I get to camp, one of the first things I'll do is set up. I'll put this flag out, chuck the awning up, but right now, have a look at the view. I mean, I'm just gonna sit back, crack a beer, and take it all in. Absolutely stunning. After the last two days of mayhem we've just had, I reckon everybody's keen to kick back in their favourite camp chair, crack a coldie, and just take it all in. Well, guys, cheers. Cheers, mate. Cheers, eh? Cheers, mate. Cheers, legends. What a trip, eh? So far, and we've only just started. Mate, it has been epic. It's, you know, tougher tracks. New South Wales really turns it on. You know what? The campsites, amazing tracks. I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say, you know I'm a proud Queenslander, however, when it comes to tracks, New South Wales probably has it. I mean, the Watigans, I grew up driving some of these ones, tough as nails. They are, they really are, and mate, to do some tough as nails tracks and finish at a beautiful spot like this, I don't think it could get much better. What are you guys reading on the campsite, alright? Not bad, eh? I've never been here, and I've done the Watigans a million times, and to see a campsite like that, it's just got me thinking, Jocko, I probably need to make a meal that's worthy of such a campsite. Oh, I was hoping you were gonna say that. What have you got in mind? See this, mate? Oh, you're doing something with it. Is it gonna be beer can chicken again, or what's the go? I'm not chucking my beer up a chicken ever again, mate, but I will be, don't you worry, don't you worry. Alright, alright. I'm gonna jump into the kitchen, mate, work something out, and I'll just need to try and make a meal that's worthy of such a campsite. I think I've got just the idea. Perfect, mate. Can't wait. Well, here we are in the Watigans, and I've gotta say, the Watigans is always super fun. Jocko, and this campsite, mate. It's pretty epic, isn't it? Pretty epic is another statement. We can see the whole of the Hunter Valley, we can see right up through the central coast. I can see Cessnock KFC. We can see it all, mate, and that's so great about this place. Now, I'm gonna pull out one of my favourite recipes. Yep. I've done this before, but this one's with a bit of a twist. Okay. I'm doing beer can burgers, so first step is get a beer can, that's number one. Cheers, mate. And, you know, good trip, good trip so far. A lot of breakages, a lot of hard trash. Straight away. I wouldn't expect anything else though when I'm with you, mate. No, definitely, we turn it on. We definitely do. I'm about to with a meal. I'm gonna jump in the Dometic here, mate. Now, check this out. I've got some mince. Ah, some ground beef. I've got some ground beef, some mince, and also some pork mince. Pork mince, so 50-50 split. Whack that into there, mate. I might put a little bit of olive oil down first. I'm just gonna crack one egg in the middle there, and the egg will help them stick. We've massaged that meat as good as we could. You're good at that. You're really good at that. I really should have got you to have a go. Yeah, I am a pro at massaging meat. Get a ball. Get a ball. Mix it together. Mix it together. Now, good size balls. Yeah, yours is a bit... Whack yours down. Yours is a bit bigger than mine. It can happen. So, I've finished my beer here. What I'm gonna do now is I'm basically gonna push down onto that, and I'm just gonna guide this meat around. We're basically making like a little meat pocket. Now, what we want to do with that is... Put things in it. Correct. Now, you're making like a little meat cave. What is going on with yours? Have a look at mine, mate, and look at yours. That's why you need bigger balls. You've got a way bigger meat sack than me. Well, I really did. Get some more balls. Yes. There you go. Alright, watch this, mate. Round two. No, come on. No, no, I'm getting there. Gentle hands. I am being gentle. You really need gentle hands on this one. Push the bases in a bit more. You've got... It's really thin sides, man. Thick bases. Yeah, so bring them up. Bring them up a little bit. Not too high. No, I'm making a tower of batter. How's that looking? Yeah, look at that. I reckon that's pretty good, mate. Take it out. Take it out. Take the beer can out. Nice and gentle. Gentle. Let's be honest with you. It's not the nicest meat pocket you've ever seen. No, but that's my first meat pocket I've done. You know what? It's okay. We've got plenty more to make. Those little meat pockets, they're going to go straight in, just like that. Right onto the side. Don't take all the room up. Valuable real estate in here, mate. Now, Jocko's now a pro from going from, you know, he was a bit nervous working with the meat, and now he's just a pro at beating that meat. Look at him go. Look, mate. That is beer can burgers in a nutshell. So use the beer can, obviously, to create a little bit of a well, so we can get some fillings in. And speaking of fillings, there she is. There she is. Bingo. Thank you. Look at that. Yum. Oh, you've done well. I mixed these a little bit. No, you didn't. Clearly, you boys belong in the kitchen. You've done extremely well. That's good. I'm going to get the rest of the fillings done. Now, if you do us a big favour, these have got to go on a nice little bed of coals. If you're going to sort the fire out, get that sorted. And then, tell you what, they're going to look a lot better in a second. Trust me. Look at that. Look at that for a filling. Yum. How are you going with that? A bit of sparing? Got one little leftover jalapeno popper. Yeah. Oh, spicy boy. With the whole thing. The bacon and the little cream cheese just sets that off so nice. Those jalapeno poppers, what do you reckon? Good thing you took the seeds out, mate. It was delicious. It'll be even better when it's in a big meat sack. Will be. We're basically just getting those, getting the filling inside and just flatten it down a little bit. All the fillings in, that is beer canned burgers 101. Now, that is a really fancy way of doing it. We've got jalapeno poppers, we've got all the capsicum, we've got the mushroom, a little bit of white onion in there. We're going to put the lid on. They're going to go straight into the coals. And trust me when I say this, these are going to be unreal. Can't wait. Mate, I can smell that from back there. I can feel it from back there. That was so hot. Yeah, let's do a little moment of truth. We're just taking this straight off the coals. Open her up. Oh my goodness. Look at that. Put that down, put that down. That is beer canned burgers done. Folks, jump in here. Come on, jump in. Now what you're going to need first up, you're going to need one of these. That's your plate. Here's a big one, Jocko. Oh, that's a big one. You ready? Look at that there. That is a burger. Whack that down. Whack a lid on it. Well, folks, that is a beer canned burger. What do you folks reckon? You reckon it's alright? We got mouthfuls. Now the best bit is, when you get through the wall of meat on the side, you're going to have jalapeno popper in the middle. You're already, you're right into the jalapeno popper. You're going to get the cream cheese. You're going to get the full experience. How good? Speaking of which, let's do it. Yeah, let's do it. The morning has brought some weather with it, but hopefully the rain holds off for us today because we've got a great day lined up and, fingers crossed, no more breakages. What a sensational view to wake up to. Doesn't get much better, I reckon. The plan today, first things first, get a bit of coffee into us. Josh is cooking some brekkie for everyone, and after that we'll get packed up, get the four drives ready and head into those hills over there. Before that, though, I reckon I might just finish my coffee and take in the view a bit longer. What a stunning part of the world. I've got to say, the TC Box's canopy is set up so well, and I'm really impressed with how it's holding up on the tougher tracks, too. With our laughing gear wrapped around a bit of brekkie, it's time to kick off the day. Jocko, haven't been here in many years, mate, but I'm always excited to hit some of your local tracks up. Oh, mate, definitely. Kili Loop is a heck of a lot of fun, and the best part about this loop track is there's a line to choose for everyone. Different skill levels, different vehicles. You can come out here and really test your, I guess your mettle as a four-wheel driver. I'm keen to hook in. Yeah, you're not wrong, mate. There is something for everyone out here. That's what I love about it, and from memory, it is kind of tough. There's a few very challenging spots, there's no doubt. What do you reckon? Let's hook in, eh? Kili Loop is a well-known four-wheel drive spot in these parts, and it's a part of New South Wales that I've spent a bit of time as a youngster cutting my teeth wheeling. And up we go. Multiple lines even through here you can take. Try up that left bit. Yeah, easy. I'll get one wheel up here and just straddle the whole rut. I'm dropping there, yeah. Alright. Well, there's a bit of a rock garden that you sort of drive through before you even get up to those big steps. Try not to bang my disc coming up. Before I can get into this climb, things go horribly wrong. What the hell just happened there? That was, um, good thinking on your part, but what the heck? What the actual heck happened then? I thought my exhaust had a hole in it or something. I thought you were just loading up the suspension, er, loading up the engine for a bit, because it started, like, chugging. And then I saw a bit of grey smoke, and I was like, that was weird. And then it just went nuts. Often run-on is caused by oil entering the combustion chamber, where the engine will run on its own oil until it fails. 101 how to blow your engine up. Yeah. That was, um, quick trigger finger on the, or trigger foot on the clutch. That was good. Yeah. That's loose. Why would it have done that? Oil on the turbo? Maybe. And then that's fed back to the intake? Yeah. I was trying to compress the oil, but that's happened before with City Mark 1, but right at the end. Right at the end of its life. This is not as fair as that one. Yeah. And I don't, er, I don't, we haven't really gotten to the bottom of why it may have happened, like, just cruising along. Could it have been a timing-related thing, or? Nah. Could have been. Maybe. Absolutely could have been. I'm no stranger to this scenario, because it's actually happened to me once before. And with the old diesel running on, this could be the end of its life if you don't act quick. An excessive amount of oil straight in the intake, which is exactly why it's run on. It would be hot. Proper. There's a bit in there. Maybe turbo? That's exactly what I thought. The second it happened, I was like turbo. Yeah. Yeah, it's a bit of play, but I've seen worse. Yeah. Just what sort of expected has happened. I think the turbo has probably done a seal. It's buggered. So it's therefore feeding oil up into the intake, and that's why it ran on its own oil, etc, etc. So what we do from here on is we're basically going to imagine running a turbo diesel naturally aspirated. So I'm going to take off the intake pipe and basically try and get it started. But before I do that, I just want to make sure there's not an excessive amount of oil that's up in a cylinder. So I'm just going to turn it over by hand. So I just chuck a big breaker bar on the front of the crank, turn it over, and if I can get a full set of revolutions on it where it's not actually compressed and stuff, that'll give me confidence to try and start it. And then when it starts, it should just idle normally, fingers crossed. And because I've taken the intake pipe off, it's unlikely to get any oil get fed straight into the intake so it shouldn't run on. That's a theory anyway. I need a shower tonight. I'll just turn the motor over. It seems to move quite freely, so that's giving me confidence I'm about to turn it over. The other thing I want to do is just take the oil cap off. I want to sort of see how much blow-by is here. Hopefully none. So I'll just rest the cap just like that. And when it starts, if that just idles around a little bit, it's not too bad. If that blows off, it's got too much pressure in it and we're in trouble. Alright, lads. Moment of truth. You know what? The starter motor doesn't really work, so this probably could be a bit of a climax. I'll have to get out of the vehicle and try and start it. Ready. Come on. Fire up. Do you want to give it a smack? Yeah, give it a tap. How far back can I roll? Righto. This is sort of the starter motor issues as well. Yep. No blow-by. No blow-by. No. A lot of oil's going to come out of that exhaust now. That's lovely. That's good. And a big naturally aspirated one HD. No teeth. You know the fun bit? Trying to get this out without revving it too much. If I rev it, a lot of oil's going to come out obviously, so I've got no real choice in this. Alright. Just going to go up the easy line. Just want to try and idle up everything I can to get it out of here now. Poor old Soot. She's done so well. Towed the Zook to safety and wheeled like a champion. But today is just not her day. Well, Soot may be down and out, but I'm still keen to have some fun. Jocko, before you go anywhere mate, how do you open this door? You've got to come in from there. Jukes, how's it so? Are you coming in with me? I'm coming for a ride, mate. You can't have all the fun. That's fair, that's fair. Will we fit in? I hardly fit in here. Holy heck, we're going to be really close. Do you know what's awesome about this? What's that? The very first trip you and I ever, ever did together, and my very first ever trip, was in a Suzuki Sierra. In a $0 Zook, if I'm not mistaken. The $0 Zook, I looked a little bit younger than I do now. I had black hair back then, but I'm very excited, mate. This is the 4WD I learned how to drive in one of these. Yeah, as a Suzuki expert, maybe you can give me a few tips on Suzuki. No, you've been driving this thing well, mate. High RPM, let's go. Listen to this. Big block. Holy heck, that was my leg, mate. Sorry, I thought that was a ear stick. Alright, you ready for this? Righto. I'm going to hold on. This is fun, right? Come on! That's him! We can do that again. When is diffing out? You got this. I'll go back. It's kicking me right. So close. Oh no! Oh no. We just need a little rock, boys. Yeah, it's a rock. Maybe a little push. I'm going to give him a hand. Yeah, righto, mate. I'll stay here. It must have been the extra weight, hey, Sean? The Zook is beached. Little Zookie that could. Now we can reset for the next one. Are you going to get back in, you reckon? Yeah. Squeeze in. This does take me back. I can't believe this is my first 4WD. It's a bit of a noncy at the moment, but back when I was driving this was totally normal. Hardest tracks you could find in an unlocked Zook. Righto. That's him. Good line. That's him. Yes, yes. I've got this. Help that challenge eat your heart out. I was one of those hulks. Keep going. Yes, well done. Oh, wow, that takes me back. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my back fell off and everything. Jockey, that was amazing. Thank you so much for that, mate. That was bloody good. Oh, mate. Well, you got some big wheel lifts. We did, we did. I think we nearly put Clifford on its side. Several times. Several times. After a deeper look at old Soot, we find out the problem lay in some issues with the blockage in the airbox and not the turbo. This is good news, because after a quick clean up, Soot is back in action. With all the vehicles fixed and running on their own steam again, we couldn't resist one more no more. And it's a real doozy. Soot is back in action and just eating it up. Bazook, on the other hand, well, it's gotten a bit trickier, I reckon. Bazookie, this is going to be a doozy. Oh, she's hungry. Try that again with a little bump. I thought I was about to flip backwards. Oh, my goodness. That's one way to get up, Jocko. That's pretty wild, mate. Oh, I run my mouth a lot and usually I have something to say after something like that. The rest of the convoy takes, well, a better approach than me and make it nice and smooth. Which marks the end of a pretty wild couple of days out on some of New South Wales' toughest tracks. With a bit of air in the tyres and back on the blacktop, I reckon there's only one place to wrap this trip up and that's the pub. Well, cheers. Cheers, mate. Cheers, guys. Cheers, guys. Legends. What a good couple of days. That's another statement of the year. I've had so much fun. I mean, look, it hasn't gone exactly to plan. There was some breakages. I can't really point fingers, but there's been a few. But honestly, mate, how good is this? You've got a pretty good backyard. I've got to give it to you. Definitely, mate. New South Wales is where it's at. You've got some of the hardest tracks. You've got some awesome campsites. Plus, you're close enough to rip into town and get some parts when we ought to do that except for the Jeep, mind you. And you've got little watering holes like this right on the doorstep of awesome tracks. Mate, it's a sensational way to wheel and a sensational way to finish. Absolutely. Now, guys, that's enough for us. We're going to probably throw the anchor out here, I reckon, and we'll see you next time on 4WD24.7. Cheers. Cheers. Land Rover's around next, I reckon.