Join D'Arcy (@wheeladventureQLD) and Jonty (@driveline_4x4) as they clear their heads at the best spot within Brisbane's 50km COVID-19 lockdown radius; the Glasshouse Mountains.
When QLD’s COVID-19 lockdown started to ease, a few friends and I (@wheeladventureQLD) loaded up our rigs to clear our heads in the Glasshouse Mountains, which is just north of Brisbane and the best choice for us within the 50km radius from home we were allowed. We had all done some work during lockdown and were keen to test out our new toys. Jonty (@driveline_4x4) had a new set of 285/75R16 Trail Grappler on his Mazda BT-50 and I had the Ridge Grapplers in 265/70R17 on my Mitsubishi Challenger along with new suspension, an MCC bulbar and a winch.
We rolled into the 'Big Red' car park and it was at capacity, a lot of people had the same idea as us. Immediately, I noticed a lot less scraping thanks to the added clearance from the bigger tyres and the lift despite the tracks being in worse shape than usual.
Even though it hadn’t rained in what felt like months, it was still very muddy out there, and a lot of people were turning around at the first real challenge we hit, a hill climb. The chicken track had a nasty crossover at the top that seemed even more dangerous, so we decided to head right up the middle. We had no issues at all crawling up in 1st gear low range and immediately fell in love with our new Nittos.
This reminded me of an experience I had in Bellthorpe National Park on a much easier hill a few years ago that didn’t go quite as I had hoped. Back then our cars were stock and running H/Ts, so we were slipping and sliding all over the place, which you can watch a video of HERE.
It’s almost time to upgrade my car again and the first thing I’m going to do is get it rolling on some good quality Nitto rubber!