I guess I’m a bit annoyed. As Unsealed 4X4 grows (and boy, are we growing) I get more and more emails from people like you, the reader. Now I love getting these emails, and people generally have positive things to say, or they’re writing to lend some opinions on what they’d like to see in the magazine, which is incredibly helpful.
But lately, I’ve been getting a string of emails from would-be readers of a certain action-filled four-wheel drive magazine asking when we’re going to teach them how to bushproof their .
It’s with enthusiasm that I’m here to tell you that I’ll never be teaching you about ‘bushproofing’ your car stereo, nor will I ever be writing a story titled ‘Matt’s Cracking Epic Tips On How To Bushproof Your 4X4’. That’s because there’s no such thing as ‘bushproofing’ your vehicle, because no matter how strong you make it, I assure you there will always be a village idiot out there who will break it. And when an idiot isn’t present, a situation surely will present itself that will cause you to do it.
So rather than offering advertorial tips on upgrading your 4X4, I’d rather offer you some solid advice – ‘bushproof’ yourself and you won’t have to spend thousands on useless trinkets that you ‘simply-can’t-live-without’.
Now I’m not saying that you should venture out into the bush with an unprepared vehicle – rather the opposite. I’m saying that you should buy once, cry once, and get the right product the first time – and learn how to properly use the tool that is your four-wheel drive. That way you won’t have to worry about being stranded because you forgot to ‘bushproof’ it.
The world is not a scary place, and four-wheel driving is not that hard provided you have a good level of competency at few core skills. Learn how fast you really need to go up that hill, maybe second-guess if your vehicle really can make it through that mud hole, or better yet
– if it really needs to.
If you’re on insanely rough tracks, maybe learn the principles of mechanical sympathy and slow down a bit so you don’t blow a shock. If you’re the kind of bloke who’s solution to everything is a lot of skinny pedal and lifting tyres because it makes you look like a legend, you should probably learn how to drive before you wreck your 4X4 or worse – hurt yourself.
Common sense is the only ‘bushproofing’ you really need these days, and unfortunately it’s not really that common.
