Billy Goat Bluff Track Jan 2024 IN THE RAIN!!!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ม.ค. 2024
- An out of sequence upload for the channel. There's been so much interest online in the current condition of Billy Goat Bluff Track I've decided to skip ahead of my normal schedule and release this now.
The footage in this video is from a trip than ran from 2nd Jan 2024 - 5th Jan 2024, so by the time this goes live, less than 3weeks ago.
Wasn't planned and I don't recommend it, but we ended up tackling Billy Goat Bluff, at least the second half, in the rain.
Mix of vehicles on this trip;
Paul - Twin Locked, 2" lifted FJ Cruiser with MT Tyres
Me - Stock 76, no lift, no lockers, Road bias AT Tyres
Dan - 90 Series Prado, 2" lift, traction control, MT Tyres (no lockers)
Luca - GU Patrol, 2" lift, twin locked, MT Tyres
All vehicles except my 76 are coil suspension and autos. The 76 of course has leaf springs in the rear and is a manual.
#highcountry #landcruiser #landcruiser70 #offthebeatenpath #4wd
Another excellent video.
Thanks for taking the time to describe the track as you ascended.
Keep up the great work !
Thanks mate, rest of the Jan trip will go up soon. This was pretty topical at the time and wanted to show you can do Billy Goat Bluff, even in the rain slow and steady is your friend. A winch if you're running road terrains or have no lockers/traction control doesn't hurt either. :-)
I really enjoyed this vid. I know you said the camera set-up wasn't your preferred way to film, but I really liked the view. It looked like a drivers' eye view looking over the bonnet. I could kind of "feel" how the vehicle was behaving as the bonnet moved around underneath the track footage y'know? Your commentary is really good too - it adds a bit of colour. Sounds like the group of blokes were great too. No bullshit, no egos, just working together and enjoying the drive regardless of vehicle or speed or gear etc. I don't have a super expensive, super capable 4x4 so it's cool watching regular people with regular mods doing challenging tracks. I'm super keen to do a 4x4 trip to the Vic mountains soon. It looks amazing.
Thx mate. Glad you enjoyed it, we certainly enjoyed the trip and they are a great bunch of guys.
Definitely don't stress too much about having the 'perfect' setup. I started in a stock pajero with only an aircompressor and AT tyres as the only mods. If I didn't like the way a track was going and wasn't confident in doing it, I'd turn around.
THe high country is amazing and it never gets old. I love that I live right near it feel very lucky that's the case.
What a great idea to bring this video forward. Lots of interest as you said.
Great line choices Jason, without any added traction aids to your vehicle you did very well! Your experience shone through. 👌
Thanks mate, not sure if it's experience or a willingness to press the right foot down but either way got there with one winch and I'm pretty happy with that, given the vehicle set up, tyres and conditions.
Great drive Jase. Done well under the circumstances.
Its definitely changed, especially that first section.
Loved the UHF chat in the background.
Keep up the good work !👍🏼
Thx mate. Yeah a bit different having the camera inside the car, angle isn't as good but gives some banter on the UHF :-)
This video could be used as a tutorial for new 4 wheel drivers who've got a stock vehicle with open diffs and no traction aid. As a matter of fact it's a good tutorial for me of how to drive up Billy nice and slow.
Thx mate, glad it was helpful. Was definitely taking it slow and steady, second gear low range for most of it and 2nd gear in the 70 series is pretty low.
Crikey it has changed significantly. Yep the weather can change things instantly and put a whole new spin on things.
Great vid Jason and thanks for sharing..
Decent effort considering the tyres and open diffs.
Get that rear locker in mate and the 76 will be a totally different vehicle.
Thanks for sharing
Thanks mate, yeah this is the third BGB video I've uploaded to the channel, first was from 2021, it was like a 2wd road, second was Jan 2022 significant change and this one now from Jan 2024, even more eroded particuarly the section leading to the helipad.
Tyres will be soon on the 76, lockers, might have to wait till I sell the paj.
Great effort Jase with what you had to work with. I have similar tyres to yours and no lift (cant lift it as I cant get my D-Max into the garage at home), but I have upgraded the suspension. This video has given me a good idea of what I will have to look forward to. Thanks much, cheers, BobbyB.
Thx mate yeah amazing how far you can get without a lift if you pick your lines. To be fair the 76 sits pretty much the same height as my paj with its 2 inch lift. The paj just doesn't have the diffs sitting low and centre.
Great stuff well done! Definitely would not have done solo with stock suspension & stock tyres. Gotta love High Country weather changes!
Couldn't agree more!
Great looking trip with the rain adding a significant degree of difficulty. Will be interesting to see the perspective from the other vehicle when it is posted.
It certainly did. Not sure if Dan is posting a trip video of Billy Goat or not. Either way when I actually get up to this trip I may have additional footage by then. I won't repost the entire video, just link to this one but may include any new footage in that video at the time.
Great drive. In the wet. Was much easier once low range selected on my behalf 😅!! Well done with road tyres and no traction aids!!
Was an awesome trip, nothing like doing it the hard way for your first time up mate, in the rain. Only gets easier from here on out.
If you run too high a gear, the torque convertor will work hard and generate heat as the oil shears off the vanes inside. It will do that until the oil boils and cooks the transmission. Same thing in a manual transmission - if you try too high a gear and slip the clutch you will generate heat and burn it out. USE LOW RANGE! It takes the load OFF the torque convertor, less heat (or NO heat) as the lower gears are generating the torque NOT the convertor. Not the fault of the cooler, it was the nut behind the wheel.
@@trickster8635 No one is blaming the cooler. It was a mistake. No need for personal attacks. Happy exploring!
was a simple mistake that didn't last long, Dan was in high range instead of low range. Easy to do. Most of us make mistakes from time to time. Sorted it and didn't have an issue after that.
Did Billy Goat's for the first time back in November 2023. Bog standard Prado with Maxxis A/T tyres (great tyres by the way). Not so sure I'd like to do it in the rain though,,Well done!!
Yeah you can certainly do it in fairly stock vehicles, just need to pick your lines and pay attention. Dan was driving a fairly stock 90 series prado, made it up in the wet no issue. Decent tyres are a bit plus!
Hi
I also have a Prado (2019 GX) and looking for new tyres. Are your Maxxis the AT811’s ? What size?
Cheers
Love seeing the FJ run up that track. Amazing vehicle
Yeah the way Paul has it setup, it's ridiculously capable. Barely lifts a wheel. Agree it's great to watch!
Great track use to hunt deer of that track 35 years ago lol
Wow that would have been keen, pretty steep off the sides everywhere if you've taken an animal down. Bet it's changed a bit since then.
Great Video mate, that FJ looks awesome, too. I am biased though! 😉 I hit subscribe, too!
Thx yeah Paul's FJ is super capable, the driver does a pretty good job too! Thanks for the sub!
By the way I grew up near Tangambalanga. I didn't even realise that there were track around. Wasn't till I moved to Sydney and brought a 4wd.
Now dad moved from the farm to Struggle Town (the big donga)
It's funny how we often take our local area for granted and don't realise what it has to offer till we move away. I grew up in South Western Vic and didn't really appreciate it till after I left!
70s stock have some clearance in comparison to something like a Prado
1st mod is a rear locker, you would not have got stuck if you had a rear locker
Locker definitely would have helped. Decent tyres also :-) This was the last trip with the road terrains.
When you go to upgrade your suspension i highly rate the superior hyperflex kit i have it in my 76 and wheel lifts have halfed it actually has some flex now
Thanks good to know, have been looking at different kits and would be keen to get more flex than your average shopping trolley!!! thx.
Hmm, done this track more times than I care to. It’s not to bad compared to others in the area. The rocks do get soapy in the wet. Tyre pressure is important. Re the auto temp. I’d suggest he had a problem before he began. These days autos are the way to fly. Manuals are just an added complication you don’t need. I’ve attended many roll overs in the high country. The majority were when some one has a brain fart and engages a clutch at an in opportune moment. Try stopping 2 tonnes of 4WD when angel gear has arrived! I recall coming past a Mitsubishi Sigma sedan at the Helipad contemplating the rest of the journey about 20 years ago. He’d come down from the pinnacles. Made us all smile!
Well if that sigma had made it to the helipad, the rest was going to be fine, pretty eager!
Dan's auto was only overheating as he'd inadvertently left the car in high range. Once he changed back to low range, no issue which was why it's not mentioned in the second part of the video.
We've all had user error moments, so I didn't make a big deal of it in the video.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Great work getting up in that wet conditions. What tyre pressures where you on?
was running 20PSI in the front and 22PSI in the rear
Love this m8 brilliantly driven and good skill 👌 👏 btw are the 70s series bad for rust is it somethin u need to look for when buyin one?
Thx mate. I wouldn't say they're particularly bad for rust but you do need to watch out for ex-mine vehicles. They've often spent a lot of time near salt lakes. One of the reasons I went with a GXL rather than a workmate (most of the ex-mines vehicles are workmates). Try and find one that's got a clear history and in my case was lucky to find one that basically hadn't been off road at all.
Is my lifted first gen Ford Escape going to make it up there next week? Has all terrains…no low range though.
Without low range I wouldn't. Dan's 90 series had its transmission over heating in the first half as he accidentally was driving in high range. The first part to the helipad is the easy part.
This track is steep. You need the gearing advantage of low range and the control.
In short, I would not attempt this in a vehicle without low range, you're asking for a bad day.
I find the BOM radar doesn’t pick up all the rain/showers up in the high country. There were quite a few isolated showers coming through further over towards Omeo way early to mid Jan and some of these were not showing on the radar. Those big white clouds at the start of your video were very much thunderstorm clouds.
Yeah we were lulled into a false sense of security that there was going to be a bit of rain, but not much and not for long. The thunder at that altitude was nuts. My camera this trip was inside the car so didn't really capture the sound.
Yeah i have found using the windy app has better radar personally. Well it's using the BOM data but the representation of the data is better, in my opinion.
Did he say leave it in 2nd on the auto,, to keep it cool. I normally just select the gears in my Triton but not 100 percent sure if that's correct
No he realised for the first part he was in high range. Changed to low range after the helipad
I'm 72 & first went up BG when I was 20 in my series Land Rover as a mate said it was easy as he took his Kingswood ute up it- but he did have a limited slip diff & it was dry. I didn't catch what tyre pressure you were on.
yeah track has changed a lot over the years. First time I did it was almost 2WD, had just been graded by Parks I think. I was running 18PSI front and 20PSI rear.
I did it this year with ease in stock nossan navàra wiith mud tyres
We done it at night
@@blocky2005 when it's dry it's not that difficult. Night would be fun, just I guess you miss out on the view, but we kinda did as well with the weather we had.
D22 or D40 or newer nav?
Was the Prado in low range ?? I’ve had 4 prado’s (one of every series) all auto and never had the tranny light come on. Unless going down hill I just left it in drive and let it do its own thing but in low range.
Yeah, was a bit of driver error there. We'd been in low range for the last day and a half and only changed to low range for the drive to the start of Billy Goat. Dan was pumped to drive it and forgot to change back to low range. Figured it out, and that's why after the helipad no issues with the transmission overheating... :-)
@@OffTheBeatenPathAus 👍👍
Was Dan driving it in drive or was he holding 1st gear. I had a prado and did Billy goats in pretty much 1st gear low range the whole way and never over heated.
Dan was definitely selecting 1st gear. Prior to the helipad though it's possible he may have been in high range..... Notice he didn't overheat at all on the second, steeper section :-) Easy mistake to make we've all been there.
@@OffTheBeatenPathAus yeah did this recently myself. Felt like a total knob but yeah it's easy to overlook, surprisingly!
Yeah think we've all done it at one time or another. We'd been in low range almost the entire day before and most of the morning coming over Mt Cynthia and down to eaglevale. Only only just switched to High Range for the road from Eaglevale to start of Billy Goat. So easy to get caught out.
Hey mate, you headed up to the VHC this weekend?
I wish but not this weekend. Catching up on work so I can play later :-)
No worries mate. Im headed up tomorrow. Keep me in the loop when youre headed up next mate. I might come along if that suits@@OffTheBeatenPathAus
@@ShayneMostyn can you email me at the OTBP email, Offthebeatenpathaus@gmail.com thx
what tyre pressure were you using for climb?
went fairly low. 18PSI on the rear and 15PSI on the front
@OffTheBeatenPathAus perfect then. You did a good job. I have done Billy Goats 3 times, once in Nissan Terrano 2, twice in STD MY18 Dmax with 2 inch lift and AT tyres but in the dry all 3 times
It changes condition regularly.
@@stevegoodwin5841 Certainly does mate. This was my 4th time doing BG, all previous times were in the dry, in my Paj 2" lift and AT Tyres. Very different when wet.
Also, the first time I did it, it was almost 2WD, and the bottom section was sandy.... the sand is long gone now from the bottom section.
Toyota reliability seems to be a thing of the past, see this n similar all to often
Hey Mate, if you're meaning Dan's 90 series transmission overheating, there was a good reason for that... just didn't make an issue of it in the video. He was pushing it up the first section in high range... working it pretty hard. Realised and then had no issue. That's why there's no mention in the second half of the vid of the transmission overheating. :-)