Slider S15: OffRoad Trialler

Yes ladies and gentlemen I am finally getting into Motorsport for real in the World of Offroading! Now I know this isnt very TORA Its a sport ive been falling in love with over the past few years and i figured this was a great chance to show all you TORA Faithful a Different side to Motorsport.

So i'll be explaining the in's and outs of RTV Trials and doccumenting my journey in building my rig, learning to offroad drive and Competing for the first time ever!



So what is an RTV Trial?

An RTV Trial (Road Taxed Veichle) is an offroad trial for Road Legal 4x4 without Welded or Locking differentials. These are then split into different Classes depending on Wheelbase. A Course is marked out with Gates, The driver must pilot the 4x4 through these gates without touching them, stopping, getting stuck or reversing. Stages are not timed, Instead its a points based system with penalty points added for the previously mentioned infringements, the winner is the one with the lowest points total. (Like golf)

Heres and Example of a Stage of competition:


My Rig:

My Weapon of choice for this is a 2000 Suzuki Vitara JX Hard Top with a 1.6 16v engine. Not the typical Landrover Defender or Jeep Wrangler but a very capable and underestimated Offroader.

Mine was modified a bit by the previous owners but i will be adding to it myself over time. It currently has:

• 31 inch All terrain Tires

• 3 inch body lift

• 2 inch suspension lift

• Snorkle

• Custom rear bumper

The Plan:

The plan is to Learn offroad driving and enter some local competitions. Im Currently booked into a Play day on the 27th Febuary 2011 and My First Trial in March! I'll be developing the car around me, starting with making it legal for trials and then gradually making it more and more capable offroad. Eventually i'd like to enter one of the National MSA Backed RTV Trials.

So Keep checking back here for news and pictures from my Offroad Adventures!!!

That looks brilliant fun, best of luck

good luck ;O)

Good luck mate with that. Sounds like really good fun.

Thanks for the kind words guys!!!!

Ok heres a quick little update on the car. Today i went out and stripped out the back seats and banished them to the loft (attic for our American Readers). Heres what she looks like now....

Aaahhh that looks so cool!

Theres been a little more progress with the Rig recently as my first Offroad outing Draws ever closer.

Firstly there's The Storeage box.

The Rules of competition states that there can be no loose objects in the cabbin, and that everything must be securely fastened down or contained within a lockable box for safety reasons. Therefore with all of the equipment needed for Offroading the box was a high priority.

This is how the box started out. It started life as a storage container on a Tanker Plane before it was condemed for damage. It was then cut down to its present size and bolted to the rear deck of my Stepdad's previous Offroader where it sat for 9 years. Above is how it looked When i got it and started to clean it up ready for paint.

It was then Painted in an Etch Primer to allow the paint to properly attatch itself to the Aluminium box, as shown above.

Finally it was painted in Blue paint to compliment the Exterior and to protect the box from scratches. The box was then bolted down to the floor of the Rig to ensure that it is secure and padlocked shut.

Secondly there's the CB Radio.

This is very useful for communicating between cars whilst on the trails or in a convoy of veichles travelling to an offroad site. I was fortunate enough to be given a CB Radio for free when my Stepfather replaced his, Then it was just a matter of fitting.

The main unit was bolted to the side of the center console and then wired in. At the moment it is just a temporary job as it its connected to a Cigarette Lighter plug, but evenually it will be permanantly wired in.

Finally i ran the Ariel wire through to the rear of the car and out of the back window to mount the CB Ariel onto the roof. The Ariel has a Magnetic base to allow it to be lowered so that the Rig can fit under low bridges and into the Workshop (Although it doesnt fit in our workshop now anyway! lol)

Well thats all the progress so far. Next week will be my first offroad outing at the Suffolk 4x4 club Play Day at Badwell Ash where i will finally get to christen the beast with Mud!!

I love off-roading in my Explorer, and I'll bet you have alot more fun since your rig is much more modded. Good Luck!! Don't let the TDD get to you though

Well Sunday I finally burst my Mudding cherry and went Offroading for the first time at Badwell Ash.



The Site is a large pit with both natural and man made obsticles, The weather had been wet for the days leading up to the Play Day but Sunday thankfully was dry meaning not getting wet if you got stuck but Very slippery and deep mud coupled with very deep water hazzards.



I Went with my Stepdad/Team Mate to the play day which was put on by the Suffolk 4 Wheel Drive Club. These are our two Suzuki's Sitting side by side.



For those who dont know, A Play Day is where you go and pay an entry fee to an offroad site and then have free rein to go wherever you like on the site and generally have fun In your own car, Wether its Road legal or a home made special. A bit like a Track day, but with Mud



As i mentioned before, the going was tough especially in the more rutted area's. Here's My Stepdad's Suzuki Vitara Stuck in the mud up to it Chassis as i went to rescue him (I took this Picture hanging out of the window as i didnt want to get out lol)



He wasnt the only one to get stuck throughout the day as others pushed their luck with the water and Mud and got stuck. No ammount of paddleing by the passenger was getting this Daihatsu out! lol



And here's why you should always offroad with your Windows Closed, Courtesy of my Stepdad.

Here's a Great Picture sequence my Stepdad took of me in my Suzuki traversing some terrain...










All in all I had a Great day out and now cant wait until my First competition. I won't have long to wait either as I make my Competition Debut on March 13th at a Suffolk 4 Wheel Drive Club RTV Trial.

But ive got some work to do before then after getting the car scrutineered on Sunday I need to:

• Fit some Insulators to the Battery Terminals

• Buy and fit a 1.5kg Fire Extinguisher bolted down within reach of the Driver

• Fit a second Throttle Spring as per MSA Regulations

Here's how My Rig Looked at the end of the day. Nice and Brown

I loved Offroading and My Suzuki is soooo much more capable than i ever imagined it was! Got a nice list of things brewing in my mind though as to how to make it even better!

Maybe you'll come across a friend of my family, or you may have already.

These are his...(He has 3, bottom 2 are the same)

I'll keep an eye out for him mate

Well My New Helmet finally arrived the other day (if im honest before my offroad outing)



Its an open face helmet which meets MSA's club level standards. The reason i went for an open face as opposed to a closed face helmet is because of the ammount of communication needed in Offroading to ensure a safe passage.

In Other Rig related news, Today I started on the modifications needed for Competition by attatching a second Throttle return spring. This is to ensure that in the event of a problem the throttle will spring shut and kill the engine. Ive also ordered the Fire extinguisher which should hopefully arrive some time during the week which should make the Suzuki Fully competition legal.

Another Modification that arrived this week was my clinometer. This is a dash mounted guage pod with two guages. The first shows pitch from side to side, the second shows pitch forwards and backwards. This helps as when the car is contourting over terrain it can be quite idsorientating, the guage shows where you are in relation to dead level. The guage also serves as a warning to exceeding the extremes of the cars capabilities to help the driver not to roll it. I'll get some pictures of this once its installed.

Work on The Rig has been a little slower than i wanted as my Skoda Felicia that i use as my daily driver packed up, so the Suzuki has been on Daily Driver duties and my spare time has gone into repairing my Skoda as my Hour's daily commute is both expensive and uncomfortable in the Vitara. But with my Skoda now back together and back on the Road things will hopefully step back up a gear.

This time next week i'll be Competing in my first ever RTV Trial! Theres no nerves yet as my expectations are low but im starting to look forward to it!

Here's a Video from the Badwell Ash Play day me and my Stepfather attended a few weeks back. Sorry the Quality is so poor as we were recording on a Digital Photo Camera instead of a Video Camera.

Another update before I make my Competition Debut Tomorow at a Suffolk 4 Wheel Drive Club Road Tax Veichle Trial (RTV Trial). The past two days have seen me make steady progress with the last few modifications which should make my Vitara legal for competition with the installation of a Fire Extinguisher. Ive also installed a Clinometer and Shovel.



The Fire Extinguisher is a 2 Litre Foam Item as required by the MSA's 2011 Rules. This must then be installed within reach of the Driver's seat when the seat belts are on and fully tightened. Thats why ive mounted mine where the transmission tunnel meets the rear raised floor. This way the Fire Extinguisher will be within reach of both The Driver's seat and the Passenger's seat incase im incapacitated.



Another addition to The Rig this week has been the Shovel. This, as you may well guess, Is to dig myself out with when I get stuck. It is important that it is a rounded Shovel rather than a flat headed one as this makes it easier to cut into harder ground if needs be. This was the largest shovell i could fit in the car (there's barely any room either end of it) This also helps when digging the car out due to the leverage. The Rules of competition dictate that there are to be no loose items within the cabin whilst competing so the Shovel is held in place by two clips which are then bolted to my Aluminium storage box which in turn is bolted to the Floor.



Finally we have my Clinometer. This is a guage that shows the side to side and front to rear movements of the car whilst showing the extremes of its capabilities. This also helps as when strapped in it can be quite disorientating as you move with the car you can loose touch of where level ground really is. This will eventually be backlit but since i'll be competing in the day time, for now it is just bolted to the Dashboard.



Thats it for now. Tomorow I make my competition Debut so i'll try and fill you guys in on how it all goes down when i can. My expectations for my competitiveness are very low with my only aim being to uphold the oldest of SBR addages....

"Dont Come Last!"

Well Sunday saw me have my baptism of Fire into Off-road trialling at Suffolk 4 Wheel Drive Club's RTV Trial Championship Round 2 and it was possibly the hardest thing I’ve ever done behind the wheel of a car!

The day started off on a slight downer after finding out that there would only be 2 RTV Class cars competing, me and my Team mate, a much more experienced off roader in a similar car...

Stage 1 went well with only 1 missed gate penalty and the Suzuki feeling and working great with only a slight slip into a tree the only downer, although no damage was done.

Stage 2 was tighter with a large climb at the end for the final gate. I had to miss 2 gates this time, the first I just didn’t feel confident attempting in a car I needed to drive home and the second was the finish line at the top of the large climb which I just couldn’t get up.

Stage 3 was a scary looking one and so I first took a passenger ride through with another competitor from another class, which was scary as hell! Back in my Rig and things started off well before grounding out and getting stuck, after a push out I carried on before getting stuck again at the next gate. Yet another push out and I tried again, still failing the climb. Stage over.

Stage 4 was the last before lunch which as it worked out was lucky. The course crossed a stream twice, first with logs filling the gap and secondly in whichever way you wanted without using the bridge. The course was very tight and I picked up several penalties for stopping to manoeuvre (I was in the second smallest car and still couldn’t make it round in one sweep). Then Things took a turn for the worse, As I went for the second stream crossing through the deep mud the car went in the nose hit the bottom of the stream bouncing the rear wheels out off the ground. I kept my foot in and tried to power through to the other side I got my front wheels up onto the other bank but couldn’t drag the rear up out of the mud. Once I had the car recovered I could see things had gone wrong.

As the axle had dropped down onto it had travelled further than the springs could manage and so one had fallen out and the rear driver’s side corner had collapsed and the metal rear bumper was bent. Over lunch me and my Team mate worked hard to repair the Suzuki, narrowly avoiding disaster when the Rig fell off of the jacks, scaring the S**t out of everyone. With the car fixed and some lunch down me it was time for the second half of the event.

Stage 5 had some worrying side hills which make you feel like the car is going to tip. I managed to negotiate the course well but it was obviously a rough one as both a rear speaker and my Shovel were dislodged and hit me on the back of the driver’s seat.

Stage 6 and this was a tough one with yet more scary side hills at the beginning freaking me out and making me miss a gate. Further through the course was the biggest climb of the day so far and having failed the last large climb Confidence was low. Predictably I didn’t make the climb with the car kicking sideways before starting to slip down.

Then it all went horribly wrong!

Stage 7 was the penultimate stage and had the biggest climb of the day at its midpoint. I set off from the start and all was going well, got to the foot of the climb and gunned it. Half way up the car turned to the left and started to slip down the hill sideways. This threw me out of the driver’s seat and I grabbed the passenger seat to stop myself and there was a loud crunch.

I'd dislocated my left shoulder!!

Luckily it slipped back in again by itself whilst the adrenalin was still pumping (after all I thought I was going to roll the Rig!)

I started Stage 8, the final stage, to try and do as well as I could but the wait between the stages meant the adrenalin had subsided and the pain was getting really bad. I did one gate and then gave up as I was in too much pain.

I drove back to the pits and told my team mate what had happened as he didn’t know about my injury. As he cleaned up the cars I was checked over by one of the marshals where he confirmed that nothing was broken but that I had probably dislocated my shoulder but that it had relocated itself.

The hour and a half drive home was agony with every gear change almost bringing me to tears. My team mate kept checking on me over the radio to make sure I was ok as the pain was making me feel queasy.

All in all it was a difficult Trial both physically and emotionally with even the experienced triallers saying it was a difficult trial more geared towards the modified class than the RTV's. With me dislocating my shoulder and my team mate sustaining damage we found it hard to disagree, but we also knew allot of it was confidence which we need to gain over time.

Although the scores are still to be released we already know the finishing positions and sadly I came 2nd in class losing out to my stepdad. That puts me joint 2nd in the Suffolk 4 Wheel Drive Club RTV Driver’s Championship. What makes it worse is that we both think that if I hadn’t injured myself and had been able to compete in the final stage I would have won!!

Bugger....

On a positive note I upheld SBR Honour and didn’t come last!

Hey Slider, Nice report dude.

Well done, man you ok now shoulder sounded painfull?

Have to get you on podcast to have a chat about RTV Trials

Thanks!

Yeh the shoulder is still killing me at the moment it will be a week or two before its better which sucks. Driving to Cambridge every day isnt helping either... :/

Next week sees me compete in my second trial, but a few upgrades were needed before then. this is the first update in a while as last time out in the 4x4 I Dislocated my left shoulder.

With that in mind my priority modification was a 4-point race harness. This should stop me slipping out of the seatbelt and thrown through the car again.



The belts were bolted through the floor with specialist fixings in three points to spread the loads put through it. My stepfather then helped me adjust the belts accordingly to have me bolted to the seats as tight as possible. Hopefully this will stop me from getting hurt again on a trial.

Next up were the recovery points. This year the MSA introduced changes which deemed the standard tow points inappropriate for competition use. This meant that I needed to think of something for the front and rear to allow me to be pulled out when i get stuck.



For the front I used a system designed by my stepfather. This uses a threaded bar with spacers put on it and its then inserted into a tube in the front crossmember...



Then pieces from the rear linkage from a tractor were modified and put on the end. These will carry the shackles to which recovery ropes will be attatched to tow me out.

Before...


After...


These should be sufficient to recover my Suzuki should it be stuck at any point, but only time will tell as to wether it will pass scrutineering...

For the rear a shortned version of the system in the front was used, this time bolted through an existing mount for a towbar which my car no-longer has. This again should be enough for the stewards at the next even.



On another note whilst getting to work on the Suzuki today i got to use this....



... My Stepdad's GIANT socket set! This may look like ridiculous overkill (especially next to my normal socket!) however the extra leverage it provides is essentail for bolts that havnt moved in 11 years.

As I said I'll be competing again next week. I'll let you all know how it goes!

Ok so its been a REALLY long time since ive updated this so i'll try and catch you guys up on how things are going in my little world of Offroading...

Competitions:

Ive competed in Two trials since my last blog which were Rounds 1 and 2 of the Suffolk 4x4 club's 2011 RTV Trial Championship.

Round 1 went well with steady improvement after my fisrt event and once i settled back into offroading again it really started to flow (this was my first event since dislocating my shoulder so i was sheepish at first) then on the final stage it all went wrong...

Coming over the brow of a drop I dropped into the hole and discovered my wheels were not straightened and the Truck started to go over! A Qucik flick to opposite lock and the foot welded to the floor sorted that out but in my panic I then missed the brake pedal, hitting the Accelerator again and nearly plunging off of a LARGE cliff.....

Pants well and truely browned and it was time for the results, Stone dead last was not what i wanted to hear but was perfectly understood and enough for 3rd in RTV Class and 2nd in RTV4 class, so a nice healthy dose of points for my championship.

Round 2 saw a return to Badwell Ash only this time with the cooked ground providing a hard and unforgiving terrain and a car breaker of a round. confidence growing throughout the day once more I managed to record my best score of my offroading career so far on the penultimate stage of the event!

results time again and this time Good news! 2nd in RTV and 1st in RTV4 class! Battle Joined! The Event proved to be a car breaker as predicted with big damage in RTV Class including the destruction of the front drive train and Differential on my team mates Vitara and broken Steering on a Landrover Defender. I was lucky enough to be the only Competitor in RTV Class to end the event undamaged.

And so after two events I should be In Joint 2nd in the RTV Class Championship and Joint 1st in RTV4 Class Championship in my Debut Season so far!

The Rig:

And so to the Rig! After the last event I decided to make some cosmetic changes to the Vitara that I had been wanting to do for a long while. Firstly the snorkel!



Firstly I dismantled the snorkel and rubbed it all down to achieve the best finish possible.



an ingenious solution had to be found to allow me to paint the top half of my snorkel due to its shape. Luckily the top of a drinks can fitted PERFECTLY inside the snorkel top to allow me to paint it!



And the Final Product all re-installed on the Rig and now not in rubbish looking chrome and rust effect! Love it!



Next up was the Wing mirrors which had taken some abuse in its life before I had it and were looking faded and scratched. I removed them from the Truck and gently sanded them down before stinging them up in the workshop and painting them up in primer.



They were then painted in the same black as the Snorkel and then rebuilt and re-installed on the rig making it look Much better and Newer than it did before!



Finally Today I did some work to improve the steering lock to try and improve my manouverability on Trials. After adjusting the lockstops this was the result.... MORE ANGLE!!!!



And From the front....



Thats all The lock available as the Tires can now touch the chassis!

And Thats us all caught up! This Sunday sees me compete in The Suffolk RTV Trial Championship Round 3 In my Suzuki Vitara. Check back here to see how it all goes down!

good luck

Yeah all the best man!

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Suffolk 4x4 Club RTV Championship Round 3:

Round 3 saw the first Forest Trial of the year with the trees adding to the obsticals and difficulties of each section.

The Day started well for me scoring a career best 1-point run straight out of the blocks on Stage 1. Stage 2 saw me repeat the feat, This time much more fustratingly as I high-centered with the last gate clearly in sight and My first "clear" slipping out of my hands. Once pushed out I drove straight through the final gate, just to prove to myself that I could have got the clear had I not high-centered.

A high-center is where the car has crested a hill in such a way that the chassis is sitting on the crest of the hill with the wheels hanging either side of the crest making progress impossible as all the wheels are off the ground.

Stage 3 saw things kick up a gear with the trial really starting to get tricky. My high flying was over and it was back to being a rookie again with a 6-point run after i stopped with the truck slipping into a hole and feeling like it was going to roll.

Stage 4 and things stayed the same with another 6-point run, This time yet another High-center ending my progress through the course. The day was definately ramping up and up in difficulty with every stage, the lunch break was very welcome.

Stage 5 and it was becoming obvious that the trial was having a bad effect on my Vitara, after high-centering twice, the underside was taking a beating and my exhaust was begining to leak badly. Into the stage and things didn't go well, after a buttock clenching squeeze through the trees I dropped into a large hole through Gate 8 and understeered wide and hit Gate 7. 7-points was the result and a thoroughly fustrated me. This was further compounded after i watched the rest of RTV Field fail the same gate doing the same thing. Only 3 of the 6 Mod-Class Triallers in their purpose built machines were able to make the gate which thouroughly fustrated me as I felt the gate was too hard for its position so early in the stage. Although it stopped everyone in my class I felt it unfair, but there was nothing I could do but move on.

Stage 6 and my worst of the day with a pitiful 8-point run through the stage after just creeping through the 9-gate and dropping into a gulley awkwardly and feeling like the Vitara would roll so I came to a stop. The Fustration was starting to pile on more...

Stage 7, The penultimate stage of the Trial and things started much better until Gate 4 where i came over a crest wide as I could not see where the course went after the crest, This resulted in me getting stuck on the other side with the nose against a wall of dirt carved into the earth. I was recovered from the course only to get stuck again about 4 meters further away trying to get out of the course. More Punching of the wheel and I drove to the start of Stage 8.

Stage 8, The final stage of the trial was a very short one for me. Trying to stay high up an obstical to get between Gates 10 and 9 I caught the rear quarter panel on a tree denting it badly. I Carried on driving but couldn't find the gap in the trees I needed to double back to the next gate. Day Over and I was obviously fuming.

After calming down and surveying the damage to my Rig I went over to watch the rest of the runners finish the Trial. 3 Other drivers sustained bodywork damage in the stage with one of those doing exactly what I did, only to a much lesser extent.

Results Time and I was pleasently surpprised to hear that I had Drawn on Points with my Stepfather and team mate who only manged to beat me to 2nd in Class by number of Clears (His 1 clear (his first ever!), verses my 0 Clears). And so That left me 4th in RTV Class and 3rd in RTV4 class, Slipping back behind my stepfather in the Championship standings and with work to do on the Rig before Round 4 Next month.


Here's what the Rear quarter panel should look like...



And here's what mine looks like now...







Keep Checking back as I Go through my preperations for Round 4, BIG plans are afoot for the Rig before then... Stay tuned...

Well the best laid plans of mice and men....

My big plans for the Suzuki fell through as the repairs needed to my exhaust took alot longer than first thought so no mods this time round.

Exhaust Repairs:

The front two thirds of my exhaust had to be removed for repairs. The manifold were taken off and the gaskets replaced to fix the leaks that developed on the last trial.

Next the middle section with the catalytic converter had to be replaced as the innards had collapsed, blocking the gasses in the exhaust and drasticly cutting power.



Here you can see the new (left) and old (right) Catalytic converters and mid sections side by side. The new one is much smaller and lighter which should also help to keep it out of danger off road.

With the new pipe in and the whole system put back together there is a marked difference in the on-road performance of the Vitara with power now greatly improved.

Stickers:

This is a little touch ive wanted on my Rig since I bought it back in February. Finally Ive got my name and Flag on the windows!!



I'm really pleased with how these look! there exactly how i pictured them in my head!

Well This weekend sees me compete in Round 4 of the Suffolk 4x4 Club RTV Trial Championship and after my best ever runs last time out im determined to go one better and get my fist clear and improve my standings in the RTV and RTV4 class championships!

Check back here to see how i get on!

Looks great Mike, very jealous

Best of luck at the weekend, looking forward to more updates!