You won't believe the night I've had!

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Beakster
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You won't believe the night I've had!

Post by Beakster »

I've been stranded on Walbury Hill, the highest point in Sout East England. My car had to spend the night there stuck in mud on the ridge of the hill. Got home about 1am. Managed to get her out this morning with the help of a 4x4. Nasty experience, absolutly covered in mud, and electrocuted by an electric fence.

Pics to follow...Image
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Major_Tom
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Bogus!

Post by Major_Tom »

..at least it was mud and not a ditch.. or rocks.

Was it a friend that pulled you out or a friendly motorist? Must have been a nice sunrise anyroad :)

I was rescued from a ditch from friendly passers by.. a shove up and it was all good.
I'm the one who leaves all those shoes in the carriageway.
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Re: Bogus!

Post by Beakster »

It was a guy I found at one of the local pubs. Just announced my problem at the bar.

Here's a pic of where I went wrong. As you can see, I went the wrong way along the Byway, and was on a road to nowhere!

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What were you doing there at night anyway!?

Post by Capri_Andy »

Some sort of challange to get the record as the highest capri in south england?Image
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The big fast red one!
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Re: What were you doing there at night anyway!?

Post by Beakster »

Wanted to get as high as possible so I could do some DXing with my new Radio.Image
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South east england?

Post by andrewg1323 »

Thought you were scottish?---------------
Andy
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Re: South east england?

Post by Beakster »

Yeah, but living in Reading just now.Image
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Some pics

Post by Beakster »

Here's the car at Combe Gibbet. It wasn't high enough though, so I went off road.

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This is the first time I grounded:
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So used the good old Ford jack to lift the wheels and put some sticks under them. This gave enough height for the diff to clear the ground:
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I also removed stuff from the boot so the suspension would sit a bit higher:
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A nice imprint left by the diff:
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This is the road I was driving on. And this is a good bit of it! There were some really deep puddles, and I was having to straddle the ruts in the road so I didn't ground:
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After this the car got stuck twice more. After the 2nd time I decided it was time to turn back. When turning around I grounded the front offside really bad. The bonnet was in the air and the exhaust was stuck in the ground. No pictures unfortunately as by this time it was getting dark and I was getting quite stressed. I tried jacking, putting sticks under the wheels, rocking, but it wouldn't move.

I called the AA, and started walking back to the road which was over a mile away and it was now getting dark. I was in my trousers and shirt with no jacket and covered in mud. As the road was all flooded I decided to jump over a fence and walk through a field. Bad idea as it was an electric fence :( and I had to walk along way around to get back out of the field.

The AA man arrived and drove most of the way to the car before getting worried about grounding too. Me and him managed to move it a foot after an hour of work :( but it was totally dark now and we gave up.

The AA called around and got me a quote to recover it, but it was going to be £250+ from a local garage. I decided that was too expensive so got my flat mates to come and pick me up and we went to the pub.

When I got the pub I ordered a pint and announced my predicament to the whole bar. Angels come in many forms and mine was a bloke called Dave who had a 4x4 out side. We drove back to the car and hooked a rope around it and pulled. We got it off the verge, but all his rope snapped so we couldn't get it any further. It was then time to give up so I went home and had to leave my poor Capri on the hill.

In the morning we went back with a proper tow rope and managed to get it out. In one piece too, just a bit muddy!

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So I'm going back tomorrow, but a bit better equipt. I won't go the wrong way on the by way this time, and I'll walk the road before I take the car along it! :)Image
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Last time I followed a dotted line on a map...

Post by Beakster »

...this happened:

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:(Image
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lesson learned then!

Post by Supercharged Nat »

dont follow the dotted lines! that last one looks nasty.Image

"Understeer" is when you hit the fence with the front of the car.
"Oversteer" is when you hit the fence with the rear of the car.
"Horsepower" is how fast you hit the fence.
"Torque" is how far you take the fence with you.
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You cocked that one up!

Post by andrewg1323 »

What the hell happened there? ---------------
Andy
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Re: You cocked that one up!

Post by Beakster »

I went where 2wd isn't supposed to go :)Image
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Looks like fun!

Post by Major_Tom »

..since noone's dead or broken, it looks like a good bit of fun. Tis good you were rescued by some nice publicans. I used to drive my Volvo 340 off the road a lot.. but that was OK as it was made of some magical metal which never bent.
I'm the one who leaves all those shoes in the carriageway.
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