GORV - Digital Magazine Issue #64 | Page 59

RV FEATURE
Hitched to a 200 Series , the JB Gator showed no hint of a problem as we put it to the test .
John ‘ Bear ’ Willis and Anthony ‘ Macca ’ McDonald – old mates of GoRV – were along for the ride . Taking the Lower Dargo Road , we came to the bank of the Dargo River and we surveyed the situation . The river was deep and flowing quickly . Before committing to a river crossing with a caravan on the back , Macca took his Land Cruiser ute across , towards the river ’ s upstream exit . In hindsight , it was the wrong decision . The water was bonnet-deep and the Cruiser struggled against the flow of the river . Close to the exit point , the vehicle encountered a large rock – or perhaps some old concrete footing – that wasn ’ t visible from the driver ’ s seat , and Macca had to work the vehicle to get it back to high ground .
At that point , we almost pulled the pin . If the Cruiser struggled without a van attached , crossing the Dargo River with one of the JBs hitched up seemed unwise .
However , we had a professional vehicle recovery crew at the helm of a Unimog along for the ride . After some discussion , we agreed that we could tackle the river from the other side , so that the tow vehicles and vans weren ’ t fighting the flow of the river . And by taking a different line – around the aforementioned obstruction – crossing the river with the JBs attached should be achievable .
A successful , uneventful test crossing with Macca ’ s ute instilled some confidence . Perhaps we could do this after all …
The first van up for the challenge : the JB Gator , towed by a 200 Series Cruiser . Bear took the wheel , Macca riding shotgun . Heading downstream to avoid the obstacle , and then across towards the exit bank , not fighting the current , proved to be the right decision . The Gator had no problem following the Cruiser across .
Macca did a test crossing in his Cruiser before we committed to taking the vans across .
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