Now is a great time to get your vehicles ready for a calendar full of trips in 2018, and a safe and well maintained vehicle is pretty high on the list to get reliability and enjoyment out of your investment in a 4WD.
We thought we’d kick the new year off with some tips on finding a reliable 4WD mechanic in the Bendigo region, and a video on how I do my intermediate servicing on my Patrol.
Build a relationship with a reliable 4WD mechanic
You will always have an ongoing need to do servicing, repairs and maintenance – and for most of us, a lot of this will need to be done by a professional mechanic. Building a long term ongoing relationship with a trusted mechanic who is familiar and experienced with 4WD’s will ensure that work is done correctly and efficiently, and will give you ongoing benefits of support and advice over the life of owning your 4WD.
If you’re thinking about DIY’ing something to save money, always consider whether you have the skills, tools and time, and whether the safety or warranty will be compromised if you get it wrong.
When looking for a 4WD mechanic, consider:
- Does the mechanic specialise in 4WD’s, regular car servicing or both? Mechanics who work on 4WD’s regularly will know what to look for with certain models, and understand what parts are stressed when used off road.
- Does the mechanic have experience with your type of 4WD? e.g. Older mechanical diesels are different to work on than modern / common-rail diesels or petrol engines.
- Is your car still under capped servicing / new car warranty? Dealer servicing is usually advised but many third party mechanics offer log book servicing, check that it won’t affect your warranty or insurance if you DIY service, or take it to a non-dealer mechanic. Have a look at this article from Choice for further information.
- Is it also worthwhile purchasing accessories from a trusted 4WD mechanic? Buying online can sometimes seem cheaper, but going through your mechanic provides you with the benefits of professional fitting, guarantees on the workmanship and someone to go to if you have any issues or need repairs. This can often be valuable and save you headaches in the long term, always consider the expected life and ‘whole of life cost’ of what you are purchasing. Buy once…
Sandhurst 4WD Club members use and recommend the following workshops (discounts apply for club members, check out the Facebook group for more information):
If you’re due for a service or pre-trip check-over, give them a ring to book in before hitting the tracks and make sure you mention the club.
DIY Servicing
If you have a level of mechanical proficiency, you may wish to do some items yourself to save money. I’ll re-iterate that this is generally ok, as long as you have the skills, tools and time -and are confident you won’t compromise the safety or warranty if you get it wrong. It’s also a good skill to learn, as you’ll become more familiar with basic maintenance; you never know when this will become handy for a track-side repair to get you out of trouble.
In my case, I have a 4WD with an older mechanical turbo-diesel engine, which requires servicing every 5,000 kms instead of the usual 10,000 km service intervals. This is not uncommon with Diesel 4WD’s, which tend to be more maintenance intensive than newer common-rail or petrol engines.
I get my Patrol looked after by a trusted mechanic, however I do every second service myself to save money. Many owners of similar trucks will take this approach. Here’s a video of how I do my intermediate service:
Thanks for reading / watching. We are trying to regularly publish new content on the website to help members and encourage visits to the site, so if you have any ideas for articles or feedback, please get in touch timk@sandhurst4wdclub.org.au or post in the Facebook page
Cheers, Tim
Header image attribution:
Mechanic in the field fixing Humvee flickr photo by dglassme shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA) license
