Geoffzone

No relation to Dodgy Brothers, our infamous resident mechanics. The subject of my column this month is more about dodging stuff while driving. That being the unexpected hazards that confront us on road or track. Potholes are usually the worst offenders and there’s more of them about since the querulous quakes about the country. Most noticeable in tarmac surfaces they can be worse off-road. Random road debris is bad news too. As I write during the preChristmas heat wave roads are melting around the country so there’s wet tar spots to dodge for a change. Yesterday, chatting by my car, after a few minutes I couldn’t lift my feet. Jandals stuck to the tar, I had to step out of them and prise them from the road. Wet tar is skiddy tar and can be equivalent to meeting loose shingle or ice grit on dry tarmac. Hitting a big hole not only offers discomfort and a shot of adrenalin but may throw the vehicle out of control or damage it. During my early motoring years I owned Minis. Great little cars with skateboard handling that was excellent for dodging. And you had to ‘cos the very early ones had steering arms that bent at impact with a decent pothole. So you’d be off to the alignment shop before the tiny tyres wore out even faster than usual! 4WDs can have their suspension misaligned like that. Any deviation from factory settings will cause faster wear to our expensive rubber. It will usually show up with changes to tread wear. Look for uneven wear and ‘feathered’ tread blocks – sharper edges on one side of the tread pattern. These can take many kms to show, but we may have lost 30 percent of the tread by then. Sometimes the steering may feel different or pull to one side or braking become inconsistent. Independent suspensions have many moving joints and arms that can be affected. They are very strong, obviously, as they need to resist normal forces from steering, braking and power inputs. Beam axled vehicles are less complicated and generally stronger though not immune – even the ‘heavies’ have vulnerabilities. Whatever the vehicle it’s wise to get the alignment checked after a big shock. On-road the worst are the craters with sharp edges caused by ground subsidence below. They really bite a tyre and put shock stress to the suspension and steering and may damage a wheel. They often appear randomly in otherwise perfect seal after heavy rain. Off-road it's usually holes that are unexpectedly deep, especially at night, though are less likely to have hard sharp edges. Headlights don’t really show depth well – a hole will look shallow until you are right on it where the lights show further into it. In the split second remaining do you dodge, brake, or accelerate? They say there’s a time and place for everything, and they’re right! Dodge if there’s room to do it safely and without losing control. If there’s time, brake to kill some speed then give a stab of throttle at the last second to lighten the front. If possible avoid hitting a hole of any type with the brakes on. Release them immediately before so the front will be lifting at impact. It’s not always possible to do that and takes some practise to get it right. Doing the right thing at the right time takes experience. The most important thing is to maintain control. Better to risk some minor damage than to swerve and crash. The best avoidance is usually to keep good distance from the vehicle in front so there’s more time and room to spot the hazard and react. This applies on shingle roads and off-road too. It’s common off-road for some people to follow at city spacing which is much too close. Typical off-road speeds may be low but many random things can trigger a sudden stop. A second too long looking away can lead to a wheel off the track edge or clipping a bank. Or not noticing in time that the vehicle ahead has dropped into a washout and stopped instantly! A leader may need a short reverse to realign for track damage, a missed turn-off or to open a gate. All common reasons for adequate spacing. Tailgating always annoys the driver ahead. If someone tailgates me I slow a little to expand my safety margin to the vehicle in front. That gives me more room for controlled braking instead of a panic stop if shit happens ahead. It also lessens the risk of the tailgater hitting me and gives more space ahead in case he does a risky overtake. Tailgating because we want to go faster than the vehicle in front doesn’t get us there faster, it just makes it more dangerous and annoys other drivers. The only options are a safe overtake or patience. And always remember – braking too hard that locks the front wheels may cause understeer. That’s when the vehicle goes straight ahead when you are trying to turn. ABS brakes will often prevent that but if the surface is extremely slippery like loose shingle on a hard surface, ice or very slippy mud, even ABS may not help. Just another reason for keeping ‘good gaps’.