Off-Roader Driving [Hardcover]

... myriad 4x4 systems ... cuts away the marketing-speak to reveal the truth. ... one of the finest 4x4 books yet written

' ..a treasure-trove of off-road driving techniques .. superbly illustrated in colour ... a great present for anyone who owns or drives a four-wheel drive, or those who regularly venture off the beaten track in search of driving challenges and excitement.'

' ... Everything is explained in crystal clear terms ... ' Book of the month.

' ... The most comprehensive off-roading book ever!'

.' ... Beautifully produced, with full colour photographs, throughout, this book will guide you through choosing the most appropriate vehicle for your needs, how to look after it, how to get the best from it and how to improve your driving and handling skills. There is a section on towing which ought to be required reading for anyone who is thinking of hitching up a trailer ... written by someone who is more than an expert in these things ... doesn't make you feel you are being talked down to. He genuinely wants to share his knowledge with you....Written with a sense of humour, I particularly liked some of the photograph captions. This really is a brilliant book for anyone who drives a 4x4 ... '

Serious off-road drivers will not want to be without this ...

' ... One of the best books of its type we have seen.'

' ... Tom's book is a must.'

'Serious off road drivers will not want to be without this latest tome from 4x4 expert and former test pilot Tom Sheppard, whose recent Expedition Guide was such a milestone. Sheppard's latest work, Off-roader Driving is ... typically thorough ... . Sheppard's previous books have been backed by Land Rover, but this one, because it is 'brand neutral', goes into new detail about the pros and cons of off-roaders from soft citified models to Defenders and their ilk. Read this book and you'll know more than many an expert.'

EDITION 1: One of the best books of this type we have seen.

Detailed coverage of all the tricks and skills particular to basic and advanced off-road driving by Tom Sheppard. Covers towing, on and off-road, steep slopes, down slopes, river crossing, ice and snow, and so on. Includes information on recovery, advice on loading and a basic introduction to expedition planning.

OFF-ROADER DRIVING, Edn 1.2 - this compendium is aimed at all users, from professionals in remote areas to those with their first 4x4 bought mainly as a domestic work-horse. It has an expedition basics section that includes invaluable information on tyres, fuels, oils, loading - now updated with the 2005 Supplement - and water filtration. An incisive overview of the multiplicity of four-wheel drive systems and the make-up of a 4x4 is now, with the 2005 Peripherals Update Supplement, further complemented by an unusually straight-talking overview of the new generation of 'soft-roaders', their brand-name confusing 'new' 4x4 systems and the nadir of ergonomic design to which some of them have slipped, at the users' expense.

I hope you enjoy reading and using this book as much as I did writing it - and accumulating the years of experience that went into it! With the Supplement I have addressed the Emperor's New Clothes syndrome with which many 4x4s are now marketed - the obfuscating brand naming and sometimes unnecessary bells and whistles with which they are equipped.

Off-roader driving is a bit like boiling an egg. Well, no it isn't, actually but we'll come to that in a minute.

This book is about off-roaders and driving them, not just about off-road driving - though there's quite a bit of that, plus a little something on expeditions. Off-roaders are a lot more car-driver friendly now (with all their TLAs - Three Letter Acronyms(r)) than they were even five years ago but there are still things it's very important to know - like the basics of systems that use 4x4 all the time and those that can't and all the fancy ways of getting over it. It even applies on the good old School Run: 'Been snowing since midday so I'll use this lever down here ... er, I think ... .' Most of it revolves around mechanical sympathy - for the vehicle and for the ground you are travelling over.

It's the boiling an egg, riding a bicycle thing. There's no change in the basic technique of reading the terrain and off-road driving (so the main book is unchanged) but some of the peripherals have moved on and you'll want to know what's behind the mirror-ball façade of fancy names for fancy systems, side-rails, headlamp grilles, auto this and auto that. Those ebullient marketing folks have to maintain the illusion of something new - 'It's SupaTork Ultra Green Cold Fusion this year, lezzan'genlm'n! ... '. These few add-on pages to the original book have tactfully to ... er, well try to explain what is happening and what isn't.

So the Supplement here (isn't it maddening when they shrink wrap books!) is to update the peripherals, especially the 'new' 4x4 concepts that regularly re-invent the wheel - sometimes leaving sensible ergonomics out in the cold.

The 4x4 genre gets ever more inclusive. Deep down, each design is suited to its purpose and all are great fun. Learn the differences and techniques, treat them well, tread lightly and enjoy yourself ! Desert Winds

This book is about off-roaders and driving them, not just about off-road driving - though there's quite a bit of that, plus a little something on expeditions. Off-roaders are a lot more car-driver friendly now, with all their TLAs - Three Letter Acronyms(tm), than they were even five years ago but there are still things you need to know and there are still the basic 4x4s out there that need to be loved and understood. Most of it revolves around mechanical sympathy - for the vehicle and for the ground you are travelling over. With this and the appreciation of limitations in yourself and your machine, comes confidence, tolerance and good driving.
The principles and skills in that hallowed process have not changed and the same applies to off-road driving. So when this book is old and yellowed with age its basic message will still be valid - as will its detailed rundown on 4x4 systems. The chapter on towing, oscillations and the like, at last nails what is going on.
But the Supplement that comes with the book is to update the peripherals, keep a perspective on cockpit ergonomics, and scrutinise the 'new' 4x4 concepts that regularly re-invent the wheel under fancy names. If you've an expedition twinkle in your eye (or even if you haven't), fuel and oil developments are on-going, fascinating and seemingly unstoppable.
The 4x4 genre gets wider and ever more inclusive. Deep down, each is suited to its purpose and all are great fun. Learn the differences and techniques, treat them and the environment well; enjoy yourself!

During TOM SHEPPARD'S career in the Royal Air Force as a pilot and test pilot he planned, led and trained teams for numerous expeditions and operations - among them the first coast-to-coast crossing of the Sahara through the Mauritanian Empty Quarter for which he received the Royal Geographical Society's Ness Award. He has now totalled more than 100,000 overland miles on four and two wheels and has been a 4x4 owner for over 30 years. Apart from navigating aircraft, his navigation experience has spanned sun compasses, astro navigation, Transit sat-nav and use of GPS and satellite imagery to supplement otherwise uncertain mapping. Between expeditions, he has worked for British Aerospace and been 4x4 consultant to a major international manufacturer. On this, the logistics and planning of expeditions and the hugely exciting implications of space technology on mapping, positioning and communications he admits he is unlikely to ever stop learning.

Section 1.2 Off-roaders - the ingredients As we have a spare right hand page, let's divulge Leonardo da Vinci's perfect 4x4 system (perhaps it wasn't him but it was someone with similarly bright ideas - possibly Leonardo di Caprio?) The next sections will make more sense if you sneak a look at this in advance ...

Section 2.2. What to actually do Priorities. Even if you never use your 4x4 off-road, Section 2.1 is the most important section in the book. Here we have a recap, a check list of what to look for and, in the table, a few examples. The magazines aren't much help; the off-road ones are seldom analytical enough while the others gloss over the 4x4 system - the whole reason for having the vehicle. The brochures aren't much use either, often written by 'creatives' who didn't get the tech brief. Don't buy a 4x4 ... ! There's a market niche for everyone and if you just want the bulk, driving position and space, many of the 'off-roaders' are available as straight 4x2 vehicles! Buy one! Do buy a 4x4 ... ! Hopefully you'll have seen by now there are definite advantages to 4x4 even on-road and, from Section 2.1, that the 4x4 system itself is very important. The more off-road oriented you are the more important are the refinements such as two-speed transfer boxes, diff locks and other means of controlling wheel spin. Check list. Here's what to look for and remember:
Permanent or part-time 4x4?
'Hard' or 'soft' front/rear axle connect.
Lockable centre and/or axle diffs?
Manual or auto diff locks and front/rear interconnect?
Foolproof auto (soft) set-ups usually permit some slip.
Two-speed transfer box?
On the move changes low-to-high range? (Very rare, that.)
Quenching spin or locking one shaft to the other: traction control use of braking system, by selection or progressively?
Auto/manual main gears? (Sec 2.6)
In the table opposite, pick a vehicle you more or less know and follow the ticks down. Use the list above and the numbered headings, right, as your own criteria. Just for you. Between the extremes (below) there are a hundred 4x4s suited to your purpose. If you want the 4x4 aspects of a general family holdall just to guard against occasional winter ice plus you have multiple drivers, some of whom haven't the time to remember about disengaging diff locks on hard surfaces, then go for automatic systems; you'll probably not want 100% power to all wheels so the compromise will not matter. But if a new route in the Sahara or the Brazilian jungle is on your menu then you will need all the help you can get!

Section 3.2 Gentle right foot ... Cadence braking - sheer magic. Best of all, employ 'cadence braking' technique - repeated jabbing of the brake pedal with your foot, quite gently, as fast as you can so that the wheel never gets a chance to lock. Though it takes will-power to take your foot off the brakes to do this when you are trying to slow down, cadence braking is remarkably effective. Cadence braking on-road too. Cadence braking, discovered and taught long before ABS was invented, works well on-road too - probably even more spectacularly. Off-road tyres often lack the on-road grip of tyres designed specifically for tarmac (see Section 8.2) and many is the case of a desert-tyred off-roader in rain on tarmac overseas being saved from certain collision by frantic cadence braking; frantic but controlled ... !

Section 7.1.The call of the wild ... One step at a time equals confidence. Although a gentle progression up the scale of challenge is the natural way to do things, the importance of taking things a step at a time cannot too strongly be emphasised. Going hand in hand with this - importantly and almost inevitably - will be the growth in your confidence. Confidence begets early recognition of, thus avoidance of, and measured response to - problems. Confidence (well-founded confidence, not over-confidence or cockiness) further begets the ability, comfortably, to say 'no' and turn back before getting into trouble. Savour but beware the feeling of amazement and invincibility you may have experienced on your first competent off-road demonstration of your (or your dealer's) off-roader. The feeling of unstoppability is very strong but, as has been emphasised throughout this book, all vehicles have their limitations and in most demonstration you will have been shown what can be done, not what happens when you get it wrong. A significant omission. So, assuming you are just making a start, the answer to the 'day-trip-or-major-expedition' question is clearly 'day-trip' ...

Section 7.5 Logistics, vehicle choice ... The criteria Ingredients. How is an expedition vehicle made up? How is any 4x4 made up? If you are wondering what vehicle to buy next and want to identify criteria a little more incisive than the average brochure-writer's obsession with cup-holders and interior trim look at the list opposite. If the size and scope of your planned expedition or other project demand that you consider what vehicles you need, do likewise. The evolutionary chain. These are criteria that chart a vehicle's growth from a basic two-wheel drive pickup through to an exceptionally capable off-roader. Beware the trap of equating all upmarket vehicles with flabby incompetence. Some are like that; others, even in deluxe trim, are very capable even though their payload may not be as high as a stripped-out pickup.

Section 7.6 Fuels ... High sulphur - what to do? Two things can be done to safeguard your engine by you as vehicle operator: Use an engine oil with a high TBN (see table, page 7.24): 20x sulphur content for indirect-injection engines; 10x sulphur level for direct injection. (So an indirect injection engine in Turkey - 0.70% sulphur - needs oil of at least TBN 14.) Reduce oil change interval - page 7.27.