Scania Rally Truck

[Mad Ax]

1 hour in, and we emerge into field and beaming sunshine.  We're only about 2.4 miles in here, but it always feels further.  If I check my phone around this time I'm often somewhat dismayed by how far I still have to go - this section across the fields must occur at a particular low point in my mood, possibly related to how I'm burning energy during the walk, and probably means I should switch my routes up a little, but there are logistical challenges.

Because I was able to leave so early, I hadn't had time to eat lunch.  Instead I'd slapped some ham between two slices of frozen bread, and by the time I got here, it was thawed.  I sat under the tree and ate half a sandwich before moving on.

Back into the woods again.  This is the first time I've seen daylight on this path since last year.  This path is steeper than it looks, and I had a full sweat on by the time I got to the top.  It was warm enough that my jacket hadn't even come out of my rucksack - I'd been in a T-shirt the whole way round.

Hey!  You can't park that there!

[Mad Ax]

After a few switchbacks we emerge into what I call "The Ridge" - one of my favourite parts of the route.

My CFX-W usually needs a battery swap about here, but the Scania, despite being several orders of magnitude heavier, was still pulling like a train.

Depending on the route, The Ridge is also one of the few places where you can see civilisation.  There it is, in the distance.  Well, it's kind of civilisation.  It's mostly farms and small villages.  Under that ridge of hills in the very far distance is the town of Devizes.

Nearly 15 minutes later we can see the same view, this time framed nicely by some trees.

Me and My Truck

[Mad Ax]

2 hours and 15 minutes, and the first battery finally gave out.  Around 4.7 miles.  That means I should easily get 12+ miles of daylight running out of 3 packs.

Having a play with a loose climb.  Not really a challenge for a truck like this.

This next section is a long flat walk, and for the first time all night I'm heading into the sun, which is kind of nice.

It takes over 10 minutes for the other end of the field to come into view, with a gentle slope into the trees.  This was a good spot to sit down and eat the rest of my sandwich.  My brain is having a hard time adjusting to the fact that it isn't dark yet.  Last time I did this route I had to divert because it was way too dark to go through the trees, and I went back along The Ridge under the light of the stars.

This section is treacherous in the dark.  It's steeper than it looks and very slippery when wet.

Finally we're back on tarmac, although I'm not sure why, it's a sort of nothing road that goes nowhere.  A long, straight climb taking us back towards the van.

[Mad Ax]

At this point I've got a choice.  I can head to the right, down a slope and onto an old road, where there's a derelict barn that looks like something out of Stalker.  From there, I can take the old road up a very steep hill and head back along The Ridge, or I can head straight across the valley and climb up what I call The Spine.  The valley can be very rutted and hard to pass even on foot, and I don't really fancy the long climb up the road to The Ridge, so the other option is to bear left - straight on, in this photo - and follow the treeline in the distance back to Imber Path, and from there it's a straight walk for a mile and a half to reach the van.

The going looks hard, and in the summer the grass is way too long to go this way, but this time of year it's easily passable.

A few minutes later, the truck suddenly jumped up into the air, as if it had run into something.  It came down on its wheels and carried on driving, but I could see that it had gone over something.  I was going to ignore it, but sometimes the military leave stuff lying around here, so I thought I'd check it out.  That was when I realised what I'd run over.

It was my front propshaft.

The only cheap shaft left on the truck.  Well, not any more, eh?

It wasn't repairable, as I'd lost both pins - in fact I wondered if I might have lost one of the pins some way back and it had taken this long to fall out, but I probably would have noticed it being 2wd.

As much as possible, I try to drive the truck out of any situation it gets into, but it took some while to unbeach it from this rut after I flipped it back onto its wheels.  4wd makes a huge difference.

[Mad Ax]

At least the terrain was fairly smooth all the way back to Imber Path, although driving in 2wd proves just how bad the suspension is - the rear axle is constantly skipping over the bumps.  It's obvious because the transfer case is unbelievably loud, but when the axle leaves the ground it unloads and goes silent, so it almost sounds like it's misfiring.

2wd and still fighting.

Finally, we reach Imber Path.  Now we've got 1.4 miles of gravel and a gentle uphill slope.

You see that sign where it says No Entry?  We're not allowed in there.

And finally we're back where we started.  8.3 miles and almost 4 hours later.  A couple of rollovers and a broken propshaft, but otherwise unscathed.

[Nikko85]

I really enjoy this vehicle and 100% and inspiration for mine, although gone down very different routes.

Have you given much thought to colour and liveries?

 

 

[Mad Ax]

19 hours ago, Nikko85 said:

Have you given much thought to colour and liveries?

I have got an idea, I'm waiting on...  Well, I'm not sure, really, but I need to get on and do the designs, as the top panel will be a printed banner that wraps over the roll cage (or maybe pops onto the box).  I guess I need to figure that out before I order it, as it will dictate the size of the banner.

Once I've got the banner, I can start matching up spray paints, although I am even considering having the entire design printed on vinyl, since the truck is square-sided so it should paste on without any creases or bubbles and will be harder wearing when it rolls over.