This Track Hasn’t Been Driven In a LONG time! Plus A CRAZY Bush Mechanic Fix!

A tyre peeled off the rim halfway up Little Mousetrap, then a night climb up Clay Hill in a storm. Shaun Whale, Graham Cahill and Jock McDonald wheel Possum Brush, Bago Bluff and Morbid Trail in NSW. Three wheeling spots, three days, one pick each. Shaun Whale opens the trip at Possum Brush near Taree, a forest gutted by bushfires and shut to visitors for over a year, so the run into Clay Hill has all but vanished under regrowth and the boys have to cut their own line down to the bottom of the climb. Then they send it up in the dark with a summer storm landing on their heads. Shauno tops up a litre and a half of diff oil before he airs down, after snapping the kingpin studs on the last south coast trip. His brother Mitch is riding shotgun in Sooty, Jock McDonald has invited himself into Graham Cahill's brand new Isuzu D-MAX, and a V8 76 Series on 33s, a GU Patrol on 35s and an 80 Series on 37s round out the convoy. Low spring hangers, dragging diffs and a handbrake that doesn't work all get a workout before the night is out. Day two is Graham Cahill's pick: Bago Bluff out the back of Wauchope, kicking off with a rock climb none of the crew has ever conquered. It sits on marble-like dirt with three lines to choose from, and the spare parts box comes out first: axle studs, a wheel bearing kit, belts and a spare CV. The 76 Series then peels a tyre clean off the rim mid-recovery, and the save is pure bush ingenuity, winching the rig back down onto a couple of rocks so the wheel hangs free with no jack, then reseating the bead right there on the hill. There's a double line pull on soft shackles for the D-MAX, an old floor mat thrown over a sharp rock to save the winch rope, and a diagonal rock step near the summit that Mitch gets thrown at cold. Up top, the lookout takes in the whole Hastings Valley. Camp is out the back of the Long Flat Pub on the Hastings River, where Graham cooks up his camp curry sausages with coconut cream and a packet of chicken curry. Jock McDonald finishes the trip in Coffs Harbour on Morbid Trail, and after two nights of rain the bottom section is barely drivable. Sooty's diff pumpkin drags through the ruts on 35s, the 76 Series has to commit hard on 33s, and Graham hands Jocko the keys to a D-MAX with 4,000km on the clock. Mitch relearns a manual on one of the hardest sections of the ridgeline, the 80 Series is down to a front locker only, and the last pinch has so little grip that walking up it is hard work. Teralume Icon driving lights and a light bar carry the night run, a Drifta Stockton rooftop tent fly gets Shauno thinking about his own setup, Razorback 4x4 seat covers earn their keep, and the Ultimate9 throttle controller gets wound right up for that final climb. 🔧 The trick I'd use to reseat a bead out bush: ____ 📍 Best 4WD track on the NSW Mid North Coast is: ____ CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 1:20 Possum Brush State Forest 2:56 Clay Hill night climb 5:04 76 Series winched up Clay Hill 8:37 Finding a way out of the rainforest 11:51 Little Mousetrap rock climb, Bago Bluff 15:23 Tyre off the rim on the rock step 21:24 Bago Bluff rock step and lookout 25:28 Camp behind the Long Flat Pub 35:58 Morbid Trail, Coffs Harbour 42:18 Hardest section of Morbid Trail 50:00 Steep slippery climb to the top 1:00:59 Bloopers ----------------- OUR GEAR Get spares and upgrades for your 4WD from https://www.sparesbox.com.au Top quality camping equipment from Kaito at https://www.driftastockton.com.au Throttle controllers for nearly every modern 4WD at https://www.ultimate9.co/au/ Shauno uses Castrol oil in Sooty: https://rego2oil.castrol.com/en_au/au... ----------------- 📸 Instagram: @4wd247 📘 Facebook: @4wd247 🎵 TikTok: @4wd247 Shaun, Graham, Jock & Jesse — formerly with 4WD Action — have been delivering Australia's best off-road content for 20+ years. From epic builds and 4x4 tips to Fraser Island, The Kimberley, Colorado and the Simpson Desert. Whether you're in a fully built LandCruiser or just starting out with a HiLux or Ranger — we've got you covered. #MorbidTrail #CoffsHarbour #BagoBluff #PossumBrush #ClayHill #Wauchope #LongFlatPub #MidNorthCoast #NSW4WD #LandCruiser #76Series #80Series #GUPatrol #DMax #Recovery #Winching #NightRun #4WD247