John and Jackie used to travel in a 1956 Carapark Hunter Junior
Like most grey nomads, John Corlett has learned to expect the unexpected on the open road but, as a self-professed ‘bush mechanic’, he’s better equipped than most to deal with it!
For a man who once fixed a snapped chain on his Triumph motorcycle by using fencewire to make up a link, even travelling in the most remote and roughest parts of the country should hold no fear.
However, the former fitter who travels with his wife Jackie, is the first to admit that he is not immune from making schoolboy errors … like the time he was travelling between the South Australian towns of Morgan and Burra towing a boat.
“As I was pulling into a rest stop, about 75 kilometres from anywhere, window down in the heat, I noticed a squeaking from the trailer,” he recalls. “A bearing seal was loose, the grease had gone … and the bearing was not happy!”
John quickly stripped off the wheel and hub and checked the damage and, after cleaning metal debris away, found the bearing seats were rough but would survive a bit longer.
“A couple of rollers were cracked up and discarded,” said John. “But I had no grease!”
After half an hour of cussing, John said he suddenly remembered the margarine in the camp fridge.
“I tapped the seal in place and re-assembled the sad bearing, packed with margarine, and spun the wheel … a bit of a rumble but not too bad,” said John. “It was at least good enough to get to the next town where I promptly replaced the bearing.”
While the incident showed how useful bush ingenuity can be, John says there is a bigger lesson to be learned.
“I am a fitter by trade, but it appeared I was neglectful of my own machinery,” he confessed. “It would have been much easier to have checked the bearings before the trip … a lot easier!”
And he urges all travellers to get their wheel bearings checked and re-greased as a top priority before heading off on their next adventure.
Back at the time of the bearing scare, John and Jackie were travelling in a Hilux, towing a 1956 Carapark Hunter Junior which they had re-built themselves. However, road train restrictions prevented them also towing their boat, so they evolved to a 2004 Mercedes Sprinter.
Jim fitted out the former ambulance himself to suit the couple’s travelling requirements and it now boasts a fibreglass high top for extra headroom.
The couple, who live in Coffin Bay on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, have no fixed commitments and say their campervan is always packed and ready to go … and always includes John’s ‘extensive’ tool kit.
But what about grey nomads who may not have John’s level of skills? “It’s always worth asking around the campsite,” said John. “Most people will muck in to help if they can!”
No, but am I glad that there are many many folks out there like John to help me if ever I get into strife.
As far as mechanical skills goes I must admit that all I do is drive the vehicle and I must also confess that there are many other drivers out there who make the following comment.
“”Where did you get your bloody licence….must have been in a Cornflakes carton.””.
But having said that, I believe that there are worse drivers on the road than yours truely.
Happy trails John Jackie and others.
John
I must admit I’m prone to always having the right tools for the job although it seems it is always someone else’s vehicles that get the benefit. Same with remote area first aid kit, people that usually travel with us refer to it as the “Hospital Theatre”. The child bride complains a bit but if I didn’t use the space it would only be replaced with her extra shoes. I have neve been able to work out why women generally must have so many shoes.
Ingenuity…thats what it is. Making do with what youve got or improvising.
“Do you patch it up with wire…just to get the show on the road” True blue…!
The aboriginals are masters of it when broken down in the bush.
I reckon we are the generation of ingenuity.
We learnt to make billy carts by getting old pram wheels from the dump. We fixed our pushbikes when something broke, we mended the punctures. We made things that weren’t available or couldnt buy.
Its a lost art with a lot of the younger ones today. If it breaks..throw it away…
There are a lot of very smart and intelligent kids out there…tech wise. But dont know how to use a screw driver or a shifter or a car jack.
I always carry plenty of different guage wire…and of course gaffa tape and cable ties.
Cheers.
That’s the old adage; If it doesn’t move and it should WD40, if it moves and it shouldn’t Gaffer Tape.
Hello all
Brought back memories traveling from Coober Pedy to Adelaide at night at about 75 -80km per hour.
I was south of Port Augusta in my Hi Ace campervan towing a tandem trailer with goods covered with a tarp.
The left rear wheel came off and I went off the road to the left into the salt bush. I knew to not turn the steering wheel. The rear left wheel that came off may have been related to my job at the time but that’s another story.
I got out in the dark with a torch and could not find the wheel so I slept in the campervan and waited till morning.
In a past life I was a motor mechanic. So I had all my tools with me. The wheel studs on the back left wheel were all broken or damaged. I wasn’t going anywhere. I found the wheel about 50 meters away and the trailer had one bent axle.
I took the wheels off the campervan one by one and removed some good wheel studs with nuts off the 3 good wheels. I then removed all the broken studs from the broken wheel, and installed good studs on the “studless” axle mounting and installed the wheel.This got me going slowly again.
I pulled into a roadhouse just down the road. I think it was Mambray Creek. I told the attendant what happened.
He looked at my trailer and said..mate your trailer had “flipped” last night right over and came up the right way. I had not noticed salt bush marks on top of the tarp on the trailer.
I looked again at the trailer how could this happen. It had override brakes that runs on the shaft so it was possible for the trailer to flip over. If it didnt do this the trailer may have broken away from the campervan or worse.
So all you guys with override brakes….they can do a 180 degrees “flip”on what ever you are towing.
The bent axle on the trailer was getting hot. So I kept stopping to cool it with water.
Got to Adelaide safely but slowly.
A few years ago I was driving a rigid truck from Perth to Brisbane to be decommissioned. Part way across the Nullarbor just before one of the roadhouses the radiator sprung a leak and was spraying a fine mist of coolant onto the windscreen. Not good.
I pulled into the roadhouse, let the engine cool down and went inside and asked for some pepper. The attendant said no pepper for sale , and I explained what I needed it for, so he went and acquired a cup full from the kitchen.
Put the pepper into the radiator, and made 10 trips back to the kitchen with a 2 litre bottle to top up the radiator. Left the radiator cap half off, so as not to build up too much pressure and drove the truck back to Brisbane without any trouble. The pepper expands in the water and blocks the small holes. Egg white will do the same job, but no chooks on the Nullarbor!
About a year later the Company called me up and asked me to take a cab/chassis over to South Australia. On arrival at the yard to leave, I looked at the Truck and said “ has anyone changed the radiator?” It still had the Nullarbor pepper in it. Small delay to trip while a recon radiator was fitted.