Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I have been studying hard for Uni exams in four weeks time (my life is a second order DE).Said 'enough' about 6.30 tonight. Decided to go for a drive to clear the mind out, at a hunch I grabbed the recovery gear on the way out. Being new to Canberra I don't know of any tracks yet so just headed towards the Brindabella's in the dark. Had a bit of a muck around for about 30 mins to see what the Wrangler MTR's could do, then started heading home. On the way back on a whim I turned off the road and decided to see if I could get up a road side cutting. Nobody around. Low range, diff locks and up we went. Got about 10 metres up then she stopped. Fair enough- I'll just reverse down. Reversing-Sudden stop- the rear bumper has dug into the ground at the bottom of the cutting-OH Shit. (on SWB Paj with 2" body lift, bloody excellent departure angle ).
Got out had a look, even worse from this angle, the top of the bumper is level with the ground, that cutting is steep. no chance of driving out.
Got out the shovel and started digging, will be self recoverable, but with a lot of effort.
Next thing cars come down the road, all stop, thinking I have had an accident, come running across with first aid kits. Starting to feel like a real dill. Told then I was alright and had called a towtruck with my mobile (didn't want to tell them I had driven there on purpose, they all assumed I had lost control and some how ended up the cutting!) they all drove on. I kept digging in the dark to try and not attract attention. Tried to reverse out after a while, succeded in bending the exhaust over 180 degrees, but nothing else.
A Prado stopped, I thought stuff this, got the snatch strap out. It took me 15mins to dig a tunnel to the tow bar, then a small pull and she was out.

I won't be doing that again.

what are your thoughts about the wrangler mtrs i am keen to get some as i am due for some new rubber

Swampers!! or Simexs

The tech component to the story above, which I forgot to add last night. Mike how much dosh to make a copy of your towbar? I'm sick of the rear dozer blade I have now.

Swampers-Simex's or comp type tyres are better off road from what I heard. However if you don't want to muck around with 2 sets of tyres and want a deceintly handling vehicle on road (Which is why we bought Pajero's in the first place?) I think MTR's are a good but expensive option.
Bitumen- Good high speed handling, grippy on wet tar, low noise.
Off Road- Aired down are very comfy, with heaps of grip. I now don't use super select down gravel roads, they stick so well around corners driving becomes a bit boring, so use 2h to try and get her drifting. Quite good grip in shale and sand conditions but have had chipping and cuts of the lugs from turning with difflocks in on sharp shale. Don't know where to go for mud around here so haven't tried. Also haven't yet driven on the beach.
The wear rate seems high, but this has happened in the past with other types of muddies. The wear rate seems to slow as the lugs get shorter.
My comparisons are against other types I have used these are Super Diggers, Michelin all terrain, an Olympic pattern, Kumho MT. I have not yet tried a B/F MT

Forget all that Paris-Dakar rally hype and the on road handling stuff. True they do handle extremely well on road in standard trim an engineer told me a Gen 2 lwb has virtually a perfect 50:50 weight distribution which is the basis of nuetral on road handling plus with the super select makes for excellent twisty stuff performance.
I've grown out of all that, once you get a set of Simex's, body lift and suspension lift, lockers and rip the swaybars off handling is a distant memory.
But when you idle up Rocky Tk in the pissing rain all those mods are worth their weight in gold

I agree up to a point. I modified a FJ 40 in the early 90's, no roof or doors (not even half doors), long travel suspension, diff locks, repaint etc. Heaps of cred, excellent off road, slow, evil handling when you did get it up to speed, drank like a champion. Drove it across Oz twice and most of FNQ. The fun wore off driving through because I got sunburnt, cold and ate dust.
Sold it because I wanted an FJ40 that was civilised and fast. The J top is the modern FJ40. The only thing that could possibly claim the title is a L/R90. However I did my apprenticeship working on 2A's and 110's and have driven them around the country enough to know I could never own one, as capable as they are.
So I reckon keep the rally handling, it's the Paj's strong point, it's easy to modify the good characteristics out of a vehicle diminishing what I bought it for in the first place.

I like the rally handling of the pajs to a point, although mine is pretty far from standard now. We had our first rain here this morning for a few months and first chance i got i had it sideways around every corner i could . try doing that in a 7" lifted patrol - hehe.

As for the towbar I not sure how i would do it again for a reasonable price because i started a new job just recently and don't have the access to a $10m workshop anymore but as a starting point try looking for a 2nd hand hayman reese towbar(2500kg) at a wrecker. I paid $150 for mine from memory. Then all i did was chop the end mounts off and clean them up, i used a large autosaw to do that so that i didn't lose much of my overall length and i got nice and close to the plate so i didn't have to grind much back. Then you position the bar on the car as high up as you can go, then work out how much to chop off the centre mount (bout 75mm ) and mark the new hole positions. Take it of and modify that then bring it back and bolt it to the car. Bolt the end mounts to the car and tack weld them to the bar(remember to disconnct the battery). The take it of the car and fully weld the end mounts. Then i got it sand blasted(depending on condition) and painted black so it looks smick. Oh and you will have to trim the end mounts so they don't hang down below the bar too far. All done. you can see the pic for more details here http://members.optushome.com.au/paosbor ... F0023e.jpg

Mike,
Thanks for the reply. The tow bar mod is something I will do in the near future.