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Imagine this… You’re in the bush with your mates, you come around a corner and see a massive rocky track you just HAVE to conquer. Halfway up, your wheel leaves the ground and you’re thinking, ‘this is AWESOME’ – but you’re not going any further. Flick the switch, your locker engages and you sail on up. No dramas – right?
With an open diff, and a wheel in the air, the vehicle will send all of the drive to the wheel with least resistance – meaning the wheel in the air – which will get you nowhere fast. When you have diff lockers, they will force the drive to both wheels, allowing you to get further.
ARB Air Lockers provide instant engagement at up to 100km/h, meaning you can have confidence that you will be all locked up when you need to be.
Can’t wait to get a new locker? Head into any ARB store or participating stockist between 23rd September and 30th November and ARB will supply a FREE Air Compressor and Pump Up Kit with any Air Locker purchase.
Trailer Brakes
When you tow a caravan or trailer of any kind, you need to be certain that the braking system you have is adequate. Trailer brakes are crucial for gross tow loads above 750kg.
Towing a trailer behind your vehicle requires you to control not only your vehicle as you brake but also the additional force of your trailer and its load – which can be up to or more than 2.5 tonnes of extra weight. For utmost safety, this requires that you have a suitable electric brake controller system so that when you need to stop, especially suddenly, you can do so completely and safely.
Law in Australia
Law relating to braking systems in Australia varies by state, but there are some regulations which apply Australia-wide.
- According to current regulations across the nation, trailers that have a gross trailer mass (GTM) of up to 750kg do not require a braking system. Anything over 750kg must have a braking system.
- If a trailer has a GTM above 750kg and below 2000kg, brakes must operate on at least one axle and, with the exception of override systems, they must be operated and controlled from the driver’s seat.
Types of Trailer Brakes
Different types of trailer brakes are available as the type of braking system necessary is determined by the overall gross trailer mass. This includes the weight of the trailer plus its load.
Types of trailer braking systems include:
- Override – these are mechanical brakes that manually pull a cable which is connected to the brake drum of the trailer. This type of braking system is allowed for a GTM below two tonnes.
- Electronic – automatically applied by the brake controller, these brakes can be manually operated by the driver from the driver’s seat. These are legally required for any tow load above two tonnes. They must have a control unit within manual reach of the driver within the tow vehicle.
- Breakaway – this braking system allows electronic brakes to be automatically-engaged in an emergency situation. It is the law across Australia that these systems be required for all trailers and caravans with a GTM of two tonnes or above. The system has a battery so that, should the trailer become detached from the towing vehicle, the braking system will remain operable for at least fifteen minutes.
Safety chains are also required by law – the number and size of these are also determined by GTM.
REDARC Trailer Brake Control Systems
At ARB Maroochydore, we proudly stock and install REDARC trailer brake systems. REDARC is proudly Australian owned and operated.
REDARC Tow-Pro™ Electric Brake Controllers provide brake activation for trailers with electric brake actuators. They help you initiate safe and controlled braking, and are designed for most trailer braking applications. They are elegantly-designed to fit on your dashboard and are simple to operate.
At ARB Maroochydore, we offer two REDARC trailer brake controller models which suit trailers that have up to three axles.
- The REDARC Tow-Pro™ Elite offers both proportional and user-controlled braking in the one unit, featuring Active Calibration.
- The REDARC Tow-Pro™Classic provides a single mode of trailer braking that is user-controlled.
The REDARC Tow-Pro™ Electric Brake Controller range can be combined with REDARC Tow-Pro™ switch inserts, wiring kits, and more for unparalleled safety and functionality on the road.
Visit us at ARB Maroochydore
As well as REDARC brake controllers, at ARB we also carry the Sentinal Brake Controller and the Hayman Reese Guardian IQ Brake Controller.
If you’re planning a road trip, safety is key. Be sure to visit us at ARB Maroochydore before you travel! Their friendly team have many years of personal experience touring Australia and they have the insights and expertise on all aspects of 4WD, touring, camping and adventuring.
Contact us via our contact form, call us on (07) 5475 4011 or visit ARB Maroochydore in person six days per week. We look forward to meeting you!
Taking the family on a road trip
Taking the family on a road trip can be a great getaway and a 4WD adventure with off-road aspects to it is a fun way to embark on a holiday that will be memorable for all the right reasons. It can also help to impart your love of the great outdoors to your kids.
Why Take Your Kids on Off-Road Adventures?
Travelling with kids on adventures in the Outback is a great way to bond as a family and create lasting memories. It helps foster a love of travelling and it gives your kids unique new experiences. They get to see their beautiful and diverse country and learn invaluable lessons along the way. Kids also benefit by learning patience, becoming more adaptable, and they can experience different landscapes, ecosystems, environments, and even climates. They can learn map skills, discover their own adventurous spirit and feed their curiosity. It is also a great way to build on family relationships and bonds.
If you’re thinking about an extended trip which may mean that the kids will miss some school, don’t forget they can incorporate some of their schoolwork into practical life skills:
- Geography - read the map and get them learning to navigate
- Maths - calculate fuel consumption or how many kilometers you’re travelling each day
- English - write a family blog or send postcards to friends back home
There’s nothing better than applying some of their education into real life scenarios.
Travel Safety with Kids
4WD-ing can truly be a fantastic family affair – but the key to having a great time is to plan ahead and make safety your top priority. You need to understand that 4WD-ing has its own set of challenges and hazards and that having kids along for the ride requires an extra level of care and attention.
Let’s face it: kids are naturally curious. They need a bit more supervision than normal when they’re in the great outdoors, and you need to consider some things specifically when you’re going on any road trip, but even more so with kids:
- Driver Safety: driving off-road always requires adherence to traffic laws. Everyone must wear seatbelts even when travelling in the most remote areas. Younger children must be restrained properly in their car seats. All body parts must be kept within the vehicle while travelling and adventure 4WD-ing, so keep kids’ windows rolled up – this also prevents scratches from vegetation and bugs and dust from entering the 4WD.Always check the area around your vehicle prior to starting your vehicle as kids can be difficult to see. The driver should always be the last person out of the vehicle and the first one in, just in case it rolls unexpectedly. Also, keep kids well away from the vehicle during activities like winching.
- Personal Safety: Be very aware that kids can easily get lost, especially in the bush. Kids should be given a device for signalling – this includes a whistle worn around the neck, and a mini torch. Even the youngest kids should know their own names and their parents’ names, and ideally, their address and phone number for a parent. Teach kids not to wander off and to stay with their sibling or buddy. Make it clear which areas are “out-of-bounds”. Every child should also have his or her own water bottle. If you’re in the bush, remember a warm jacket, sun protection, a hat, insect repellent, and closed in shoes. It’s also a good idea to dress kids in bright colours so they can be easily seen in the bush or when swimming.
- More Safety Tips:
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- Plan your trip to include stops for facilities and time out for the kids to run and play. Try not to spend all day driving from A to B and avoid driving at night.
- Make kids aware of potential hazards like ant nests, snakes, mine shafts, cliffs, other vehicles, spiders, etc.
- Plan ahead to have plenty of fresh water, snacks, etc.
- During challenging parts of the trip (both off-road and in heavy city traffic), the kids need to be quiet and calm.
- Take plenty of rest stops.
Keeping Kids Entertained on a Road Trip
Not all parts of a road trip are fun for passengers, especially kids. Keeping them happy and entertained is essential! Some ideas include:
- Puzzles – including dot-to-dot and crossword puzzles. Or you could take travel jigsaws.
- Driving Games – for example, Eye Spy, Twenty Questions, Count the Cars, or even card games.
- Have a story-telling contest or a joke-telling competition.
- Play music from everyone’s playlists. Have a singalong!
- If your kids don’t suffer from travel sickness, they could use a tablet or smartphone for entertainment. But keep in mind, there’s a big world to see out there and time away from digital devices can be a great thing during a family holiday.
ARB’s website has a Kid’s Corner page with printable games and puzzles that are ideal for a road trip – including colouring in, crosswords, mazes, dot-to-dots, spot the difference, and word searches.
Visit ARB Maroochydore
If you’re planning a road trip with the kids, your first stop should be ARB Maroochydore! Owners Nick & Lara, who have many years of personal experience road-tripping around Australia with their son, are very proud to welcome you and share their expertise when it comes to all aspects of 4WD and adventuring – and they have the know-how to get your trip with the family off to a great start.
Contact us via our contact form, call us on (07) 5475 4011 or visit ARB Maroochydore in person six days per week. We look forward to meeting you!
4x4 Culture Live - New Event
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re interested in the 4×4 lifestyle; whether it be camping, fishing, touring or 4WDing, ARB is right there with you.
On the 21st and 22nd March 2020, ARB is hosting a national off road event open to all ARB customers and friends. 4×4 Culture LIVE will be based around all the diverse aspects of 4WDing covered in the pages of the 4×4 Culture magazine: family travel, new products, vehicle set-ups, education, camping and everything that goes along with it.
Hosted at Loveday 4×4 Adventure Park in South Australia, attendees will be spoilt with a weekend full of adventure including tag-along tours of the 8,000-acre park, scavenger hunts, prize giveaways, camp cooking, fishing classes, special guests, product experiences and industry experts.
As night falls, the park’s licensed tavern will come to life with live music, catering and hours of socialising with other campers. For those with young tackers, a grassed yard adjoining the tavern will keep the youngsters entertained with a host of kids’ activities and entertainment.
Tickets for the event will go on sale on 3rd of September 2019 and will be available in Adult, Teen and Child passes.
Your ticket to adventure will include:
> Park access and camping fees
> Saturday night tapas and dinner (kid-specific meals available)
> Sunday night tapas and dinner (kid-specific meals available)
> Access all areas (classes, demonstrations, tours, etc)
> Evening entertainment
> Kids’ entertainment
Attendees will be responsible for their own camping equipment, fuel and meals (outside of included meals).
Things to note:
> There will be an on-site cafeteria and chef where meals can be purchased
> There are on-site amenities
> No dogs are allowed during this event
> No unregistered vehicles are allowed during this event
To register your interest in attending the event, please click the link below
It pays to use protection! ARB Promotion
ARB’s excited to announce the launch of our ‘It Pays to Use Protection’ promotion!
From the 15th of July to the 15th of September 2019, customers who purchase an ARB Summit or Summit Sahara Bar, Summit Side Steps and a Summit or Summit Raw Rear Step Tow Bar in one transaction from any ARB store or participating stockist located in Australia will be eligible to redeem a $500.00 ARB gift card!
The ARB gift card can be redeemed at ARB stores and authorised stockists nationwide. An ARB gift card will expire 36 months after the purchase of the card.
For more information about this promotion click the link below!
R&D Testing ARB Products and Zone RV Caravans in the Outback
Safety is of the utmost importance when you travel. You need to understand safe towing practices as well as the importance of having lightweight towing know-how.
Zone RV is one of the best Australian manufacturers of premium off-road and semi-off-road caravans. Their caravans are second to none both in terms of technicality and luxury. Research and development, or R&D testing, is a huge part of what they do before their vans make it to you, and their process for this is what makes their final product so superior to others on the market.
The Triple Crown Tour Zone RV Trip
The most recent ZONE RV trip for R&D testing was called the “Triple Crown Tour”, and saw the ZONE RV Directors David Biggar and Matt Johns travel with an entourage of ARB personnel in their rigs and caravans travel for an epic adventure over two weeks. They traversed the country from Australia’s west coast to their Coolum headquarters in Queensland, via the Gibb River Road, Tanami Highway, and Plenty Highway.
The trip was sponsored by ARB, Cooper Tire, Cel-Fi, Hema Maps, Dometic, and Cruisemaster.
These roads can be challenging for even the most experienced caravanner, and the purpose of this expedition was to test and identify any issues relating to towing caravans across these three roads. These caravans were specifically the:
- Z-16.6 Off-Road
- ZV-20.6 Venture
- Z-21.6 Off-Road (only for part of the trip)
The team also ventured into areas where caravan-towing isn’t usually attempted, namely Mitchell Falls in The Kimberly WA and the top of the Big Red Sand Dune in NSW’s Birdsville.
The Australian Outback has a reputation for being relentless, thanks to challenges including thick dust, deep-water crossings, natural obstacles, and relentless corrugation of tracks and roads. Add to this the scarcity of supplies available and the distance from the nearest facilities.
The ZONE RV trip, however, found these roads to be the perfect ground for testing their caravans and rigs to their limits. Thanks to the trip, the team was able to personally experience the unforgiving conditions and unpredictable obstacles along the way, and as such, common issues with lightweight towing and more were identified and were able to be rectified with the assistance of the expertise of the expedition’s sponsors.
The ZONE RV Directors are delighted to know that all caravanners and off-road enthusiasts will benefit from their experience on this trip, and they can share this themselves - the ZONE RV Trip had been made into a short YouTube documentary and it is full of exclusive tips and advice. The documentary offers not only a wealth of technical know-how and guidance but also the opportunity to enjoy the spectacular scenery along the way and the entertaining and at times funny banter amongst the team members.
Visit ARB Maroochydore
Nick & the team are very proud to welcome you to ARB Maroochydore. They have many years of practical experience 4wding, camping, and touring Australia’s wide brown land, and they are delighted to share their expertise with their clients. With the real-world experience they have of road-tripping and getting off-road in Australia and overseas, they have the right inside knowledge that could be of enormous benefit to you. When it comes to customer service, the sales team at ARB Maroochydore is second to none.
Be inspired! Call or visit ARB Maroochydore today.
Need A Canopy? Get One Now!
Every 4WD tray or ute needs a top-quality canopy to provide weatherproofing, storage space, and security for its cargo. It is an investment that is well worth the financial outlay and there is no better time to invest in a canopy for your vehicle than right now, especially if you use your vehicle for business or work purposes.
What is a Canopy?
A fantastic accessory and addition to any dual-cab Ute, a canopy maximises the tray’s potential as a load space. Without a canopy, the tray has no security, no protection from the elements, and is limited in what it can offer. With the addition of a canopy, however, the tray becomes a flexible storage space that can even be lockable. It can safely be used to haul work tools, camping gear, sporting equipment, even a camp fridge. The canopy will also provide protection from wind, rain, sun, dust, sand and mud. It protects your cargo wherever you go, whether you’re driving highways, outback dirt roads, or even on sand dunes.
Additionally, a top-quality canopy can also create extra useable storage space.
Why Purchase a Canopy?
A 4WD Ute is an incredibly versatile vehicle and is the favoured choice for everyone from tradies to commercial drivers and recreational vehicle owners. A Ute also provides the added safety of keeping the cargo of the vehicle separate from the vehicle’s passengers. Without canopies, the cargo in the tray of the Ute is susceptible to the elements, as well as to the potential for theft.
A high-quality canopy offers much more than simply protection from the elements for your cargo. It provides security (especially if it is lockable) and also maximises the space available for storage separate from the vehicle’s cabin.
Canopies have customised options available so owners can tailor their vehicle to their individual needs. also provide various customisable options for vehicle owners to tailor their vehicle to their own individual needs. Canopies may have sliding windows and vents (ideal for safely transporting animals like pet dogs) and may incorporate shelving, tie-down points, drawer systems, and roof rails inside the canopy or the option of roof racks on top of the canopy or racks, and much more.
At ARB, we have an array of traditional canopies as well as Ute lids and associated accessories. The right choice will integrate seamlessly with your vehicle and protect your precious cargo no matter where you are.
Why Purchase Your Canopy Now?
With the end of the financial year (EOFY) fast approaching, right now is the perfect time to invest in a canopy for your work vehicle. If you require a canopy (or ute lid) for tool storage or other work-related needs including security, you can claim your new canopy as a tax deduction. Additionally, there are great deals to be had on awesome products as the financial year winds down. So don’t waste any time – purchase your canopy at ARB Maroochydore before the end of June! Remember personal situations are different, so remember to consult your accountant.
Get Canopies at ARB Maroochydore
When you come to ARB Maroochydore, you know you’re getting the very best in products and advice on all things related to your 4x4.
Here at ARB Maroochydore, we are the Sunshine Coast’s largest 4wd accessories store. Our team have more than 20 years of experience 4wding, camping, and touring Australia’s most beautiful and remote places, and they share their expertise with their clients. Their real-world experience of travelling in Australia and beyond, and the knowledge and service that their sales team at ARB Maroochydore has to offer, makes them stand out from the rest. They are, quite simply, the best at what they do.
Get your canopies and all other 4x4 accessories at ARB Maroochydore today.
Struggle no more thanks to tailgate assist
Trying to juggle whatever you’re carrying is a feat in itself, let alone managing the weight of the tailgate. Wouldn’t it be useful if you had a little helping hand? ARB’s new Tailgate Assist is here to be that hand.
Using two different struts, the Tailgate Assist reduces the effort required to operate the tailgate. The passenger side strut helps to slowly lower the tailgate and the driver side facilitates raising it. The struts have been co-developed with Stabilus, the world-renowned strut manufacturer and ARB has designed a unique mounting system to ensure longevity.
“Tailgates vibrate a lot and tubs move when you’re driving in rough conditions, so we’ve put these struts through rigorous tests. We’re confident in the product and know all the components are going to last,” says ARB Product Manager, Rhys Brown.
The ARB Tailgate Assist is now available for Ford Ranger, Mazda BT-50, Holden Colorado, Isuzu D-MAX, Nissan Navara and Mitsubishi Triton with more models under development. Contact the Maroochydore ARB store for pricing and availability.
WATCH THE TAILGATE ASSIST IN ACTION!
ARB Experience Day Coming Up - 7th April Landcruiser Mountain Park
We’re about to take ‘try before you buy’ to a whole new level.
With such a vast array of aftermarket accessories available on the market, when it comes to choosing the right ones for your vehicle, having an abundance of choices can make the experience a lot more difficult than expected.
That’s why, in a bid to help customers make more informed decisions when selecting accessories suited to their needs, lifestyle and fourby, ARB is launching a series of state-based events designed specifically to give customers the chance to experience the market-leading innovation ARB is ultimately renowned for.
ARB Experience Days will give you the chance to participate in demonstrations highlighting the comfort and safety advantages of Old Man Emu BP-51 shock absorbers on a diverse and tailored off road course. There’ll also be in-car experiences for those who appreciate traction – showcasing the full potential of a vehicle fitted with front and rear Air Lockers will negotiating a steep and unlevelled climb.
In addition to live demonstrations, each experience day will be hosted by a team of industry experts who’ll assist with a range of questions across not only the products on display, but each and every 4WDing product available through ARB’s national network of stores.
ALL THE IMPORTANT DETAILS:
When: Saturday 7th April 2018
Time: 9:15am until mid-late afternoon
Where: Land Cruiser Mountain Park
Limited Numbers: Spaces Limited to 10 people from each store
Cost: $45pp (day pass) or $70pp if you want to stay overnight
Hot lunch provided!
ARB’s Got You Covered
