'The Big Lap' Original Series EP 2 - The Wheels Fall Off!

Start from Episode 1 • 'The Big Lap' Original...
G’day Guys,
In episode 1 we finally hit the road after 7 years of dreaming, scheming and planning to make our Big Lap a reality.
In this episode it all goes horribly wrong when an unfortunate series of events ends with our Landcruiser and camper trailer flipped on their sides on a remote road in the Snowy Mountains.
Little did we realise at the time but the external damage to the car was just the beginning.
Watch as we work through the problems to get our adventure back on track.
See you on the road.
Cheers
Steve, Jen & Girls
ABOUT 'THE BIG LAP' SERIES:
'The Big Lap' was filmed between 2005 and 2007 and released as a 3 x DVD set in 2013.
This year on its 10th anniversary we've digitally remastered the series from the original HD format to 4K UHD for release on KZbin.
Check out this video for more of 'The Big Lap' back story. • 'The Big Lap' Original...
MORE BIG LAP INFORMATION:
Check out the ‘Big Lap’ home page on our website:
www.expaus.au/thebiglap/
• Download ‘The Big Lappers Guide Book’ ebook
• Stream & Download ‘The Big Lap’ Film Series (ad free)
• Read our ‘Big Lap’ blog posts
• Download our free ‘Big Lap Budget Spreadsheet’ to help plan your trip
THE ORIGINAL BLURB FROM THE BIG LAP DVD CASE:
Taking a year or two off and driving around Australia is a dream that many people share. For the Baile family, tired of the rat race and yearning for distant horizons, their dream finally came true after 7 years of planning.
Join Steve, Jen, Savanna & Sara on their epic 46,600km journey of discovery as they leave behind friends, family and Melbourne city life and embark on the adventure of a lifetime.
Determined to get ‘off the beaten track’ and find some real adventure, the Baile’s set themselves the goal of visiting every state and territory and reaching the extremes of the continent...that’s the north, south, east, west, the exact centre and even the highest point at Mt Kosciuszko.
All while travelling many of Australia’s toughest roads and visiting many spectacular remote destinations.
Share their adventure in this 10 episode series filmed over 2 years that will give you hours of entertainment, ideas, plenty of laughs . . . and a few tears.
‘The Big Lap’ is a priceless insight into the real experience of travelling around Australia by road that will inspire you to make your own travel dreams a reality.
CONNECT WITH US:
Website: www.expeditionaustralia.com.au
Facebook: expeditionaustralia
Instagram: expeditionaustralia

[@ed4043]

This is why towing anything should be a separate licence class. The stuff i see people doing while towing boggles the mind. 99% of it is down to inexperience.

[@GR8Tmate]

Just found your channel & subbed. Great to find such a down to earth couple (family) instead of the usual YT crowd, although, I’ll be honest, your pace is actually making me tired 😂 ……it’s the kids, never a dull moment 🤣 A couple of observations, in case nobody has pointed this out to you. You guys have a wonderful dynamic & it was lovely to see a guy support his wife after putting the dream rig on its side. Good tough truck the 80, it’s a pity in the nano moments following the crash you didn’t get a hand to the key & shut her down………the engine is never going to keep the oil pumping from that angle & absolutely no wonder she seized. There’s a bit of a lesson there for off-road work too. It’s absolutely possible in extreme 4x4ing situations to induce the same sort of problem if you get caught on a huge angle & caught up somehow……in those situations, it can be best to shut her off and leave it in gear & roll (on your wheels) out of the situation on the starter motor…….as opposed to having problems with oil pick up and seizing another motor. Anyhow, positive side of the crash besides all surviving unscathed is you have a new donk in the old girl & she’ll be right for another 35 years now 👍👍👍 Jennifer, if you don’t mind me sayin, you need to get back behind the wheel & keep wheeling, perhaps start off when not in the towing configuration when your day tripping around & build your confidence up again, these are never pleasant things to recover from but it’s important you build your confidence up again, it just looked like Steve was driving after you got ur rig back on the road but it’s important for you to get back behind the wheel asap. There’s actually a fair bit if this sort of thing that goes on & as a retired Forensic Crash Investigator I strongly believe that ALL drivers should be required to undergo mandatory towing training because when things go pair shaped there’s normally only nano seconds to catch them & as you experienced things happen quickly. I’m not sure what sort of hitch you had on the Camper when you crashed but if you looked at something like a DO35, they can actually roll over without dragging the tow vehicle with them, some of the older style hitches work like a massive lever & with a small amount of momentum can easily flip a rig. Anyway, food for thought for the future & onwards & upwards. You’re in for a real treat as you head north through WA, such amazing vast country. I look forward to future episodes with Jennifer wheeling again 💪😊 You decided to skip Tassie?

[@davidmilledge221]

Amazing journey u guys are on and u got the faith to keep on going bloody beautiful guys dont ever let anything stop ya 👍

[@michaelnugara1]

Wow sorry to see this happen. Glad you were all ok. It's very scary how things can just happen. Certainly no one is to blame

[@andrewfarlie]

Should have waited and saved the money on the DVDs and Vimeo subscription lol. Your dvds were the inspiration and the start of our adventures. This culminated in the last couple of years on the road full time. Thankfully we did it without kids but our journey started with watching you guys all those years ago. ❤

[@ouradventurebeforedementia7505]

Fantastic to watch again, looking forward to the next one.

[@SHAYNEDUNSHEA]

Wow I drove that in a furniture truck, what a road ,not one to mess up on no reception ect . Lovely drive thou, glad your all well.

[@Wildernessadventuresoz]

My nightmare so glad you were all ok.

[@peterstaunton-smith586]

i loved the dvds, but will be awesome to watch again

[@PeterMann683]

Another great episode, thank you. Looking forward to ep 3.

[@JRCadventures]

Great story telling guys. Keen for more

[@lordkordorn2971]

Not sure if you got your answer about the engine. Landcruiser on its side meant engine was likely running without oil pressure. 🤙🏼

[@rodtaylor2280]

You did a great job,repairing the car trailer and boat, hope all went well did a lovely videoing job,hope to see the great ocean road in a kombi this year

[@jeffgreaves1559]

Well done guys some people would have just given up enjoy your lap and i hope the car has no problems it shouldn't it's a Landcruiser

[@4exploreaus416]

Haha I thought this looked familiar. I bought the dvd years ago 👍

[@craigtomkinson2837]

Lovely Ep guys, when was this filmed

[@ExpeditionAustralia]

Cheers Craig. Filmed in 2005

[@craigtomkinson2837]

Thanks. @@ExpeditionAustralia

[@adrianthomas2251]

Hi mate it’s never fun to have a mishap but thank God it all worked out fine in the end . Did u replace the engine with a 1hdt or something else thanks

[@ExpeditionAustralia]

Yep a new 1hdt out of a crate. Swapped for the broken one.

[@ianmoone2359]

I’m really surprised that your insurer didn’t abandon you for being overloaded. You really need to put that rig over the scales. Guaranteed you’re overloaded. You have everything but the kitchen sink and most of it is in the wrong place. I would have hoped that you learned from your mistakes but apparently not. Too much weight up top on the roof rack decreases stability, & increases the likelihood of rolling over. Too much weight behind the axle in your trailer reduces the tow ball download to below 10% of the loaded weight of the trailer. You had at least 2 maybe 3 Jerry cans behind the axle as well as a 9 kilo gas bottle. This is just totally unsafe with little kids in the car. The water crossing with kids was also unsafe due to childproof locks on the rear doors, windows up, child restraint seats. I attended a double child drowning incident where these were determined to be contributing factors in the boy & girls deaths by the coroners inquest. I could go on, you’ve exceeded the 100kilo static load rating of Toyotas Landcruiser with that rack & gear up top. That load reduces by 40% to only 60 kilo the moment you leave the bitumen. Clearly you need better advice about your setup for a round oz lap within the laws and in safety. I’m surprised others haven’t commented on these points to be honest.

[@ExpeditionAustralia]

Hi Ian, just to address a couple of your points. The 80 series has a 150kg roof loading capacity and we had a lot less than that on the roof. Most of the gear in the orange bag is lightweight stuff like extra bedding, hiking gear etc. so it is bulky but not heavy. Note that the rack & its contents remained firmly attached to the roof despite the crash. The car tipped over because the trailer rolled and bound up behind it against the spare wheel and it was the momentum of the trailer rolling that pulled the car over, not the roof rack being too heavy. There is only one jerry can behind the trailer axle along with the gas bottle on the opposite side. We kept the heavier gear like food tubs and extra water inside the trailer over the axle and balanced the weight in the trailer front to back fairly evenly with slightly more up front. The trailer looks heavy with the boat on it but the boat only weighs 80kg and the entire trailer fully loaded is way lighter than what most people tow around Australia and well within the capacity of the Landcruiser. The reason the trailer flipped was because one of its wheels started following a washout rut in the road which put sideways pressure on the trailer and pushed it off line behind the car. This caused the car to unexpectedly start turning towards the cliff side of the road. Jen understandably reacted by steering it back and the end result was the trailer flipped over as it came up out of the rut. We didn’t know at the time what had happened behind us but I expected to find that the trailer had a blowout, which it didn’t. We figured it out after seeing the ruts further back up the road and following the trailer and vehicle tracks. As for the water crossing with the kids in the car. This was a shallow crossing that I could easily walk across (which I did) so no danger of the car turning over as demonstrated by the fact we drove over and back a couple of times without any issues. If there is a resource somewhere explaining the protocol for crossing water with kids in the car then by all means share it with us as I’ve never seen anything like that before. Cheers Steve

[@ianmoone2359]

Again KZbin have removed my response because I included a link to what you asked for. I did try - it was lengthy & detailed, but such is the world of KZbin where the death of innocent children doesn’t matter. All I can suggest is that you type the terms “Ashley Mungar, Jack Ansty, Blackwood River 4WD Drowning West Australian Coroner”. There’s quite a bit of media reports, that omit important aspects about the childproof locks etc - however the coroners inquest is much more detailed. Anyone interested will have to research it themselves - KZbin Clearly doesn’t wish it to be reported / commented on, because to them money matters not innocent child safety.

[@effkay3691]

I’m gonna have to agree with Ian on this one. If the trailer flipped at 40km/hr…….i dunno guys. Something isn’t balanced.

[@ed4043]

Exactly this. Something doesnt add up. He mentioned he balamced the trailer. Without adequate weight on the hitch going up or down a hill might do this. Within roof weight limits doesn't mean it doesn't increase roll over chances. A rut shouldn't flip a trailer like that. What's also concerning is the reluctance to address and assess the causes to maybe prevent future issues. Doing any water crossing, even ankle deep with windows up and chikd locks is a cardinal sin. ​@@effkay3691

[@butidonthaveaname6543]

If the trailer flipped at 40 kph then it's either overloaded or loaded wrong. There is an issue there that needs addressing for sure

[@davidmilledge221]

Was it a standard hitch on the trailer a soild one that just sat on the ball , if so yer trailer goes over it takes car with it ,also driver side tyre on trailer is flat probably stuffed up on a pot hole thats where the swaying and vibrations came from , if it had the other style hitch trailer rolls over car stays up right , ive got the solid one on my 21.6 van ok was made 20 years ago but im replacing it that old system always freeks me out , your blessed to live and tell the story thank God 🙏amen

[@ExpeditionAustralia]

The hitch swivelled 360 degrees without breaking but it was the draw bar pushing up against the spare wheel that flipped the car over. You can see a closeup of the hitch in episode 1. Yes it could have been a lot worse outcome!

[@davidmilledge221]

​​@@ExpeditionAustraliawow even with a rotation hitch that could happen 😮 the cruiser is worth fixing luckily we can still get new motors 4 them thanks to Africa , 80series are worth big bucks now that's one good thing hanging onto her 👍

[@colinboyd7779]

Rotten luck for you all but as above I couldn't help but notice the flat tyre on the camper. We can never be 100% sure but I'd put my money on that being the root cause. TPMS would have given you an early alert to the flat tyre and given you ample time to deal with it. I hope you and all other dirt roads travellers are running TPMS now. All the best for a safe trip.

[@glmaguire]

Any plans to do another lap?

[@ExpeditionAustralia]

For sure, one day!

[@Dms37.]

I have same camper u would be way over gvm

[@morepawstravels]

I have to know the answer to a question that has bugged me since I watched the original DVD series. After the roll over. Steve talks to the camera about how the bigger MT tyres will roll better and the car will rev lower. Did Jen’ believe that at the time? Coz’ I’d love some 35” for our 105 series and I need a good pitch for my wife… 😂

[@ExpeditionAustralia]

Haha yes she believed it although when she saw the first cut of the film she said ‘no one cares about that stuff’ 😂 I assured her they did!