Oka owners group newsletter

Sand : means that the vehicle travels in short stages over difficult terrain. To reduce the risk of damage to the tyre, speed must be restricted to 20 km/h.

N.B. : It must be emphasized that, unless absolutely necessary, it is in the user’s interest to operate at “road” or “track” pressure.

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The pressures listed for a load of 3400 Kg represent the maximun limits for good performance over difficult terrain

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For best results I suggest that you have your vehicle weighed at a weighing station where they can give

you the individual axle weights front and rear. This needs to be done for the vehicle unloaded and then loaded.

I currently run my multicab, on road, at 42/44 psi Front and 38/40 psi Rear when empty and 44 psi All- Round when loaded. Off road in difficult terrain I drop about 10 psi from my road pressures.

Remember all pressures are for COLD tyres. Hot tyres could vary in pressure upwards by as much as 10 psi.

Internet Sites that will be interest to OKA Owners:

www.okaownersgroup.info Our own Oka Owners Group Wevsite, hosted by John Hendriks.

www.wildgame.com.au This is the homepage for Greg & Mel Harris, who are adventuring round Australia and were last heard of in Darwin.

www.schoensleben.ch This is Rusi & Suzi Schoensleben’s site where you can see the construction of their camper on the new OKA and their adventures.

www.wanderer.com.au This site belongs to Richard and Beverley House, who are tour operators in W A and have some very interesting articles on their site.

www.oka.com.au This is the OKA site and you will find the information about the NT model, and lots of photos of OKAs.

www.exploroz.com This site has some great information about nearly anywhere in Australia. It gives links to sites where you can apply for permits to travel on Aboriginal tracks, maps, trek notes and almost everything you need to know.

There are some other interesting websites you will find in your members list. A number of these are tour operators in various States, and they have various specialities. I am sure they can offer you some interesting advice about Okas in General as they need to maintain theirs in pretty good condition for the routes they travel, and for travel information and repairers in their areas.

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The Limbo Tree – courtesy of David & Genine Hallandal

You might like to compare this with a price list from 1996 that was sent by John Hendriks:

The Pricelist below will give you idea what your present investment is worth! I believe the new models are over the top.

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Hi Everyone,

OKA OWNERS GROUP

(PUTTING PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT FIRST)

NEWSLETTER December 2006

Christmas seems to have come with a rush – but what is new about that? Lloyd and I would like to wish all Oka Owners a very happy Christmas and a prosperous (and hopefully wet) New Year. We are still receiving new memberships, so there must still be a few Oka’s about out there somewhere. If you sell your machine, we would appreciate it if you could let us know.

The Group seems to be operating well. John Hendriks has the Website going great, and is very interesting to browse through or to find specific information. The newsletter has dwindled to a quarterly, which is probably sufficient, but it really depends on the information coming back to me, so that I can pass it on, so please, could you find the time to put pen to paper or send me an email I would really appreciate it.

One concern that was mentioned to me by Michael Hession is that there have been occasions when members seem to expect a discount when ordering parts from other Oka Owners. I would like to point out that the Oka Owners Group has not negotiated with any dealers or suppliers (whether they are members or not) to give discounts to members. If you can negotiate a better price, that is OK, but please don’t involve the Group in any deals.

Okas are being used for all kinds of purposes. Many were originally sold to mining companies, and were ideal for them as they could carry more men per vehicle, as well as carry a load; we did hear that part of the reason why the mines decided not to use them was because the employees in charge of maintenance found that they were unable to keep their Toyotas going with parts supplied to the mines, and therefore gave them a bad name. They are still being used by operators who take adventure tours to inaccessible places, and these have been going for many years. They are used for farm vehicles, and for crop and weed spraying, and as general carrying light trucks in all kinds of businesses. Many are now owned by enthusiasts who take them to all kinds of places which are only suitable for four wheel drives. Each Oka we see is at least slightly different to the others, which makes each one unique.

It is time to renew you memberships. I include a membership form for anyone who has

not yet filled in one of these, or to renew you will find below the procedure and Rowena

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Paterson’s address. Thanks must go to Rowena for taking on this task. She also organises weekend trips for Oka Owners who live in Victoria and they seem to visit all kinds of remote and beautiful places and have a great time. Please note the date in March when she has organised a day together which she hopes will include South Australian members.

There has been much discussion about tyres for our Okas. I include a thread from the website in the hope that there might be some answers. When you are travelling in the outback areas, tyres are important, and it is a real downer when you can’t replace one. I know some of you will have followed this on the website, but there are others who don’t have access. Any ideas?

Once again, Happy Christmas to you all. Marj Parsons

TOORONGO FALLS SCENIC RESERVE, NOOJEE - 5th -7th January 2007

Where: 8km north-east of Noojee. Access via Tooronga Falls Road from Baw Baw Tourist Road. Features Toorongo Falls, please bring firewood.

Reference: Vicroads 81 B7

EDI CUTTING - Labour Day weekend - 9th -12th March 2007

Where: Edi Cutting bush camp on the King River, 10 kms south of Moyhu on the Whitfield Road. Pit toilets. Camp just past Edi, on left hand side. You need to drive through a gate before entering camp. Reference Vicroads: 48 H4

Please bring firewood.

MORNINGTON - 25th March 2007

Where: Jurgen & Claudia Maurachers property at 78 Roberts Road, Mornington.

The rally with be a day get together with some of our South Australian members.

We will be having a BBQ lunch, if everybody could please bring something for the BBQ and your own drinks, that would be great.

Reference: Melways Map 146, B4

MAJORS CREEK, NAGAMBIE - 27th - 29th April 2007

Where: Major Creek Reserve, 25km north of Seymour near Michellstown.! Access via Michellstown road, off the Goulburn Valley Hwy.

Please bring firewood.

Reference:! Vicroads:! 46 C7

TYRES – 19.5’s

I trashed another 19.5" tyre today, so need to go shopping. It was a 285 XZY I think. Save me trawling the site - which 19.5 do I buy to replace it? (Hal Harvey) ₂

We have Hankook AH11's which have done 40,000 kms, half on gravel/sandy roads. They were the cheapest 19.5in tyres we could find (about $400 from Ringtread in Adelaide 18 months ago).

They are only half worn and we've had only one puncture (small sharp stone between the treads) so they are wearing OK.

I find the Handkooks fine for bitumen, rocky and gravel roads, and satisfactory in dry sand at lower pressures (Googs track didn't stop us). Not so good in the mud or slippery conditions, very little lateral tread grooving (Tassie tracks were difficult).

FYI, I run them at 55/60 on bitmen, 40 on gravel, and whatever it takes on deep sand (30 for Googs track). We still get over 7km/litre.

I wouldn't trust Hankooks in deep or sticky mud. (David Ribbans)

I did check out Toyos, but in that M608Z their website says they now only do 17.5". I'm away for next couple of weeks (not driving, fortunately), so will get on the phone when I get back. Starting to think my Christmas present to myself might be some 17" alloys and some easier-to-replace tyres. I don't think I'd like to be going through this exercise from some remote roadhouse. (Hal Harvey)

Have you tried TOYO, I have TOYO M608z tyres on my 19.5 rims , they are the 285/70. Found they are pretty good, better than the bridgestone I had on previously. But I had heard they also were getting hard to find ?? Good luck.

Roger Thurecht. (Roger Thurecht)

David the Desert Rat kindly sent me the link for Michelin's light truck tyres, and I was surprised to see XZYs still on there - I thought they had finished - but then it turns out they no longer do XZY (or XZY-2 or XZY-3) in 19.5". That's it for on/off road tyres from Michelin.

I don't do enough km to ever wear out a highway tyre, and the square shoulders on the light truck tyres are pretty uninviting... and they do no off-road 19.5s... so no good with Michelins.

Next search... Dunlop... no good there. So a comprehensive web search... not much good there. No Bridgestones. Found a 285/70/19.5 Hankook Super Traction DH05, maybe OK, and a few trailer tyres; and a very street-looking Continental.

Any more suggestions? (Hal Harvey)

Hmm, this is starting to look serious. Went to two tyre shops today, both majors; one left me with nowhere to go - "We don't sell 19.5" tyres" - and the other had no listings, promised to call back if he found something. (Hal)

Contact Michelin, Brigestone... Truct Dervisions Direct, Most tyre outlets do not know what they can get for you.

Try speaking to Collin @ Traction Tyres here in Adelaide, He will be able to help you

Phone: [phone]

David

OKA Rally, Hughes Creek – 13^th – 15^th October 2006 Written by Rowena Paterson

We had 8 OKAs come together for a great weekend at Hughes Creek in the Strathbogie Ranges, north of Melbourne.

I was first to arrive on Friday followed by: Ian Jones & niece Erin, Paul Nott, Darren Visser & Janine Ridley & family and Greg & Maree Boyle & family.

Our Saturday arrivals were: Walter & Elly Hes, Chris & Elanie Deed & family & Peter Davis & Serena Fraser with son Cameron.

Chris & Elanie are only new members and it was good to see their Army green duel cab OKA with Trayon camper on the tray. A great setup, I liked their camper.

On Friday night, while we were still waiting on the Vissers & Boyles, Paul said “can you hear that?” You could hear an OKA coming through the hills, the Rockwell transfer case and Perkins motor was a dead giveway. We listened as the noise came closer to our camp, then stopped. Then we heard the OKA going the other way. We assumed it was the Visser OKA but couldn’t radio them. “That’s not good” we thought, they must have just missed our camp and turned back. Shortly after we could hear another OKA coming though the hills, it was a similar sound but a little bit quieter. That must be the Boyle OKA? It came closer

then the sound also disappeared. I must admit it wasn’t an easy camping spot to find in the dark. Greg had

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a UHF so we were able to radio them. Apparently they ended up at a farm house, a lady appeared with a torch and said “are you looking for those OKA thingy’s? they have been coming and going all day, go back the other way and you will find them”.

In the meantime we had the cops doing the rounds of the camp, checking to make sure we didn’t have a campfire due to a total fire ban. Paul approached the cops and asked them to keep an eye out for any lost OKAs.

The cops found the Vissers shortly later driving up the road, pulled them up with a flash of their lights and sent them into the right direction. The Boyle family still hadn’t turned up, so we again called them up on the radio. The response was “we are on our way, just extracting a huntsman spider from the OKA”. So by about 10.30pm we finally had the Visser & Boyle family join us.

The kids had a great time playing in the creek and pushing around Luke Visser on his little tractor during the weekend. Even Paul joined in on the fun with the kids, at one stage they had Luke floating down the creek on his tractor.

Saturday night we stoked up the fire and socialised for a number of hours on all types of topics, but I had to admit there was also quite abit of OKA talk in there.

The Visser family were ready to go early on Sunday morning. After seeing Darren walk up a granite rock face nearby our camp, I knew he was about to drive up and over it.

So we all watched as the Vissers drove towards and up onto the rock face. The OKA was halfway up the rock face, when we heard a loud bang and crunch, the OKA came back down and wasn’t going anywhere. Paul guessed it correctly, the rear axle was broken. After the broken axle was removed, the hole was sealed and the Vissers drove off using the front diff/drive shaft. Shortly after Paul attempted the same rock face in his OKA, driving very slowly letting the OKA crawl up and over, not a problem. He did it so easily. Another great weekend.

A SHORT NOTE ON OUR TRIP TO THE GULF AND ACROSS TO THE WEST COAST

Left Lismore 9^th May heading north to Emerald to visit a friend on the way, was very surprised to see the dam at Emerald very low.

Continued through Carnarvon Gorge to Charters Towers & across to Julia Creek, Burke & Wills Roadhouse and on to Gregory Downs where we had a nice camp on the river, Burketown next stop, tried out luck for a barra on the Albert River but to no avail.

Leaving Burketown on the Savannah Way towards Hellsgate we came across lots of washouts & water crossings, due to the long wet.

About 30 km west of Hellsgate we veered a little too far to the right of the track and down we went; I wasn’t too worried as I thought I had a good winch.

After snapping the winch rope twice and having 3 Toyotas trying to pull us out after day 1, we were still stuck and by ourselves as everybody else could do no more to help.

Day 2. A lot of digging and waiting for a front-end loader to come from Hellsgate, by the end of the day no- one had turned up (bugger, another night sleeping on a slant).

Day 3. After digging for a couple of hours a couple from a property called Westmoreland, 10 km back towards Hellsgate heard we were bogged and came to see if they could help (we had the police from the Aboriginal community come out to see we were Okay for food and water, word travels fast in the bush). After re-thinking our winching and tying a knot in the winch rope, to our delight after a lot of small winching we were out of the bog, many thanks to Garry & Dianne from Westmoreland for their help and big chains. Garry & Dianne have a cattle property, 5000 head, but in the big wet and storm they lost 1000 head; a hard life to watch your cattle float downstream, unable to do anything.

Next stop was a small creek crossing where we washed the Oka and had a good night’s sleep (on even ground).

Continued on to Borroloola and Roper Bar was very washed out and lots of water, heaps of creek crossings, some deep especially Calvert and Robinson Rivers.

Darwin next major stop to have a hook put onto what we had left of the winch rope, back through Litchfield N/P, the waterfalls were very spectacular, Daly River (the causeway still had a metre of water over it at Daly River), Katherine and then Kunnanurra where we spent 2 weeks fishing on the Ord Rover at Skull Rock, one of our favourite fishing spot had a 12 to 14 foot croc. Taking up residence, we were very cautious where we fished; caught a few barra.

Onto the Gibb River Road, a couple of days on the Penticost River then headed towards Kalumbaru.

We were 65 km south of Kalumbaru setting off to make Kalumbaru when I put the Oka into 1^st gear and heard a click; I knew I had broken a rear axle but thought “no worries, I will drive on the front axle”. Put the Oka into 4WD and again went nowhere, had a look and R/H front axle was turning (broken also), engaged front diff-lock and “Eureka” we had drive; drove to Derby 627 km with only drive on the L/H front wheel.

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Obtained a rear axle in Derby and continued onto Broome then to Denham (Shark Bay) for 4 weeks. The big event at Denham at this time of the year is the “Far Western Speedway”. They get a crowd of about 1,000 people, not bad when you consider there are only 600 people in Denham. We have some good camping and fishing spots at Denham.

Visited friends at Useless Loop (closed town) salt mine, very interesting; over a million tones salt exported each year.

Left Denham middle of July, headed down the West coast, went to Oka at Bibra Lake, not much happening there.

Headed for home last week of July, visited Marj & Lloyd, stayed the night – you made us very welcome, thanks. Arrived home to Lismore 4^th August.

Regards Bob & Sue Worling.

P.S. After what happened with our axles I would recommend that any vehicle with free-wheeling hubs check their drive after a serious bog. After viewing our video of the bog it appears that the R/H front axle broke just as we got out of the bog.

To check, all you have to do is put the free-wheeling hubs in andd with vehicle in neutral see if you can turn the front drive shaft by hand; if you can, you have a problem.

If we had known we only had 2wd, we may not have done some of the crossing and tracks that we did; just goes to show, what you don’t know sometimes doesn’t hurt you!

Hi Marj.

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Here is a quick run down of the progress so far.

We purchased our OKA in July this year with a view to preparing it for a year long trip around OZ for the Cherrington family. Katy, James and Stanley (aged 2). We plan to leave in April 07.

OKA95 when we purchased it was not without it’s faults, most of which became apparent on the 650 km drive home! But we got home and the OKA has been on the Driveway since. I have so far repaired the gear change linkages, replaced Axle breather hoses, and sorted out what seemed like 100km of home made wiring. Most of the time so far has been spent reading service manuals looking for parts and generally familiarizing myself with #95.

#95 was originally supplied as a full body with seats, so I assume a tour operator owned it to start with, it has had a few owners including Microsoft who had it kitted out as an Xbox demonstration vehicle. The last owner started a conversion into a motorhome with the addition of a huge fiberglass pop top and some furniture and a static double bed. I have since ripped the interior out and am sourcing information and parts to convert the way we would like it for a family of three.

I will keep you posted with any further changes as they happen.

Thanks for your input to the Oka owners club. I really appreciate the fact that there is a wealth of information

for OKAs and Oka owners. Hi Marj

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Me and my wife Teresa purchased Ningaloo Safaris a small and very popular 270km tour around and over the Cape Range using a XT 620Kkms and a LT 170Kkms.

Both vehicles run well as I keep my maintenance up such as grease to steering tail shaft and springs every 1000kms. I do a few small repairs but anything big the local mechanic does it here in Exmouth.

Before running tours of the area I was a surveyor working throughout the Pilbara on various projects. So far I’m having no complaints at all about my tours.

I have blown 3 good Michellin 9.00R16 tyres over 15Kkms @ 60PSI and have been trying Hankook Z59 8.25R16 @ 70PSI on the XT and it runs great with the lower gearing.

I lose about 5% or so on the top end speed but it’s a tour and its an OKA so that’s fine .I have run about 10Kkms with the Hankooks the same route I take the Michelins on the LT and have suffered a bit of chipping but no punctures. The Hankooks are a much softer compound and better on the road but @70PSI not too good in the sand compared to the Michelins.It will be interesting to see how many kms I get from a set of Hankooks. I lose a small bit of clearance

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but my fuel economy is up about 5% and they are 40% cheaper.

I’ve done all the shackles in the front springs of the LT it looks like they were put together incorrectly. I did a Monroe steering dampers on both OKAs and have now fitted a ToughDog Damper and another Monroe. The previous owner ran single shockies on the LT and I have put Ralph 53mm (Thanks Colyn Rivers) with a Monroe set on the front and twin Monroes on the back and it handles and runs a lot better now. I have put Ralph 53mm on the XT and left Monroes on the back and that has a huge improvement in handling.

I would like to put a bigger radiator in my LT if anyone has any suggestions

Dave and Teresa

NINGALOO SAFARI TOURS Ph/Fax: [phone] mb: 0408 467940

PO Box 203, Exmouth 6707

Western Australia [e-mail]

www.ningaloosafari.com

Thanks Marj for placing all my info. into the newsletter, appreciate that.

Yes we have plenty of rallies organised, members love it including myself. We have such a great time.

David & Genine Hallandal and mate Dave Fewster in 2 OKAs are coming over to the airshow in Avalon end of March, and would like to come to Melb to visit us. Jurgen has kindly offered his property as a meeting place. We will have a huge turnup, I hope to get over 15 OKAs, 10 so far said they will come. Jurgen has a 4wd test track and we also hope to go for a convoy somewhere around Melb. for a bit of fun.

I was in Melb. last weekend and caught up with heaps of OKA members: Boyle family, Jurgen, Darren & Janine, Lex & Corina, Paul Smith & Fred. I spent a few days with Paul and Ian getting a service done. Ian is making me a camper and has started on the frame. It's looks so good, I can't wait to have it in a few months. Can't believe I am finally having a camper. It's a removeable slide on trayon camper. The guys are so busy, and have a number of OKAs they have brought from WA ready to do up. Pauls selling his LT and converting a XT into a camper. Pauls East Coast OKA business is going great.

See ya! Rowena

Hi Marj

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Attached is a photo of my OKA shortly after I purchased at an auction in Feb 2006, At the moment it is in the shed, gutted and ready to repair the rust then fit out as a motorhome. I don't expect it to be on the road again for at least 12 months.

I have a suggestion for the website, I have read on the web site and in the news letter about breakdowns and problems encountered with OKAs.

My suggestion is to setup a page on the web site containing a list of breakdowns and problems encountered by the members. This information could then be used by the members to do preventive maintenance on their OKA before setting out on the BIG trip. and to ensure they carry the correct spares.

There would be nothing worst than the long awaited trip coming to a grinding halt just because of a $1 item that could have been replaced or purchased as a spare prior to setting out.

Regards

Roger Harington

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A Little Levity (thanks John Hendriks)

Lawyers should never ask a Southern grandma a question if they aren't

prepared for the answer.

In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first

witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman to the stand.

He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"

She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since

you were a young boy, and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You

lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them