Over the past few months, I’ve been lucky enough to get invited to a number of 4X4 club meetings as a guest presenter. Clubs really are the heartland of 4X4ing and a wonderful way for anyone to get involved, make some good mates and enhance the enjoyment of our wonderful countryside.
I’ve really enjoyed talking at club meetings, because it gives everyone a chance to ask some of the questions that they may not have wanted to ask over the phone, or weren’t sure about. Sometimes being in the same room makes all the difference.
In this blog post I wanted to talk about one of the questions that we get asked a lot – “Will you cover me if I’m working on my own truck”. The simple answer to this question is yes.
As a serial garage tinkerer (time permitting), I know that there is nothing more satisfying than spending a Saturday afternoon either making some headway on “that” project, or doing some routine maintenance. For many of us, this forms part of the joy of being a 4X4 enthusiast. This is not to disparage those of us who choose to have a trusted mechanic, repairer or engineer work on our cars – far from it. There is a time and place to engage a professional depending on what you’re trying to achieve, and if you’d rather leave all of it for someone else to do then good for you too!
For example, let’s take electrics, as this is one that comes up regularly. It would seem some insurers have specific exclusions around this, so it may be worth your while double-checking. We don’t have any issues with you doing your own electrics unless what you’ve done is blatantly negligent.
Let’s use a more specific example…So you’re wiring up your latest and greatest driving lights. Depending on the type, these can have some seriously heavy gauge wiring and require adequate fusing and relays etc. If you’ve done your final connection to the battery using speaker cable and duct taped connections then you may find yourself in a spot of bother when it comes to your insurance.
For those that don’t know, this will cause heat issues, as the cabling isn’t of a sufficient enough gauge to handle the current flow. If you’ve compounded your issue by not fitting fuses (which generally come with these kits!) then you’re asking for an electrical fire, which may end up with your rig burning to the ground. Believe it or not, to the correctly trained eye, a wiring issue like this can be identified as the cause of the fire, so don’t take risks.
The journey of modifying a vehicle is one that leads to a lot of learning and it’s very satisfying if you take your time and do it the right way. Quality products usually come with great after sales service, so if you need more information give them a call.
Web Forums and communities house a massive amount of information and you can be sure a simple Google search will identify someone else who has had the same issue as you are having. But if you feel you’re in over your head, it might be time to engage an expert. This could be the difference between coming back in your rig, and not coming back at all.
Above all else, we do what we do to go out and enjoy the places no one else can get to, with care and safety.
