Thread: Cape York Trip Preparation Advice

Hi all, we are starting to get our brand new Defender ready for a trip up to Cape York in July.

We only have two weeks so we will leave on Friday afternoon and push on to Childers that night, next day we plan to do 1000km and rest up as close to Townsville as possible with the next stop Port Douglas. We are planning on going up the old telegraph track but the rest of the route is still up for grabs.

To date I have done the following on the Defender:

Bullbar, LR expedition roof rack, Mantec snorkel, Mulgo side steps ( rear bumpers still coming), LR fuel tank, Scangauge 2, Cargo barrier, MUD UK net storage pockets x 8, tinted windows, transfer case guard, front mud flaps, front bash plate, rear awning.

Still in progress are:
Active subwoofer and radio
12v sockets x 3
second battery & Traxide controller
wiring for 1000w inverter
rear drawer & fridge slide system
UHF radio
wiring up the HID Hella 4000 and roof rack lights
rear work light
front diff guard
OL side tables
OL cubby box safe
Rear wheel carrier
Side mounted awning on LH and shade cloth awning on RH.
relocate fuel tank breather and diff/transmission breathers

When all this is done, we should have a decent tourer.

On the trip ( just the wife and I), we will take out the rear seats, and fit a false floor, we will be carrying 60lt of water and 40lt of fuel fridge (possibly a freezer as well) food etc inside, and maxtrax, clothes boxes and roof top tent on top - basically the same set-up that we had when we did our trip to Lake Eyre in the Discovery.

Last time we ran with the BFG MT tyres and they worked great seeing how we were driving in mud for 90% of the trip, but I am thinking that it should be dry this time and we could keep the Continental's on for this trip to see how they go - any one got any experience with these tyres on dirt roads/track yet?.

What spare parts should I carry for a trip up North - I went for overkill ( including a full gasket set, vacuum pump, injectors etc) on the Lake Eyre trip as the Discovery has 360,000km on it but this one will have around 6000km on it so I should not need to take as much .

My basic list is as follows:

1. Oil Filter and Oil
2. Fuel filter x 2 + the hand priming pump.
3. Radiator hoses ( any particular ones or just get all of them?)
4. Fanbelts
5. Rescue tape
6. Fuel tank repair kit
7. Fuses, wire and tape
8. Tyre repair kit and compressor
9. Air filter

What are the other things that may fail and I can fix on the side of the road before we end up having to call in the LRA roadside assist?

Thank guys, for the record - I leave on Friday 1st July returning to Brisbane on Sunday 17th July - so a total of 17 days ( including the Friday).

I'm happy to do 1000km a day or more on the sealed roads - even in a Defender We will stay in motels on the way up and down - so we can leave early and get in late if necessary.

I'm getting the car serviced at 5000km - all I have to pay for is the parts.(I'll take my own sealed 20lt drum of Castrol SVX Professional OE and see what happens) I'm trying to keep it basically stock - IE covered by warranty - for the first 20,000km - by then I should be sure nothing is fundamentally wrong with it before I start the mods

I'll also be taking our for work for a 3000km round trip in May/June, o it should be well run in prior to the trip. I'll change the oil and filter before we head up.

Any comments on the list of spares - especially the what hoses to take, as I just got a few prices from LR Parts Quote.pdf- Still, better than being stuck in the middle of nowhere.