Thread: Back from the Outback in a D90

I'm back! My holiday is over
Just spent 3 weeks touring the Corner Country in my MY2012 D90 and it was the best trip ever. Went with another 2 vehicles, a 4.2 Patrol and a Navara. My 90 was pretty stock apart from the bull bar, roof rack, dual batteries and a fridge slide bolted to the rear tray (with Engel fridge attached of course). Suspension was straight off the showroom floor. In the end, I opted for 2 jerry cans of fuel on the roof and an extra 25 litres inside (2 x 10 litres and a 5 litre) Only one of the jerries on the roof was ever needed and got filled although the stuff inside was constantly used and filled. Really happy with the fuel arrangements this way and will continue with the 2 jerries on the roof instead of sill tanks. Will add photos later when I get them.

due to costs and time, I ended up using my dome tent which proved a pain to get out and pack each day whilst my buddies had their Oztent up and down whilst I was still faffing about.

The route was basically leaving Sydney to Mudgee, Gulargambone, Lightning Ridge, Charleville, Windorah, Birdsville via Haddon's Corner, Poepell's corner back to Birdsville, Innamincka via the Inside Birdsville Track, Cameron's Corner via the Old Streszlecki Track, Tibooburra, Broken Hill, Menindee, Cobar, Gulargambone and back to Sydney. All in 3 weeks with extra nights at Lightning Ridge, Birdsville, Innamincka (Cullynurra Water Holes) Broken Hill and Menindee.

How did the 90 fare on the trip? All I can say was the D90 was brilliant - never missed a beat and no issues. I must say that I am a fairly inexperienced 4WD driver and had no issues on the Simpson Sand dunes and even got up Big Red. With the fuel and crap on the roof the beastie took it all in its stride.

Main issues was a broken driver's side window just out of Quilpie. A passing police car didn't bother to slow down and flicked up a huge rock which took out my window. Wrong place at the wrong time! I have had the windows tinted and the tint held the shattered glass in place - gaffer taped it to hold it all together with a couple of holes to see through and it held for the rest of the trip. (tip: use the cloth based tape - don't bother with the plastic stuff as it melts and doesn't stick very well in the first place) Big dramas trying to get a replacement window - once in Birdsville, I rang around and a place in Adelaide had a window and put it in the post for me to pick up at Innamincka. Didn't arrive! Found out today that it arrived at Dulwich Hill post office today (a Sydney surburb) - they have put the wrong bloody address on it! Good job it was just a window and not a gearbox or something I was waiting for.

The only other thing to go wrong was that the cord for the fridge got jammed in the slide and shorted out the Redarc Unit. Replace the fuse and repaired the cable and the fridge was going again. I had decided to use plastic tubs from Bunnings for storage in the back and had them strapped together to stop them moving around - the endless corrugations, especially the bouncing around on the Simpson sand dunes smashed them to pieces - Tip No. 2 - don't buy the cheap tubs from Bunnings - have since been instructed to buy decent ones!

Overall, it was great, my 90 is only 18 months old but now looks like a hardened veteran - that dust will be hard to shift. There were times when the fuel tank capacity of the 90 was a drawback but it made up for it in fuel consumption (even on the Poepell's run over the dunes it was only getting 14 litres per 100 km). Sometimes, the short wheel base made it bouncy on the sand dunes compared to the Patrol wagon which soaked up the bumps a bit better, but the SWB also had plenty of advantages too. I really don't understand why more people don't buy these vehicles for these trips. I understand that they want the compromise of a comfy road car for the city and running around, but the ability of the Landrovers is just unbelievable.
cheers
Andrew
ps will post pictures soon

Good to hear you enjoyed the trip!

Originally Posted by jools

Only issue was passenger wing mirror came loose...

Strange that. During my 6500km trip recently (Corner Country / Strez / Oddnadatta / Coober Pedy) the only thing I had to fix on the way was the passenger wing mirror too.