Madigan Line Simpson Desert Crossing

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Originally Posted by B.S.F.Nut

It just so happens that I'm reading the book "Crossing The Dead Heart "at the moment, which I picked up at a second hand book sale a few weeks ago.This map may explain a few things. .W.

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It's not a bad read if you like that stuff isn't it.
Cecil and his party certainly were brave adventurous souls. We regularly thought of their accomplishments, and tried to imagine the chain of Camels, tents, and the gear they had. Hard to describe camping in the same spot of someone so great. Quite a contrast from the air-conditioned, modern 4x4 with music, fridges, water tanks and so on. No matter how adventurous we thought we were, we had nothing really.

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Originally Posted by buxton

As a matter of interest in terms of set-up, did you up-rate axles, CVs, diffs etc? We're thinking of going down that path.

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As Jason said most of us had upgraded our axles and flanges as the weaknesses are well known. Most of us had lockers too but the desert doesn't require them so I wouldn't worry if you don't. A standard Defender that is mechanically A1 is the best bet even if some parts aren't upgraded.

Most important is weight as doing the Madigan requires a lot of fuel, water and food. You need to go into it assuming no one is going to come get you and if your vehicle breaks, well depending how much it is worth and where it happens, you may just be better off leaving it there. A standard Defender has a 1 tonne payload but you may have lost 300kgs in accessories already, the Madigan requires 350kg in fuel and water alone so that leaves you 350kg for food, camping gear, another spare wheel and parts. A few family members may take up another 1-200kgs of that too.

So if you think about it you will hit the Madigan overloaded so get good tyres, good shocks and thoroughly inspect every bush, tie rod end and ball joint. Wheel bearings should all be inspected and serviced. It's important that if a gearbox or diff goes that the vehicle is still able to moved.

Also get good shocks, by good I mean KONI, Bilstein or other proven brand. No ABC big bore foam shock simmo special edition shocks.

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Originally Posted by newhue

oooooh I think most of us run upgraded axels and flanges but that is way of just sorting the landy. I got a bit excited and replaced my P38 with a Sals, so we all had Sals. My diif was noisy and LR said that it was normal, but I dind't see it that way. There was a very heavy laden 110 with a P38, and it went fine. I mean it you are thinking about upgrading anyway, then it wouldn't hurt. But if it's not on your agenda then just check your axels and flanges before hand, if they aren't twisted than I'm sure they will do the job.

I did the crossing in low 3 mostly. 33" BFG Km2's at 15 and 18psi, GVM 3.5T. There is no need to aggressively attack any dune on the madigan, well W to E anyway. I found low 3 a good torque ratio that suited the speed of travel. I could crawl in that gear too if I needed too. If L3 didn't do the job, I putted over the dune top in L2.

We headed west via the WAA line, and after a stint in Alice made our way to Old Andado for a night, before heading east. As TwoUp suggested we had no concerns with grass seeds. But we did have a grass fire from the use of our billy. Be mindful of wind and how dry grass out there lights and burns extremely fast. Make sure you can reach a fire extinguisher fast or you might make the news.

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Thanks Jason, this is great.

Madigan was one of the best trips I think I've ever done, as has been said it's not one to take lightly, and preparation needs to be thorough.

We took 13 days from Old Andado via the pivot and included camps 17 to 22 (23 and 24 on Adria Downs we couldn't get permission from the manager, as you pass close to the homestead). Don't think that you won't get sprung if you don't seek permission, we encountered Qld NP between 18 and 19 but all was OK as we had permission to be there.

Check out the link in my sig


Martyn

Your blog + pics of the trip are great Martyn... awesome stuff

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Originally Posted by Bushie

Madigan was one of the best trips I think I've ever done, as has been said it's not one to take lightly, and preparation needs to be thorough.

We took 13 days from Old Andado via the pivot and included camps 17 to 22 (23 and 24 on Adria Downs we couldn't get permission from the manager, as you pass close to the homestead). Don't think that you won't get sprung if you don't seek permission, we encountered Qld NP between 18 and 19 but all was OK as we had permission to be there.

Check out the link in my sig


Martyn

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Martyn, I just spent a very enjoyable hour reading through your amazing report. Thanks, as many have said a sensational effort, and wonderful photography as well. Many thanks,

Planning is important as others have said. Jason has summed it up well.

On our crossing in 2008 we had 4 Defenders (including Bushie) 2 x 200 Tdi, 1 x 300 Tdi and my Td5. We included a trip out to Geosurveys Hill as well. I had the standard General Grabbers and apart from staking one, we didn't have many tyre problems. My vehicle was standard then too, including OE shocks. My traction control ceased operation sometime during the crossing and was reset by the Land Rover Techs in Birdsville a week or so later.

That's a story in itself.

I agree with Bushie, probably the best trip I've done. Permission for the Qld section is nigh on impossible to get these days I believe.

Heading out in that general direction again next year for some exploring.