Trip through SA, WA, NT & NSW with new D4

[pprass]

Just returned from a huge 4 month, 23,000 km trip towing a 3.2 tonne van with a brand new MY15 D4. As we were leaving our home town of Port Macquarie, we pulled into a public weigh station and were astonished to find that all up we weighed 6.3 tonnes - legal, but oh my gosh! That TowPro electric braking system better work (which it did and sometimes didn't - another story to come). So with trepidation we headed down the Pacific Hwy wondering how our new vehicle was going to perform up those big hills around Bulahdelah and how it would handle the rough sections of road around Herons Creek. Well regarding the rough sections of road - what rough sections? Did someone fix that bit of road in the last few weeks :D. That is when we first realised just how good the D4's suspension is - just unbelievably good.

Then we hit the big hills (we even have names for some of them - like bastard hill and here comes *****-of-a-hill etc) and I just couldn't believe it. The engine didn't even rise in revs that much :o It just cruised over the hills at 90 kph maybe dropping a gear or two, but I didn't really notice that either. This vehicle is just fantastic - and so quite! So with a big smile on our faces we were off on our big adventure knowing that we had an extremely capable 4wd. We later did some full on 4wding - sand, ruts and steep rocky climbs and the vehicle just kept going. Still learning which button to press, but it is very flexible even if you put it in the wrong terrain setting.

One of the main highlights of our trip was crossing the Gibson and Victoria Deserts along the Great Central Rd which is 1,126 kms from Laverton to Yulara. Nearly all unsealed and in places heavily corrugated - with the last 190 kms on the NT side extremely bad - for a 6.3 tonne rig that is :o (although when we finished the crossing there was a grader starting from the east end and a week later had smoothed out that whole 190 km section). The D4 handled the conditions very well with the suspension absorbing the big corrugations and pulling the van through sand and rough sections was effortless - the van suffered a lot more though even with the Cruismaster suspension and sucked in masses of red dust. I had the standard road tyres that the D4 came with - Goodyear Wrangler All Weather (that's another story for later :twisted: ) and reduced the pressure to around 30 psi. All was good for 1,000 kms until one morning along the NT heavily corrugated section I was driving on the steepish left bank that was thick with sand - but at least no corrugations for a while - and noticed that I was losing power and seemed to be plowing. I suddenly had a thought and quickly centred the rig in the middle of the road, got out and - yep the rear drivers side tyre was shredded :censored: Put on the spare and when we got to Alice Springs we bought a new one - $517!!!!

The other incident was the engine oil. A message suddenly popped up saying that we were "Critically Low" in oil. Hundreds of kms from any roadhouse - we were "Critically" low :eek:. We later found out that apparently the oil gauge just measures the top 2 litres of the reservoir to ensure that you never fully run out of oil. That oil incident came up after 17,000 kms so we didn't wait for the 26k service and had an oil change and service in Alice Springs - another $500 which was reasonable I thought.

The only other issue with the vehicle was the mud flaps. We didn't have much time from buying the vehicle in late May and heading off on our trip on 3 June to have custom made mud flaps fitted - wish we had though :(. On reflection even the factory stupid ones would have been better than nothing. Even with the Stone Stomper fitted to the van, the D4 sprayed masses of mud and fine sand onto the van - the front of the van was a mess and is damaged. The mud spray went right over the top of the front of the van on both sides - and we have a very tall van!

So after all of our adventures and incidents we have learned a lot about our D4, but most of all we have learned to love it :D

[NTB]

Hello Pprass,

Sounds like you had a great trip.

We also have a Stone Stomper. The rear of the Disco and front of the van is a big vacuum. We also get mud, small rocks and sand striking the top of the caravan from the side of the Disco being sucked into the vacuum.
But still very happy with the protection the Stone Stomper has given the van.

[pprass]

Do you have mud flaps fitted to your D4 NTB?

[NTB]

Hello Pprass,

I just have the Land Rover Factory Mud Flaps.
These were OK. The bottom of the plastic sill under the front doors and the bottom of the plastic rear bumper still got some pitting from the rocks on the dirt. But were better than nothing.

[CSBrisie]

Sounds like an amazing trip - and given you were on road tyres (not LT strength) amazing you had so few tyres issues!

[BMKal]

Love the colour of that D4. Saw one very similar to yours pulling a van between Port Pirie and Port Augusta last time we were over that way - that one had a colour coded ARB bull bar which I liked - but also think that the black one on yours suits the vehicle.

Like you, I destroyed the right rear tyre on my very first trip from Perth up to Kalgoorlie. Mine deflated slowly and I didn't realize I had a problem until the warnings came up to tell me that the compressor for the suspension was working overtime and getting hot. I was lucky in that I could still inflate the tyre, and it got me home without the need to change it - but it was dead flat in the shed next morning, and when I pulled it off, found it to be damaged beyond re-use.

I've since fitted the Sensatyre TPMS system to four tyres (need to order a fifth sensor) - and haven't had a problem since. I know that this system has saved me destroying at least one more tyre - paid for itself in that alone. ;)

[BobD]

pprass, be careful with your oil change interval. Oil change requirements are much more frequent for arduous service, which is defined as towing, dusty conditions, hot conditions, cold conditions and stop start traffic amongst others. In short, it seems that most Australian driving is arduous service as far as I can see! Probably good that you changed your oil sooner.

[pprass]

Yes thanks Bob - we have learned that lesson. I was just speaking to a Land Rover loving mechanic (he is a business sponsor on here) and he changes his oil on his Defender and Range Rover every 10k regardless of what the manual says.

[pprass]

... amazing you had so few tyres issues!

Well just as well, 'cause my wife had her teeth clenched for half the trip worrying that we were going to wreck 2 tyres. We just had the one spare :)
The 2 front tyres are very badly chewed around the edges and the middle strip is bald.

[pprass]

I've since fitted the Sensatyre TPMS system to four tyres... I know that this system has saved me destroying at least one more tyre - paid for itself in that alone. ;)
Well - funny you should say that, 'cause I was just this morning looking at the Sensatyre system. I am going to get a set when these Wrangler tyres fully wear out in about another 15k's or so. I am not sure what to get next - but our 4wd mechanic here in Port Macquarie reckons that Mickey Thompson will be releasing 19" rim tyres soon. No idea if it is the low profile though.
I had a set of big MT ATZ P3 tyres on our previous vehicle - Nissan Patrol 4.2 TDi and they were very good, probably the best tyre I have ever driven on - but expensive.

[LRD414]

Sounds like an excellent trip Peter. That's definitely some places on our "future D4 travel" list.
How did you go with the scissor jack for the flat you had to change? or had you upgraded to bottle?


The 2 front tyres are very badly chewed around the edges and the middle strip is bald.


I am going to get a set when these Wrangler tyres fully wear out in about another 15k's or so

Not sure how you'll get another 15k if the tyres are that bad:o

Regarding replacements in 19", things still seem to be a bit limited but here's some food for thought:

Goodyear Duratrac - mostly positive
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/191431-goodyear-duratrac-255-55-19-a.html

Hankook Dynapro ATM (RF10) - positive
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/202409-hankook-dynapro-atm.html

Cooper Zeon LTZ - mixed reviews
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/147230-d4-19inch-cooper-zeon-ltz-255-55-19-a-34.html

Pirelli Scorpion gets a mention too but don't have specific thread link. I don't think Mickey T has anything in the size but haven't actually looked (I've got 18's now). Be good if they have something coming.

Cheers,
Scott

[NTB]

I have had the Hankook ATM (RF10) 255/55R19 on for over 26000km now and 9000km of that was towing the caravan.
I am still very happy with them.

[pprass]

Not sure how you'll get another 15k if the tyres are that bad:o
Cheers,
Scott

The back two tyres have only done about 4,000 kms and are in really good shape, so I was hoping to rotate them with the spare to get the 15k's out of the lot.

[pprass]

I have had the Hankook ATM (RF10) 255/55R19

Thanks - an interesting option. Tread looks robust as well.

Peter

[theins]

Sounds like you had a great trip!

We got our D4 earlier this year and took it to Birdsville for the Big Red Bash with our camper on tow. Same as you - we are impressed with the power the new engine has - and our D3 was no slouch either!!

Unlike you I was not gane enough to take the OEM tyres to Birdsville and got a set of Hankooks (which worked a treat!). Given that the OEMs only had 4.5 thousand on them when I bought the Hankooks, I have put them back on after returning from our trip and am wearing them out now. Tried selling them, but no takers.. :(

[pprass]

... Tried selling them, but no takers.. :(
If I had known you were selling them, I could have bought one from you while in Alice Springs - maybe for less than $517 :angel:

[LandyAndy]

Peter.
Can you expand on the "critically low" oil warning please.
When or how did you get the warning,ie startup???
Cheers
Andrew

[pprass]

Peter.
Can you expand on the "critically low" oil warning please.
Andrew
Sure Andrew - here is an account of what happened. Hope it doesn't bore you!

We were camping at Yulara N.T. and had to make a 450 km dash to Alice Springs to get to a caravan repairer by 12 noon the next day. We left early in the morning - about 6.00am and saw the sun rise over Mt Connor, listening to a Wilbur Smith audio book, the Discovery just silently cruising along the Lasseter Hwy pulling the van at about 95 kph - we were in a "peaceful easy feeling" sort of mood :)
Then just past Curtin Springs which was about 130 kms into our journey, I glanced at the instrument panel and saw a red triangle with the "Critically low oil" message under it - heart went thump :confused:.
At that time the Discovery had done 17,000 kms since we picked it up new in late May and nearly all of those kms was pulling a > 3t van; going down some horrific tracks and 4wding on beaches, up mountains and down side tracks off the Nullabor - so I thought that the oil must have "evaporated" with all of that hard work :confused:
I pulled over, switched the engine off, let it sit for a moment, started it again and all was good - no message! However after about another 10 minutes it came up again - panic! Looking at the map, there was a Roadhouse about 50 kms further down the road - Mt. Ebenezer. It was only 7.30am, but if we drove slowly we would get there at about 8.00am when the Roadhouse opens. Got to the Roadhouse, it was just opening, went straight over to the oil stand - no 5W oil :( So I read the manual and it just about said that death would occur if you put in the wrong oil :eek:

In the end I thought that if I just put in 1 litre of 10W oil it would get me by - so I did. No "Critically Low oil" message. :cool: Drove another 56 kms to the next Roadhouse - Erldunda on the Stuart Hwy, bought another litre of 10W oil, rang the LandRover hotline who put me onto my dealer in Port Macquarie and he said it would be ok to put in 1 or 2 litres of 10W oil as long as I changed the oil fairly soon - but he was concerned that it happened at all even with the extreme conditions that the vehicle had been through. Was there a leak? I got under the vehicle and ran my hand under the sump area and was surprised how clean it was even after all what we went through! No leak!

I booked the Discovery in for an oil change and service in Alice Springs and told them about the "Critically low oil" message. They were not overly concerned and when I picked it up later that day there was nothing to report. I since learned from a service manager at the Tamworth LR dealership, that the gauge just measures the top 2 litres of oil in the reservoir. So even when it said "Critically low oil" there was still at least 3 litres of oil in the engine - so I am now sure that I didn't damage the engine by letting the oil get low :).

[spottedreptile]

Interesting story re the oil warning! It must have been a little heartstopping in the middle of nowhere :o.
However, I'd rather the messages were on the conservative side rather than the opposite, as happened in our Hilux in 2007 when the service mechanic left the sump plug untightened at Broome and we drove to Port Hedland with a steady drip following us all the way and arrived with very little left and absolutely no warning messages whatsoever from the car :mad:

[BobD]

What level was the oil when you did an oil level check on the electronic gauge? I assume it must have been off the scale??

[LandyAndy]

Thanks Peter.
Its interesting that they monitor the oil level whilst the engine is running.In extreme off-road conditions it would fluctuate by quite a margin,the engine is designed for this.
Andrew

[pprass]

What level was the oil when you did an oil level check on the electronic gauge?
It showed just below the bottom line.

[pprass]

Interesting story re the oil warning! It must have been a little heartstopping in the middle of nowhere :o.

It sure was! After spending thousands of $'s to get a fantastic 4wd I thought I was going to wreck it before it was 4 months old :eek: