The Gibb in a D4 - perfect.

[GregMilner]

Just completed a west to east crossing of the Kimberley via the Gibb and various side tracks including Mitchell Falls, Charnley River, Home Valley Station, much of it with BobD and his family. Delighted to report our D4 has performed brilliantly, without even a hint of trouble, even on 19 inch tyres (LT Maxxis Bravo). The only maintenance, an air filter change this morning, and even that was being over cautious.
Lots of people in Toyotas, Nissans and the like complained about the corrugations. Didn't overly bother us in D4s. Amazing machines.
Now back in Broome, only 2,500km to go. Might take another week to clean the dust out though.

[Ean Austral]

Great to hear Greg . How did the camper go ? I have the old style pioneer , it's done the Gibb twice and was faultless .

Cheers Ean

[GregMilner]

Trailer was fine Ean, apart from minor things - the water pump failed so I've had to buy a new one in Kununurra, and the dual batteries aren't holding a charge, but apart from that, they're as tough as nails.

[Ean Austral]

Trailer was fine Ean, apart from minor things - the water pump failed so I've had to buy a new one in Kununurra, and the dual batteries aren't holding a charge, but apart from that, they're as tough as nails.

Good stuff , sounds like a great trip - safe trouble free travels back home.

cheers Ean

[cripesamighty]

Greg, what have you noticed in your travels that is good, bad, different or the same, between your new D4 and your older L322? Those two vehicles are on my longer term shopping list. Enjoy your trip you lucky bugger!

[Pedro_The_Swift]

What a great question[thumbsupbig]

[Ean Austral]

Greg, what have you noticed in your travels that is good, bad, different or the same, between your new D4 and your older L322? Those two vehicles are on my longer term shopping list. Enjoy your trip you lucky bugger!

I am guessing the fact that the D4 didn't get flat bedded out may have a lot to do with it. If IRC Greg had a shockie failure on his L322 on his last trip to Mitchel falls.


Cheers Ean

[GregMilner]

To be honest there's not much perceived difference between the two in terms of comfort. The seats in the L322 are bigger. But the D4 has far more practical loading arrangements. The L322 V8 obviously has more grunt and revs lower at any set speed. But the D4 V6 is well more than adequate. Same gearbox in both.
And the D4 has smaller wheels, a distinct advantage. Overall, I consider the D4 to be a more versatile long distance and off road touring option, towing or not. And it's range of after market stuff is much better. The L322 has sod all in that regard.

[Bytemrk]

Great to hear the trip is going so well Greg.

[GregMilner]

Great to hear the trip is going so well Greg.

Couldnt be better Mark - currently in Broome after a drive from Lake Argyle over the weekend. At Cable Beach, with a nice vodka and tonic, and a lovely clean cabin to sleep in at Palm Grove. What could improve that?

[cripesamighty]

Thanks for that Greg. Numbers off a spec sheet are all well and good, but it makes more sense to get the opinion of someone who has toured in both!

[Graeme]

And the D4 has smaller wheels, a distinct advantage.Your D4 has smaller dia rims than your L322 did but 19" rims with 30" OD tyres were either standard or an option on both.

[BobD]

We crossed Greg in Kununurra as he left Argyle for Broome and we left for Argyle on Saturday, after leaving him at Home Valley. We are now in Darwin, having arrived this morning. We had to get my son's 2 year old D1 radiator fixed in Kununurra as it started leaking from both side tanks on the Gibb, which is why we left Greg a bit early and headed for Kununurra. All fixed by the local radiator specialist.

I found my top radiator hose had chaffed on the engine cover on the Gibb when we arrived in Kununurra and was cut about half way through the rubber. I got the Darwin dealer to air freight one to Darwin and it is getting replaced on Thursday. As
Greg said, no other issues with the cars and we all did the same track to Mitchell Falls that failed Greg's L322, with no problems. His tyres are LT and look quite similar to my BFG K02's. If anything, they coped with the low tyre pressures and very rough and rocky roads better than the K02's.

The only other issue with the cars was that we all found our spot light mountings worked loose at least once and the D1 lost some bolts from the mountings.

The fire extinguisher fell off my Kimberley Karavan and the Dometic toilet seal is now leaking due to the vibration wearing the seal. We just found Australia's best caravan parts shop in Darwin and replaced the seal and all is now fixed. No other issues with the KK or the D4 and D1.

By the way, we saw many D4's, D3's and Range Rovers on the road to Kununurra and on the Gib. Most of the D4's had GOE rims and were well set up but there were a couple that were pretty stock.

[workingonit]

On work vehicles we had dealer fitted spotlights falling off after losing nuts - dealers seem to just use a regular nut and split washer. Not exactly sure how they work, but we replaced the lost nuts with a type where maybe the thread is slightly tapered or the pitch changes slightly along its length. Use locktite?

[rocket rod]

I found my top radiator hose had chaffed on the engine cover on the Gibb when we arrived in Kununurra and was cut about half way through the rubber. I got the Darwin dealer to air freight one to Darwin and it is getting replaced on Thursday. As
.
I had exactly the same issue with my car up at Broome and would suggest everyone doing remote travel either cut out the engine cover to stop the chaffing or at least keep an eagle eye on it. It's disaster if you have no water in the radiator!!

[Ean Austral]

I had exactly the same issue with my car up at Broome and would suggest everyone doing remote travel either cut out the engine cover to stop the chaffing or at least keep an eagle eye on it. It's disaster if you have no water in the radiator!!

First job I do with all my cars - remove stupid engine covers . Cant see potential problems if its covered in a plastic cover. The D3 has a couple of classic potential issues that the engine cover hides. When we bought our D3 and picked it up I opened the bonnet and pulled the cover off and put it in the back , the bloke at TRS in Adelaide asked why and I told him , driving this out the gate and straight to Darwin , I like to see what's happening when I open the bonnet. Cover is still in the shed . Done the same on the D1 & D2.


Cheers Ean

[cripesamighty]

Last time Dave (Blknight.aus) was doing some work on my D1, the engine cover went straight in the bin. God bless his little cotton socks!

[BobD]

I had exactly the same issue with my car up at Broome and would suggest everyone doing remote travel either cut out the engine cover to stop the chaffing or at least keep an eagle eye on it. It's disaster if you have no water in the radiator!!

Mine had previously chaffed the vacuum hose in the same area and I had it replaced under warranty and then I protected it with some conduit. The water hose has never chaffed until this trip and we have done many thousands of km on rough roads before. I wasn't even checking the hose because it has never been a problem before. We were very lucky it didn't fail.

[mkalpokas@mac.com]

Hi Greg,
Happy you had a great trip. We have also just completed the Gibb and the same side tracks as yourself (Mitchell Falls etc) having come up from Melbourne via Oodnadatta, Tanamai track, pernululu, Wolf Creek etc, in our 2011 D4 on 19 inch rims fitted with General Grabber AT.
No issues with the D4 despite some really shocking roads. We did have a suspension problem with our Ultimate Nautilus camper after the Kalumburu Rd and because of this we ended up doing parts of the Gibb twice. Amazing how different the experience was: on the second trip the road had been graded 5 days prior and as a result it had gone from seriously terrible to easy. I think this explains why there is SO MUCH variety in different people's experiences of these roads (and the smugness of some people after they 'do the Gibb/Mitchell Galls/Kalumburu etc' roads). Sometimes it's not just about the truck.
Re the tyres: we had one sidewall puncture on the entire trip (east end of Gibb - long section of sharp large rocks and very rough) . Good news was when we arrived at Kununurra, the local tyre guy had a brand new GG AT 255/55 R19 in stock so no delays and about same price I paid in Melbourne. BTW on same stretch of the Gibb we were passed by many cars that had had 1 - 4!!!! damaged tyres. All brands inc AT tyres on 16 inch rims.
Anyway thought I'd just add my thoughts.
Happy and safe travels,
Mario.

[GregMilner]

Hi Greg,
Happy you had a great trip. We have also just completed the Gibb and the same side tracks as yourself (Mitchell Falls etc) having come up from Melbourne via Oodnadatta, Tanamai track, pernululu, Wolf Creek etc, in our 2011 D4 on 19 inch rims fitted with General Grabber AT.
No issues with the D4 despite some really shocking roads. We did have a suspension problem with our Ultimate Nautilus camper after the Kalumburu Rd and because of this we ended up doing parts of the Gibb twice. Amazing how different the experience was: on the second trip the road had been graded 5 days prior and as a result it had gone from seriously terrible to easy. I think this explains why there is SO MUCH variety in different people's experiences of these roads (and the smugness of some people after they 'do the Gibb/Mitchell Galls/Kalumburu etc' roads). Sometimes it's not just about the truck.
Re the tyres: we had one sidewall puncture on the entire trip (east end of Gibb - long section of sharp large rocks and very rough) . Good news was when we arrived at Kununurra, the local tyre guy had a brand new GG AT 255/55 R19 in stock so no delays and about same price I paid in Melbourne. BTW on same stretch of the Gibb we were passed by many cars that had had 1 - 4!!!! damaged tyres. All brands inc AT tyres on 16 inch rims.
Anyway thought I'd just add my thoughts.
Happy and safe travels,
Mario.

good to hear Mario. I agree , the experience depends entirely on whether the track, or parts of it, have recently been graded. We've driven the Gibb 3 times now and each time was different, from seriously bad to smooth highway. The eastern end this time was much harsher than the western end, no doubt due to the East Kimberley Shire layering the road with sharp grey road base. But some of the side tracks are much worse still, so it's just a case of slowing down and lowering pressures. My first time was in my RRS 6 years ago - only casualty, a blown tyre. Second time was three years ago, the much-documented trip in our FFR, blown shocks etc. this time, not dramas at all.

[DiscoJeffster]

I found my top radiator hose had chaffed on the engine cover on the Gibb when we arrived in Kununurra and was cut about half way through the rubber.

Opened my engine bay to the inspect and found the same thing. I've since filed the cover enough so there is good clearance and will order a new hose to install at its next service when I'll do the coolant as planned. Thanks for the heads up on this issue.