Swaggie
SubscriberI have made it home froma lap of Oz towing my camper trailer which included the GRR. all in all 17000Km.
The good
NO AMIGOS
Front driveshaft fine
rear donut fine
Monroe cheapo shocks worked fine and stood up to the abuse well.
The bit of breadboard I sikaflexed to the roof to hold on the awning worked well , but the awning was rarely used, well only once really.
No punctures at all on my 255.70.x16 BFG ATs or on the Bridgestone 205x16 on the camper. I had the tyres rebalanced and rotated twice.
Oh the adaptors I bought from UK and modified to allow fitting D2 wheels to ALKO parallel hubs with RRC pattern were excellent and have been tested to the utmost without any problems.
No fault at all in the engine with no oil consumption in 10K using Nulon diesel 5W 30 full synth.
And this one really got me . After about 1000Km all the water leaks stopped completely and the engine used absolutely no water for the remaining 16000KM. So for those who change their red coolant and get numerous leaks maybe just wait a while and they will go away! It was after a trip to a National park north of Mildura with about 180Km return of corrugations, so maybe that is the secret.
The engine ran mostly at 80-82 C at 100-110Kmh up to about 30C when it raised about 1 c for every 1c increase in temp so it ran at 85 in 35c Ambient . Fuel consumption was nearly always around 12l per 100kmh except into a howling headwind when it rose to 13or so.
THE BAD
I posted that my fuel line had worn through at el questro. I got a new set of pipes from Rovakraft in 2 days to Kununurra, and thanks go to Mario for enquiring on my behalf when he didn't have them in stock. A good mechanic at Thrifty Kununurra replaced the lot and wrapped the high pressure line in foam tape. The cause AFAIK was the wires for the fuel pump rubbing through the pipe just at the bend near the chassis.
Unfortunately the recovery mob were idiots and managed to break my Mc Hitch towing coupling by stripping the BIG thread and also snapping the bolt that goes in the top off. They replaced it but also destroyed my jockey wheel which I am yet to replace. NRMA Premium were great , supplying recovery from El Questro to Kununurra , and a car and accommodation, which was one night in a cabin and 6 in a powered site.
Otherwise nothing at all was bad, and even the breakdown was pretty painless but I am pretty sick of seeing Kununurra now. NRMA will also pay for a new jockey wheel on invoice and then recover, which is also great.
I started with a leak from the transfer input seal which seems to have diminished a bit but has wet the hand brake shoes AGAIN. I also had a leak from the rear of the sump which was my own fault for not sealing around the back, and probably those too wide limiting rings.
They have been joined by a new leak that is either a crack in the bottom of my front diff or a pinion seal leak. I havent had a good look yet.
I had bought one of those diff guards which clamp on the nose of the diff and it has never been really satisfactory. It fell off somewhere along the GRR so if somebody sees it , its mine.LOL.
I bought a rubbish bag from ebay and it worked well, but wife hated it as after a while it was so dirty and thick with dust that you couldn't touch it without getting filthy. it was great to put the rubbish in there and know the dingoes and others couldn't spread it everywhere.
My car and trailer now have a thick anti rust coating but the actual amount of oil is small, as I checked the transfer a couple of times and maybe a few spoonfuls was all it was down. Of course the rear also has a lovely coating of diesel.
The D2 is a great towing car and the climate control works really well. My wife commented several times that it was far more comfortable than my old Rangie. The dust sealing is so so, with a bit coming in the back door , if you were facing oncoming traffic and had to recirculate, but FAR less than a Rangie. The body is a lot stiffer than an RRC and there is not one rattle after the trip, except for the engine with the windows open.
I do not regret buying an "old tech" D2 with springs especially after reading about the new Range Rover stuck at the Mitchell Falls road.
Regards Philip A
Swaggie
Oh no hub/wheel adapters.............aren't they illegal, increase load on bearings, snap studs etc etc etc LOL
I see you were running two different tyre sizes...how close are the rolling diameters??
I agree with awnings.......mine rarely gets used on trips, all dayers at the beach is the only time
If you don't mind me asking, what would the average daily/weekly spend on fuel/food/accommodation/touristy things.......I have read anywhere between $1000 - $1500 per week. PM maybe
Trip report??
Master
Ah the lap. One day...
The national park north of Mildura sounds like Mungo National Park - well worth the visit.
I would be interested to hear how you found the pace of 3 months vs 6 months? Did you cut much out of the itinerary to get the lap done in 3 months?
Swaggie
SubscriberRe wheel adaptors. On a D2 rim fitted to RRC hub adaptors, the offset only increases a bit ie 20MM as the wheel offsets are different.
Oh no hub/wheel adapters.............aren't they illegal, increase load on
bearings, snap studs etc etc etc LOL
I see you were
running two different tyre sizes...how close are the rolling diameters??
I agree with awnings.......mine rarely gets used on trips, all
dayers at the beach is the only time
If you don't
mind me asking, what would the average daily/weekly spend on
fuel/food/accommodation/touristy things.......I have read anywhere between $1000
- $1500 per week. PM maybe
The car runs 255.70x16 which are 30.5 inches and the trailer 205x16 which are 29inches. If you are down to a second spare in the desert IMHO you would prefer a 29 inch tyre to keep the wheel off the ground to being stuck. you could run it at a higher pressure to make the rolling radii closer.
I know that our monthly VISA was /is about $2K more than our usual "at home" VISA bill. Bearing in mind that you spend money on stuff at home that you don't on a trip , and complicated by such ongoings as rego, rates, BUPA etc. I think $1000 a week would cover it although I wonder how you could calculate this. The most expensive thing is fuel followed by grog! LOL., and food is more expensive in the remote areas. I started to frown when we spent over $200 on a day, but this only happened when I filled 3 jerries as well as the tank with cheap or range needed fuel, or spent LOTS on things like swimming with the whale sharks.
Regards Philip A
Swaggie
SubscriberThis "lap" was designed to fill in some gaps that we missed on our last semi lap when we decided to retrace over the top rather than complete via the Nullarbor due to crap winter weather.
I would be interested to hear how you found the pace of 3 months vs 6 months?
Did you cut much out of the itinerary to get the lap done in 3 months?
So we went via Mildura ( rained so cabin) , saw Mungo, then down to Fleriuer peninsula-Goolwa, Murray mouth on beach, Kangaroo Island, then Eyre Peninsula-Coffin Bay, Nullarbor, Perth via Esperence,Kalgoorlie Boulder, Hyden, then up the coast with the objective of Exmouth by mid May to see the Whale Sharks which we missed last time. Then to Broome via the coast road where we stayed 9 days in the warmth/heat.
We missed Mornington wildlife sanctuary on the GRR last time as they were full, and seeing we got in this time it saved 400Kms to go up the GRR rather than back to Fitzroy Crossing etc and the Bungles , which we did extensively by walking and helicopter 5 years ago.
We were stuck in Kununurra for a week while the idiots who recovered the car organised a Mc Hitch.
So we didn't do the SW of WA as the weather was crap and we did it 6 years ago in detail with friends from Perth. We also didn't get to Karajini or Coldstream NPs as the roads were washed out.
It was only at Carnarvon that the rain semi stopped, although we had 2 storms in one night at Karratha that dropped about 4-6 inches! and Exmouth had been flooded the day before for the second time in a week, so much so that we had to detour North from the usual road to get in.
I must admit that after Kununurra we felt the need to get home and did a series of 650Km days to Katherine ( 2 nights) and swimming in the hot springs, to Three Ways, to Mt Isa ( 2 nights and COLD 5C), to Longreach ( cold 5C), to Emerald, to Cania Gorge, Maroochydore where we have friends to see, and to Brisbane for rellies and friends.
So we didn't do North Qld as the weather was too cold to swim! and we know it well and did Cape York a few years ago. Again we have been to Kakadu, and Litchfield and Darwin , and Borroloola etc so didn't feel the need to go again, although we debated swimming in Bewley Rockholes in Litchfield at length.
So if you haven't been before and want to see EVERYTHING then 3 months is really not enough and 5 months more realistic. However the timing then can become a problem. The South of WA is not pleasant after April and the North is not pleasant until May. The WAs from the south migrate to Broome on or after 1June so we found May to be perfect if still hot at 27c one night but Cable Beach caravan Park is easy to get into and about $13 a night cheaper than July.
The GRR depends on the weather but was good early June and much more water around. The GRR and cape Yoprk get progressively more dusty and unpleasant as the season progresses until August September are to be avoided due to the hordes and road conditions.
Regards Philip A
Fantastic trip, envious is a word that comes to mind.
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