Thread: Fender on the Ghan... height of vechicle <2m ?

What if you fully deflate the tyres?

...oops, didn't read question number three.

G'day All, I have seen pix of a Series 2A 109 Bloodbox (ambulance) on a rail flat car, it was the Ghan but i dont know where it was loaded at, and I can tell you they are a fair bit taller than any stock 110 cheers Dennis

or throw some smaller tyres on if you have any

if your suspension is standard.......and you dont have roofracks.......
with the load in the car and the standard defender droop.....you should come in just under 2m.......get your tape measure out and check.......

i dont think they allow deflating of tyres......but if you were to have your pressures set to 25 psi.....i dont think they would notice.....

deflated tyres reduce the stability of the vehicle on the train.....and.....if there are tunnels.....which is probably the reason for
the height restrictions in the first place.......
a soft tyre will allow the rig to bounce more than normal.....and may just hit the top......

but im sure they allow some sort of safety margin when they say 2m.....

you should be ok.....if you have roofracks on.....then you have no chance.....unless you take the tyres off and drive on the rims......

I don't think the problem is the Defender on a flat bed hitting tunnels, The Ghan is a passenger train with car capacity, and I think you will find the car carrying part of the Ghan is a double decker with only 2 m clearance.

Freight trains on the same railway carry shipping containers and they are either 8"6" or 9'6" well over your 2M.

Can you see if you can travel on the Ghan and have your Fender go on a freight train?

Diana

Friends took their 130 DC on the trip a couple of years ago. They JUST scraped through fully laden. When I say JUST, it was THAT close, but yes, they would've been fine with 20 or so psi in the tyres he reckons.

JC

Our disco fit on the Ghan, and it is 2 level car carrier which it goes on and there was another 4wd on there which they had to pump up the tyres on after they took it off, Im not sure what it was but I heard them talking about it and was going to lend them my compressor to do it but they came up with a propper compressor from some where at the station.

My only other piece of advice is dont go cattle class, it is bloody awful, the seats are like benchs and dont recline more than a couple of degrees and it is like being in a vacuum at night when everyone is asleep (if anyone got some) as there is soo little O2 in there that I stayed up all night in the dining car talking to other passangers and then slept in the car when we got it back off the train.

If your going to go via the Ghan then get a cabin, it would be worth the extra cash espesially for the extra time you will spend on it going to Darwin.

May be possibly cheaper and better to fly up off peak (late at night) and put the fender on as freight.

You'll probably also find that the heights given are those with the suspension at their highest tolerance. I think you'll find them to be at their lowest spec. Interestingly, almost all Disco2's are at the bottom end of the acceptable suspension range and a 2" lift brings it just over the maximum spec. I'd assume the Defender would be similar.

What I'm saying is check it with a tape measure.