Thread: Preparing a D3 TDV6 for a 12 month trip around Oz with 3 young kids

jimc,

As someone else suggested I think a Thule or similar roof box would be good as it might give the added flexibility for shorter trips where you do not want to take the trailer but need to carry a little extra gear, and light stuff like chairs, sleeping gear and soft bags can be put up in the roof with out the concern of dust and water getting in.

Whilst a DVD player is great the audio books, which I think you made mention of in your OP are fantastic and I found makes the longer travel days go faster for everyone.

Perhaps also look into installing a water traps on your fuel line to stop problems with bad fuel wrecking you holiday. As you said you will be travelling to remote locations and I assume trying to stick to a budget means you will probably choose or be forced to choose cheaper fuel options. A water trap can save you a lot of head aches. and lot of $$.

I second the GOE Rods or LLAMS. I have the GOE Rods and they do only take 15 sec per wheel and mean you do not have the annoying bong every time you get to 50km per hr in off road height.

What every you choose it sounds like a great experience for you all , enjoy !!!

George

One advantage of an extra fuel tank not mentioned is the ability to choose where you refuel. This can be an important choice with a common rail Diesel.
Regards,
Tote

Hi Jim, Something to bear in mind is all the additional weight you are putting over the rear axle/s. The air suspension will compensate and keep everything level, however the vehicle becomes very heavy "in the bot bot", noticed this more when towing the stability control tended to come on more often, and sand driving, especially on 18 inch tyres. Maybe consider changing to 17's as long they will fit if you are going to add the LR tank, the dual wheel carrier and the fridge (full of food).
Having the extra fuel and the extra wheel certainly give you that additional peace of mind, good batteries are important together with the right dual battery set up I run the Piranah DBE 180S, this has a solar feature that you can plug a solar panel in to keep the batteries topped up if you decide to camp out for a week. I put my plug in the bull bar easily accessible.
Be very careful with the tyre selection, and then be careful with the temperatures and the speed you travel at, I got Cooper HT plus tyres because of their load rating, rubbish, shredded two on the great central road and changed them all out to General Grabbers when I got back, found the warranty wasn't worth the paper it was written on. If you go to 17's you can get some BFG's and rest easy, my opinion of course. The Bridgestones I had on my Disco 1 were great, I hadn't done any long touring only some off road work, they were fantastic.
Good air compressor make sure you've got one, also a good device for lowering tyre pressures, at least one spare pressure gauge, you will lose at least on on your trip. Spare keys, make sure you've got some somewhere and not to well hidden, make sure everyone knows where they are.
A couple of hand held UHF radios (charged) always handy, when my wheel came off the camper trailer I had to send my daughter off into the bush to find it whilst my wife and I tried to get the camper trailer up high enough to re fit the wheel. Keeping in contact is very assuring especially for the person going off into the bush.

My experiences hope some of this is of value.

I would also consider a "HAWKEYE" diagnostic and fault code clearer.

See http://www.bearmach.com/downloads/Di..._v3and4_GB.pdf for detail. Fleabay has them for less than $400.

There is a GPS based travel tracker that lets you track where you have been and also has other features, I have seen mention of it in the caravan mags.

I also took a GPS equiped GME EPIRB so if we really got stuck we could call for help when out of moblie range.

A Telstra G3 rural mobile, it's the only one with any coverage out bush.

Have fun, should be a great trip.

Ryall

Forgot to say the GPS based travel tracker also lets freinds and family see where you are while you are on your trip.

I'll go back through some mags and see if I can find the info on it, unless someone on the forum knows more on it.

Ryall

Lucky bugger
Have a safe trip
I know it will be great

Originally Posted by TDV6

Forgot to say the GPS based travel tracker also lets freinds and family see where you are while you are on your trip.

I'll go back through some mags and see if I can find the info on it, unless someone on the forum knows more on it.

Ryall

If you happen to be running an Android device (sorry, I am not familiar with what is available on iOS) with mobile data connectivity of some sort there are a lot of apps that can do the same function.Some that come to mind are Google Latitude or Glympse.

The main thing with these is that they tend to use the battery of the device more due to the GPS being on, but if you happen to be plugged into the car's power supply then this is not an issue.

On that note, it may also be worthwhile either purchasing a spare mobile phone battery (or "charge pack" if your mobile cannot have the battery removed) or even mini solar charger. With the long distances and less reception phones tend to chew up batteries faster, and if you do need to leave the vehicle in an emergency then by carrying an additional battery pack for insurance will give you longer time to keep in contact or use the GPS etc. On eBay these things go for under $20.

Did a 4 week trip trough outback NSW and QLD with 2 kids and my D3 100k

What I would definitely add is:

• LLAMS
• Cargo Barrier
• Some sort of drawer system (which we did not have at the time but it was missed)
• Hawkeye
• would also suggest a remap or chip and EGR blank
• and from own experience a silicon turbo hose
• Fire Extinguisher
• 2 x iPad with hema maps ( one served as distraction for kids from time to time and as map back up)
• I definitely also carried a EPIRB or satellite phone
• well stocked first aid kit