Thread: Prep for Fraser ?

See the bit highlighted in blue .................



From ..................... Road rules for Fraser Island (Department of Transport and Main Roads)

Originally Posted by l00kin4

New in my D4 - Christmas present I bought myself. I've had it out on Stockton, Nine Mile and Dunbogan beaches getting familiar with it on sand and experimenting with tyre pressures (on 19's). 18psi worked well on Nine Mile which seemed to be the finest and softest at the times we went.

If you've done all that, Fraser will be a walk in the park. Sounds like you are well and truly prepared. I think the most important things to take are good food and wine as there is none on the island.

Originally Posted by kingo

I'll will be in my black RRS with mud tyres, not sure if these are going to be good or not, however they are 17inch LT so should bag out quite well. Was thinking I would start around 20psi as well.

They will be just fine. Really, the tread doesn't matter. What's important is the pressures. The only thing to be careful with on muddies is that if you stop moving forward, get off the gas quickly as they can dig in quickly.

Assuming there are still beaches up there after the cyclones, the sand should still be pretty damp by then so most of the tracks will be easy. Just take the usual precautions when travelling on the beach.

Probably stating the obvious, but just in case, there is a car wash at Rainbow Beach which should be your first stop when you get off the island.

Enjoy it.

Cheers,
Jon

One important item that no one as yet has mentioned:
Don't drive through salt water!
The water coming out from creeks via the inland is ok, just not the ocean water like you see on car ads

I found muddies no problem on the sand if you deflate them the same as you would any other tyre, in fact I preferred BFG muddies to all terrains on the sand. The square edge of the all terrain was crap in the sand.

I would not bother with scratch protection on Frazer, the island tracks are so well used and open scratching will not be an issue.

Have fun.

Originally Posted by l00kin4

Hi folks,
...will probably grab a pair of Maxtrax and maybe a base plate for the jack.

In Seriously Bogged thread there seems to be some good experiences with the glass fibre waffle board recovery ramps/tracks. Those seem to be able to serve the purpose of tracks as well as a base plate. If you get the muputrax version (same price as MaxTrax, but twice the price of the others) it even comes with some legs and pads to make them into chairs/tables. It might or might not be your cup of tea, but it is an option you could throw into the mix.

If I had known about those I might have bought those, as I have a brand new set of Maxtrax that have not seen any use, and would have preferred a multi-use device. (Hint: Anyone want to buy the Maxtrax at $240? )

Thanks Jon

Have had the muddies for a while now and used them on my D3 for a few years. Probably done about 2000kms on them to date. Mostly on trips to the high country and near Melb. So 4500kms to Qld, mainly highway might seem a bit silly, but the RRS has very road biased tyres and don't think they would bag out much. Have always been keen to see how others went on sand with muddies and at this rate, I'll probably never wear them out so need to use them where possible.

Keen do head across the Simpson one day, but must make the wife understand how 2 weeks away is beneficial to our overall family health, but that's a whole new story.

Originally Posted by kingo

Thanks Jon

Have had the muddies for a while now and used them on my D3 for a few years. Probably done about 2000kms on them to date. Mostly on trips to the high country and near Melb. So 4500kms to Qld, mainly highway might seem a bit silly, but the RRS has very road biased tyres and don't think they would bag out much. Have always been keen to see how others went on sand with muddies and at this rate, I'll probably never wear them out so need to use them where possible.

Keen do head across the Simpson one day, but must make the wife understand how 2 weeks away is beneficial to our overall family health, but that's a whole new story.

I've done Fraser on muddies with no problem. As for the highway miles, I ran KM2s on the D3 and while they were noisy, they were quite ok. I'm sure you've figured out by now whether you can live with that in the RRS.

Given your choice, I'd probably go with the muddies - assuming the road tyres are a lower profile. Road biased tyres aren't an issue in sand though, it's all about ground pressure not tread. Higher profile tyres have an advantage as you can get more surface area out of them as you deflate them, hence reducing ground pressure. Note too its not bagging out you are after as such, its lengthening the tread patch in contact with the ground. So while low profile tyres may not look like they are bagging out they are still increasing the tread patch as you deflate them.

Cheers,
Jon

Originally Posted by eddomak

In Seriously Bogged thread there seems to be some good experiences with the glass fibre waffle board recovery ramps/tracks. Those seem to be able to serve the purpose of tracks as well as a base plate. If you get the muputrax version (same price as MaxTrax, but twice the price of the others) it even comes with some legs and pads to make them into chairs/tables. It might or might not be your cup of tea, but it is an option you could throw into the mix.

If I had known about those I might have bought those, as I have a brand new set of Maxtrax that have not seen any use, and would have preferred a multi-use device. (Hint: Anyone want to buy the Maxtrax at $240? )

I hadn't had a good look at those before- very versatile! I just found Maxtrax on special from supercheap on eBay this afternoon and bought them. Otherwise I might have bought yours

Originally Posted by ~Rich~

One important item that no one as yet has mentioned:
Don't drive through salt water!
The water coming out from creeks via the inland is ok, just not the ocean water like you see on car ads

I found muddies no problem on the sand if you deflate them the same as you would any other tyre, in fact I preferred BFG muddies to all terrains on the sand. The square edge of the all terrain was crap in the sand.

I would not bother with scratch protection on Frazer, the island tracks are so well used and open scratching will not be a problem

Have fun.

I agree it is better to avoid the salt, but it is pretty much impossible when it is busy to avoid it totally. Don't get too paranoid about it just keep the speed ask slow as you can if you do have to be in some salty stuff and give its a good wash.

Agree that on the main tracks scratch protectionis not a big issue, but there are plenty of less well travelled tracks for the adventurous where you can get scratched.