Thread: Gunbarrel Highway and CSR Spares

Originally Posted by Mike57

I am interested in hearing from anyone else who might have done such a long difficult trip in a D4 before. Particularly:

1. Whether any of these additional spares are warranted
2. What sort of problems you might have encountered that I have not thought of
3. What needed to be replaced when you got back
4. How do the LR shock absorbers hold up in heavy corrugations

Have done the CSR in a D4. I don't believe you will need to carry 140l of fuel. I carried 80 litres, easily served my purposes but wasn't towing. Plan to refuel at Kunawaritji (or Parnngurr if out that way). Will cost you a bomb but that is better than dragging around that extra weight in fuel.

Not sure how many people in your Disco. I carried 80l of water for myself only. Again, found that easily served my needs given you can pick up good water for washing purposes along the way and for drinking purposes at Kunawariji or Georgia bore.

Wouldn't bother with the heavy spares like the hubs, alternator etc. If you have doubts about things because of age / kilometers change it out before you go. The shocks are pretty much bullet proof if your sensible with your speed and tyre pressures. I drove at ~18 - 22 psi pretty much all the way, no flats.

Carried the light spares pretty much as per your first list but needed to use none of it.

Will give you fair warning though. Out there you will see the consequences of overloading - broken chassis, abandoned trailers etc. Observe GVM and axle loadings limits. Do everything you can to reduce weight- rip out seats if you can, do you really need this, do you really need that etc. etc.

That's an impressive list of spares. But I would ditch most of it, to save on weight. Preventative maintenance is also a better option than getting into trouble. If you have doubts place the alternator before you go. And the same goes for batteries. That's the way I go.

That said, I have forever more carried an intercooler hose, after some advice from my trusted mechanic. I wasn't expecting it to split on day one, but lucky I had the spare. He also gave me a fuse for the compressor.

Would be a fabulous trip.

Thanks for all the replies, I really appreciate that. So what I take away from the replies is that shocks and wheel bearings should not be a problem.

To answer some of the questions.

• Will carry 100 litres of water for 2 vehicles and 2 people. 65 litre tank under the trailer and 2 x 20 litre jerry cans for water we collect along the way as required for washing purposes. This is to keep the tank water pure and good for drinking.
• 140 litres of fuel is 120 litres for me and an extra 20 litres for my mate in a GU patrol to keep his weight down. I have not had the trailer long and need to do a trip to north west Victoria and NSW which we are going this year and I will have a better idea of fuel economy on dunes etc with the trailer after that. I did the Simpson on 115 litres without the trailer. I also want to have plenty of reserves for side trips.
• Trailers are not permitted between wells 2 to 5 (Cunya Station I think) so there is a detour via Granite Peak Station but I will call them closer to the date to see if there are any exemptions. If not we will back track to Windish Springs.
• There is a fuel drop available but min qty is 200 litres which is a bit much even across the two vehicles. Without that it will be close to 1,000 km between fuel stops.
• The trailer has a DO-35 coupling
• I will be fitting a stone stomper - just not ordered it yet.
• Jockey wheel will be flipped up, I just need to move it further forward a little to clear the current stone guard.
• I now have an ARB bar and Fyrlights plus a small LED bar
• I have a UHF CB, VHF Amateur radio and my mate has HF. I also have a satellite phone and will be getting a spot tracker as well.
• I have a sand flag and will take a spinifex screen of some sort. Need to think a little more about that one.
• Vehicle weight will be minimised by removing the third and possibly the second row of seats.
• I am absolutely a fan of taking it easy. Speed kills vehicles out there.
• I have some additional spares not mentioned like spare headlight globes. silicon tape etc plus the odd tools like Torx and 12 point sockets.
• I always weigh all axles about a week before any remote area trip to allow time to rethink what is packed. Trailer has a GVM (GTM?) of 1,200 kg but I want to keep that well below this as well. Ideally about 800 kg. Tare weight is 400 kg.
• The car will get a thorough going over many months before a trip like this and anything slightly work will be replaced.

Many thanks

I did the CSR with my Son in 2012 and again in 2015 in a Great Wall X240, he a Prado petrol. We elected to have the petrol dump (200ltrs). Reason was that we did not overload the vehicles with lots fuel and water. Water is available at many of the wells and is quite OK to drink. If not carry some tablets to clean up the water if you are concerned. You can carry a whole pile of spares, but if you service the car properly (ie do not just rely on a normal dealer type service) you should have little to no trouble. If I thought something might fail, I replaced it before I left, that way i did not have to carry a raft of spares.

As mentioned speed is the main reason damage occurs AND letting your tyre pressures down, down ,down. All the vehicles that had issues were mainly associated with suspension, tyres, and 3 people had gearbox issues. (LC200, Madza B50 x2).

Most of that list of spares can be deleted by by a very careful pre trip service. But at at 85000 kms I would not anticipate too many issues.
Fuel is available at Kunawaritji (CSR well 33) but not between 12 and 2 pm. All I carry now is a brake light, switch fan belt some hoses. light globes, fuses and some suspension bolts. Also the plastic water housing on top of the engine. But I am at 245000 kms. The things I do have are Rapidfix, JB Weld, cable ties (replaces no 8 wire) and assorted nuts and bolts and screws. But again the pre trip service is the most important.

Ivan

Excuse my ignorance, as I'm not familiar with the route, but can I ask what distance has to be covered between fuel stops on your route?

As for water, we have used a ratio of 10 litres per person per day, but honestly it can vary hugely. For example, don't shower, just use a washer and a half-bucket of water. If everyone smells a bit, who cares?

Also, those 10 litre plastic water containers supermarkets sell are a cheap water alternative as they can be shoved into all sorts of corners, they are light and it doesn't matter if one splits, there are plenty of others.

Originally Posted by Ferret

Have done the CSR in a D4. I don't believe you will need to carry 140l of fuel. I carried 80 litres, easily served my purposes but wasn't towing. Plan to refuel at Kunawaritji (or Parnngurr if out that way). Will cost you a bomb but that is better than dragging around that extra weight in fuel.

Ferret, was that on top of just the standard fuel tank?
What were your fuel figures?
Thanks

Plenty of useful details re CSR (or any long distance remote trip really) in this thread:
Canning Stock Route in D4
Especially the posts by Ferret and Disco W.A

It helped me a lot.

Cheers,
Scott