Thats it I'm off

[macca]

6.30 in the morning my 83 year old Dad gets here, we park his camper van in the shed then the 4.2 gets cranked into life and we are on our way.
Its (over) loaded with all the necessities for a 6 week adventure.
Over 4 of those weeks will be "off road", namely the Anne Beadell Highway, Canning Stock Route, Tanami Track and the Plenty / Donahue. Some are more civilised than others but if you have travelled them you will know that can change in a single rain storm. We will see when we get there.
First spoke of this trip out in the Simpson in 2008 now we have 1 sleep left, some of the convoy are still getting work done, a bracket here, new rims there, picking up seed screens etc. talk about last minute.
Mine is the only Patrol up against an 40, an 70, an 80 an 200 and an Amorok so we will see who prevails.....
All going well I will have some stories for you when we get back.
p.s. a lot of preparation tips came from nissanpatrol.com.au so a big thanks to you all.

[growler2058]

Don't forget the bloody camera
Sounds lime a bloody awesome adventure ahead!!


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[macca]

Yeah mate cameras packed, mono & tri pod, pano head, lenses all the gear but no idea. Might get to refresh the memory while away and get some good shots.

Interested in your trip, we were there 30 years ago, its a bit different now!!! Had to dodge the pirates just to get there.

[growler2058]

Yup the airports made it easier for sure
But takes the adventure out of it ay


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[Cuppa]

BON VOYAGE MACCA
Travel safe, & come back to us with plenty of good stories. May the Patrol prevail! Look after your old man, & let him look after you.
When you're back, if you can be bothered, it would be great to hear your thoughts on what, of the stuff you are taking with you, you would take again, & what if anything you'd leave behind. I'd also find a post or two on all the preparatory stuff interesting & useful.

Cuppa (green with envy).

[MudRunnerTD]

Good Luck, Stay Safe, Dont drive too long each day, Keep your Sense of Humour and Adventure. Have Fun.

[threedogs]

Stay safe Savour every minute, lucky lucky Macca.

[macca]

Stay safe Savour every minute, lucky lucky Macca.

Thanks to you all and I got Your PM TD, have it in my phone if needed much appreciated.

[macca]

BON VOYAGE MACCA
Travel safe, & come back to us with plenty of good stories. May the Patrol prevail! Look after your old man, & let him look after you.
When you're back, if you can be bothered, it would be great to hear your thoughts on what, of the stuff you are taking with you, you would take again, & what if anything you'd leave behind. I'd also find a post or two on all the preparatory stuff interesting & useful.

Cuppa (green with envy).

Sure thing Cuppa, I am sure there are going to be items bought back that were not needed, maybe some that were in the shed at home too that we did need.
I like to "look at it not look for it" so have had to discipline myself most severely HaHaHaHa

[TPC]

Sounds like a great trip Macca, hope all goes well for ya.
Are you tenting, swagging or camper?

If you have your trip drawn up on a map would be interesting to see it if you can put it up on here.

[Lonicus]

Have a great trip Macca. Looking forward to the pics and stories when you get back!


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[Sir Roofy]

Stay safe mate look after the old fella and enjoy the trip

[macca]

Sounds like a great trip Macca, hope all goes well for ya.
Are you tenting, swagging or camper?

If you have your trip drawn up on a map would be interesting to see it if you can put it up on here.

We have a roof topper as pictured in signature and Dad has a 9x9 Tourer tent
Trying to upload map, got it, the pink is the proposed route with alternatives home. The black are previous trips.

The map is on my office wall, for when I drift off and think of other place.......hope to add a few hat pins, missed a few too

[NissanGQ4.2]

Have a safe one Ian, looking forward to a trip report with lots of pics on your return :)

GO THE TROLL.....






































even if its a GU! *L*

[BigRAWesty]

Bloody awesome mate. Enjoy the trip, be safe and plenty of drop ins

trying to use MC crappa

[MEGOMONSTER]

Have a great trip, stay safe and most of all have fun.
Hopefully no breakdowns on the way
Plenty of pics please.

[cgm]

Sounds like a great trip. Very cool that you are doing it with your Dad and that he's still in good shape for a big adventure!

[89gqpatrol4x4]

sounds awesome! so jealous, and the old patrol will be getting a workout with all the recoveries she will be performing ha ha!

[macca]

Have a great trip, stay safe and most of all have fun.
Hopefully no breakdowns on the way
Plenty of pics please.

Don't want any breakdowns, even though I have a few bits and pieces.


Sounds like a great trip. Very cool that you are doing it with your Dad and that he's still in good shape for a big adventure!

I'm lucky my Dad is still able to give it a go, he really enjoys the outback and camping.



sounds awesome! so jealous, and the old patrol will be getting a workout with all the recoveries she will be performing ha ha!
Try and duck the recoveries, the 200 has volunteered for that as he is the newest, biggest engine, most torque yeah yeah yeah

[AB]

So jealous mate, have a blast!!!!


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[macca]

HaHaHa that's what the great man called one of his books "A blast in the bush" I don't mind if I do.......

[DX grunt]

Good to see some father/son time happening. In a Patrol, too.

Take care out there.

Rossco

[Winnie]

Have a great trip Macca, I HATE YOU!

[Stropp]

Macca when you get back I'm sure you will still say the 200 had the torque but I think you will have the talk of how great the trip was and how well the patrol went. Have an awesome time mate!

[macca]

Have a great trip Macca, I HATE YOU!

I can feel the looove

[macca]

Macca when you get back I'm sure you will still say the 200 had the torque but I think you will have the talk of how great the trip was and how well the patrol went. Have an awesome time mate!

1 more sleep and I don't think I can, Dad wants a 5.30am call as he doesn't want to sleep through his alarm!!!!

Yeah I am not so convinced about the 200, he will get through the fuel faster than he thinks. Then its chockers with computers and stuff that sometimes don't talk to each other, what then?

[macca]

Good to see some father/son time happening. In a Patrol, too.

Take care out there.

Rossco

The old bloke reckons every day is a bonus, so good to make them beauties for him.

A tot of Whisky before bed kept his mate going into his 90's so he is keeping the tradition alive...

[macca]

We have made it to Leinster WA. Had a meal in the mining camp dry mess a monthly theme night, indonesian for $25.
So far the patrol has been great, only busted a mirror. The ABH was rough and wet in places. Did it in 2wd but took an extra day this time. We have 2 trailers with us, 1 has broken both springs. We reversed them and put a block of wood for the broken end to sit on like a slipper. The other pushed the rear of the cruiser round which put the cruiser on its side, no one hurt but snapped the Treg. I made up a battery welder at home which was real handy. Even though it was cast iron the weld has held since Saturday. Finished the ABH and they have gone on to Willuna to pick up the air freighted parts. Will fit them today and head out on the CSR this arvo I hope. The 40 with us has done a clutch slave cylinder, a steering idler bush, a shock base plate and glow plug relay. The 100 would not start one morning, after every one else had a go I tested the glow plug volts, zip. Hot wired it and it started, I had feared the engine stop which is in the injector pump. So it has been good, a few showers, beaut skies and fantastic camps. Our set up is working fine, freezer makes life easy. Tyre pressures Cuppa, 21 front and 31 rear cold. Not an issue with them yet anyway. Put a tyre dog on so gives peace of mind. Also 17 litres per 100 k on the ABH.
All is good with me, hope it is with all of you.
By the way thanks to pearcey and mudrunner.td for your advice.

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[Sir Roofy]

Thanks macca was wondering how it was going
looking forward to pics when you get home

[Cuppa]

Good to hear from you Macca, & that the Patrol is showing the others how it should be done. :)
Sounds like trailers are best left at home........ Go the pod!

Stay safe
Cuppa

[threedogs]

Got a mate out there somewhere that you may run into, driving a white 2006 4.2TD with the lot possibly towing, his name is Dave.
Whats the odds lol ????

[firm351]

G'day macca, if you need any work done in Wiluna drop in and see Barney at Jim's mechanical (same place where the freight will be) tell him Paul from the power house sent you. He's a top bloke and will look after you.

[macca]

Thanks guys. The Willuna mechanic might be a godsend. TD there are so many patrols on the road here. Need more of a description. There are all sorts of pods too.

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[macca]

We completed the CSR it was not easy but enjoyable. We finished it 4 days earlier than expected. I had 2 batteries fail more than likely from welding with them. Could only get 2nd hand replacements from kunawaritji and they were duds, $350 blown..... Lots of other small issues but worked around them all except the bigger trailer that busted the Treg. It broke the A frame draw bar another bush weld that got them to Newman. End of their CSR trip. 200 series and Amorok performed with out a hitch. Mine has a bush gone in a rear spring but will be okay on the tar 4000klm home starting in the morning. Been at Kununurra for 2 nights, nice to be in town with all its facilities. Will try a trip report when we get home, happy with my patrol and the set up but found all its shortcomings when on a trip like this. Tyres did it easy (Cooper AT3) no flats, no chipping and drove well. Turned out to be a good choice as were the Tough Dog Ralph's and adjustables. Pricey but did the job. The wild flowers were amazing. We met Gaynor Shoeman who walked the CSR. Also met Scott and Tom riding push bikes along the Canning. Great to meet them.

[growler2058]

Sounds like a bloody awesome adventure mate!!

[BigRAWesty]

X2 with growler. Can't wait for the trip report and pics. Hopefully your travelling buddies will assist with the batteries seeing you were fixing their problems..

[macca]

We arrived home this arvo, 10765 klm all up.
Had a fuse blow on the instruments at our last stop 85 klm from home. Were on our own now and drove home with no dash as I feared it would not start if I pulled the wrong fuse. Put another one in a home and all seems well, the blown fuse had overheated not shorted. Bit if a worry.
Any way all is good with us if not a bit tired, and am not enjoying TV, ACA is full of it.
Until we reached Halls Ck the only news we had for 4 weeks was the bub was a George and the PM had set a date. Didn't miss any of it really.
Work is stacked up on my desk so no Nissan stuff for a while, weekends jobs start with the lawns then try to start cleaning everything.
Red dust is a badge of honour but it has got into everything, it sure is a mess.
We are home safe and look forward to compiling a report soon.
Cheers all.

[macca]

A beautiful camp......

[growler2058]

Cmon MOOOORRREE pics

[happygu]

Looking forward to hearing more....this is a trip I would love to do, and I think it is great that you did it with your dad.

Sounds like you had fun with a bit of improvising along the way.

Mic

[Cuppa]

Welcome home. Also looking forward to hearing more once you've 'settled'.
Am interested in how your Tyredogs held up. I've put off buying some until I heard how your's went on the corrugations with same wheels.

Cuppa

[Sir Roofy]

Glad you arrived safe and sound a trip of a life time
looking forward to the trip report jane cant wait
to see your pics well done mate
say high to your dad for me

[macca]

Welcome home. Also looking forward to hearing more once you've 'settled'.
Am interested in how your Tyredogs held up. I've put off buying some until I heard how your's went on the corrugations with same wheels.

Cuppa

Cuppa they worked out fine, I got a bit of dense foam 25mm thick and cut holes in it with a 25mm hole saw.
The plug that came out of the saw was pushed over the valve stem to stop the stem impacting the rim with the sensor on it.
Then as added security taped it to the rim with some 100mph tape. Had to put new tape on when adjusting pressures though. not pretty but who cares?
Did have some smash themselves on rims on a ABH crossing in 2010, no worries this time.

Fuel economy was just short of 20litres per 100klm on the tracks and 14.5litres per 100klm on the tar with tyres (cold) at 15 front 25 rear on the tracks and 32 front 52 rear on the tar. hot on the tar the pressure went to 38 and 58psi so worked out good.
Out of 6 vehicles 5 broke mirrors, I had cables break as there was not enough slack on them, both on the water pumps, UHF mike clip fell to bits, Rear work light fell off, fridge slide lost a few bits, split the water tank, door switch broke, 2 open circuit batteries replaced by 2 in the same condition. Thought the alternator had thrown a wobbly but was the batteries playing up.
Had lots of small issues but not enough to stop us.
Had some awesome drives, fantastic camp sites, met awesome people, appreciated the camaraderie of the fellow travellers on the tracks and really enjoyed a looong shower when the opportunity arose.

[macca]

Glad you arrived safe and sound a trip of a life time
looking forward to the trip report jane cant wait
to see your pics well done mate
say high to your dad for me

Once work / paperwork is caught up and getting the Patrol unpacked and cleaned so I can repair the damage, I will get some of the 800 plus pics on for Jane to enjoy then hassle you to take her out there.
The scenery and flowers were mind blowing. You start to think its all looking the same then it changes and dramatically, flora and landscape.
Some of the wells have water so sweet, others are just depressions in the ground where they once were. We found them easily using co-ordinates on the GPS if their location was a bit obscure. Didn't visit 1, too close to Wiluna nor 20 (I think) as it was 20klm off the track and a ruin. Saw all the others though.
The natural water sources were incredible, hard to believe they are there.
Our fuel was at 23, and my pump worked a treat.
Great memories, that's for sure.

[Cuppa]

Cuppa they worked out fine, I got a bit of dense foam 25mm thick and cut holes in it with a 25mm hole saw.
The plug that came out of the saw was pushed over the valve stem to stop the stem impacting the rim with the sensor on it.
Then as added security taped it to the rim with some 100mph tape. Had to put new tape on when adjusting pressures though. not pretty but who cares?


Sounds good, think I'll buy some.
One further question. How easily do they accommodate airing down/up? Do you have to reset them each time & is this a drama?

Cuppa

[macca]

Sounds good, think I'll buy some.
One further question. How easily do they accommodate airing down/up? Do you have to reset them each time & is this a drama?

Cuppa

Yes you do have to reset the alarms if air pressure is outside the setting already saved. Takes a few seconds so not a problem. Mine are 6 sensors for 2 spares or a trailer. Very happy with mine without a doubt.

edit; Took the tyres off to pressure blast all the dirt off, the rears were new with 13.5mm thread, now 11mm. The fronts had 11.5mm tread now 10.5mm. Thought that might happen as the rears do get asked to do a lot of the work.