Trek Modifications

G'day guys,
I'm a newbie to this forum & to Nissan Patrol(I've been a Land Rover owner for about 15 years). Currently I have a stock standard 2012 ST Y61 3.0L Patrol. When I say stock standard I mean Nothing but the minimum, straight off the show room floor. I'm planning on doing quite a few things to it in order to make it a more capable 4WDer.

I'm planning on taking it to the centre of Australia next April/May (2016). The first half will be pretty straight forward. Townsville to Uluru via Tenant creek. The second half however, will test my pending modifications. I'll head south to the Oodnadatta track to Marree. Then head North up the Birdsville track & onto the Diamantina to Cloncurry. Then back to Townsville.

What I'm after is some ideas as to what you think I "NEED" (Wants are a bigger list) to get through the trek. A bit of info into the do's & don't of the Y61 & some cost saving tips would be greatly appreciated.

So I don't drown this thread in unwanted replies, I've already posted this in the trek thread asking for advice on my little adventure. If you have done the tracks before, please reply in my Trek post :)

Always grateful for your experience & expertise.

Cheers

So first up what is the plan?
Roof top tent, ground tent, swags??
Next is how organised do you want the setup?
As in a few 20ltr containers or a full draw system??
How many people?
And the biggest think. Rough budget.
We could easily blow 100,000 if you like. And justify the need purpose. Lol. So best to set a boundary.

All Terrain tyres for a start. Those roads can be rough with a lot of rocks so a tough Light Truck rated tyre would be my suggestion. Also compressor, gauge and tyre plugs.
Bull bar and driving lights (if driving in dark).
2 inch lift with heavier springs.
If you have a fridge then some sort of dual battery system (under bonnet or in cargo area).

That would be a minimum setup. Also think about a UHF as you can use it to call other people close by.

Needs: With the route you have mentioned, apart from a set of AT tyres as Rock Trol suggests you don’t *need* anything else vehicle-wise. Camping wise you’ll need to determine your sleeping, cooking, water & food storage arrangements. Even a compressor is unnecessary IMO, there are servos at each end of those tracks with compressors (& one halfway between Birdsville & Marree too (Mungeranie). I reckon a bullbar is only a requirement if you are silly enough to drive too early or too late in the day. Ground clearance is good on the rockier sections, but standard Patrol clearance is sufficient. The heavier springs may be worthwhile, depends on how much weight you carry. (including the bullbar ;) )

Spares: to suit your car. Minimum of hoses & belts, toolkit & a few repair items. (Someone else here will probably have a list specific to your car).


Wants: is a whole different ballgame. Depends how thick your wallet is.

You’ll be able to get fuel & tucker at least every 300kms.
2wd’s can manage most if not all of that route, dependant upon conditions. The only thing which might prevent that is rain, which might also prevent you regardless of how much you spend on your car. The after effect of rain can also be soft sand at what were creeks when it was wet. Not a problem to your car, but could be to a 2wd.

I did the Birdsville Track in a 2wd 7 metre bus without any difficulty (& in November when it’s really hot & very few other travellers), & travelled the Oodnadatta track in an Oka because I wasn’t game to take our bus there. Having done so I realised there were only a few very short sections of soft sand which might have caused us any grief & probably a bit of momentum could have got us through.

Very easy to blow a lot of money on stuff you convince yourself you need, but don’t really.

An epirb could be a good idea but even then you’ll be travelling on well used roads, & although a long way from towns, you’ll never be that far from help if you needed it. A billy of course is essential so that if you do break down, you can put the billy on. It is almost inevitable that another car will come along before it’s boiled........ at least at that time of the year.

One final point - disregard much of what I’ve said if you expect to travel at 80 or 90kph on those dirt sections - if you do that then you should carry all manner of spares & tools because you’ll need them, but if you poodle along at a granny pace enjoying the experience rather than simply ‘getting there’ you’ll be right. Keep this in mind - the faster you go the more it will cost, both in preparation, fuel & repairs.

You’ll have a ball.

ps. Wanna buy a rooftop tent?

There is a huge list here some where for you to scour through and see what suits your set up.
Maybe someone can find it for you, what works for one doesnt neccessarily work for another.
Me I would travel as light as you can as you wont be that remote at any stage with fresh fruit and veg available
at all major towns, You could nearly hamber it the whole trip lol

Thanks for your response :)
It's just going to be myself & I'm very use to roughing the camping side of the trip. It'll actually be luxury compared to what I'm use to. I'm planning on a Roof rack with a straight awning & just throwing the swag out.

The roof rack will carry the swag, 2 x 20L fuel jerries & 2 x 20L water jerries. If the weight permits, I'll put a second spare tyre on top too.

I'm not keep on a draw system as I don't see it as necessary. I'm more interested in ideas about tyres, suspension, intercooler, winch etc.

My rough budget will be $5000 - $7000. I'm very mechanically minded & don't mind getting under/over/inside a 4WD.

Once again, I truly appreciate the input.

@ Cuppa.

Thanks mate, some really great tips & I like the spares list.

Good to get input from someone who's actually done the track too.

Cheers, Larx

I'm also thinking about ditching the standard alloy rims & replacing with steel. I'm not much on cosmetics & more into operational survivability. Thoughts???

We did the Oodnadatta Track last year and it is a nice gravel road, we sat on 100kph most of the way and got overtaken by a commodore.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Winnie

We did the Oodnadatta Track last year and it is a nice gravel road, we sat on 100kph most of the way and got overtaken by a commodore.

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It's a refreshing thought, knowing that it'll be a bit easier than first expected but I do regret not having a challenge.