Pre Planing a Trip to Fraser Island

Now that I have the new to me Patrol GU III with the ZD30, I'm planing a trip to Fraser camping for a week. I have an off road camper thats nearly 1.4t and the Auto Patrol that has a 2inch lift with airbags in the back and a Desert Cooler radiator and larger transmission cooler, would there be any suggestions on what I should be doing to prepare the Patrol to enjoy the week exploring the island. I was thinking of doing the NADS, a 3 inch exhaust and a electronic rust prevention system.

Thanks guys

Service it and enjoy , it's fraser what your towing is small , plenty of people tow 2-3 t boats and vans , ( mostly from inskip barge ) take ya time , move at low tide , I run 18 pound in car and van , as for rust proofing , plenty of debate over electronic vs spray on , ( for me spray ) , it's a awsome place :)

Thanks gaddy, I'll be going from Inskip, i've been camping there a few times and look on with jealousy as the 4wd go to Fraser, now its my turn.:)

I'm jealous too mate.
We are going to Moreton Island in the september school holidays. Well, thats if my car is ready, lol.
We first thought to do Fraser, but our trip up that way is to see a mate of mine who I grew up with, and now lives on the Gold Coast. And we though to squeeze in the theme parks too for the kids, Australia Zoo etc etc. So Fraser, being a three or so hour drive north might stretch it a bit much, as we would want to go there for at least two nights and Moreton is closer...
I've contemplated getting some Max Trax, Dunno if I'll need them though. We will just roll out two double swags for the few nights we would stay.

Enjoy.

If you have a 2 inch lift and have lowered tyre pressure everything should be easy.
As Gaddy said, travel at low tide and never get tempted to drive into the surf as lots of people get stuck trying to go around rocks when the tide is not low enough.
Elli creek catches a few people out when it is high too.

It is a great place to visit with plenty to see and do.

Hey mate, I just use Lanolin to protect from the salt environment. Been working great for years now. Let us know how you go! I'm counting down to my next trip in a few weeks as well! :-)

I think you can get your undercarraige sprayed with oil up
there somewhere dont forget to protect the camper as well.
Never ever will I take my Patrol into a salty enviroment, but
thats me, Would love the fishing though, maybe hire lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by threedogs

I think you can get your undercarraige sprayed with oil up
there somewhere dont forget to protect the camper as well.
Never ever will I take my Patrol into a salty enviroment, but
thats me, Would love the fishing though, maybe hire lol

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Sweet ! Thats one less person to some of the best places in the country :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by threedogs

I think you can get your undercarraige sprayed with oil up
there somewhere dont forget to protect the camper as well.
Never ever will I take my Patrol into a salty enviroment, but
thats me, Would love the fishing though, maybe hire lol

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That means you miss out on places like this.

Attachment 59144

And this Attachment 59145Attachment 59146

I'm looking into a place at Brendale that has a deal for electronic and chemical rust proofing together. Those pictures Gaddy and TPC are exactly the reason I purchased the Patrol and just looking at them now is giving me very itchy feet. I have a lot to learn when it comes to sand driving and I figured no better place to learn than Fraser. I'm aiming to go mid October at this stage and can't wait. I'll take plenty of pictures and put them up here when we get back.

I've got a thread in the trips and pre planning section on Fraser ( I'd put a link but I got no idea how ) , time your arrival at the barge a couple of hour's before low tide , lower your tyres , in soft sand momentum is the key , not speed , tour busses and planes have right of way !

Thanks Gaddy, that's good info and I'll check your thread out too. We're thinking of setting up camp at Waddy Point campgrounds and exploring the island from there.

Driving in Fraser isn't too bad, the outer road gets graded twice a day :). Just remember.

Normal road rules apply, with an 80km/h speed limit on the beach, and 30km/h on the inland tracks.

The sand isn't as grippy as tar. It can sink. You're tyre pressures are lowered. Take it easy on corners.

But with the right pressures, the only place you might get stuck is Indian head.

Cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Punderhead

Driving in Fraser isn't too bad, the outer road gets graded twice a day :). Just remember.

Normal road rules apply, with an 80km/h speed limit on the beach, and 30km/h on the inland tracks.

The sand isn't as grippy as tar. It can sink. You're tyre pressures are lowered. Take it easy on corners.

But with the right pressures, the only place you might get stuck is Indian head.

Cheers

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Ngkala Rocks bypass is another spot that catches people out, we could not get passed last time as there were 3 vehicles stuck.

Attachment 59166

Yes of course. Forgot about that one. Last time I was there tide was so low we didn't have to drive on rocks at all.


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I reckon nearly every car I've ever seen stuck there , and indian , has not let there boots down or been a I can do it in 2wd hero , and to a lesser extent trying to change gears , due to a bad choice to start with !

Keep them coming I'm taking lots of notes.

Here is a link to a trip report I did in 2013.

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forum...eport-Oct-2013

There is a car wash at Rainbow Beach were you can get underbody protection spray before you go onto the island and then another spray designed to remove the salt when you come back. You park the Patrol on a grid, put your money in and stand back. Can't remember the cost but I did think at the time it was reasonable.

Just a quick update to preparing for Fraser Island, we only have 3 weeks to go;)
So far I've blocked the EGR, cleaned out intake from air filter to intake manifold and to my surprise very little in the way of oil and even more of a surprise very little black tar in the manifold. Fitted a catch can and after nearly 3000klms there was only a shimmer of oil on the top of the Provent 200 filter. Fitted boost and EGT gauges and after learning what the car does I was surprised to never see boost spikes, it was always very smooth and maxed out at 15psi but EGTs would get quite high, the highest was 600 deg :eek: Fitted Dawes and needle valves, noticed instantly turbo spool felt instant and EGTs dropped by nearly 150 deg cruising at 80km/h, 450deg to 310deg and the boost sits at 10 psi at 100km/h. Also fixed the oil leak by tightening up the sump bolts. The fan belt was squealing so I pulled the tensioner off, checked the bearings, lubed the piston and tensioned the pivot bolt to 40nm and used locktight and marked the bolt with white paint pen to see if it moves, all good so far and the tensioner now moves with the belt.
Picked up a speed deflator and a Dr Air 150L/Pm tyre inflator, Maxtrax and holder, 80 channel handheld UHFs. It's going in for chemical and electronic rust proofing which will take 2 days, They steam clean first the spray a fault neutralising coat on then spray on the rust proofing then spray a bitumen type material on to the underneath of the car. The last few weeks seem to be taking for ever.