Towing in the High Country

Went into the Wonnangatta last weekend and we came across a couple from Queensland that had driven down the Zeka Spur with their GU towing a large camper trailer.

The trailer tore the towbar off the Patrol and they were in a bit of trouble. One of the guys in our group (at a risk of damage to his GQ) towed the trailer out of the Wonnangatta and to Wodonga where he dropped them off in a caravan park.

I have spent a fair bit of time in the High Country and this would be my sixth or so trip into the Wonnangatta and we often come across people who get in trouble when towing. Often they go up there in dry weather and can't get out when it rains over night.

The tracks up there are hard enough on vehicles as it is without the added stress of a trailer. I know it works on those idiot DVD's - but they don't have to foot the bill for damages - the company does that - and they have a crew along to rescue them from their stupidity.

Seriously guys - and I know some of you will differ - but IMHO and from what I have witnessed - the High Country is no place for towing.

100% agree mate, unless you know and are local / familiar with the tracks, and also have an easy way out in case the weather turns


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We have been in towing a camper but had inside knowledge on which way to go , east buffalo track you can get a Toyota Prius up all the way to Rileys hut I reckon , because it was a designated logging road is not too bad .
After that the fun starts but there's only a few steepish climbs but rocky base , then its downhill the rest of the way .
Having an auto and learning that momentum means zip to an auto helps , especially if you keep it in first for the tricky bits and squeeze the brakes a tad if you get wheel spin .
It's a problem when they pull a caravan through Zeka with a film crew and don't explain the backup and support crews as you've rightly said .
People we met while in Wonnangatta had been pulling campers up there for 15 years and had always made it .
Comes down to driver ability , vehicle suitability , camper suitability and yes conditions on the day , having said all that if next time I go in I might not take 160 litres of water in .

Incidentally on that trip we stopped at the Abbeyards and a couple had their camper which was big and being pulled by an older Holden 4x4 , they burnt the gearbox out trying to get in but took west buffalo track , never made it though had to unhook and turn everything around .

Definitely driver ability. SteveO can tow anything anywhere.


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We were just whippersnappers with the old man but does anyone out there remember the old old Zeka Creek Track ?

Didn't know there was an old one , will have to check some maps , maybe my son has something on it but it's just out of his area .

As best I remember they built Zeka Track (winding) as a 2wd almost recovery type road and then closed Zeka Creek Track. Severe drop in/out followed by the boggiest overgrown scrub creek line track ever known, Malaysian jungle style!

Probably the Toyota owners put in a complaint , that's how these tracks get closed , too tough .

Agreed:-) Unfortunately we were early brought up Toyoda Tuff :-( Later years we finally got the shits with snapping pinions, crowns, axles and howling transfers and so converted. Never looked back :-)

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Originally Posted by MB

As best I remember they built Zeka Track (winding) as a 2wd almost recovery type road and then closed Zeka Creek Track. Severe drop in/out followed by the boggiest overgrown scrub creek line track ever known, Malaysian jungle style!

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You have my attention!!

The spur track is a boring painful example of wrapping everything in cotton wool. There is one nightmare hairpin and a creek crossing that's short and deep from memory. Melb to Geelong freeway would be more of a challenge to you!

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Originally Posted by MB

As best I remember they built Zeka Track (winding) as a 2wd almost recovery type road and then closed Zeka Creek Track. Severe drop in/out followed by the boggiest overgrown scrub creek line track ever known, Malaysian jungle style!

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I remember when you came down Zeka Creek tk and were confronted with a mud track 150m wide with 50 sets of wheel ruts heading across the valley floor for the first 500m. At that stage the Spur track was still tricky but a safer bet than the creek track. It was a total lottery is you picked the right set of ruts as they were all deep and your couldn't climb out of them once committed.

I've got a complete set of CV's for the GQ , have been told with an auto you'll never break one .

I've never heard of the Zeka Creek track, sounds like it was a good one! Wish it was still around by the sounds of it.

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Originally Posted by MB

We were just whippersnappers with the old man but does anyone out there remember the old old Zeka Creek Track ?

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I did drive the Zeka Spur Track some years ago before Parks graded it. It is a highway now compared to what it used to be. The Zeka Spur Track branches off into the Zeka Creek Track about 2/3 of the way down. Can't remember what that was like.

There were the creek and spur tracks in the mid '80's. The creek track became chewed up from the challenge and preferential traffic, and the spur track was already in as a bypass for management vehicles. Eventually parks closed the creek track and then after the spur track started to degrade, they did a re-alignment to get all traffic off the valley floor - how it is today. the valley has recovered undergrowth wise, but fuel load is way up with the removal of cattle grazing.

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Originally Posted by PBBIZ2

There were the creek and spur tracks in the mid '80's. The creek track became chewed up from the challenge and preferential traffic, and the spur track was already in as a bypass for management vehicles. Eventually parks closed the creek track and then after the spur track started to degrade, they did a re-alignment to get all traffic off the valley floor - how it is today. the valley has recovered undergrowth wise, but fuel load is way up with the removal of cattle grazing.

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Yep - the grass in the Wonnangatta is very high at the moment. There is a lot of regrowth happening - which I suppose is what Parks want. In years to come it will all be wooded. I guess that was how it was before they cleared it for a cattle station.

Here it was gents
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forum...2017/04/50.jpg
Over 600m drop down from its highest point at the Zeka Spur Track junction to the valley floor below on the creek.



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Originally Posted by BillsGU

... the High Country is no place for towing.

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Amen to that.

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Originally Posted by mudski

Amen to that.

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I disagree. 90% of the tracks in the high country are fine for towing.
Know you and your vehicles limits and know what you are driving into.

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Originally Posted by Winnie

I disagree. 90% of the tracks in the high country are fine for towing.
Know you and your vehicles limits and know what you are driving into.

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Couldn't have put it better , find out if the track you want to use has impossible switch backs for a camper to negotiate or to steep an incline with to soft a base the rest is up to driver ,weather and setup .

All well and good - but the people we have come across over the years with towing problems fall into three categories:
1. They broke something on the car or the trailer (due to over stressing everything by towing), and need someone to recover them.
2. They got into an area by going downhill and could not get back up, and need someone to recover them. or
3. They got into an area when it was dry, had some rain overnight, can't get out, and need someone to recover them.

Usually they are on their own and have to rely on a stranger to assist them, sometimes ruining the good samaritan's trip and often requiring them to stress their vehicle during the recovery.

Unfortunately when you come across people in trouble (whether it is their making or not) you are obliged to help.

With all the mucking about recovering this couple (from Queensland, so they had no idea of what towing in the high country was all about), and issues with another broken vehicle - it meant some of us got home after midnight rather than the planned 5:00 PM. Plus the fact that one of our group risked damage to his own car by towing their trailer out. They had asked a number of other drivers to tow the trailer out before we came along, and they all declined.

I know things break in the bush and we all help each other, but when you overextend your and your vehicle's capability and go into a tough area without support, it's not fair to use the kind heartedness of others to pull you out of the shyte.

I do hear what your Saying BillsGU , this guy was obviously out of his depth and should have done a bit of trip prep no argument .
But it can be done with the right vehicle the right camper and a bit of commonsense.
Would love to know what he was towing and if any pics were taken for interests sake .
Some places I go to I know if it rains your stuck until it drys up , I always keep this in mind and therefore prepare , this guy must have been going way too fast to do that damage .
For me getting there is half the fun , slow down and enjoy the scenery it's why your going there isn't it .

i think the biggest problem is alot of the people in question dont have enough expierence towing on the blacktop let alone offroad

And you would be right , some of the grey nomads have never even towed a 6x4 and go out and buy a 20 plus foot van up to 3 tonne and wonder why they end up on their side in ditch beside the road .
When we were coming into pine creek , maybe 2 Ks out we were passed by some idiot in a Toyota pulling a 24 footer , the cross wind was horrendous and I knew as soon as his van got out of me the wind break he was going to do tank slappeys so I slightly braked at the right moment then really braked hard as he fishtailed and nearly lost it .

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Originally Posted by MB

We were just whippersnappers with the old man but does anyone out there remember the old old Zeka Creek Track ?

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They used old landrovers back then carried spare axles and winched in and out 2 / 3 days to get in same getting out
short sweet grasses cattle roaming from paddock to paddock deer in amongst the cattle
where the old track comes out of the swamp most of it is washed away where it leaves zeka up where Bill says it goes is fully over grown and goes no where now

We knew we could count on you Roofy old mate ;-) ! Capstan winches and rope, most powerful physics in our game :-)

It rings a bell but if I did it,,it was back in '92.
Highly medicated on that trip but made it, remember
we invented butt plugs to sell in 4x4 shops

As for towing I dont see the point , you may block
a track for hours, and nobody wants that to happen eh
no matter how good you think you are,,,Shite happens!!!

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Originally Posted by threedogs

It rings a bell but if I did it,,it was back in '92.
Highly medicated on that trip but made it, remember
we invented butt plugs to sell in 4x4 shops

As for towing I dont see the point , you may block
a track for hours, and nobody wants that to happen eh
no matter how good you think you are,,,Shite happens!!!

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Starting to see a few trailers campers slowly getting into the Gatta
the only sure way is from West Buffalo and Abby yard
Friends of Wonnangatta take trailers in full of information around Easter
with lawn mowers to clean up around the homestead grave site and Mrs Bryces walking track across to visit her daughter
in the cemetery on a daily walk

The switch backs coming down zeka are a tad wider than they use to be
from the gate to about half way down is as rough as it gets on your vehicle
and your self but I wouldn't take a trailer that way
said to a mate once not to bring the camper didn't get passed the switch
backs we chained it all up and went back up after a freezing night spent on zeka

I'd personally be afraid of towing up there . Conditions and especially weather changes very quickly up there. And no matter how good you are at towing or how well you know the track , things change and you could be in a bit of trouble with a trailer.

The same could be said even without the trailer, I suppose.

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Pretty sure the easiest way in for anything to get to Wonnangatta is the east buffalo track , the one that passes the turnoff for Schultz track , used to be a logging track . I hear it's the only way you can get a Toyota in but that's just a vicious rumour I'm starting .

Took me ages to find this video again!!!

This a classic fail towing.

Worth watching the whole vid.

Bit of swearing

https://youtu.be/bzrveJ5polU


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Originally Posted by AB

Took me ages to find this video again!!!

This a classic fail towing.

Worth watching the whole vid.

Bit of swearing

https://youtu.be/bzrveJ5polU


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Where do start with where they went wrong , mechanical trouble , Driving a disco , Driving a disco with cheese cutters and highway tread , this guy shouldn't have been towing or driving a 4wd in the bush period .
If you're asking me if I would tow a camper on that track and in those conditions , Hell yeah .

Hope the bloke from the disco chipped in for a new clutch in that cruiser ...

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Originally Posted by Hodge

Hope the bloke from the disco chipped in for a new clutch in that cruiser ...

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Reading the comments he didn't as they left him behind to wait for recovery. It was actually the front diff pinion that broke and the prop shaft dropped off the rig. The owner (Shorty 40) didn't seem too annoyed as per his comment:

Sporty 40
"The 40 series broke the pinion on the diff. No major damage just a new pinion and a few dents underneath."

Half piddled thread hack/hijack thingo :-) I do feel for that young bloke in the 40 Chev! Would like to think that my younger days were spent helping at all costs too:-( Cruel me if you please, but my/our pre last century FJ40/45/55's and variants saw some great times :-) Unfortunately Toyoda drive trains can't handle that power or high stressing sloppy pinion gear mesh :-(