Joe replied:

Rob,

I think more info on where you plan to go is required. If you intend to tackle some of the more "serious" tracks then you will need more serious equipment, but if you intend doing most of the trip on bitumen and good formed dirt or gravel roads then the less serious equipment will suffice.

This consideration applies mostly to the trailer as any of the 4WDs you mentioned is more than capable of handling any sort of outback trip that you are likely to attempt with a trailer :+)

Cheers

Joe

Linda replied:

Hi Rob,
We've just returned earlier this year from a trip around Oz and it was fantastic.
1)From our own experiences and those of others, you can't go past the Landcruiser for reliability and availability of parts.
2) Camper trailers vs pop tops. We took a camper trailer but I don't know how comfortable some of them would be with kids. We travelled with a couple who had a pop top and ended trading it in as the later models of camper trailers were easier to set up than a pop top!

Have a look at the Trip Preparation section on the site if you haven't already done so as it combines all our knowledge (plus readers) when it comes to trip prep. Enjoy!
Regards, Linda (ExplorOz team)

Col replied:

Lucky family!

I did a much shorter trip last year with two kids and a camper trailer, It was comfortable for all of us and setting up was fine as long as you weren't moving on every day. Depending on the camper trailer you can get a lot more for your money compared to the off road pop tops like Jayco's.

I towed it all with a Jackaroo TDI with no problems at all maintaining good speed, and with consumption between 12.5/13.5 l/100k, as opposed to 10.0/11.5. We had no problems on the tracks used, including soft sand inland at Fraser. I did not try anything too extreme like the Simpson or Cape York with the trailer, and from comments on this forum would not try.

Have a great trip.

Nigel replied:

We've got a GQ Patrol and a camper trailer and we bought a set of canvas double bunks for the kids (3 and 6 yo). This keeps them off the ground and takes up less floor space. The Patrol is 6 years old and has done 226,000 km with no problems.