Vehicle Choice 75 series ute or Forester

Cruiser would be my choice

How old is the cruiser?

IMHO a Forester would easily be able to do the Oodnadatta track and William Ck rd. I have seen all manner of Soft Roaders there. It is just a dirt road. that is as long as it doesn't rain. When I travelled on it, the William Ck to Coober Pedy road was the BEST dirt road I have ever travelled on in Australia and I had to conciously keep the speed down to safeguard the tyres.

The main issue would be the durability of the tyres, but if deflated a bit and the car not overloaded then they should be OK , as long as they are reasonably new on departure. And I would hope the camper has a very light drawbar weight.

I would not attempt the track into ABC bay as it is one of the most corrugated roads I have found anywhere , and would literally shake a Forester apart.
Regards PhilipA

Go with the Cruizer!! Better to be safe than sorry and you wont have to bypass or miss anywhere, just my opinion.

g,day Pete
cruiser mate
cheers
blue

Hi Peter
I have a 2006 79 series L/C tray for the past 6 yrs traveled outback Aust it is a great vehicle for that kind of traveling for " 2 people " no way would I want to travel that many Klm's with a 3rd person even a child to squeeezy and I'm sure the child wouldn't like it much either especially if there not use to traveling long days in a vehicle.
I would strongly suggest for 3 people the Forrester and do as much as is practical you will still have a great time.

Good luck with your decision.

Barry
Liv'n the dream under the Southern Cross

I'd also suggest the the Forester - on the assumption that the trailer is light and you keep to the main tracks.

Regards

Peter,

from someone who spends most of his life in tray back cruisers and owns a troopcarrier I would pick the forester any day.

Only has 100000k on it an you will be much more confortable with the young one. Missus might be a lot happier also.

Just make sure you have the right tyres on the subbie.

The only better thing the ute will have, is much better carrying ability and storage space.

Have a good trip,
RA.

Thanks for the replies so far. The trailer is about 400kg unladen(750kg max unbraked capacity) with a tow ball down weight of 47kg. Forester is rated at 140kg tow ball down weight.

The Landcruiser is pretty ancient being a 1992 model however is in good condition.

I am really leaning towards the Forester now although am still concerned about issues such as availabilty of tyres and aforementioned breakdowns.

As a traytop owner, I'd take the Forester everytime over a 75series for what you're planning.

The 75series cab is way too small. Thats why it got enlarged in 1999. A ten year old would be badly squashed in the middle - its a long way to Darwin.
A 20year old Landcruiser can be reliable if perfectly maintained, but a trip like this will soon find out whats wrong with it.

I'd be more worried about the small camper trailer than I would about the Forester. You need good tyres on both with plenty of tread.

I've travelled the outback Landcruisers and several other vehicles, but it might interest you to hear that my wife two teenage kids and I towed a trailer heavier than yours across the Tanimi and up through Halls gap without any problems with a 1984 Subaru.

The road hadn't been graded and has some pretty heavy sand challenges but the Subie did fine.

Take the Forester for comfort.

BTW... parts for any car can be flown or freighted in to most places, just make sure that you have a good Road Side Assistance package and patience in case of a breakdown.

Forester and a Satphone. Kid can lie down in the back when you're out of town. Satphone and RAC landline numbers if you need them.

By the way, the Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park is really worth a visit. If you get a chance to have a dip if no-one's around- magic! A detour a little bit up the Biirdsville gets you right next to Lake Eyre and you can walk out on it from one of the information lookouts.

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Forester but make sure you have good preferably LT tyres and a "normal" spare wheel, no place for spacesaver jobs out here.
We're in Birdsville at the moment and there is a Subaru Outback here at the moment who is looking at tyre choices as he has one buggered normal tyre, a buggered spacesaver and will probably have to buy 4 or 5 new ones to get himself out of trouble. While they have tyres they are the next size up so as it is AWD he has to get four to prevent transmission damage.

Thanks again for all the responses. I am glad I posted on Explor Oz and will now be taking the Forester. Will also put some new Geolander A/T-S tyres or similar on before I go.

We've done those roads and tougher ones in an 08 Foz with a CT with a total weight of about 750kg. No drama. Drive to the conditions; lower your tyre pressures by about 30% on corrugated/gibber sections.

As advised, put decent tyres on the car and take a compressor to reflate them when you get to the blacktop. The Geo's aren't bad, and are the only legal AT tyre you can fit to that Foz here in Vic. But I've been running Dueller AT 693s (no longer made; next will be 697s) which are marginally over-sized in the section measurement.

If the Subie has a full service history, it should be fine. Take along spare hoses and belts. Murhpy's law.

Also fit some Corflute to the rear window with velcro and/or duct tape; stones bouncing back from the CT can easily break it.

And stay flexible. Bottom line is after rain any of those roads may be closed. If you like the area and have the time, I'd suggest you continue on the Ood Tk to Oodnadatta itself, and then go down to Coober Pedy via the Painted Desert at Arckaringa - that's a knock out and much more interesting than William Ck to CP.

HTH