Cape York Corrugations - how bad???

Ahhh the joys of the internet.....bad news now travels 50 times faster than good news...

Doesnt matter how bad the coorogations are, they wont hurt the car if the tyre pressures are right, and the driver looks after the car.

As long as your teeth are in good shape you will be OK.

Correct tyre pressures and common sense driving...then again...my snorkle fell off on the Gunbarrel Hwy due to the corrugations and the winch rattled apart...but I was driving at 80 clicks to stay on top of the corru's. Had two stuffed front shocks at that stage(busted them on the Canning) and the continuous corrugations took their toll.

If you drive where everyone else drives you can't avoid corrugations. Take the back roads and you might find easier surfaces.

Tom they are music to my ears.
When the dash rattles of and lands in your lap thats when there bad.
As said above tyre pressures are the key.
The speed thing is always a big issue some say 80ks is a must to get on top of them I find in my truck its around the 65 k mark and every truck rides different.
You will work it out as you get going.
You must take care on bends as some clown will be coming at you at about 100k side ways on your side because some one told him theres less corrugations on the opposite side of the track be carefull.

All the best
Eric

www.capeyorkconnections.com.au

Tom,
Our party (5 vehicles) visited the Cape right to the top in August 02. We travelled on the telegraph track on the way up and the development road on the way back. The telegraph track is rough but very easy because of the terrain being traversed. (may be harder this year due to the rainfall) On the way up only one flat for the group, but doing a vehicle check on my HJ 75 at Seisia i discovered that the L/H engine mount had cracked off the chassis rail. Welded back at the local engineering shop and no further problems to this day. After finding this the other drivers decided to check their rigs thoroughly. One of the rigs was a 2 year old hilux and all the radiator bolts had vibrated out. Most of the rigs had loose screws or bolts of some description. Due to inexperience no one had let their tyres down. On the way back the Ford courier cracked it's long range fuel tank and he had to head for home. (the only petrol rig and warranty claim) We travelled all the way to Musgrave on the development road and then across to Lakefield, Bathurst Bay and via the Starcke track to Cooktown. You can't stay on the telegraph track all the time. In conclusion, letting the tyres down would have saved us a fair bit of worry.
Cheers,
Bros.

Heya
So - in case you didn't get that. Tyres and speed - right pressures, right speed, and don't rush. There is no one answer to these, it varies from vehicle to vehicle and day to day in my opinion. it's a feel thing - don't be afraid to lose a bit of time and experiment early in the trip, or on other trips before you go.

The only thing that ever happened to my vehicle on the Cape was one flat tyre, which I discovered in Bamaga and suspect it was from broken glass. I do give everything the once over with spanner and bar regularly though. There is something to be said for sticking your head under the bonnet/truck for a few seconds every so often. When on bad corrugations, I'll have a bit of sticky beak over the truck each moning, and also when we pull up for breaks (lunch etc).

Like Eric says also - watch out for the clowns travelling on the wrong side of the road because they think the corrugations are better.... You'll see what I mean!

I wouldn't bother with the Bypass roads - stick to the Telegraph in both directions, that way you avoid the worst corrugations, and get to watch the motor sport as various people attempt the crossings (entertaining in it's right).....

Have a great trip.

Cheers

How bad are the corrugations? How long is a piece of string?
Mate don't worry about what others tell you about road conditions unless you know them and their capabilities and experience. What to one is bad may not be for you. Just go and enjoy the trip. As the others have said tyre pressures and speed are the important things to remember. The worst corrugations are on the bypass road so avoid it as much as possible (some bits you can't avoid). Make sure your shockies and exhaust are in good nick - one mechanic up that way told me they are the most common items to fail.

G'day Tom

If your lucky enough to travel soon after the grader has gone through you can get along the bypass pretty quick( 80kph v's 10kph). However, as that only happens once every six or so years due to council funding and the general lack of want to maintain that particular road the bypass track is usually a bad place to drive in comparision to the telegraph track. Telegraph track is more senic anyway. I was up there a few years ago, the bypass track was close to undrivable, in my opinion.

as everyone else said so far, pressure and speed are the key if you must.

cheers

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

I have 33" Kumho Mud Terrains on my car and had planned to run about 25lbs front and rear and adjust these pressures as I saw fit during the trip. Would this be a ball park figure for tyre pressures to at least start with. These are roughly the pressures (occassionally lower) I use whenever I head up the Victorian High Country, and what I have used on a couple of trips to Central Oz. They seemed to work quite well for these trips.

Cheers,

Tom.