Camper Trailer across the Simpson.

Steve,

Conditions depend on the season. If there's been some rain and not too many others before you (good luck with that - the Simpson in association with The Bash is like Sydney's M5 in peak hour) the sand could be firm and you'll have few problems.

If it's been dry - it's a desert! - the sand will be loose. There are about 1200 dunes to cross, from memory. With trailers in your party you will get stuck, multiple times. It will be slow going and hard on your vehicle as you will need a run up on every dune to gain required momentum. Other traffic will have cut bumps and you'll be bouncing like hell, repeatedly bottoming your suspension. It's very hard on everything - people, tug and trailer.

I've posted about a mate's misfortune towing across the Simpson in a recent similar thread here. We had to recover him at least a dozen times, and in negotiating the other 1188 dunes he just about broke his then new tug. Like you, he was an experienced outback traveller.

Nevertheless I've absolutely no doubt you can do it, you have experience and all the right gear. But you will chop up the track, get stuck, hold up others. And then in their impatience they may cut a track around you. All of this contributes to a progressive ruination of the environment you've gone out there to see.

But trailers are not illegal, SA Nat Parks just discourages them and I'm guessing your itinerary doesn't give you many options for leaving them somewhere.

If you must take them, I can make only two suggestions, which you most probably are aware of:

1) Keep everything as light as possible. Be aggressive in reducing weight in both tug and trailer.
2) Low, low tyre pressures in both tug and trailer and reduced speed in the swales. I'm thinking 15PSI, lower if necessary. And then be careful about popping a bead. Know how to clean the bead and re-seat it.

Cheers

The dunes get chopped up with big holes due to others not deflating tyres sufficiently, means speed or i should say decent momentum is not an option to get over then without doing possible damage to vehicle and or trailer. The tracks aren't straight up and over the dunes, at times they dog leg and that washes off momentum, then when you get to the top of the dune the track might kick left or right before going down the other side...this is hard to work out at times which way you'll need to go, so that means momentum is gone again and with trailer on the back means more of a chance of getting bogged.
Outback driving is one thing, soft sand driving whilst towing is another thing altogether. With the right tyre pressures it certainly can be done, though what some people think is a low tyre pressure, is possibly nowhere near low enough to what they really need to be at.

Are you planning on doing the Madigan Line from the east? If so its more difficult than from the west.

I crossed the simo west to east in 2017. the 200 didn't get into low range, such is the torque... did the French line, enjoyed the trip. Seen plenty of broken vehicles from overloading, average speed on the French was 18 km/hr, go faster and its back breaking, or suspension breaking, take your pick. regular breaks to cool the shocks and enjoy the view worked for us. If you use the rig road, you will be able to do 50-60km/hr. It is wider, firmer base and more trailer friendly. The problem with trailers is getting stuck and having to reverse back. A lot of the dunes don't have straight up tracks, but s bends. If you are an ace reverser, all good, if not, very bad.

If you’re heading up though Camp 22 & Annandale(good camp), Steve, through to Hay River track at Camp 16, the sandhills west of Camp 20 will sort out whether you’ll have trouble with the ones Les mentioned after Camp 15. The few big ones are just that: BIG!

As already recommended, the Rig Road is a pleasure to drive. Was on it in late Sept 18, and only had one moment. Up the K1 is a good drive to Poeppels Corner, with some good gidgea camps on the way. Would only do the French Line to “tick the box”. Another option would be up Knolls Track from Rig, past the Knolls, and onto the French Line, to see what you’ve missed out on.

Bob

We did it a few years ago, west to east, along the French Line. It was early April; there had been rain in January and the track was in good nick. We towed a 1400kg trailer with a lifted 200 series with 285 x 33's. We ran 16 rear and 13 front cold pressures with 13 psi in the trailer, all of which went up by 3psi as the tyres warmed up. I checked the tyre temperatures periodically - 50 degrees on the shady side and 55 in the sun.

We used first and second gear high range and drove it like a manual with traction control switched off. We went slowly, did not lose traction once and did no track damage.

But the sand was fairly firm. Averaged 26l/100km from Mt Dare to Birdsville. I don't think I'd do it east to west by the same route with a trailer.

Take the appropriate recovery gear plus a satphone with plenty of room on your credit card in case the worst happens. We travelled alone and took Maxtracks, a sand anchor and a 4.5 tonne air bag as well as a fitted winch and all the other usual stuff. It was a wonderful trip.

Keith

Some great info to date, I just got home and will answer your input in the morning.
Thanks.

Steve, I have towed across the Simpson twice.

The biggest issue you will face is that the tracks over some of the larger dunes get chopped up on the approach and the tracks veer to the right or left half way up the dune in tight s bend as the track shifts to the left or right when people make new tracks over the crest.

This means that you get chopped up approaches then you have to do a tight right turn, then tight left turn to get over the dune. You tend to lose momentum because you can't get enough speed up on the approach.

So my advice is

1)Get a couple of witches hats in say a car park, and practice doing reverse figure 8's around them. When you can do it in under 2 mins reliably, make the cones closer until you get to about 15 m apart and can confidently do it in 2 mins. You will need up to date, precise, confident reversing skills. Reversing sideways on a slope where you cant see and hardly cant steer takes a lot of practice.

2)Avoice the Fench line. Use the WAA line, it's less chopped up, less busy and nicer. Especially around the zoo festival.

3)On the Eastern side when the dunes are bigger, 14PSI or less will be best in the rears.

4)Try to go slow on the approaches, take the foot off the pedal as you hit the tight turns, then put the foot in after the front wheels get around the corners on the approaches. Otherwise, you will just go straight head regardless of where the steering is pointing.

5)Rig up something on a jack so you can take the trailer off and on the tow ball and drop the hitch to the ground without the trailer wheel/ Attach a spade to act as a sleigh slide under the hitch, use tie down straps to hold it to the trailer frame. Use this if you simply cant get over a dune.

6)bring the Desert rules with you to show everyone who tells you that it's illegal to tow across the Simpson.

7) send someone not towing to ct as a scout and to tow you if necessary. Buy them a slab before you leave.

8)Bring firewood for the western 1/3 of the desert, there isn't much at all.

And most importantly...

9)Avoid anywhere within 350km of Birdsville for a week either side of the Big Red dates.

4 Maxtrax/Treds have been known to allow a restart up the track without backing down.

Be prepared for trailer welds, bolts, studs etc to break. Momentum + moguls = mayhem.

And, why?

Not necessary, not fun, not courteous.

Steve, three of us attempted it, East /West ,with trailers last year in June, it had been hot, sand was not firm, we all made it over little Red easy, ah ha, this will be a good easy trip, tried the next dune, 200 series first, tried three times, no way with out breaking something was he going to make it, finally back down, conference between us, decide that breaking gear, holding up others was not what we wanted to do, back to Birdsvillle. Yes it can be done, should it be done, no. Going this June with out trailers.

.
Hi Steve,

We have been across the Simpson many time in both directions. For us it is a route to the Western Deserts and we find little difference in driving in either direction.

Each vehicle is different and so is each driver and their technique. I can only describe our style which works well for us.

On our first crossing we selected 18psi all round and approached the dunes with some speed. Got across most but had to have a second attempt on several. Bounced about something awful and injured Roz's back!
The Ranger at Dalhousie told us that he runs at 15psi at all times in the Simpson so that became our standard.

Many employ momentum and throw themselves at the dune. Invariably the momentum runs out before reaching the top and they are now simply "driving". That being the case, if "driving" can get them over they may just as well have done that from the start. With this 'momentum' technique in a manual transmission it may mean a gear change as the momentum runs out and that can cause a brief loss of drive.
Besides, the dune faces are scalloped (moguls??) by drivers who have spun their wheels and a speedy run-up will have you bouncing along like a rubber ball.
Our technique in a heavy loaded Troopy is 15psi all round, and use low-range at all times which provides good gear selections. Pick the gear before the climb, usually low 3rd or 4th, and simply drive over in comfort. Once or twice we have lucked-out near the top and needed to back-up several metres, select first gear and simply drive over. We have never need a shovel or our MaxTrax.
In the swales and crossing a clay pan we find 5th in low-range to be acceptable without revving the guts out of it. Even driving leisurely we cross in three days.

At the end of a hot day the sand can be very soft and has likely been lathered up by preceding vehicles so can present traction problems. We have never needed to go below 15psi but would be prepared to go as low as 10psi if necessary.
We have crossed from early May to late October encountering a range of conditions.

We travel alone and do not tow but have accompanied two other vehicles towing camper trailers. Both were crossing first-timers but with 4WD experience and seeking company for security. They followed my example re technique and had no trouble whatsoever.

Camper trailers per se are not a problem in the Simpson. The problem with scalloped track is drivers with tyre over-pressure using over-power and spinning their wheels to form scallops and lathering-up the sand. But certainly, dragging a trailer with that behaviour will exacerbate the problem.
So I say "Go for it" Steve. Keep the tyre pressures down and easy on the pedal.

Perhaps that I should add that following that first trip we invested in Stratos suspension seats. One of the best investments we ever made.

General note re "Moguls". This description was established for the "mounds" pushed-up by snow skiers on turns and forming a hump alongside their path. It should not be applied to the ruts across the track on dune faces where the sand has been excavated by spinning wheels. They are properly described as scallops. The excavated sand is broadly dispersed and does not form a hump.

So let's just summarise.

Parks advise against towing.
Parks advise against going alone.
John and his mates didn't get past the 2nd ridge out of Birdsville.
Other experienced drivers have encountered difficulty under certain conditions even without a trailer acting like an anchor behind them.
I have Simpson experience and sand towing experience and wouldn't think about combining them.
When the claypans are wet, again even a vehicle without a trailer can be challenging to get across, and folk go in convoys to help each other out.

You Steve
haven't driven in those conditions,
haven't towed in those conditions,
haven't tested your trailer in those conditions,
and egged on by someone who hasn't towed in the Simpson either are intending to tackle in the order of a thousand k's of it and 1500 sand ridges, with the first crossing on your own.

As an alternative you could go and base yourself say at Dalhousie Springs, see the sights around there and develop your knowledge and skills. Or get onto 4WD Trip and find someone to hook up with to do the Hay River track which will give you a good experience of the desert without needing to struggle with sand ridges all the time. Those might give you and your son a memorable experience for the right reasons.

A big thank you to those that put in the time to answer my question, most of you have given some good sound advise that will be taken into account when planning my trip.

Please rest assured that I will take all precautions and will definitely leave the track as I found it. My aim is to enjoy the outback not destroy it.

I am planning to spend 3 1/2 weeks in remote areas, therefore putting all the gear including extra water fuel etc in the back or on top of a 200 series would seriously over load the vehicle in excess of a few hundred kilo's. This is why I have chosen to distribute the weight and take the camper with me.

Safe travels

Regards

Steve.

Steve
You are a Chief Ranger in Kakadu. The land managers have request that people not tow across the Simpson. What would you think of people who disregarded "requests" by you in your park?

You can't leave the track as you found it. By getting bogged you are going to chew up the track. If you shovel sand into the large holes you make, you are going to make it harder - well, softer, actually - for those following you.

I have followed groups with trailers across the Simpson. It was a pain.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs :)

Hi,
We did the Simpson Desert from west to East in July/August of 2017. I tow a Patriot Camper with my Prado.

We did the Rig Road, which is very easy to do and had no issues. I did drop my tyre pressure quite low after doing a lot of reading and speaking to a few people. I had 10-12psi in the camper and I think 14psi in the Prado's rear wheels and 12psi up front.

One has to the a little of the French line before Poepel Corner, and the sand was very loose with all the traffic by that time, as well as the slopes up the dunes were very corrugated. I got stuck only twice, and of this my son, who travelled with us in his 4x4 ute, had to snatch me out once.

We had no issues from Poepel Corner to Big Red.

I think the secret is to do it slowly and carefully, even without a camper trailer. We were disgusted at how many people seem to regard this as a race track and charge over the dunes in their 4x4 without deflated tyres. I think that cause more corrugations than the camper trailers combined.

Hi Steve, Having done an East to West crossing of the Madigan Line in 2017 I would definitely not recommend taking any sort of trailer that way. I was in a Toyota 105 series and running 16psi front and 18psi rear and there were at least four dunes I got into trouble on. This also included a Toyota 79 series double cab. The dunes were very steep and high and some did not have good run up options. Hope this helps. Cheers Richard. Also I managed 126 litres diesel in 830 kms of Madigan Line, including similar figures last year on west to east trip.