Simpson Dessert

Straight up from East to West, no problem

I must be mistaken but West to East was the easy way when I crossed back in "99" towing a camper trailer. ??????

Not for Big Red itself......

I'll back that up Stephen

Duncs

John,
Noticed you were not towing a trailer
Cheers

Hi GaryW,
We left birdsville around 3:30 pm, and camped about 6 Km East of Big Red.
We then camped 2 nights along the French Line track and the next camp was at Purni Bore.
On one day we travelled less than 90 Km due to the number and height of the dunes slowing us down.
There are plenty of good camp sites along the whole length of the track with ample dead wood for a camp fire.
You may find that by September the track may be cut up and deep ruts due to the number of cars now travelling the Simpson.
If there has been no rain the sand will most likely be soft.
However let your tyres down to 12 psi if you have to and you will have little trouble getting over the dunes.
We found it difficult to get up to any speed when approaching the bigger sand dune due to the deep scalloping of the track caused by cars not letting down tyre pressure, gunning the motor and bouncing up and down the track.
Enjoy your trip, it is worthwile doing
Cheers
George

And I presume you didnt get any wheelspin towing your camper over the dunes and therefore contributing to the creation of corrugations. Personally I would say that towing a camper trailer thru the Desert is just as irresponsible as not letting your tyres down. Also not a popular pastime, burning the timber in the desert.many creatures rely on this Dead Timber to survive.

Cheer peter and Lez.

The sand must be quite firm then compared to when we crossed last year. I am glad you are also mindful of the sensitive environment.

Cheers Peter and Lez

Peter,

We travelled last October with trailer and did not spin wheels either. Whilst this does reflect the condition of the track which was frimed up by rain while we were there, it also reflects on the attitude and skill of the driver. Once the wheels start to spin in soft sand and on steep dunes, there is little benefit in keeping the foot down. You only dig your own grave.

At Easter I was in Coffin Bay and found the condition of the track much worse than anything I came across in the Simpson. There are very few trailers taken into that area but I was advised by many that I did not need to reduce tyre pressures, "just floor it" this advice came from one guy who passed me as I was reducing pressures.

When I learnt ot drive in the sand 4x4's did not have huge amounts of horsepower and if you did not drive properly and set the vehicle up right you did not get there.

Many on this forum are happy to call anyone towing a trailer irrisponsible, that is simply not the case. Most of us who tow trailers have come to that point through experience and necessity. Also a reasonable invetment in the vehicle and trailer as well as the value of the cargo we carry (wives and children) neccessitate a cautious approach. An irrisponsible attitude will damage far more thatn a trailer.

Duncs