Taking our AWD SUV to Central Australia

And the Oodnadatta Tk is 2wd unless it is wet. Could be rough in places when dry, but still 2wd.

Your AWD will eat it if it's not wet.

Honestly Peter - I love your photos of your past trips and all the different vehicles. This one in particular is gold.

Thanks Michelle.
We maybe didn't always have the ideal vehicles for what we did, but we have always been "explorers" and went everywhere we possibly could (and some places we probably shouldn't have) with what we had.
Margaret remarked just yesterday that she was not allowed to take a camp chair of any sort until she was pregnant.
Very spoilt now. :)
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Peter.
Nice vehicle, same colour as my sister's mini. Didn't do rough roads in it though. Not much good when muddy, but you can hand winch them anywhere. I like the 10 ply tyres! Just look at the rocks.

It was actually our first trip running radial tyres. They were rag ply Pirellis.
People told us we were mad.
They performed brilliantly.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Great shot, we did much the same trip back in 1996 driving a commodore and camper trailer.
East Mac's and Oonadatta track, we have been on the track since and now is 100 times better condition.
Cheers, Baz

Can you legally fit AT LT tyres to a Captiva 7? Isn't it categorised as MA?

I'm trying to find ATs, but will have to replace the wheels with earlier model 17" rims as there are none for the 19" ones it came with.

Pretty sure there are no LT ones available in the sizing.

Also, as per Briste's post, pretty sure I can't fit them as it's an MA category vehicle.

Will 17s fit over the brakes?

Yep, the steel spare is still a 17, they just kept upsizing the rims so it appeals to soccer mums more.

We just needed an affordable 7 seat wagon to replace my old Jeep at the time, otherwise I wouldn't have looked at it.

It is an on-demand system unfortunately. If it rains we can always cancel the Oodnadatta track and head back via the main highway so it will work out ok I think.

I have taken it on graded dirt in the wet before with no issues, but never gotten it bogged. I am planning on brining traction board (Maxtrax etc) for the dirt sections just in case. Like you mention it may be worth a test run to see how it goes.

A frame
I thought it would be. I had a HJ61 cruiser which in 4wd low just sat in one spot with one rear wheel turning and 1 front wheel turning trying to tow a trailer on flat greasy ground. I actually walked around it while it sat there and spun wheels. Traction control with ON demand AWD will simply flick the wheels in similar situations. and may not go forward if towing dead weight load. I was on the Oodna track a couple of years and after rain waited until it was "open". Used true 4wd most of the time to get along it while towing a Tvan. If you stopped in such circumstances there you would remain until dried out. So yes, wise to know the weather. We were already out at stations.

Thanks for the advice RMD,

When we go, I'll be checking the weather before we head back via the Oodnadatta. If there's a chance of rain, I'll probably play it safe rather than risk getting stuck out there.

I've tested the traction control and AWD deliberately before on ruts and it cleared with no issues, but wet, slippery clay is a completely different story, especially with a trailer attached.

If we have to skip the dirt, it just leaves us with more reason to head back out there......

Ha! Many years ago I hired a Rav4 to drive from Cairns to Cooktown along the Daintree track. On the return journey while on the bitumen highway between Cooktown and Cairns a tyre blew out at 100Kmh.

I returned the vehicle and the hire place insisted that I had blown the tyre by "misuse" by spiking on the Daintree and had to pay full retail for a new tyre. It was about $350 way back then

I was pretty angered by this as the tyre had blown on the highway and any damage could have been existing when I got the car. I also knew that I had driven carefully and had definitely not done anything to damage a tyre.
Luckily I had my wife take photos of the location where the tyre had failed and the tyre itself.
It was evident that I had not "spiked" the tyre as it did not immediately fail.

The rental car company manager was quite aggressive when I said I would elevate it to the franchiser level.
Anyway for a quiet life we agreed 50/50 .

The message here is that the renter is responsible for tyre damage on a hired car if it can be proven to be from misuse which would include failure on a dirt road such as the Mareenie Loop. So the rental company does not care as the renter has to pay!

No argument. In a past life I was a professional traveller, flying into any city, picking up a hire car and then heading to whatever lighthouse or Navaid required attention. Some of the things we asked completely standard cars to do was borderline mental. Our govt fleet 4wds were all on standard grandtreks as well. I wouldn’t put LT tyres on small SUV for a touring trip.