French Line to Birdsville

Hi Ros

I ran 4wd and motorbike tours across the Simpson Desert for ten years on every track and in every direction and my "opinion" as you put it is a definite NO !
I would not even take a heavy duty 6 x 4 empty off road trailer across.

Over the years I have known three people who went against my advice taking their off road camper trailers with all three wishing they hadn't. Two did lots and lots of damage to their campers and all three had to rely on others in the group to help tow them over some of the dunes and all that did was slow their trip down, put strain on other peoples vehicles and take the enjoyment out of one of Australia's greatest treks.

All the best
Gazz

The Parks authorities would like to ban trailers. I suspect they would except for perceived legal technical issues.
They don't want them. No one who knows the desert and cares for it wants them.
Please do not take a trailer.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
Member Friends of the Simpson Desert Parks

I tow a smalloff road trailer a lot and I've done the Simpson desert. I'm glad I didn't tow the trailer at the time because it would have made it too tedious in my opinion. Any type of caravan is a definite no from me.

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Hi Ros,
Having done 10 crossings of the Simpson (but never towing) I have had the opportunity to make many observations. Without labouring the point, my opinion is that while many have pulled trailers over successfully you would be taking significant risk to try pulling a caravan, even if it is only a hybrid. Apart from the difficulty of towing a van there is much stress on the suspension and should you fail it can cost as much as $20k to be recovered.
Not worth the risk in my opinion.

Hi Ros
I have made multiple crossings in both directions and would not take a camper trailer or van across.
I don't think you would enjoy it much.

Hi Ros M,

As you can see from the responses so far, all are saying no. I have crossed the Simpson in both directions on several occasions, both solo and in convoy.

Only one time in convoy with a member of the group who towed an Off Road camper trailer. He had to be dug out and towed over many of the dunes. This made for a tedious crossing, not only for him, but for the rest of the group. Whilst he did not sustain any damage to either his vehicle or trailer, he stated that he would definitely not do it again towing a trailer. Certainly a West to East crossing is easier as the western side of the dunes is not as steep, but I would still not be taking a trailer, let alone a caravan, even a hybrid, across the Simpson Desert.

The S.A. Parks Authority who control access to the Munga-Thirri National Park (including the Queensland section) website and literature states that Caravans are not permitted, and trailers are not encouraged.

As an aside, The Birdsville Hotel has a recovery Insurance Policy that is worth considering if crossing the Simpson. It covers the entire Simpson Dersert road network from the western entrance all the way across to Birdsville. The cost is $495 incl GST per vehicle. If you do not need the service, you do not get your money back. If you choose not to take up the policy and require recovery it could cost you in excess of $10,000 per vehicle. Something worth considering even if you are travelling in convoy with other vehicles. If you break an axle or suspension that prevents you from being “flat towed” by another vehicle, it is a cheaper option than $10,000 +. Checkout the Birdsville Hotel website for more details.

Macca.

Definite no.
A few years back we saw a busted Kimberly camper being dragged back to Dalhousie - and the hitch on the tow vehicle had been busted too.

Going back about a year when we crossed, but I think this might be the only way to get a caravan across the Simpson.



This was taken at Innamincka, but they said they crossed with the trailer attached. I would have loved to have seen them do it.

It’s a few years ago when we were heading west from Birdsville and came across an eastbound wagon and camper trailer stranded on top of a dune.
As we waited to get past one of our group spoke to a driver who was travelling with the people with the trailer and wasn’t doing a lot to help
He came back and reported the conversation involved lots of expletives and words like “boat anchor”
Another friendship ruined, he told us.

Having owned & travelled with a Tvan for a number of years I have known of quite a few folk who have towed their Tvans across the Simpson by various routes, mostly without drama I believe. Tvans are IMHO *the* most capable towed accomodation out there.

That said, we enjoy travelling alone rather than in convoy, & my choice was that we would wait until we were no longer towing. Not because I thought we would damage tracks, but simply because I felt that I wouldn't enjoy pulling something up & down all those dunes anywhere near as much as doing the same in in a solo vehicle. I was confident we could do it with the Tvan, but it's the country I want to enjoy, rather than surviving the added stress I am certain it would involve.

It's tempting now we have the OKA, & may well be the most direct route for us later in the year, but I think a solo crossing is a bit too early in the piece, something to wait until we have built a trusting relationship with our new means of travel over less demanding tracks.

A Hybrid off road van is a lot heavier than a camper trailer. Hybrids range (typical gross/loaded) from about 1900kg for a Kimberley Caravan through to 2800T for the recent Chinese Hybrid vans.
Though personally I have no experience with desert sand dune travel, I know an experienced desert traveler who needed towing by his travelling companions over some of the dunes when he pulled his relatively lightweight Ultimate CT through the Simpson with a LC200 . I don't know which direction he drove.

Thank you everyone for your feedback and NO we do not want to be that person stuck on a dune or ripping up a track . I think with enough research we can find a work around so that we have our hybrid and camper trailer ( other travelling member ) in Birdsville. we have towed camper trailers through some pretty rough tracks up to Innaminnka but I believe the dunes are the issues . Possibly routes like Rigg road etc Cheers

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C'mon guys, put up some photos to illustrate to Ros the difficulties of the Simpson dunes.
My photos are not accessible at the moment.

Ros M
I haven't done much sand driving and so no great expertise there. I have been bogged in sand however, my mistake, and extracted the vehicle and Tvan .
It seems to me you mention it is a Hybrid tow as being something significant. it is only significant in it's use perhaps! It is simply a heavy trailer and performance depends on it's WEIGHT, tyre pressure, wheel track width, Tyre width, tyre dia and possibly the A frame length too. What is above the sand doesn't care about if it is a Hybrid or not, so it means nothing!
If you are a shorter stature person, you are more suited to dig vehicles out of sand than a taller person. It is tiring and changes the colour of your day significantly.

Make your decision wisely, after seriously reading the above posts and NOT discarding advice from those who KNOW and have posted above.
PS HYBRID is only factor in your comfort, sand doesn't care a HOOT.

Hi Ros, despite the majority saying you shouldn't tow on the Simpson, we have towed successfully on Googs track and the CSR without major issues but saying that its does take careful preparation and attention to tire pressures which makes all the difference. On the CSR our tires would be around 13psi in the morning and then by lunch time they were up around the 20's so you needed to adjust tire pressures. I think if you are travelling long distances for an extended time a camper trailer make a lot of sense for comfort and convenience but weight should be a significant consideration.

It’s just physics and social science. The social part is the tracks bear the witness marks of every car that has gone through overinflated or towing and has gotten stuck or otherwise created cross axle wombat holes. Many of those wouldn’t even be towing. The science part is now you have to be better than all of them. You have power, traction, tyre pressure and momentum to adjust but too little or too much of any of those will either bog you or make you airborne and break stuff. Plus trailers bounce differently to cars so you have a lower ability to use speed/momentum straight up. As you bounce you break traction and cars towing bounce more because of the big fulcrum bouncing on their towbar. If you have lockers engaged or really long travel suspension that will work in your favour. Bigger than average tyres also help because case pressure theory says the more internal volume, the less psi required to float any particular weight- of which you’ll also have more than average.
I own an offroad rear fold camper. I’ve done 2 crossings. I’d never consider towing it. Once cars and trailers get out of level on sand it is a whole new game and there are a lot of long slow steep uphill wombat holed approaches on any given crossing that will require spot on prep, setup and driving - some requiring you to go past any normal comfort zones. Some may require winching no matter what. The last years have seen the desert wet and easy to cross. That is not always the case.