Canning and Mechanical Failures

Are you saying the wheels dropped off, or the torsion bars broke out of the lower arms causing the car to sit on the bumpstops?

Have been afew with uprated T bars which have broken the A arm mount off of late.

If they did literally "fall off" did you get any pics?

Well done on completing the trip. What sort of vehicle is yours and did you have any problems??

Doesn't say much for the modern 4bies.

Then again, ten years agoI busted two new front shockies within the first few days on a north/south trek. The battery came adrift and the carbie played up. Mostly due to corrugations and the chopped out dunes on the south side. I was driving a 15yo FJ 55 at the time. On the Gunbarrel more stuff rattled loose. Was running 15 to 20psi on the Canning and 25psi on the Gunbarrel.

Most of the problems relate to vehicles being overloaded and incorrect tyre pressures. Trouble is one needs most of the stuff you carry.

g'day everyone,i came accross the mentioned turbo diesel 100 series with the broken front end on the windy corner road 80 klms east of the canning.that part of the track wasn't rough at all.they were well set up with kimberley camper,satphone etc .they were waiting for the truck from capricorn to come out.i had a couple of beers with them and headed on my way. cheers sparra.

sounds like one needs to have a credit card with a Very Large credit limit if doing this trek

Bloody hell, sounds like people must have been hammering some vehicles, I wonder if they just go too hard up there because of it's reputation of being such a big mission. I have never done the CSR but I did grow up as a kid in Marble Bar and my old man used to drive Telecom Landcruisers, wore out 3 of them in 6 years! I don't think that it's particuarly rough terrain, I would imagine it's the constant day after day belting of these vehicles.
I mean what do we normally do, at most 3 days over the long weekend, most of it on the black top, compared to 15 days or so of full on belt the crap out of your vehicle.
IMHO if these people took it a little easier they would still get through everything and would have a vehicle left at the end to take home with them.

Mind you in saying that I'm as bad as anyone when it comes to giving the 4by a hard time! But normally only on day trips, the further I get away from home the easier I go on the ol' girl.
I suppose the other factor is that these vehicles are probally very well setup, but are probally carrying a lot more supplies, fuel, water, food etc than normally, people probally don't curve their driving style to accomdate this extra load.

Forumites,
Talking about mechanical failures I participated in our club mud gymkhana on Sunday, when I got there the previous day they had a couple of DNF's one being a LC 100 series that hasn't quite got to 25K from new with a rooted front diff and also an older Forerunner with a similar problem, the LC had to have the front drive hubs removed and the front driveshaft taken off to get back home, forerunner was still mobile don't know if it got home at this time. Another "Oh what a feeling". The Rangie survived but weighed about a tonne more with all the mud stuck to the chassis, exhaust system and the wheel guards.

That's an extraordinary amount of damage and I tend to agree with the others who have said overloaded, too fast, and tyres over inflated.

Without seeing the vehicles we would all have to agree that this is a result of - "too much gear and too fast"

I know Subarus are not everyone choice of 'offroad' vehicle, but some of the trips we have done in them prove the point that - regardless of what you drive, you need to be 'conservative'. Good prepartion and taking time to 'smell the roses' is critical.
Here are some examples of trips we have done from Perth (return)-
1997 east from Nullagine via Bocrabee Hill to Rudal R NP - 1 week - no punctures or mech failures
2001 Jigalong/Durba/Calvert/Carnarvon Ra - 3 weeks - 2 punctures, no mech failures
June 2004 Carnegie/Calvert/Carnegie - 2 weeks - 2 punctures on road ??, 1 off road, no mech failures.

Below is an article from the Sunday Times newspaperof WA 18/10/81 to prove the point about preparation and speed.

Six members of WA’s Subaru 4WD Club recently took their vehicles over the Canning Stock Route, which runs ........... Tackling the Canning stock route in 4WD vehicles is now becoming fairly commonplace. What makes the Subaru Clubs effort unique is that the trip was made in the original 1600 Subaru, which even club members admit is a family sedan designed for street driving. Club members wanted to prove that their street cars could do the job and even used the standard two ply radials for the trip. Apart from removing the back seats, adding roof racks and additional shock absorbers on two of them, expedition members kept the Subaru’s as near as possible to standard as possible. "Everyone else who has tried the Stock Route has done so in huge Landcruisers or similar" ......... "We took family cars, where strictly speaking they shouldn't be able to go. I also believe it was the first trip of is kind to be done by Subarus without the help of winches and backup vehicles carrying parts or petrol,". Ten months planing went into the 18-day trip. Members not only studied maps of the region but also boned up on its history, flora and fauna. The three vehicles sell on the trip were two 1976 and one 1979, four cylinder Subaru station wagons powered by 1600cc engines. Each vehicle carried two people and a 550kg load including spares, a medical kit, a high frequency radio and an extra week supply of food. The massive loads caused problems with the extra pumped up shock absorbers. These were removed and the vehicles completed the journey without a hitch on standard shockies. The only other problems on the 1800km trip were two punctures. Tyre pressure were kept at 30psi and not adjusted for the soft sand on the more than 1000 sand dunes encountered, some of them up to 20m high. ......... Some fuel was carried from Wiluna but the expedition had arranged more fuel to be left halfway along route. Average consumption was around 22mpg coupled with an average speed of 15mph. The vehicles ran in 4WD for the whole trip and used only first and second gears. None of the vehicles needed repairs after the trip, ..... "We planned the trip carefully and took it easy and I think that's why the Subarus came out of it so well. We were extremely pleased will their performance." From Halls Creek the expedition drove across to the coast and completed the trip on the blacktop back to Perth.

I think it just goes to show that if the vehicle is not properly prepared & you don't drive to the conditions, then eventually something has got to break. I did the CSR back in 95 & took it easy (21 days) visited every well plus a detour out to Helena Springs & never had as much as a hick-up with my vehicle. Mind you I've come across similar problems with vehicles & trailers braking components (especially stub axles & springs) on other treks (e.g. Cape York Bi-Pass Road) because they don't drive to the conditions.

g'day GO-OFFROAD,the torsion bar had broken and the cv joint had collapsed,it looked a real mess.only the one wheel had collapsed.he had the right attitude ,no panic.he said he should have kept his eighty series.him and his wife are experienced desert travelers apparently.they said they are friends of greg cartan who has had some of his desert travels published in 4wd monthly lately. cheers sparra.