Monday, Aug 05, 2002 at 00:00
It's dissapointing to hear a 4X4 driver advising and saying that they only drops tyre pressures a couple of pounds on these roads. I have just come back from a trip across the Simpson via
Coober Pedy to
Birdsville then on to Inaminka and Tiboobora . There were seven vehicles; 3 x Patrols, 1 X Pathfinder, 1 x Disco, 1 x Prado and 1 x Ford Courier. All were carrying the weight of enought extra fuel, food and water to enable them to almost cover the full distance twice, just in case we had to back out or got marooned because of weather. Tyre pressures off road never exceeded 25 pounds and were down to 18 pounds (Cold) for the Simpson itself on all vehicles. When the tyres got hot and the pressures went up we deflated them down to the same temperatures.
RESULT no damaged tyres on any vehicle after 5000 odd km in all conditions and little or no damage to the roads we travelled over. Don't be fooled, softer tyres don't
puncture as easly as hard tyres in these conditions. Try puncturing a fully inflated balloon and then a partly filled one and see which punctures the easiest.
All you have to do is watch your speed when running deflated tyres on fast sections to avoid heat build up. Most of the damage on the sand hills is caused by yobbo's driving vehicles with high tyre pressures bouncing over at high speed because the tyres are not giving them grip. The auto Pathfinder (I was a passenger on this trip) in our group easly went over nearly all the
Simpson Desert dunes in 4x4 high range second at between 1500 and 2000rpm and about 3mph. It comfortably made it up the western side of Big Red first time with a few more rpm's for the longer climb. .
Don't be a cowboy - Tread Lightly - Take a compressor and deflate your tyres when necessary. It's a more comfortable ride and a chance to smell the flowers
Crowie
FollowupID:
2333