Trailering accross the Simpson

I sat on the top of Big Red last June and took photographs of groups crossing. All trucks I saw made it first time as they had in most cases spent the last 3 to 4 days practising on their way across the SD. I also watched a 4by with trailer make 4 attempts and fail. The damage he did was far greater that the 20 trucks befor him.
It can be done, but should it be done? I guess it's like climbing the Rock. We all have to live with the fall out form what others do.
I'll now get down off my soap box
Vince

G Day Beatit,
Yes it can certainly be done, we did a west to east crossing last year and had no problems at all, just take your time and enjoy. during our trip we came accross about a dozen other vehicles towing trailers, just lower youre tyre pressure to suit and drive with care. Personaly i think people running to high a tyre pressure do more damage than a trailer.
pmacks

A lot has already been said on this topic on this forum. Try the search function. It can be done by experienced trailer users with a well set up trailer. I take the view that an overloaded vehicle is more likely to break down than one where the load is spread across six wheels. Similarly, track damage is due to the mass over each wheel, and overinflated tyres. (An overloaded trailer will do as much damage as an overloaded vehicle) I'd like to know more about Vince's observation above - was the damage due to the trailer reversing off the track onto pristine sand? Finally, there is only one Kimberley :-)

The duress these trailors place on the vehicle is quite extreme. Would I put a vehicle of mine through what I've seen?? Nope!! Do other users appreciate the churn up of the dunes as these multi tonne set ups struggle to get up some of the bigger dunes?? No!! Do the parks people recommend trailers be towed across the Simpson?? Nope!! Would you welcome the $$$$ to tow out not one but 2 items??? Probably not!! Is there a reasonable probability that the trailor will, having survived all the rigors of the Kimberleys, still be reliable enough to go across the Simpson?? Errrrr..dunno but I wish you a good trip...sounds good. Cheers

Hi Beatit , As we were crossing SD mid 2003 we met up with "Desert Dan & Sand Hill Sally" towing a Kamperoo with wheelbarrow wheels behind their Hi Lux 4by - had no probs. as they mainly used Rig Rd. IMHO west east up the back of Big Red would be the most difficult , so use the chicken run up the southern end of little red then skirt north , unhook & have some fun .
Cheers John

Yes you can legally tow accross and IMHO yes you should if prepared properly.
My suggestions for trailers in the sand are simple.
Towing vehicle 130 KW or greater.
Trailer under 1 tonne.
Travel with another car to tow you over.
Let your tyres down an extra 2 PSI.
Practice towing your trailer in the sand where the consequences of failure aren't as serious.
Towing accross the Simpson is a trip in it's self & not just a bit "on the way home". Thought should be given to a full mechanical check at Alice before hand.
PS. Can you back a trailer in a straight line for 50m because you will probably need to? ;-) Cheers Craig........

I think the only responsible way to travel areas like the Simpson is as lightly as possible. Of course an overloaded vehicle does damage but does that make it OK to take a trailer???? Surely the only way is a sensibly loaded solo. Also the desert changes from one day to the next quite dramatically and even if a trailer successfully crosses at one time, it may fail at another. On one of my crossings I saw no vehicles towing and even solo vehicles had difficulty with some of the dunes. The sand was very dry at the time. Get some moisture in it and it's easier.

I think Fourplayful and Crackles are about right, except, they don't account for the vagaries of the weather. Hit some of the clay areas after any rain, get your tyres clagged up and then try getting a trailer over!! The damage to the track becomes significant, even if you make it.
The Simpson Desert Cycle Challenge group who have been doing that trip annually, for about 14 years, ban trailers. I think they know what they are on about.

Thanks guys for the input - It certainly gives me something to discuss with our travel group next time we meet.

Just to put it in context, we've done a couple of trips to the Cape and were talked out of using trailers on our first trip only to run into a family with a trailer in all the remote places. We took our trailer on the second trip (2 months and VERY remote places) and never regretted it.

We are familiar with soft sand driving having been a regular to Frazer Island and I wholeheartedly agree with the comments about being prepared and driving to the conditions. Equally if the weather or road condition are not up to scratch we would look to go another way.

As you might glean we are not daredevils but are happy to take acceptable risks because that allows us to go to remote places in some comfort and that's what 4wd traveling with a camper trailer is all about for us.

Kind regards

We went across West to East via the French Line this Sep/Oct. 2 Vehicles both LC100's with Aussieswag camper trailers.

IMHO there is only one critical issue - Tyre Pressures. We were using 28psi and had only had a little bit of trouble - so we dropped to 22psi and had no further trouble. Others will recommend 18psi which I would agree with.

Even when we had a little bit of trouble the trick was to immediately stop reverse and try again. This left far less damage than fully loaded single vehicles who pig root up the dunes leaving a real mess. If fact at times when our vehicles were a few minutes apart the first vehicle's wheel tracks had disappeared by the time the second vehicle got to the same place.

I have no problems recommending taking a trailer across the desert so long as the the trailer is a proper offer road trailer and you have a strong enough vehicle to tow it in sand and you run low tyre pressures.

The French Line (I'm told) is harder work than the Rig road which is a good alternate route and/or fall back route if things get tough.

We took account of the concerns about chopping up the track but any suggestion that taking trailers is a problem does not equate with our experience. More to do with driver and vehicle than whether or not it has a trailer.

JMHO

Gaz