"soft" 4wd vehicles on Border Track

Nice having recovery gear etc, but the Tribute has no recovery points... so that wont work...

Vitara will go anywhere they are great 4b's but the tribute, ....

I'd look elsewhere.

Agree totally with the T-Man, Mazda bad Zook good

A winch is not necessary on the Border Track. Vitara will go anywhere. Tribute might get close but with no low range may have a problem with dunes. Trouble is when you tackle a track with an underrated vehicle then you are looking for something to go wrong. If your mate does not mind some under body damage or the possibilty of damage to the drive train of his ribute then take him with you. I would err on the side of caution though.

Thanks for that, We will obviously have to rethink. Interestingly, without knowing much at all about either vehicle I was more worried about the Suzuki given it is a 4 cyl vs the Mazda 6cyl. Recovery points is something I hadn't investigated. The Forum comes thru again!

Trevor

I guess we were looking to give the soft 4by's a bit of excitement without coming unstuck.....always a bit of a guessing game. I think we will re-evaluate. Perhaps we will find a way to cram everyone into the Patrol and go for it. Sounds like everyone thinks the Suzi is up to it. I may have got the 4 cyl thing wrong anyway it seems with regard to the Suzi . Possibly the Mazda can do the centre track and meet us on the other side.

Thanks for your input

Casnat

If you're just doing the section between Pinaroo and the edge of the Ng??**)* Conservation Park, should be no problems. There are multiple tracks over the dunes, if can't get up one, a push backward and reverse will get you back to start to try another.

There are no really deep bog holes to speak of, with deep wheel ruts, as long as you stay within the park. They have all been filled in the park by 4wd clubs. If you go further on toward Bordertown out of the park, you will run into trouble as there are spots you have to take the ruts. Careful skillful driving in a softroader may get though but not worth the worry and risk.

Only 4 or 5 sets of dunes, with ways around each. Correct me if I'm wrong. Shouldnt be hard to get the Tribute out of sand on a hill, just go the way the hill is decending. Can always go back the way you came.

My personal opinion is highway terrain tyres in most cases may be as good as muddies in the sand. Differing opinions on this, I will come under fire for saying this. Correct pressures the key.

Trip will not be much fun it if is too hot.

I'm not telling you to do it but giving you the information I have. Having said all this I stuffed up my clutch and alternator in deep sandy water in deep bog holes last trip (we went on further than the park though)!!

D-Jack

Trev, I believe both cars would make it down the Border Track, it would be just a matter of damage. Not sure what tyres are fitted but the Mallee roots aren't kind to road rubber & the trees tend to scratch a fair bit. With good power to weight, low range isn't required. I ran a Subaru down there years ago when it was harder & other than dragging the belly alot got through unaided. Secure front & rear recovery points are a must. Remember also the track is harder when the sand is dry.
One concern; you say it's a day trip. From where? It's a long way around no matter where you come from.
Cheers Craig...........

no probs just don't go past the red bluff turnoff. Take the track to the east to the Murrayville track or head west to the bordertown/Pinaroo road...depends on where you want to get to. Two very serious dunes to get over, steep and soft sand, great ground clearance not required, a powerful and light vehicle will have no probs.

Thanks for the input. As is rightly so, I will pass this on to the relevant owners and let them decide. I think we could cope but it is their decision. Will post on how things progress.

Thanks for advice...Trevor (now that I have broken the ice I imagine we will correspond some more)

One of the KEY things here is , ANY vehicle can get stuck. You need to be able to recover it safely.

If ANY of these vehicles DO NOT have PROPER RATED recovery points.

DONT DO IT . . . fullstop.

and back to your original question , the Vitara should do it easily. In sand , assuming that the Mazda is an auto (I think they all are ?) , plenty of torque , coupled with the auto . . . "should" get you out of most problems. Correct tyres pressures will assist.

No low range will hurt more with steep climbs/decents.

I don'tknow the track or the Mazda but all above seems relevant. No body has mentioned the fact that the most important piece of recovery gear, especially in soft sand is a shovel.

I assume 3 families means 3 dads. If there are alternate tracks around the big dunes and you have 3 adult males in the group, you should be able to dig any vehicle out and find a way around. No towing involved, no need for recovery points.

Like I say I don't know the track and there may be other problems along the way, sloppy mud is a different story.

Sadly I am in NE NSW, Stuck with beaches, no vehicle access, and blacktop and very little opportunity to get bogged, at least until the last week in January. Oh well at least the surf is good and we don't see much of that back home in the Hill.

Merry Christmas all
Duncs.

Did the Border Track a few weeks ago and had problems with a Hilux in our group not being able to engage 4wd due to problems with the auto locking mechanism. It got around in 2wd with 18psi and a bit of loud pedal at times.

I wouldn't have wanted to be in my wife's Forester (manual with pseudo low ratio) on several of the dunes north of Red Bluff. The corrugations were over a foot deep and the spacing had Patrols, Hiluxes, Navaras and my Courier bouncing at times. The eggs didn't survive....

Go camp at Big Billy Bore and have a drive out around Firebreak Tk and Skeleton Well. Twelve Mile Patch and Brushcutters are good too.

I'd avoid the Border Track in those vehicles but only due to a few dunes and some of those didn't have alternate routes.

You'll struggle to find somewhere that is capable of supporting a proper tow hook safely too.

Another issue is that it is getting really hot and dry up there now. The sand is getting really soft. The aforementioned Hilux would not have made it if we didn't do it with intermittent rain while we were there.

Great country but go in late winter or spring (wild flowers are spectacular)

Dave