camper trailer on gibb river road

Hi Gav, Be worth asking at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/campertrailers. A few of their members have towed campertrailers along the GRR and would have some good advise. :-) Melissa

We towed a Cavalier behind Nissan GQ on GRR and Mithchell falls - this had solida axle & leaf springs - had no problems , no bounce etc - sat good behind Patrol.

We ventured on the GRR with friends. One trailer with live axle the other independaet. Both loaded above the 1 tonne mark. No problems with either vehicle however that was at the start of the season when track was freshly graded. No experience with road conditions at end of tourist season.

Tom

I think the clue is the fact that the person who is selling an "off road" camper trailer does not have any idea on what suspension is what. Don't forget that there are various styles of independent suspension as well. Could be worth talking to your local ARB. TJM etc outlet. My worry would be that the whole thing will shake itself to pieces.

Hi gav, its not only the suspension that you have to look at , some "4wd " types are only road vans /trailers with the fancy stuff literally tack welded on , towing anything is a restriction you just have to drive to suit no matter what you choose.cheers(mine is a custom built beam,7 leave with gas shocks)again cheers.

On a recent trip across the Gunbarrel , Canning & along the GRR saw 5 trailers with problems , 4 of them had independent suspension. the one that didn't was a small sunday to the tip trailer with a leaf spring broken.
The others all had shocker problems. If you get a independent suspension model make sure it GOOD quality shockers and an Aus wide guarantee. Personally I have a beam trailer with shockers. (prefer to leave it home) I think they are over rated but ok for mild offroad travel. If you want my advice leave the trailer off the GRR.
PS did not see any trailers on the canning.

I towed a heavily laden trailer thru GRR/Mitchell Plateau/Kalumburu earlier this year for 5 weeks without a single drama. 45mm axle with heavy duty leaf springs. Gibb River Road is not as tough as people like to make it out to be and unless you have some serious Off Road plans then I personally wouldn't bother with independent suspension. It's a helluva lot easier to fix a leaf spring roadside than coils.

hi again,exp oz is spot on i did the trip in 91 same trailer with a 720 dual cab diesel not a problem you have to drive country not city,you read in any 4wd mag they do umpteen kilometers in 2 weeks and broke this and that (and i don't pay for it ) slow down and enjoy everthing has its limits. cheers

We have just returned from there, did the GRR with a Kimberly kamper. I did not have a problem with the trailer at all, even though the track was very badly corrugated. (end of September= late in season). We did however talk to a group who towed an "Off-road" Jayco across, and they had punched both shocker mounts through the floor. In the jayco's defence, they also did a couple of BFGs and some other damage, so I really wonder if they tried to do it at 120 km/hour. Happy trails, Mike.

We just came back from a trip including GRR towing 18' Bushtracker, independent suspension without shocks.
No problems and we did most side trips including Old Mornington. We did see several other vans labelled "Off Road" that are realy only standard vans with larger wheels and axles under the springs for an impression of toughness, sometimes they also have some chequerplate tacked on. Several of these vans had major problems such as broken shock mounts, broken spare wheel mounts, broken spring mounts, water tank punctures and severe internal damage to cupboards and drawers.
It could be the drivers going too hard however I would suggest that you broaden your search beyond Jayco for these conditions