cape york trip
Submitted: Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 01:00
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fed
driving to cape in petrol jackaroo 2000 anyone fitted a
snorkel?
Reply By: OziExplorer - Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 14:13
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 14:13
New bridges are all in place so I have heard, so no need to worry about a
snorkel.
AnswerID:
10736
Follow Up By: Mikeys - Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 14:32
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 14:32
There is a new
bridge over the Wenlock at Moreton Station but I haven't heard of any others on the OTL or minor roads/tracks.
MikeyS
FollowupID:
5713
Reply By: Truckster - Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 14:14
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 14:14
Yea ozi is right, if your not going to get deep, then dont bother, save the $..
but if theres a risk of water where your going, your motor rebuild + towing fee will be around $15,000!
Your call...
AnswerID:
10737
Reply By: MikeyS - Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 14:30
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 14:30
Fed, did the Cape in a 95 petrol Pajero without a
snorkel. Trip included a real heart stopper across the
Pascoe River on Frenchman's Track and a few other over the bonnet crossings (way over the recommended max wading depth of 600mm) but we had no problems. Walking the crossings, and using a wading blind, heaps of WD-40 on "all the little black electrical thinggies", and letting diffs and engine cool down before tackling the deep crossings at the Pascoe and on the OTL saw us through. By the way, the water is bloody beautiful so it's
well worth walking crossings to cool and wash the dust off yourself, assuming it's not a croc risk crossing.
The other vehicle (petrol Prado) we were travelling with did have a
snorkel so that gave us some comfort in case we got into trouble but pre-crossing preparation, taking things easy and slowly did the job.
A
snorkel may give you some peace of mind but I wouldn't say it's essential equipment.
Just to soap-box for a minute, what ever you do, after you have made a crossing, stop in the shallows on the other bank and let the chassis full of water drain back into the river rather than cart it up the other bank which many people were doing. Many of the exits were buggered by water and vehicle erosion after the first person through wet the exit, making it slipperier for the next person who needed to gun it up the bank carrying more water and so on and so on.
Have a fun trip.
MikeyS
AnswerID:
10739
Follow Up By: Savvas - Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 14:43
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 14:43
MikeyS,
A good point about letting diffs, engines, etc cool down before the deep x-ings. I haven't had first hand experience with this, but I always wondered how a hot engine will cope with being partially immersed in cool water. Don't even want to think about fully immersed.
How much of a cool down do you allow? Half an hour, an hour, a few?
FollowupID:
5718
Follow Up By: Oziexplorer - Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 14:53
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 14:53
Actually the major problem with the Rodeo on some models is the starter motor being low down, and susceptible to getting water in them. They are EXPENSIVE and often will not re-build and you need to purchase a whole new starter motor. That is on the diesel models only from memory. The petrol models (some) are alternator failure, they are also expensive, as they are also Hitachi.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Mikeys - Wednesday, Jan 08, 2003 at 12:59
Wednesday, Jan 08, 2003 at 12:59
Savvas We probably allowed about half to an hour but who keeps track of time up there? By the time we had stretched the legs, walked the crossing, had a snack, filled up water bottles the tarped up etc, and on the scarry crossings taken some deep breaths to get the heart rate down at least half an hour would have passed. No hurry.
The main reason for allowing cool-down time is to avoid sucking water into the diffs as the air in the diffs cools in case the diff breathers get submerged. Remember the old "egg in bottle" trick? Same physics, more or less. Even with extended diff breathers I doubt that it's really smart to dump a hot engine block into a nice refreshing river.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Savvas - Wednesday, Jan 08, 2003 at 16:20
Wednesday, Jan 08, 2003 at 16:20
Yep...knew about the diffs ingesting water when heated up, gearboxes too.
The reason I asked is because I also follow the Isuzu Owner's
Forum on Edmunds Townhall, a US based
forum. There seems to be a lot of occurences of cracked blocks and heads over there after water crossings. All due to thermal shock after a sudden temperature change.
I often wondered what the Australian experience is.
FollowupID:
5804
Reply By: CJ - Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 18:25
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 18:25
$500 insurance of a
snorkel v. $15,000 engine rebuild - I'd go for the
snorkel anytime, and get the other benefit of cleaner air as a bonus.
You may consider removing the belt off your radiator fan - it becomes a propellor under the water and may propel into your radiator. Tarping up the front will also eliminate this, but get the
snorkel as
well is my advice!
Regards
AnswerID:
10752
Reply By: Craig - Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 19:12
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 19:12
Just got back from the Cape , save your
snorkel money for the trip and if you come
home with the money you`ll need it for new shockies.
Regards
Craig.
AnswerID:
10762
Follow Up By: Chris - Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 20:49
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 20:49
Craig, what brand of shock did you have?
Friend of
mine went to
cape york just after the wet, and was thankful he had a
snorkel, especially when the water came to window height...
FollowupID:
5748
Follow Up By: Craig - Monday, Jan 13, 2003 at 21:23
Monday, Jan 13, 2003 at 21:23
Chris,The shockies I had were Pedders unfortunatley I had already purchased then before I discovered this
forum and read a few unfavourable things,(Politicaly Correct way of putting it) about them.
Whilst we was up there , talking to the woman (forgot her name)that runs the ferry at the
Jardine,she and others said last years wet was not that bad and it was mentioned a couple of times that people ( the locals of that area) travelled back down to
Cooktown etc mid wet season for supplies with no problems.
We also found (2002)most of the crossing were down on previous trips.
I hope this info helps
Regards
Craig.
FollowupID:
6178
Reply By: Liz - Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 21:43
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003 at 21:43
fed, when are you thinking of going and what state do you live in? We are heading up there in July and our travelling companions have pulled out. We are in victoria Liz
AnswerID:
10778
Follow Up By: Fed - Thursday, Jan 09, 2003 at 13:21
Thursday, Jan 09, 2003 at 13:21
liz,we are meeting in
cairns july 8th? i think there is a group of 4 couples +kids. we live in n.s.wl
FollowupID:
5885
Reply By: Member - Melissa - Wednesday, Jan 08, 2003 at 17:27
Wednesday, Jan 08, 2003 at 17:27
Fed,
I did the Cape back in Jun '88 with a Vic 4WD Club. From memory, I think there were 7 vehicles, only 1 with a
snorkel. Had no trouble at all, just used blinds at a couple of the deeper crossings.
Also did the
CREB track thru
Daintree. Can be travelled in a good half day when dry. When we copped it, it had been raining steadily for several days. Track was a mess (just clay) and several deep crossings. Took us 2 days.
Snorkels just weren't necessary. BTW, I'm not anti-
snorkel...we've had them on other vehicles.
:o) Melissa
AnswerID:
10838