Oodnadatta Track
Submitted: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 17:16
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Member - Matt L (NSW)
Hi All,
I am just after some advice on the
Oodnadatta track. I am planning to travel up or down the
Oodnadatta track on my way to or from Uluru, I haven’t worked out the full itinerary details yet.
After reading some trek notes and sorted information I am lead to believe that the Gibber plains around
Oodnadatta are very unfriendly to tyres. Most notes say the gibber rocks are very bad.
My question is: are my Grand
Treks up to the task of this road. ?
I know a good set of AT’s would be better but my Grand
Treks only have 25,000 K’s on them and I would like to put a few more K’s on them before retiring them.
I also by coincidence only, have Grand
Treks on my trailer so it would be an expensive up grade.
I look forward to your comments.
Thanks,
Matt
Reply By: Brew69(SA) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 17:22
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 17:22
I have been amazed at how
well some Grand
Treks have coped on such roads despite their poor reputation.Tyre pressure on the gibber is your friend. To be honest I didn't find the track too bad last trip at all. Even saw a Mazda 626 when it was open to 4x4 only lol.
AnswerID:
170476
Reply By: Johnnotoo - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 17:40
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 17:40
Hi Matt
We did the
Oodnadatta track in Oct 2004. My 100 series cruiser and Goldstream 'off road' camper were all shod in standard
Dunlop Road Gripper 8 ply tyres. Pretty basic. The track is pretty much all largish gravel and can be sharp. The most important rule of course for these conditions is to keep your pressures down. We used 28-30 psi for both vehicle and camper which worked
well.
Check tyre pressures when hot , not cold! We used the Staun Tyre Deflators - easy. Also kept our speed sensible too.
Very interesting country. You will enjoy it I am sure. Some interesting characters.
johnnotoo
AnswerID:
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Reply By: David from David and Justine Olsen's 4WD Tag-Along - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 18:14
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 18:14
As the guys have already indicated, the tyre may not be the best choice, but there are plenty of 2wd tyres travel the road.
Low pressure is one of your friends, the other two are
1. Low speed
2. Low weight
Keep the speed down, keep the weight down and all will be
well. Oh and dodge the worst rocks when you see them :-)
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 18:38
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 18:38
David
Very
well put David, you hit the nail on the head ,I too was going to say almost identical especially about dodging the big ones , Brews69s comment about a Mazda 626 made me smile, He should have tried the track back in 1966 in a 1962 EK Holden, the track was just 2 wheel tracks,all the fetler camps were occupied and it made for an interesting journey,I don't have many photo's of the
Oodnadatta track but have a couple from my 1967 1st trip in May and the 2nd was in August same year, Site Link
check out the photo's on my web site in about 30 mins , I will add the 2 under the 2 bigger ones at the bottom of the page.
Doug
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Follow Up By: Brew69(SA) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 20:08
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 20:08
Great pics there Doug.
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Follow Up By: David from David and Justine Olsen's 4WD Tag-Along - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 20:48
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 20:48
In 1966 it would have been real frontier country, Fettlers camps, drrunken men and lots of night time entertainment of the worst kind. Would love to hear your stories from that trip.
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:01
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:01
David
Yep it was like the road ...rough I remember I slept in my car at
Curdimurka Siding overnight and about 6:30 a bell was ringing for Breaky and i was invited in for Eggs on toast , on the table was a small plate with about 7 slices of bread ,lol one corner had been nibbled away by the mice but thats all they had until the next Ghan so they ate it too , just one little piece of a vast amount memories I have David. Seen a fight/wrestle that went for 3 hours at the old 3ways , when they were pooped they went and drank together, 1967 and 1968 Isa Rodeo had to be seen to be believed, more action and fights outside the arena than in it . I better stop or i could go on for days
Doug
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Follow Up By: David from David and Justine Olsen's 4WD Tag-Along - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:07
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:07
I am out in the Isa some time in the next few weeks, if you are in town I'd like to catch up to hear the stories. Will be out at the SCF Acid plant for probably one day and one night.
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:10
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:10
phone 0427402878 when you get here and if i am not on a job will track you down
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Follow Up By: David from David and Justine Olsen's 4WD Tag-Along - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:11
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:11
Ta, will do
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:31
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:31
I just been snooping around in your advert section , very good and i notice you relish in Outback history, so did you read the Chubby story I post a week or so back,
a href="
http://members.westnet.com.au/dtilley/chubby.htm>Chubby
Keep an eye on my web site Outback page as I am going to add some real doozies soon.
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:32
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:32
this one might be better
members.westnet.com.au/dtilley/chubby.htm
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Follow Up By: David from David and Justine Olsen's 4WD Tag-Along - Thursday, May 04, 2006 at 07:32
Thursday, May 04, 2006 at 07:32
Yes I read it when you posted it originally, I just read the updated version now...jeez its a tear-jerker. Sad story.
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Reply By: mattie - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 18:20
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 18:20
Hi Matt
u will have no poblems, it is a road to call it a track is quite a joke!! If u continue through Mt Dare and up through Finke etc to Alice the worst thing is all the railway spikes between Finke and Maryvale but the owner of Mt Dare pub says he has never seen anyone come in with a flat caused by a spike. The road between Mt Dare and Maryvale is more of a track when we were last up there as there had been rain. Mt Dare is a great spot to camp.
Cheers Mattie
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Jiarna (NT) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 20:55
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 20:55
Hi Matt
I lived in
Oodnadatta for over 2 years, and found out the hard way that low tyre pressures are the answer. I finally ran 24psi in my 265/75 ATs and once I did that, I haven't lost a tyre since on gibber roads. Before that, I used to need at least one new tyre every trip up or down the Oodna Track. So don't worry about the brand - just run them soft.
Regards
John
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Follow Up By: Member - JohnR (Vic)&Moses - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:45
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 21:45
Happy Birthday John. Hope that Anita and the family are all pretty well there. I know you have moved further away up The Alice way I think. I was only thinking a couple of weeks back when we were following behind Des Lexic it had been a while since we had seen your Monika up.
Best wishes to you all though mate
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Reply By: Trevor M (SA) - Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 20:59
Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 20:59
The
Oodnadatta track (at least the section South of
Oodnadatta) is better thought of as a gravel road. I have had my Calais up most of it (and the rest wasn't because it wouldn't make it, simply that we went as far as we wanted to at the time).
I suggest the only issue may be if there has been a lot of rain (which has not been the case when I have been). If it is dry I would feel comfortable in basically any 2wd vehicle with street tyres (being sensible with speed of course).
Trevor
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Reply By: Member - Matt L (NSW) - Thursday, May 04, 2006 at 07:17
Thursday, May 04, 2006 at 07:17
Hi All,
Thanks for the advice, it is good to know that I don’t have to change my Grand Treks just yet.
I will lower the tyre pressure and head on up.
Regards,
Matt
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Thursday, May 04, 2006 at 20:55
Thursday, May 04, 2006 at 20:55
It's not a track, it's a six lane highway covered in rocks..... Michael
| Patrol 4.2TDi 2003
Retired 2016 and now Out and About!
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AnswerID:
170743
Reply By: Member - Vincent A M (NSW) - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 09:56
Friday, May 05, 2006 at 09:56
we did it last year & it is not a problem we meet 2 old couples that had just finshed up & back in there falcons (stock std) towing caravans not a problem
the old outback dirt rd std ( Do not have too much PSI & check your speed most people have far to much PSI & that is what causes the damage)
got 2 flats in the sand on the french line (simpson) both Nails
i allso did it in 70's on
dunlop bar treads with out a problem ( but got 6 flats on the tar)
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