Gunbarrel and Anne Beadell Highways

Keith,

I have travelled the AB twice, once in 2004 and again in July 2008. Both times with my CT in tow.

After the last crossing we discovered the track has increased traffic flows now, and because of this it is corrugated from end to end without any letup.
One CT in my group last trip broke both sets of springs on his trailer, but we were lucky enough to repair it to get it to Kalgoorlie.

If you decide to take your trailer, make sure it has good suspension, tyres and is well constructed.

Enjoy the trip, it is a great piece of our magic country. We will do it again in the future.

Geoff.

Keith

We did the Gunbarrel last year with our Trackabout Safari in tow and it handled the conditions very well with no breakages or trouble.

The GBH was shocking with an average speed af approximately 13 km / hr for quite a lot of it as the corrugations were so bad. My wife swore that the next time I wanted to do a trip like this I was on my own or on a boys trip.....ahhh such is life :)

Keith


Make sure your CT is strong enough. (there was a post on here a couple of weeks ago about Outback Trailers...do a search)

Keep your tyre pressures low and keep your speed low and you should be OK

You are probably looking at around 2000km plus of solid corrugations.

If you have dentures make sure they are glued in....LOL


Cheers

Keith,
did the Gunbarrel and Heather Hwys last year in September, have a 1994 GQ Nissan Patrol Ute, the leaf springs were new and heavy duty and the shockies front and rear were brand new, there was myself, a mate and one of my dogs, the Gunbarrel is a heavily corrugated track with many side tracks that are just has corrugated, if coming east to west once you reach the Wiluna Shire Boundary the track had been graded right through until Carnegie Station. If towing a C/T make sure everything is in good working order you will see evidence along the track of trailers that did not make it for one reason or another.

I dont know if you intend entering the Gunbarrel via the Heather Hwy, which is roughly about 40km long and it is the worst corrugations I have ever seen, it took us about 3 to 4 hours to do the Heather Hwy going in a southerly direction.

We then joined the Great Central Hwy and drove to Alice Springs then the Tanami and finally the Gibb River Road finishing in Broome.


Cheers
Mark

I'll be through that way July-August this year. The summer rains will make everything very nice - except the track...........so many corrugations you'll be excited for days. The CT will survive if it is (as with all the other comments above) in very very good condition and everything is tied down properly. rgds

The eastern end (SA) of the AB is the worst.
Come up from Nullabor to Vokes Hill and go west to miss the worst.
Towed a boat that way in 2007. No drama.

Have not seen the GBH since 1995. Don't think I want to either.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

I've travelled the SA side of the Anne Beadell Hwy seven times in recent years, and the corrugations don't bother me, but I don't tow.

Seen lots of other vehicles and trailers with issues - leaking water tanks, broken springs, 2 rollovers, bullbars fallen off, as well as the usual stuff. The only total battery failures I've seen have been here too. But with common sense, preparation and good equipment, you'll be OK.

My advice is the same as Willem - lower your tyre pressures (I usually run 20-25 psi on my Landcruiser) and keep the speed down. One of the rollovers was a guy pulling a trailer just west of Emu and was keeping the speed up to "iron out the corrugations".

Its pretty isolated in parts, and on the SA side, almost impossible to get a vehicle retrieved. I travelled the Gunbarrel and Heather Highways in 2005, and they were almost as bad as parts of the Anne Beadell Hwy.

Late last year there was a lot of petroleum exploration going on on the SA side - sometimes you get a nice surprise and some mining company grades a track for you. If you want to miss the worst corrugations, take the road up from Nullabor to Voakes Hill - it is a great drive and was mostly graded last year.

Cheers
phil