Standard $1000 trailer on Fraser Island

I used to take a 6 x 4 garden trailer to Fraser all the time. On the barge at Inskip then up the beach to a camp site anywhere south of the Maheno. No worries at all. I preferred this to having the roof rack piled high with gear. Except the trailer only lasted about five years due to rust. Remember they are only pressed sheeting and lightweight steel with crap suspension and second hand wheels and tyres. If I was doing this again, I would seriously look at an aluminium bodied box trailer to avoid the corrosion.

Cane Toad,

First a disclaimer: I have never towed a trailer on Fraser.

BUT Fraser's beaches at low tide are like driving on bitumen. Its very similar to Noosa North Shore / Teewah beach at low tide.

The inland roads are a bit bumpy, but those roads are done at low speed and they are not like hitting jarring potholes on a hard road.

If your Paj is NM onwards and so has traction control you will do it easy over all parts of Fraser, including the infamous Indian Head bypass track and the inland tracks (my NP did 10 trips in 2 years, no dramas). I would have thought that as long as your trailer isn't overloaded and the tyres down it will cope OK. Of course if the trailer weighs a ton and you try to drive on the edge of the dunes in soft sand at high tide, it's going to be a long trip.

Happy to be corrected / educated by those with CT / trailer experience. There may be something about trailer suspension that makes my assumptions about the firm sand and good 4WD making it easy, wrong.

Not sure from your post if you've spent a lot of time on Fraser, but my tip is go as far north as you can to avoid the crowds.

good luck

Ben

I towed a trailer across (from Hervey Bay) years ago. It hadn't rained for ages and the sand was extra soft.

On the trip back I had to keep the speed up to avoid bogging. The trailer was bouncing all over the place and eventaully the axle ripped off the trailer. This was due to it being a lightweight trailer and the spring hangers were only tack welded on.

I'd get a solid off roader.

Cheers,

Jim.

I was up there a couple of weeks ago towing a trailer. You should be fine. i saw an old caravan a fair few k's up the beach from inskip. if it can get there you will.

Cane Toad,

They tow 2+ tonne boats up to Waddy Point, and they only have the standard rims, tyres and suspension (makes it great for the rest of us as the centre of the track is graded flat). I have also seen (actually was driving behind) an on road caravan over there as well (going up to Waddy Point).

It can be done, but make sure you take it easy and as someone has said before if it is not aluminium or at the very least fully galvanised it will rust away in a short time (salt water will find it's way into every nook and cranny).

Me personally, I would buy a light offroad trailer with 15" wheels, eye to eye suspension, electric brakes and fully galvanised. They will be more expensive, but at least you can take it off road when you next go camping, and know that it will do the job confidently.

Hope this helps

Greg

Like many of the other replies -- i have towed a 6x4 standard trailer full of gear - so trailer would be about 700 KG / not on Frazer But on stockton beach - and through some super soft sand - no probs at all , in fact didn't even feel it - just watch the trailer in the very soft stuff as it tend to wonder in other car tracks , especially if it not the same wheel width as your car

just let tires down and you should be ok


Boc

As others have said, make sure it's galvanised. I've been towing various trailers to Fraser for years behind various Pajeros with no problems.

I am going to be the party pooper here.

While you might well get away with it I would say don't.

I tow a trailer almost everywhere I go. When on holidays I use a camper trailer as it is the only way I can get the family of 5 out in the bush. I had it on Fraser Island last October and it was great. My trailer cost me a lot of money, it is purpose built and very heavily built. I noticed in one reply mention of a total weight of 700kg well my trailer weighs in at 660kg empty.

If you take your domestic trailer to Fraser Island it will do everything you want it too and it will give you confidence to take it further afield and eventually it will break. When it does you will have four options.

1 Find a way to fix it where it is. This is at best difficult and time consuming. Weighting at William Creek for a week while a new axle comes up from Adelaide will really put a dent in your travel plans.

2 Recover the trailer yourself and get it to someone else to repair. But where do you put all the gear that was in the trailer in the first place. Once again the holiday is looking a bit of a right off.

3 Pay someone else to recover it. Hope your rich, if you can afford that then you can afford to buy an off road trailer now.

4 This is the one that gets us all upset. You chose to leave it where it broke, take the plates off it smash up the compliance plate etc so it can't be traced back to you and drive away. Your mates will probalby carry some of your gear for you and you can buy a new trailer when you get home. It's the smart option.

With any of these options you would have been better off if you'd bought an off raoder in the first place but the last one is the one I hate and so does everyone else, because as a trailer user I get blamed. I get banned and I get the hard time on forums like this.

Image Could Not Be Found

Sorry to be the wet blanket but if I can keep one broken trailer from littering the bush I will be happy, and it might mean that one more place remains open to trailers

Duncs

What I meant to say and what I should of said was the trailer would be towed from our home along the bitumen to the barge at inskip and once on Fraser it would be ditched for the entire duration of our stay at the campsite and only hitched up again for the return journey.

Not sure if this came across in my first post so just wanted to clear that up.

Thanks for all your replies guys.