Back from the Canning & beyond

Submitted: Thursday, Oct 01, 2009 at 04:13
ThreadID: 72655 Views:5196 Replies:3 FollowUps:4
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Hi all
Glad to be home again, I was all "holidayed out", but am already planning our next trip.
We did the the tip with sensational people, namely Viv & Ray from East Buelah (Vic) and a workmate, Bailes, from Leongatha (Vic) .. Thanks a million guy's

Tyre perssure may, and previous Desert driving experience, may have been the telling factor. No dune was too hard, and as I said in a post from Home Valley Resort, on the Gibb River Road, 12 psi in the front, 15 psi in the rear, and 12 on the camper. We were never in a rush, and all vehicles just eat up the dunes, and everything else.

Must have done our homework properly, as none of us found the Canning all that hard. It was certainly a challenge, and that Stock Route chucks everything at you, but no problems.

Forget about the fact that we all did sustain some damage, and am rectifying all that, we had a ball.
Damage sustained on our vehicle alone,
1) Long range fuel tank, cracked welds, and will get replaced next Thursday, (thanks for sensational backup to Kevin at Brown Davis)
2) 2 battery's (both in the mighty Patrol)...Fixed
3) Electric brakes, (I smashed trailer plug, on the Gibb, and patched it, to get home, plus stuffed the magnets. (working on that yesterday & today)
4) Drain plug on bottom of radiator, (basically fell to bits)... have new plug, and will fix when I figure out how th get it out without damaging the bottom tank
5) Small crack in the side wall of the Track Shak, to be welded up real soon.


Not bad at al considering that we did approx 14,000 kms (plus) on the worst roads in the country.

Caught up with Hairy (finally) and his family, in the Alice, and had Pizza's and a few beers with them, Cheers Guy's, and we will cross paths again.
Great shed mate !.

On the way home we dropped in on Willem, and his lovely Mrs, and thanks for the quick chat, and cuppa guy's, it was great.

The mighty Patrol has been detailed on the inside, and it came up real nice, but the outside will have to wait, for a while, as I am not too sure if I want to see the scratches. Did the full service yesterday, and have packed up 85% of everything.

I have 12 gig of video (that's 3 DVD's maybe) and 2600 pictires, so I am in edit (and fix it) mode, for the next 3 months.
Already have done 1 DVD, but maybe I will rework that one just a little, and include some "Bucky Bloopers"
Cheers
Bucky








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Reply By: Member - Phil B (WA) - Thursday, Oct 01, 2009 at 06:15

Thursday, Oct 01, 2009 at 06:15
Glad you had a great trip over in the west. Sadly minor damage is part and parcel of remote travel.

Re your radiator plug. Has the knob broken off leaving a piece of the plastic bung inside?
if so heat up a screw driver flat blade - push it into the remains of the bung - wait for it to burn a slot then wait for the bung to cool. When cool try unscrewing this has worked for me twice before.
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AnswerID: 385283

Follow Up By: Member - Bucky, the "Mexican"- Thursday, Oct 01, 2009 at 06:22

Thursday, Oct 01, 2009 at 06:22
Phil B

Yeah Mate, thanks for the tip though, will try anything, but gotta be smart about it, as I do not want to wreck the lower tank thread.

I have the replacement plug. All I have to do is to find the appropiate screwdriver, and I will be looking at a rather small bladed one, as the plug is not very large at all.
Wish me luck

Cheers
Bucky


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FollowupID: 652984

Reply By: Robin Miller - Thursday, Oct 01, 2009 at 07:43

Thursday, Oct 01, 2009 at 07:43
Good to see you had a relatively easy trip Bucky , you wil have to tell us more,, how much fuel you used etc.
We hope to do it next year but will only have 2 weeks.

A few of those tanks have had splits , but it sounds like aftermarket service was there, will be hoping to get away with couple of jerries ourselves.
AnswerID: 385287

Follow Up By: Shaker - Thursday, Oct 01, 2009 at 09:39

Thursday, Oct 01, 2009 at 09:39
We just returned from the Gunbarrel, CSR & Tanami, Discovery TD5 towing a camper trailer, average for the trip was 15.5 litres per 100km for the 10,000km trip from Victoria.

We also didn't find it overly hard although it was very hot, mid 30s to 40 degrees.
Our damage included:

1 puncture ... (plugged on vehicle)
Both side steps broke their brackets & fell down, necessitating removal.
2 Batteries ... (6 in total for our group of 4 vehicles)
Miscellaneous stone chipping & scratches. (Impossible to avoid)
Waeco fridge ... Retired hurt, (Lucky it was back up only to the Engel)

Tyre pressures once we hit the dunes were:
Front ... 10psi
Rear ... 15psi
Trailer ... 12psi



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FollowupID: 652993

Follow Up By: Member - Bucky, the "Mexican"- Friday, Oct 02, 2009 at 05:07

Friday, Oct 02, 2009 at 05:07
Shaker

Our pressures were
12 psi front,
15 psi rear
12 psi camper.

Note all pressures were taken hot, so the set up was a bit sloppy for the first couple of km, till everything heated up.

Nothing really posed us a problem

I bugdeted for 4 km/lt andgot nearly 5km/lt, Carried 340 lts

240 lts from Cernegie to Well 23 fuel drop
240 lts from Hall's creek to Well 33

the bit between Well 23 and Well 33 I am not sure, as I took on 120 lts only, but that seen us to Marble Bar, via Carawine Gorge, Nullagine, and Skul Springs Rd.
I got 148 lts at Marble

Now all this is too technical for me, but I was plesently suprised, with my economy.
I give up on the way to Alice, via the Oodnadatta, and Painted Desert, as no matter which way we turned, there was a strong head wind.
All up loaded weight was 4.7 tonne

Cheers
Bucky


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FollowupID: 653095

Reply By: Hairy (NT) - Thursday, Oct 01, 2009 at 09:29

Thursday, Oct 01, 2009 at 09:29
Gday Bucky,
Glad to hear you had a safe trip.
Have to catch up for another beer one day....Cheers
Hairy
AnswerID: 385298

Follow Up By: Member - Bucky, the "Mexican"- Friday, Oct 02, 2009 at 04:53

Friday, Oct 02, 2009 at 04:53
G day Mate

Things are good, down Wonthaggi way. and I have to scamper in a minute, as I have to go to work.
Been off on holidays since July 20, and funds are low, not out just low.

Had a great trip, and was indeed fun. Never mind the colateral damage, that's just part of the fun, it's how you get out of it. Now that's the challenge.

I have done 1 DVD already ( draft only ), and a lot of the clean up work is finished.

Cheers
Bucky
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FollowupID: 653094

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