Trailers On The Simpson

Can you take them? - Yes
Should you take them- In my view, No
Why? In short it aint worth the hassle.

I took mine over back in 2000. It was very hard on the trailer and would I do it again. Defintely not! But with the right approach and ability you can do it. Heaven forbid if something goes wrong with it out there

I agree, Yes you can, and no you shouldn't.
If they are your friends, keep it that way, wave them a happy goodbye at the start, and promise to buy them a beer at the finish, but DON'T travel together!!
The sand has been getting softer, the tracks not maintained at all (literally), and the traffic has increased significantly, and trailers make it worse.
Also, we are ALL asked not to by the Parks people, and advised no to by those who know (like the poor sods who have to rescue people every year).
So the fact that you can, must not be taken as a reason why you should.
I've seen on several trips the delays and angst caused by a 4WD with trailer, needing towing over dune after dune, chewing up the countryside.
Don't do it!

Don't Do It!

As with most other here, I agree don't take a trailer.

Latest Parks Bulletin click here

Although the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife do not ban trailers, the do suggest.....

"The use of trailers in the Simpson Desert is strongly discouraged.
Serious damage can be caused to vehicles and the environment, and difficulties are likely to result".

I have heard the recovery cost for trailers is $4000.

hi

the year before last when our group was at big red coming out of the simpson we watched a diesel Pajero tow a Kimberely camper over the top on
his second attempt , one of our group had a 100 series with inter cooled/ turbo , diff locks etc took 4 goes to get over . make sure you run very low tyre pressures on ya trailer as well as ya 4wd ,make sure ya trailer is in good solid condition .
mechpete

To balance the discussion I'll play the devils advocate ;-)
A suitably prepared trailer towed by a suitably capable 4by with a suitably experienced driver will cross the desert with minimal trouble & no damage to the evironment. In fact many often cross far easier than some ill prepared souls not towing.
Consideration should include the strength of the trailer, robustness of the suspension, weight being towed, drawbar length, power of the tow vehicle, overall ground clearance, additional spare parts, sand driving & towing experience of the driver. Being in a group recoveries can be done quickly thereby avoiding holding up other drivers.
The desert in the past two years has changed somewhat with the track often deviating or dissapearing altogether on many of the crests so reports from drivers from years gone by including fuel useage or how easy it was should be taken as no longer accurate.
An option if not sure of the suitability of towing would be to go on a test drive to somewhere like the Big Desert or Stockton Dunes for a practice in a less critical area or leave the trailer at Birdsville for example then do a double crossing using a tent.
If your friends have ticked all the above box's I see no reason not to cross with a trailer.
Cheers Craig............

like has been said already, yes it can be done but i personally would not bother as it makes the trip alot harder then need be, but each to their own.
we just returned from out there a week ago and saw several vehicles towing trailers, speaking to one driver he did it relatively easily, though needed to be snatch recovered once by another member in is group. the other vehicle was a lone traveller and i would not have wanted to be him personally myself when he got nearer Poeppel Cnr. about 10 - 15 klms west of Poeppel Cnr the sand was pretty soft about a week and a half ago, i reckon it will only be getting worse by now.
i have a mate who was out there with us last week and he has towed a trailer across the desert twice on previous trips, he says he'll never do it again.
so in short...yes it can be done, but be prepared for when they get stuck, because chances are they will somewhere, and possibly quite often if conditions are softening up out there.

I came across the Simpson in '02 and saw two camper trailers at different locations that had been abandoned and stripped, an expensive way to finish a trip !

Rob.

I found towing a trailer across the Simpson stopped me from becoming airborne while cresting the dunes.

There are trailers and then there are TRAILERS. Are you guys talking about a Box Trailer with a Tent on top (Camper Trailer) I would have thought these would be no problem. ?????

I recon some of the bigger so called off road Trailers would be a hassle.

Cheers
Wayne B

Dunworkin

Whe people told me it was stupid to take a trailer on the CSR. I listened to what they had to say.

Then I considered a few things

1) I have a track Shak, with very good independant suspension

2) I am prepared to drop tyre pressures. Actual pressures for the entire Canning were as follows...... ( hot) 12 front, 15 rear, and 12 in the camper.
Never had any issues with the big dunes, as the Patrol just ate them up, with those pressures. Never got stuck once... Thanks to me being prepared to drop the pressures, from previous experience, and also listening to a talk from Joel Flemming, at Alice Springs, prior to leaving

We did the CSR in 2 bites .. from well 5 to 33... then out thru the Pilbra, the Gibb, and the Bungles, .....
From Billiluna to well 33 ( in mid sep. when it was hot, and the dunes were very soft)

3) I was heavy ( 4.7 tonnes) but better spread over 6 wheels, tha, 3.5 - 4 tonnes over 4 wheels.

4) fuel economy.. I allowed 4 km/lt, but a more realistic figure was 5.2, as with low tyre presures, I did not need to rev motor over 2000 revs, going up the dunes, and on the flat we just ticked along.

The rest is history

Cheers
Bucky