Vehicle tips for Canning

Hey Paul,

you'll find plenty of info for your trip preparation here on the site. The Canning corrugations are something to behold and make the trip a test of endurance at times. If it can vibrate and move on your vehicle, then it has a chance of falling off. Make sure that you check every mount, nut and bolt to ensure they are secure.

Good shocks and suspension are essential as are good tyres and a compressor to ensure that you can regulate your tyre pressures as necessary. I've just done 14.5 km in teh new VDJ79R cab chasis with no engine problems what so ever.

You should be able to guage the condition of the canning and its subsequent effect on your vehicle from the videos in these blog links (compiled last year). member Bucky has also posted some Video in his blogs from his Canning trip last year.

Hope it helps.

Cheers Mick


Canning around Well 50

Canning around Well 38

Canning corrugations up close & personal

G`day Paul,
Something not mentioned very often.
Fit New Batteries of the most rugged/strongest brand and type you can get.
On my recent trip the batteries I went with (not new) didn`t stand the constant hammering/vibration from the rough conditions, they both shorted internally, I replaced one at Alice Springs and the other at Birdsville.
The repair people in these places say it`s a common fault with "ordinary batteries", they are just not built for rough conditions of this degree.

Regards,

Scrubby.

Took my (back then) new girlfriend on our (her first) first camping trip on the Canning in 2005.

We are still together and my tips are-

- eat as well on the last night as you do on the first
- Enjoy the journey
- plan and prepare
-travel as light as practical



Have fun

Many issues on the CSR. Mostly to do with attitude.

A good attitude is most important followed by vehicle and then camping gear.

On the trip in July I observed a few people thrashing the guts out of their vehicles when they should have been on holiday enjoying themselves. Be prepared to take time and not become preoccupied with getting there or packing quicker each morning or travelling longer each day etc. Plan a rest day or do nothing day every so often. It will allow time to do some repairs and catch up. The do nothing day will likely be a busy day but a relief from endless travel.

The trip is very long. Nursing the vehicles is very important. Even minor things going wrong can be big hassles as there are no service stations to limp into.

The vehicle you have is similar to mine. I have Koni 82 series shocks but otherwise is mechanically stock. I found the corrugations to be a great challenge. There was no speed I could comfortably drive over them so took it slow. High range second and third gear at low revs was the norm. I accepted that I drove slower than most (maybe all) the other vehicles but I was happy enough to do that. It seems the station wagon Cruisers and Patrols can travel a bit faster then the trayback with standard springs over much of the corrugations so don't try and keep up with them. The sand dunes can be a challenge if they are chopped up but are much easier than those typical of the Simpson Desert.

Travelling too fast can blow shocks, and wreck suspensions and crack chassis. Saw all this stuff happen to others.

I got through the Canning with only some paint scratches. Travel mate had one flat, a nail and lost a mudflap. I would recommend a full tyre repair kit including R & R Beadbreaker and spare tubes and know how to use it. One can never know how many flat tyres there will be.

As others have said travel light. This means some comfort items need to be left at home. Fuel can be purchased along the way so there is no need for carrying lots of fuel.

Technically the CSR was not a difficult trip. It does require a fair bit of discipline to deliberately travel slow day after day and to nurse the vehicle.

Morale is improved by a good cook, good food and cold beer. Ice cream is a very sort after item in the middle of the desert, so I found.

Flynnie

Paul
The Canning is an endurance event.
So double check all nuts and bolts, hoses, clamps.
Put on new hoses, and fan belts, before you go , and take the old ones as the spares.

The main thing is to not be afraid to drop your tyre pressures right down, and leave them there for the full length, and then some, and slow right down, 50 km/ hr is max speed. there is no minimum.

Our tyre pressures were 12 front, 15 rear, and 12 on the camper

Take your time and enjoy your adventure.

Do not take the long run ups, up the dunes, there is no need to, even if towing.

Hopefully, you will be doing it with some mates, so yak your heads off, on the UHF's. This is what I call the "safety factor", that other people will at least know there are other travellers out there.

Enjoy the experience
Cheers Bucky