Great Central Road
Submitted: Monday, Feb 07, 2011 at 12:49
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Tony A1
Hi we are considering driving the
Great Central Road from
Laverton WA to
Yulara NT in April 2011. Our vehicle is a 2008 Toyota AWD Kluger in good condition fitted with near new Bridgestone 245/55R19 Tubeless Radials. Can anybody give me advise on my vehicles suitability for that road. I will be taking a lot of safety gear, water fuel etc.
Reply By: Motherhen - Monday, Feb 07, 2011 at 13:28
Monday, Feb 07, 2011 at 13:28
Drive to the conditions and you should have no problems Tony
Although we had no tyre troubles on the Great Central or other similar inland roads, one couple we met lost three tyres in rapid succession and had to pay the price at
Warburton for a badly matching extra tyre. Let the tyres down to a comfortable level if the road is badly corrugated - it varies. We did have a bolt holding a caravan spring break which caused a bit of worry, but with the right spares we were soon on our way again.
Although we did not see all we could have as we were heading
home after a few months away, we found it an enjoyable trip. If have a blog on it in MyBlog section for 2008.
Motherhen
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Monday, Feb 07, 2011 at 13:31
Monday, Feb 07, 2011 at 13:31
Ooops - I have a blog - no ifs about it LOL
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Reply By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Monday, Feb 07, 2011 at 15:05
Monday, Feb 07, 2011 at 15:05
Hi Tony
The most important factor out there is to keep an eye on the weather, as if it comes in wet, stay put. Your vehicle will be no problems at all. You can fuel all along the way. I do not know if you are aware, but the 60 kilometre one way detour up to Empress Springs is
well worth the drive and you will find that this road is usually in far better condition than the GCR.
The 2
places that are better to stay are Tjukayirla and Warakurna.
The caves visit is also worth it at Tjukayirla, just ask Andrew for a mud map, or
check out my Trek notes here on EO. Another must is to see the weather balloon launch at the
Giles Weather Station.
Cheers
Stephen
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Reply By: Kanga1 - Monday, Feb 07, 2011 at 15:16
Monday, Feb 07, 2011 at 15:16
Tony, for most of the GCR through to about Warakurna the road is in pretty good shape (fast gravel/sand) from Warakurna to the blacktop at the Olgas is always Stoney and corrugated, the corrugations can be pretty horrendous. LT ( light truck ) tyre construction is better for that sort of road, get yourself a tyre plug repair kit (ARB $65) and when the road gets bad (corrugations) stop every half hour or so and have a walk around the vehicle, in case you have a slow
puncture, you will catch the tyre before it overheats and detonates, you will see plenty of tyres on the side of the road as a testiment to this, and a few badly smashed rims. Don't push too hard, particularly on the bad bits. Cheers, Kanga.
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Reply By: Wayne (NSW) - Monday, Feb 07, 2011 at 17:04
Monday, Feb 07, 2011 at 17:04
Tony,
As already stated the road should be OK.
The only thing that I would do is to take another spare tyre. A 245/55R19 is not a tyre size that would be sitting on the shelf at any of the roadhouses along the GCR.
Even if you just had the tyre that was not mounted on a rim. That would be better than trying to track down a tyre of that size.
Wayne
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