Help! Travelling around Australia

and i'm in Perth.

Unless you were planning to do the Canning SR, Simpson etc or similar towing your CT, the only thing worth considering may be improved suspension.

Why do you need a second vehicle battery, doesn't the TrackShak have a battery?, perhaps upgrade it?

Why do you need twin wheel carrier? extra weight to drag around (again unless you are doing CSR). Better off spending your $ on decent tyres for the vehicle.

Why do you need a LR fuel tank, (unless you are doing long distance remote travel), doesn't the Trackshak have 4 Gerry can holders.

Spend you moneyy on having your vehicle in good order with good Light Truck tyres.

Is your post for real?

Thanks Mark,

I am serious, haven't travelled much, was hoping to get some ideas of stuff I would need.

Would like to do the CSR, but dont know, What are some descent tyres to get.

Hi Will

Do you have an idea of what types of roads you will be on?
I travelled around for 6 months and the only changes I made to the Hilux was a bullbar, snorkel and new AT tyres. I did not need the snorkel, but it was nice to know it was there. The bullbar was not used, but it was close a few times. The roos and emus don't care if its night or day. I had 2 jerry cans and the factory fuel tank and that was enough. I travelled through the Kimberly's, the Pilbara, the Gulf Country and inland to Birdsville.

I also had recovery equipment. You can spend a lot of money doing up your 80"s, but think about first.

Remember to have the vehicle serviced for an outback trip, check out the CT top to bottom.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE GOOD TYRES, and a min of 2 spares.

Have a great trip.
Wato

Hi Mike,

Perhaps give us a bit more of an idea about where you want to go and for how long. If you plan on really remote area travel you may need to do a lot of preparation, but if you are sticking to the more standard routes a stock standard vehicle would be fine, although I cant comment re suspension.

You say you are on a budget and fairly new to this so I suggest opt for the least number of extras as many of them probably will not be really necessary.

We have a couple of blogs that you may find useful including one on electricity for camping here

Have a look at ours and other Member's Profiles where (for people who have put in relevant details) you can get some idea of how others have set up their vehicles.

A couple of things you have not mentioned: UHF radio for local communication and either HF radio or Satphone for long distance comms. There is a good article on the different types of comms systems (under the Topics button in the blue bar at the top of the page).

Another thing to think about, especially if you are planning on going remote is whether some 4WD training would be useful, if you have not already done so.

Last thing (again if you have not already done so) is to do a number of short trips to build up experience.

Apologies for some of these points not being related specifically to your vehicle but from experience there is a fair bit more to long distance travel than just adding stuff to the vehicle.

Cheers,

Val.

Hi all again,

Thanks for all the information, I taking a year off from work and travelling the whole north end and will be doing remote travel.

I got a UHF radio, and will definitely be getting offroad training and doing some trips over the next 6 weeks.

Thanks for all the extra info.

Mike

Hullo Mike
A lot of good advice above
From my point of view only - I have a 80 Series GXL FTD auto - I would think seriously about a
- 3" exhaust for better fuel economy or power
- 2" lift with aftermarket suspension if you are going off the beaten track (I would not bother about airbag suspension with a trakshak)
- roof rack for 2nd spare tyre and sundry light things but not fuel - I have a Rhino combination with flat alloy tray and long basket on the LHS for Oztent
- UHF radio
- HF or sat phone (each has advantages) + SPOT
- recovery gear, the extent depending on where you are going and season. BTW, if you are fit and healthy, a hand winch can be very useful eg, Tirfur
- second (isolated) battery in vehicle. In addition to dual batteries in LC, I have one battery in C/T and with solar panel, find this is fine running fridge and LED lights for a couple of days camping before needing boost from engine alternator
- drawer system with cargo barrier and 65 ltr Enmach water tank

Bound to be more but these are the ones that immediatley come to mind :-)
Cheers
Andrew

Hi Mike, Yolu have picked a great rig to travel in. Personally unless your doing some really remote areas you won't need a longrange tank. We travelled for 3 yrs with a camper trailer. We had 2 Jerry cans and the normal tank on the cruiser. We did the Kimberlies, down through the centre. Out the back of Roxby downs. Birdsville track, cape york, kakadu etc and never needed extra fuel. Just fuel up whenever possible and don't be silly by not fuelling up in a remote area cause it's to expensive. It's a lot more expensive to get towed.
Depending on where your going but I would reccomend 2 spares.
I not a big fan of airbag in remote areas cause if they punture it is a problem. Others will disagree. I would put good quality (heavy duty) sprigs and shocks in. Agin depends where you are going but if travelling alone get a winch. We had the repco winch, cost around $600. We never had any trouble with it and it pulled us out of some big holes. Depending how remote you go but I would suggest a UHF radio and maybe epirb or sat phone. You can hire sat phones for short periods if going remote only occasionally.

Hope this helps
Josh

Mike,
A lot depends on where you plan to go of course

I've got an 80 Series pretty much the same as the one you described. This is what I did for remote travels not necessarily in order of importance: The over-riding concern to me was to keep the weight down as much as possible. I put my vehicle over a weight bridge and registered 2.8 ton. If you put too much weight in you will need to look at upgrading your coils.

-Snorkel
-Replaced OEM shocks for Koni's;
-Added Airbags to rear coils - great addition and no trouble at all.
-Dual batteries. If yours is a diesel then you can go to Toyota and buy the battery holder for a petrol version that just bolts in on the drivers side. Dual batteries are great for running fridges and other paraphernalia without flattening the cranking battery. I have 8 power points inside the van for fridges, chargers, gadgets. I wired my own and made a few silly decisions (impractical rather than wrong) but it never failed and worked a treat.

- Redarc battery isolator. Now days a Redarc DC to DC charger may be a better option.

- took only 1 spare but had tyre repair kit and never got a puncture. Learn about dropping tyre pressure for different road conditions.
- Snatch strap set up including shackles and tree protectors
- Good first aid kit and a knowledge on how to handle emergency situations;
- CB radio
- I highly recommend an eprib if you are going really remote and especially if going solo (just your vehicle).
Consider a Sat phone

Rear storage box. Essential for oprganising stuff and making life eqsier by having access to everything without unloading stuff to get to other stuff.

4 oil filters, 10 litres of oil, two fuel filters, two air filters (washable), spare fan belts.

I survived quite easily with the two tanks already in the vehicle and I was towing a caravan. Again extra fuel is extra weight. Long range tanks are great but there are weight considerations.

In can't recommend contacts as I don't live in WA, but the 12 volt shop may be a good start or do the internet buying thing (ABR sidewinder for electrics).

Goodluck
WBS

Hi Mike,

My husband and I started out in Perth for a big lap in 2004. We had a petrol NS Pajero, but were not towing - just using a tent. The modifications we made to it were:

Bullbar
Tough Dog shocks and air bag suspension upgrade - necessary for us because of the amount of stuff we had in the car
Window tinting (not really necessary, done to keep the Waeco fridge in the car a bit cooler.
Snorkel, again not really necessary for a petrol, done to help with dust
UHF and EPIRB
Cargo Barrier - a must for us because we had the back packed up so much
Roof rack - necessary for lighter items such as camp chairs, plus our second spare wheel
Dual Battery with battery isolator- again necessary for us because we were running a Waeco in the car
Recovery gear including a hand winch. None of the recovery gear was used, but I wouldn't go without it

We investigated a long range fuel tank but decided against it because for the $$$ spent it was not going to give us that much extra fuel storage. We had a couple of Jerry cans for extra if necessary, but didn't end up needing them really because we couldn't do some remote stuff we had planned because of a late season cyclone.

We had the suspension done at Opposite Lock in Perth, the Snorkel and Bull Bar done at ARB in Perth. Can't remember where we had the dual battery and isolator done - either at Opposite Lock or by a 4WD mechanic. The roof rack was from Jaram in Welshpool.

We now have a diesel NS Pajero and a camper trailer. If we were to set it up for a similar trip, I would upgrade the suspension, add a snorkel and a second spare wheel and that would be about it. It already has a bull bar, cargo barrier, battery isolator (just to stop the camper draining the car battery) and a UHF. We have three jerry can holders on the trailer, so would use those for extra fuel if necessary. Our camper trailer has 2 batteries plus a solar panel.

Hope this helps. We learnt that we spent too much on our first car (you don't get it back when you sell it), and that we took too much stuff!!

Happy travels

Leanne

Hi,

I have a track shack and travelled oz extensively. The draw bar i was able to lay a spare flat in front of the vertical spare. Having the trailer tyres the same as the vehicle this gave me 3 spares.

The T/S can carry 12 jerry cans, i used 4 for water and the rest for fuel. filling only when needed. A tanami pump for fuel transfer is also a life saver.

The suspension is a must do upgrade, gives a better ride when fully loaded.

Forget a roof rack, you will have heaps of room between the 2 vehicles, they just up your fuel consumption.

A snorkel is also a must, i came across places if i didn't have a snorkel i wouldn't have got in.


Col

Hi all,

I would like to say a big thank you, for everyone that has posted.

I feel alot better about the trip now and i have a better idea of what i need for the trip.

Again Thanks.

Mike