Considering travelling Mt Dare to Birdsville with camper trailer ?????

Hi Grant and Kirsten,

Just to clarify, my comments refer to crossing the Simpson with a trailer. It is much more do-able without a trailer.

Cheers,

John

Grant and Kirsten

I agree entirely with John's comments.

Many people have successfully towed camper trailers across the Simpson but many of these drivers were experienced in desert crossings, and knowledgeable on the low tyre pressure needed for desert travel. If the dunes a wet they are a lot easier to cross. A dry dune in the heat of the day can be almost impossible to climb.

I have a well set up Troopy and have towed a TVan and more recently an Ultimate across a lot of desert country and the biggest problem I found was the difficulty in climbing the face of a badly cut up (scalloped) dune. Frequently the trailer will start to bounce because of the scallops on the dune face and you have no choice but to lift your foot and try to get it settled again. In this situation it is unlikely you can continue your climb.

The additional stress on the vehicle by towing increases the chance of a mechanical failure.

Dave I assume it's next year during the season, as I imagine it's pretty close to being closed now anyway for the summer.

Grant....I did the Simmo last year in my Prado, pretty hard going (lot of fun) but without a trailer. The SA Government prefers no trailers BUT haven't banned them yet.

I was unfortunate enough to go through on the tail of a group of 21 T Vans, the Dunes were chopped up like you can't imagine.

We came up behind a guy pulling a trailer and he was doing it really tough, getting stuck on many occasions.

To be honest mate I wouldn't even think of it, but if you are prepared for (potentially) a but of digging, a bit of maxtraxing and maybe some winching it's doable.

You will also need to consider your fuel usuage, it will probably be plus 20-30% on the figures mentioned elswhere, BUT if you want to do it you can

Yes it would be early July next year. Yes both vehicles are well setup and both of us exprerienced.
I am hoping to have my other 2 sons in their 4x4's at least(also well set up no trailers) but they can not confirm yet .
i wont let my 1st son do it by himself.
I suppose my real question is if I need to do it what is the easiest route across the Simpson from Alice.
If my son is going to do it anyway, I wont let him go alone.
Grant

There's a myriad of routes, we went straight across (the most dunes)...you can divert, and in fact the trek notes on this website actually show this, to avoid some of the dunes.

http://www.exploroz.com/TrekNotes/Deserts/Simpson_Desert.aspx

Just as long as you are well aware that with a trailer it's going to be tougher going...doable (and not adviseable) but certainly tougher going and you'll use more fuel.

I have only been across once, maybe others that have crossed different routes mightbhave some more ideas

Agree 100% with above comments especially those relating to dune condition after nothing else tan power is used. Personally I crawled over in low range, and didn't have an issue but most with trailers had to charge over and the leftovers are not pretty!!!