Advice From you Pros out there for my Big Trip!!!!

3 Months, way too short........ but you will have a ball anyway, so enjoy.


What time of year do you plan to do this trip?

2005 Patrol if a 4.2 TD should be fine, if a 3ltr hand grenade, steer clear. You may have to look at an earlier Patrol to get the better engine. The better engine will be easier to resell also. You really only need a bull bar and a dual battery system. The rest is a nice to have. Tyre pressures and picking a good line are more important than extra diff locks etc. If road worthy when you buy it, you may not need new tyres. Sat phone is nice, but expensive, maybe consider a SPOT messenger or similar, hire a Sat Phone if you really want comms. Most of where you want to go is fairly accessible, just have to be careful in some places. Hope I have answered some of your questions.....

Gday Skip,
3 months is enough time to do your planned route, not everyone has a whole year to travel oz so we have to do it in the time we have. Ive done a similar trip in 7 weeks with a whole lot of driving everyday but we saw what we wanted to see.
On the issue of your expenses food 3.5k thats about $38 a day, a burger at some places are $10. Fuel 4k i'd add another grand at least depending on what 4wd you buy. Your trip you outlined will be about 20000km at worst scenario 14l /100km @1.76c/L average whole trip, $5000 diesel. I always work out my expenses at worst case scenario. If its only 2 of you id look at a diesel Hilux thats what ive been traveling Australia in for the past 26 years and they are cheap to run compared to a Patrol or cruiser. In the hilux non turbo model i was consistently getting 10.5 - 11 L /100km in a Patrol id say you'd be getting 12.5-14L / 100km. Thats what i own now 2012 gu8 3L CRD turbo Patrol. steer clear of early to mid 2000 Patrols, like the other fella said they tend to blow up.Thats why i recommend a early to mid 90's hilux 2.8l non turbo. You will find ones with lift kits, good offroad tyres canopy, long range tanks etc etc for under $13000 and they are easy to work on, oil & filter change every 5000km for diesels I traveled with bare arse necessity camping stuff, tent, 2 chairs, esky, gas cooker, head torch's etc etc

Hi Skippy,

You will have a great time, and you will find plenty to fill in 3 months but you wont have time to do more than just scratch the surface. You could fine tune your route a bit to see more of the special places. eg from Broken Hill turn north at Yunta and go up through the Flinders Ranges, through one of the gorges on the western side, then up to Maree and along the Oodnadatta Track to Marla. Closer to Alice maybe do side trips in to Chambers Pillar and in through Finke Gorge. If you run out of time after getting to Broome you could come back via the Tanami Track - you would miss out on the rest of WA but by the time you have got to Broome your head will be spinning with what you have seen anyway. Our blogs cover much of your proposed route so you might get extra ideas from them - click on the button beside my name at the bottom of this post.

Re your other questions: fuel in the more remote areas can be expensive so suggest add another thousand to cover extras there.

Food and grog - how long is a piece of string? Really it depends on how much you drink and eat takeaways or eat out. We cook most of our food ourselves and very rarely get takeaways, so we just have the cost of meat and groceries - and these can also be more expensive away from the bigger towns. Our food bill for a recent 2 month trip through remote WA and back across the Nullarbor would have been in the hundreds rather than thousands of dollars.

Accommodation is similar - your costs will quickly climb if you use cabins, motels or even some caravan parks. Alternatively you can do a lot of bush camping and keep costs quite low.

A general rule of thumb is that a trip costs about one dollar per kilometre but we usually find that we come in under that figure.

Some items that you don't seem to have included are for contingencies to cover unexpected vehicle issues like broken shocks, springs etc - or any of the myriad things that can go wrong with a vehicle in remote places. Also those special tourist things like flights and boat trips - there are a number along the route you are proposing and they are definitely well worth the cost. Our reasoning is that we spend a fair bit to get to those places and we may never be back so we had better make the most of the opportunities while we are there!

Diff breathers you can fit yourself for little cost - there will be a few water crossings along the Gibb (and the side tracks leading from it) so better to be sure than sorry. LS diff is all you will need. A snatch strap and long handle shovel should be all you need for recovery gear, just make sure you have proper recovery points on whatever vehicle you get.

Often you see vehicles for sale that are all set up for touring complete with fridges, cooking and camping gear. If you could find a vehicle like that you could at least save yourself some time chasing around after all that stuff that we carry with us on camping trips.

You dont say what time of year you are doing your trip - presumably in the winter months?

Hope that helps,

Cheers,

Val.

G'day again, forgot to mention Total Cover from one of the Motoring Organisations, RACV, RACQ etc, must have if you break down far from home.......... well worth the money if you need it. John

Hi UKSkippy, when are you due home, I Have a 4.2 1998 ready to go if you are interested and in melb.

G'day UKSkippy,

if you have your heart set on setting up with all the gear you noted, it might be an idea to get it all from the one place to get a decent discount.

I have no affiliation with the business, but a place like JTS, at www.jtsonline.com.au, might be able to give you an idea - or a scare.

Just a thought,

Steve

Just my opinion, but I don't reckon you need half that stuff for that route.
- 3mths is not long enough to do at a 'leisurely pace' Long enough to do it, but you can't dawdle.
- Since I personally wouldn't touch a 3lt Patrol with a bargepole, I'd be looking at something else. As you're not towing I wouldn't discount a petrol. It won't eat that much more fuel, you'll buy it for less, sell it for less, the difference probably not that much different from doing the same with a higher priced diesel. I have friends that did the majority of this trip in a Mazda Tribute towing a camper trailer and another in a Subaru Outback (towing a wind-up camper) so hard core diesel 4WD not mandatory.
- Might not need new tyres however one way of avoiding punctures is to have good condition tyres in the beginning so this will depend on what you get with the vehicle. I'd get the dual battery, a fridge (handy for beer and milk), tent (but not sure about those roof top things anyway, I'd go a simple tent), simple cooking stuff (gas bottle, burner, frypan & saucepan) but not the solar or sat phone.
- I'd forget the diff breathers unless you do them yourself. I did get mine done but have many relatives and friends that have done this trek without them. There's not that much water to cross.
- I don't know what the good places are that require hard core 4WD action.

Others will think otherwise, but as I said, just my opinion...

Three months will NOT be a leisurely pace Skippy. My theory is when you have a time frame to have an idea what your highest priorities are and look at those closest, thinking of the next stage if you have the time. Take it easy and enjoy, seeing places thoroughly, then approaching half way through the time, plot a different route home. It doesn't matter if you don't get far - you will have enjoyed it and had a relaxing time.

Motherhen

So as most people are saying the 80 or 100 series Landcruiser is as tough as nails and I should go for that, is that the same for the Prado version?

Is a 3.0L turbo deisel 2004 prado ok? Bearing in mind we would be towing and will only be roof top tent camping?

UkSkippy

You are making the wrong car choice - go for the petrol 4800 GU Patrol (2002-2010)

You will end up paying $2000 more for the fuel to run it , but could save that on deprecitation / service cost alone.

They sell for about $15 - $25K up to 2005 which should help your budget.

But beyond that they are probably one of the most reliable - powerful and smooth cars around with all the patrol strengths and then some but without the engine issues.

P.S. avoid buying one on gas - go for manual if you can get it