Big West -> East trip

akpv · Post by **akpv** » Sat May 11, 2013 12:53 pm

Planning a bit of a drive leaving in 2 weeks time. Rough plan at this stage is

Perth - Karijini - Great Central Road - Uluru - Oodnadatta Track - Lake Eyre - Strezleki Track - Camerons Corner - Sydney (ish)

Depending on road conditions I may reduce the amount of dirt as I have a fairly tight schedule so can't afford too many low km days. I have got the permits already for the above.

http://goo.gl/maps/pLX2d

If any one who has done some of these sections and has some must sees let me know, any information appreciated.

Also be interested to hear peoples thoughts on any spares worth taking. I have a 2000 forester and plan on doing fluids and plugs before I go. Ill throw in some oil, cable ties and a 20L jerry. Ill also throw in a tyre plug kit and other basic tools. Any other suggestions would be great.

Post by **yarney** » Sat May 11, 2013 6:20 pm

Sounds like a great trip
I would take a spare cv shaft or at least spare boots and tools to suit
Have a good time take plenty of photos

Jan

akpv · Post by **akpv** » Sat May 11, 2013 6:54 pm

Not a bad suggestion. I actually have a couple of spare boots, bands and tools so I may as well chuck them in.

Post by **TOONGA** » Sat May 11, 2013 7:10 pm

and a snorkel and goggles going by the rain report for the top end

have fun looks like a great trip.

TOONGA

akpv · Post by **akpv** » Sun May 12, 2013 10:27 am

I play underwater hockey so I never go anywhere without my mask and snorkel.

Post by **TOONGA** » Sun May 12, 2013 10:48 am

akpv wrote:I play underwater hockey so I never go anywhere without my mask and snorkel.

a very breath taking sport

28 day forcast says low to mid chance of rain in the NT, they may as well do long range forcasting with a chocolate wheel

TOONGA

60766244 · Post by **60766244** » Sun May 12, 2013 1:41 pm

That's a hellova trip!

Haven't driven through the interior yet but it's on my list.

You'll love Karijini! One of my favourite places.

Subscribing with hope for many photos.

akpv · Post by **akpv** » Thu May 16, 2013 12:22 pm

I have pulled a spark plug out of my forester a few times for inspection, always pull the front drivers side plug as it is easiest to access without removing anything. Last night pulled a few other leads, looks like my plug tubes seals need doing. A fair amount of oil in 3 of the 4. Glad I had a look last night, gives me time to arrange parts for the weekend. Was pleasantly surprised by genuine part prices. Total cost for 2 rocker cover gaskets, 4 plug tube seals and 10 bolt seals was about $120 (I assume this is without any trade price / discount). Although this is not amazingly cheap I thought it was pretty reasonable for genuine parts compared to what I have experienced in the past. Have subaru parts dropped their prices with the strong aussie dollar?

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » Thu May 16, 2013 4:08 pm

I did the oodnadatta , Strezleckie and Birdsville tracks plus Camerons Corner in June last year. I spent nearly 5 weeks out there and loved it so much i can't wait to get back out there. You will have a ball. Don't for get to take a fishing line as the Yellow Belly in Cooper Creek at Innaminka are good eating

NachaLuva · Post by **NachaLuva** » Thu May 16, 2013 4:41 pm

That does sound very cheap

I'd take spare radiator & heater hoses, belts, coolant, hose clamps of various sizes, fencing wire or a few steel coat hangers, rope & toolkit. Also your recovery kit in case you need to get someone else to pull you out.

Most important of all...your camera & sense of humour if it gets really wet

tony · Post by **tony** » Sat May 18, 2013 12:39 am

I wouldn't bother with spare cvs or axles, if one goes you usually get thousands of ks before it actually breaks, as for boots just wrap thick canvas or plastic around them tpo protect them, if you are not going to go into real tiger country you are unlikely to damage them and even then they will still go for mles .
tools..go through the tool kit and chuck out any that don't actually fit your car, most tool kits contain several that don't fit and they just add unnecessary weight,a tip for water which i use is to save up the bags that go in wine casks, wash them out and use them for your drinking water. they are tough, are suitable for drinking water, and can be frozen solid in just about any shape to suit storage, they weigh nothing when empty and store away easily, so you don't have empty containers taking up space.
ask your local tavern they usually use a larger one for the house wine which holds a bit more.
if the taste of wine is not to your liking see the chemist he can advise what to use to clean it out.
one of those folding shovels is handy, and a simple test probe from big W or malz wll only cost $5 or so and can be worth its weight in gold for electrical problems.
if you go through a lot of spinifex make sure you stop and clean the underneath of the car every now and then it can bulk up and catch fire.
A jacking block of about 50mm x 200 x 200 wood (a chunk of 12mm aluminium is not that expensive, is lighter and takes less space) can literally save your life in soft sand, never never use one of those standard scissor jacks they will kill you they are so unstable. get a wind up with a long collapsible handle.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Sat May 18, 2013 12:41 am

Second the snorkel, as the rains have started up here in NQLD, way way way late this year. When i was out there last year (Townsville to Alice Springs the scenic way) the roads are not to fun or very fun depends on your outlook when they are muddy.

akpv · Post by **akpv** » Sat May 18, 2013 6:27 pm

Thanks tony, some good suggestions there. Im well versed with the use of wine casks, I use them a lot for kayak and bushwalk trips, the house wine tip is a good one. I agree about the CV stuff, pretty unlikely to catastrophically fail out of the blue.

Have serviced the car now. New rocker cover gaskets, plugs, leads, oil, oil filter, braided brake lines (from ken) and fluid flushed and a new knock sensor (was throwing a code every now and then). I had a slight miss which is gone now, it must have been the oil in the spark plug tubes hampering ignition.

Also bought and fitted an awning, it is an OzTrail RV Awning. Camptrax are selling them on gumtree for $260 which seems a reasonable price.

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Sun May 19, 2013 2:46 pm

you are going to love that awning when you need some shade in the middle of nowhere!

I would get rid of those wingnuts though. its just asking to be stolen! I try and use nyloc nuts wherever I can to avoid stuff coming loose on the corrugations.

akpv · Post by **akpv** » Sun May 19, 2013 4:51 pm

Ha, I was taking it off this morning and I thought exactly the same thing! Easy to steal. For some reason I didn't then think I should just put some nuts on instead.

NachaLuva · Post by **NachaLuva** » Sun May 19, 2013 11:59 pm

Love the awning

+1 for the nyloc nuts....

60766244 · Post by **60766244** » Mon May 20, 2013 11:33 am

NachaLuva wrote:Love the awning

+1 for the nyloc nuts....

Seconding this whole post. ^^

I had people nick one of my kayak-holders from my forester roof racks! (Had four holders) Just wanting to cause problems for me. :\
You can only buy replacements in packs of two...

kievlar · Post by **kievlar** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 3:27 pm

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akpv · Post by **akpv** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 6:29 pm

Great point chicken kievlar.

PS Made it safe and sound, got rained out near oodnadatta so had to take the bitumen from SA onwards.

akpv · Post by **akpv** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 1:01 am

Some photos of the trip here if anyone is interested: