Fraser Island Trip Report

[jonathan_k]

Read this a few weeks ago and been waiting to respond. I was in Europe and saw many T5's with significantly more clearance than mine and some very luxurious looking Kombi Beaches!

I'm super impressed with the places that you've taken the van, especially on standard tyres. Amazing trip! A couple of my favourite places on your list and I'm amped to know that the T5 can get there .

Being facetious, I posit that the negativity is from Ned Kelly wannabes who've bought into the brochure and media hype (mentally and financially) and then had it shattered by the Krautwagon rocking up!!

I actually love this topic, but won't go on about it too much, just recount one anecdote from Purnululu in 2007. The first river crossing was just below the top of the bonnet of my Patrol (say, 700mm). At the end of the road was a Forester safe and sound in the carpark and a Landcruiser going out on the back of a flat bed. Who should or shouldn't be there? In the end, the bill for the tow truck is the same.

There's definitely a misaligned perspective that the average traveller has built up about Australian vehicle touring -- like we all watched too many Malcolm Douglas or Alby Mangles documentaries growing up. We just haven't caught up that there's been 10's of millions invested in road improvements in the meantime.

Conditions are variable for sure, though all that takes is a variable approach and you've got the experience to prove it. Keep charging mate and I hope to see yourself and many more T5's on the dirt in the future .

T5's to the moon!!

[chimo0703]

We spent 5 days on Fraser Island and had a blast.

I won't write a detailed trip report but I have uploaded a few videos to YouTube (mainly from Fraser, but also from a few other places we have visited in last 12 months):
YouTube

A brief summary:
- It hadn't rained for quite a while when we arrived, so especially Inskip Point and Indian Head were very soft and chopped up (school holidays and the amount of people with boats, trailers and overloaded cars getting bogged certainly didn't help). Indian Head made me a bit nervous since every few minutes a car got bogged when we arrived there. I walked it a few times to find a good line but made it across quite easily with enough momentum (maybe a bit too much momentum as you can see in the video)
- When we reached Waddy Point it started to rain - which changed everything. Getting back was therefore magnitudes easier.
- We did a couple of the inland tracks. In large all easy going, except for the road to Lake Birrabeen. There was one tricky part with a few drops and a lot of roots to crawl over. I felt this was borderline for the van and I hit the underbody once when going over one root too fast).

Read this a few weeks ago and been waiting to respond. I was in Europe and saw many T5's with significantly more clearance than mine and some very luxurious looking Kombi Beaches!

[Franco]

Hey chimo0703 and Jonathon_k.
I love your pics and vids and reading about your adventures. I hope you both, and others out there (bruceq) post more of the capabilites of the 4motion.
I always get nervous driving on the beach and dunes in fear of getting bogged and having to ask for help. Ive been abused a couple of times in the past for having my van on the beach, both times from young hilux drivers��.
I'm really interested in the rated recovery towing points and would like to get some made.. it would be great if there were a few of us who could sort out a great design and then have them made and hopefully save a few bucks along the way. Or bulk buy from overseas.
Would the style (large thick angle iron with slots and bolt holes that bolt to the chassis ) that you see on a lot of 4wds suit our vans? I've tried getting under the van to see whats there but too much going on to make proper sense in the 4 minutes i looked��.
Anyway I'm sure I'm off topic. Cheers Frank.

[Big Bug]

My wife and I have just returned from a 3 month trip to Cape York and the Gulf. Was an absolutely wonderful trip and there is no doubt about the abilities of the 4Motion. It works a treat. We didn’t do a great deal of what you would consider 4WDriving. Cape Melville definitely needed 4WD but the Transporter had no difficulties at all. The safety net was following my brother-in-law’s 79 Series Cruiser but had no need for a tow. There was some deep dry sand and rutted washed out creek crossing but no water. My biggest problem was ground clearance. I bent up the sill under the sliding door which needed a little tap down with the hammer and a piece of wood to stop it touching the door. Bigger tyres would be good but that’s not possible. As someone mentioned in a post further back, they saw T5’s with much bigger tyres in Europe. I know I’ve seen one on Instagram from Switzerland with tyres that would give me another 38mm lift above my 225/65/17’s. I reckon that would be enough to get most places.

As others have mentioned we had some comments on the UHF radio but I never said a word. When we were coming out of Cape Melville a Hilux driver said to his mate, ‘that 2wd must have struggled in here’!! We didn’t do any of the Old Telegraph Track except to go from Fruit Bat Falls to Eliot Falls which was no problem. (chicken track through the creek crossing) We also went into and camped at Sam Creek, on the way in a group we passed had just gone through Sam Creek and someone said ‘can we go back and watch them go through’! We weren’t going through of course but just camping on the north side. Mind you I reckon we could have made it through without any problems. On the north side of the Jardine River somebody said with amazement in their voice,’ there goes a little white van’!!!

On the bad corrugations I drove with sand driving tyre pressures at sand driving speeds, in other words, 18psi at 20-50 km/h. The Toyota’s would fly past us at breakneck speeds leaving us in a clouds of dust. Surprisingly we only saw 1 rollover that had only happened an hour or so before we came along but a group of 4 vehicles passed us at one stage and the last one almost lost it as he went past. I think it was more good luck than skill he didn’t roll.

There are lots of wonderful places to see up there and definitely worth the trip. Even if I did get home with a fried clutch!!

There are a few more adventurous trips I would like to do, for instance the Canning Stock Route but I think they may be a bit tough on the T5. So I have succumbed and bought a Isuzu D-MAX and a slide-on camper... I’m sure it won’t be as comfortable as the T5 so it’s not going anywhere.

Bruce

[VWTDI]

I'm experienced with real 4x4's and have spent a lot of time travelling remote parts of Australia. Had general recovery gear in order: tow strap, snatch strap, compressor, tracks, familiar with recovery points (front tow point inadequate for major recovery but that's a different discussion -- just don't get badly bogged!).

Mind elaborating on the inadequacy of the factory tow point?
We're looking to do a lap of Aus soon, and while we don't intent to need a snatch you never know what can happen. Looking at the aftermarket options of $1000 seems crazy!