Central Australia in an NT + camper. What broke and what excelled

[MELONHEAD]

We returned recently from a 3 week 8750km trip from Newcastle to Ayers Rock and back via Cameron Corner, Strezleki Track, Oodnadatta Track and West McDonnell Ranges towing a forward folding camper trailer weighing between 1500kg and 2000kg. I had the check engine light come on between Cobar and Broken Hill. I checked the code with Torque and it was only an EGR performance code (I have done the resistor mod to disable EGR). I cleared the code and had no more codes appear. At Stewarts Well after the West Mcdonnells, I noticed my OEM plastic battery tray had broken one of the hold down points where the J bolts go through. I had to cable tie the battery down and it lasted the rest of the trip home on mostly bitumen. I just finished replacing the broken battery tray with a Pirahna Offroad steel battery tray.

I recently fitted Bilstein shocks, Kings springs and Polyair airbags and they performed faultlessly over the corrugated and heavily stoned outback roads. With the airbags pumped up the trailer sat level and performed amazingly well as did the Pajero. The Pajero felt planted and floated over the bumps much better than I had expected.

I also fitted Hankook Dynapro ATMs in LT265/70/17 (10 ply) before the trip and they were spectacular. I ran 40 PSI on the tar and 30 PSI offroad and I never looked like getting a flat tyre. At $240 per tyre I reckon they are not only one of the best tyres on the market, but definitely the best value for money.

The NT had plenty of grunt to tow the trailer, and I was getting between 13.5 to 15 litres per hundred at between 100 and 110 km/h (in 4th gear), but got 19.5 litres per hundred one day into strong headwinds.

[HeavyPizzaz]

This is almost the exact trip and combo (NX + camper trailer) that I’m planning for next year. Good to know all this thanks! I was looking at steel battery trays recently so I think that will be a pre-trip replacement now!!


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[outbackogre]

Hi MH, good to hear your trip went well. Following your recommendation, I fitted Hankook Dynapro's (LT265/65r17) prior to a trip over the Simpson Desert in August. They performed beautifully and, at $230 a tyre, are great value for money.

[traktor]

We did Central Australia trip including Simpson, Palm Valley, Finke Gorge in July. I had (and still have) Hankook Dynapro MT RT03 (265/70R17). Previously I had a 2 week trip in High Country and numerous 4wd weekend trips on the same tires. No problems with the tires. Apart from noise and more fuel consumption, which is expected from MT tires, I'm quite happy with RT03 performance.
The Simpson desert was very bumpy the car was bouncing, a lot of stress on suspension, no problems with my utlimate suspension setup (front heavy duty springs, rear medium duty springs and air bags). One important thing to consider is the weight distribution - the more weight behind the rear axle the more bouncing it will create. I had a bag of wood (20kg) at the very back, moving it to the middle of the car reduced bouncing.
The suspension developed loud squeakiness in the morning, which used to go away after 0.5-1h driving when the car heats up. It seems to be fixed after a couple of washes.
Before the trip I removed the roof rack and tighten cross bar bolts, I'm glad I did it as the bolts were a bit loose.
The worst corrugations were on the last section of the road to Chambers Pillar.
I was very concerned that something will fall off or break, pajero survived this road.


Overall pajero performed well, no major or minor problems.