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Post Info TOPIC: birdsville track/simpson desert
wendyv


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There was rumour around a couple of years ago that towing was to be banned across the Simpson, but I don't know if that ever came to be true. However, having driven the Simpson (on the Rig Rd, and French Line) several years back, I would not recommend towing anything, anyway. The tracks are hard on vehicles and recovery costs can be huge. It is definitely illegal to abandon a broken trailer out there! We noticed that, over long stretches of track, there were drag marks where the hitch/coupling of trailers had dragged in the sand, causing problems for some. There were other places where trailers/rigs had been badly bogged. It can be seen as unfair to other users to chew up the tracks by towing on them.

Some years, depending on what the prevailing winds have been, it is easiest to go one direction than the other. I think from Birdsville west is often the harder way to go.

We left our van stored in Alice Springs before travelling the Simpson, then went from Birdsville to Boulia and back across the Plenty to Alice.

Our tyres were the standard light truck tyre - Michelin - that came on the Landrover when it was new, not specialist sand ones. We had no tyre problems and didn't get stuck on any of the dunes. It is important though, to have the tyres at a lower pressure - from memory, I think we were down to about 20psi.



-- Edited by wendyv on Saturday 5th of January 2013 08:23:11 PM

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landy


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Have to agree with Wendyv. We have done the french line from west to east which is normaly the easy way, and had to wait several times while a land cruiser with a trailer in the group in front of us struggled with the steeper dunes.

  If you were going to buy new tyers AT tyers are the most you would need.  as already said pressure is the important  thing, we had our tyers down to 14 psi to get up big red. IMHO a good quality compressor is one of the most important things you will need.

       Dave

PS You should also be aware that your car will use a lot more fuel in sand with lower  tyer pressures in our case over 30%. 1996 petrol Pathfinder 132 ltrs Mount Dare to Birdsvile



-- Edited by landy on Sunday 6th of January 2013 12:08:55 AM

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vapor


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We are contemplating doing the Birdsville Track & onto Simpson Desert & going through Oodnadatta & ending up at Alice Springs.  Would like to know if it is suitable to tow a camper trailer or easier to use a tent, do we need good sand type tyres(we have Nissan 4WD vehicle)anticipate May journey.  Would appreciate any info from Nomads who have done the trek.

Thanks in anticipation

Bill



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neilnruth


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Welcome to the forum Vapor. Sorry can't help with your query though.

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Dougwe


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Welcome from me too Bill, enjoy here and out in the playground.

I havn't done the trip but have heard not to tow anything and make sure your suspension is of good quality. My as purchased 1998 Prado suspension would need a good upgrade to takle anything like that so I will just stay on better quality roads, for the time being anyway.



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Gerty Dancer


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You will need a uhf radio or sat-phone, I think you can hire these. Also put a tall flag on the front of your vehicle as the tracks are one way and you have a better chance of being seen on the other side of the dune!

Welcome Vapor, and let us know how the trip goes.

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Dougwe


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Good thinking 99 (GD), I like that idea.

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Peter_n_Margaret


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What model Nissan do you drive.
This is not a route for the inexperienced.
Leave the camper home.

Cheers,
Peter

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Santa


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Peter_n_Margaret wrote:

What model Nissan do you drive.
This is not a route for the inexperienced.
Leave the camper home.

Cheers,
Peter

 And I would suggest certainly not at this time of year, a breakdown or a bogged vehicle can quickly turn into a disaster.no



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Gerty Dancer


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Santa they said in the opening post they were going in May, even then a breakdown or sand-bog is a predicament.
It was late April when we crossed the Simpson, and the nights were about 4 degrees. So take a good sleeping bag, take 10litres water per day, also carry firewood for your campfire.

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Santa


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Gerty Dancer wrote:

Santa they said in the opening post they were going in May, even then a breakdown or sand-bog is a predicament.
It was late April when we crossed the Simpson, and the nights were about 4 degrees. So take a good sleeping bag, take 10litres water per day, also carry firewood for your campfire.

 Whoops, my mistake, should have read the OP more carefully.ashamed



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Mary


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Don't forget you need a parks pass and nowdays fires are not allowed in sections of the park and nor are you allowed to bring firewood in.
A good compressor and a UHF radio are essestial as is a sand flag

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pricey43


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We travelled across The Simpson on the French Line , west to east last August. You would definately not want to tow a trailer.  We left our van in Alice and took a tent.  If you look up th Mt. Dare website they have excellent information about the crossing. 

We were glad that we were going West to East as the dunes seemed steeper and more twisty on the East sides of the dunes but they say that it changes all the time and no 2 crossings are the same.

Another thing to have checked are the Shockers on your vehicle.  All cars that we saw with problems were shocker related, from still drivable at a slow speed to arriving at Mt. Dare on the back of the recovery truck.

A UHF radio is really necessary, as all vehicles on the tracks are asked to be on the one channel so that you can tell if there are other vehicles in the area and so you don't meet at the top of a dune. The sand flags help but only when you're pretty close and it can be quite hairy at times.  We just kept up general banter between our two cars so that others could hear us.     Others regularly put out a call of position and direction travelling.

All this being said, we had an incredible trip and loved every minute of it.    



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Gerty Dancer


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My best memory is of camping in the swales at night looking up at millions of stars... magic!

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vapor


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thank u one and all much appreciated.....bill


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