G'day DD,
Your friend may be better off with an insurance claim. My mechanic bent the chassis of his BT50 some 18 months ago (was towing a boat from "the Gulf") & they replaced the car.
Hello brimhunter, most mishaps on questionable/dirt roads are caused by the "nut behind the steering wheel" & his-her pressure on the far RHS pedal! Take it easy, adjust your tyre pressures as required & you should be ok.
Keep an eye on the BOM site as to when the Kimberly gets its rain - that will be one of the majors to consider. Traditionally their wet season is similar to ours (December to mid April).
New vs s/hand campers - if you intend to keep it for a number of years, go new. Friends of ours bought a super expensive (I won't mention the brand but it starts with an "R") one from Brisbane for over $35,000 - they used it four times (it was too hot for the tropics) & sold it for $15,000! At the time they bought it, another friend had a proven Cape York camper for sale for $15,000 but the others wanted this "new one" as it sounded good in a magazine!
My suggestion is to -
1. regardless of what car you have now, hire or borrow one for a weekend (even if you only go 100kms away).
2. read up reports of the one you're looking at.
3. have a look in caravan parks & ask owners about their trailers. Most don't mind - even if you buy one, this is a favourite thing to do as owners are curious about other trailers, their features, different ways of doing things.
__________________
Warren
----------------
If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
The Gibb River Road is really just a long gravel road, no need for actual 4wd on the main road or on any of the most popular side tracks to gorges. Its just the corrugations that can be the killer, and the Triton will be fine as long as you drive at a speed appropriate to the conditions. Most issues on the Gibb are from people driving too fast and losing control on the gravel.
