Series 90 - Suitability for family touring

[LandieMan Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close LandieMan]

We are 2 months into our 6 month trip now! We are also towing a camper trailer and have 2 kids, 6 & 9.

Thanks Mark,

Fantastic, you are exactly the person for me to be talking too being that you're doing right now exactly what we're planning. I've got a hundred questions I could ask but I'll just start with a couple

What route are you planning to take? Are there any major mods you did to the Prado prior to the trip (other than the drawers you mentioned)?

Cheers, Iain

[Mark Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mark]

Hi Iain,

Before answering your questions, check out our webpage at www.expeditionaustralia.com.au and look for 'Howletts on Holiday'. On our Blog page you can read accounts of where we have been and the Photos page...It hasn't got our early stuff as it cuts it off when we get too much on the pages.

We started in Victoria at the start of the year and have followed the coast around South Australia and now Western Australia. After the Nullarbor we went up to Kalgoorlie and then down to Esperance. We are now in the Exmouth area and will head inland to Karrajini National Park and then up to Broome. Currently we are going to take the Gibb River Road to Darwin and then come down the Centre (Alice Springs, Uluru etc) and the Oodnadatta Track before going back to Victoria. We thought doing a half lap would allow us time to enjoy things rather than rushing it. In practice I would say 6 months for the half lap in the bare minimum. There is soo much to see and while we have stayed from 3 to 5 nights at some places, others we will see 'next time'. With kids in tow it does get tiring constantly being on the move so you need to have some extended stops to recharge.

Our Prado already had medium duty Old Man Emu suspension on it and I thought this would be OK, plus I didn't want heavy duty springs for when we returned home and the car was empty. Since we left the rear was sagging a bit, even without the trailer as we have the back fully loaded with fridge, tools, recovery gear, hand winch etc. I recently had some Polyair bags fitted and these have made a big difference. Not quite levelled out with the front but you have to look to notice. So look at your suspension.

We already had a cargo barrier and this should be one of the first things I believe. Read too many stories of ordinary items becoming missiles in an accident.

Our tyres (again already on) are BFG All Terrain and after 12,000km no problems (touch wood). This includes some very rough corrugations and plenty of soft sand driving. If you do sand driving and why not as you have a 4wd, an air compressor is needed to reinflate your tyres before hitting the bitumen again.

I fitted a bullbar and swapped my big old Lightforce driving lights before we left. While we didn't plan on doing night driving, at times it is unavoidable (such as checking out the Pinnacles at sunset) or not finding a camp early enough. With roos and wandering cattle about I thank God for the great lights and feel a bit safer having the bullbar on the front. No I'm not Christian!

We already had a 2nd battery and this is great for the fridge in the back. Speaking of fridges, we have 2 smaller ones, one in the car and one in the camper. After years with eskies, we can't speak highly enough of good 12V fridges. We have dual zone Evakool ones and they are great. Each one has 22L Freezer and 25L Fridge sections. Or, the can be ALL Freezer or ALL Fridge. If you want to know more just ask. There's plenty of other brands too.

An Anderson Plug will charge your Camper Trailer battery, if it has one.

Some type of drawers set-up in the back is certainly the go for your sanity.

DVD players for the kids have been great. Some stretches having nothing to see so we came prepared with heaps of copied (back-ups of course) movies. Also did the same with music CD's. Wish I had bought an Ipod for this. You quickly get tired of the same CD's and you don't always get good radio stations.

There's so much more I don't know where to finish! Just ask and I'll answer. Hope this has been a start.

Cheers,

Mark.

[Mark Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mark]

Some more...

I touched on it last post but recovery gear. If you get bogged, make sure you have gear to get out. Minimum should be some rated shackels and recovery strap. This will let someone pull you out of sand and mud. A shovel helps here too. We have a lot more, including the hand winch, and maybe it is too much but I already had this so I put it in.

Spare hoses and belts for your rig. A basic toolkit, even if you don't know how to use them someone passing by might! I carry extras like power steering fluid, brake fluid, oil etc. Recently did an oil change at camp and soldered up some loose connections with fridge plug and camp lights. I only carry 1 Litre of oil for top-ups if needed and buy the 5 litre containers at whatever big town is nearby for the oil change.

Check out these links http://www.exploroz.com/Topics/Default.aspx and also their Forum, a wealth of knowledge there.

Goodnight!

Mark.