Simpson Desert - lift kit required?

[vscorsa Member Find all posts View Profile Close vscorsa]

No worries, thanks for all of the replys. There are two vehicles and we will both have snatch straps.

[Strider Member Find all posts View Profile Close Strider]

Sent from my 3yr old laptop using the keyboard.

LMAO Brett, That is hilarious.

Cheers
Alan

[JoshF Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoshF]

Some observartions having been through the Simpson over last years Sept/Oct school holdiays. We travelled east to west so went up the steep sides of the dunes with day 2 being steeper and more dunes closer etc than day 1.

Whilst I drive something else I do have uprated suspension (2" lift). The thing I noticed was the deep and sometimes deeper holes dug by live axle trucks at the tops of the dunes as they dipped left then right, then turns left and right at the top of the dune.

Having tractional control helped me skate across the holes whilst keeping forward momentum. What it meant was my upgraded intercooler guard at the front did smack the sand a little more often than I would have liked but no damage etc. If nodoby has been through before you in a little while the holes will probably be refilled etc as the wind moved sand pretty quickly.

The road from the edge of the desert to Dalhousie is vey rough and whilst the standard tyres will probably get though tyre pressures, picking a good line and going slow is recommended.

[vscorsa Member Find all posts View Profile Close vscorsa]

Some observartions having been through the Simpson over last years Sept/Oct school holdiays. We travelled east to west so went up the steep sides of the dunes with day 2 being steeper and more dunes closer etc than day 1.

Whilst I drive something else I do have uprated suspension (2" lift). The thing I noticed was the deep and sometimes deeper holes dug by live axle trucks at the tops of the dunes as they dipped left then right, then turns left and right at the top of the dune.

Having tractional control helped me skate across the holes whilst keeping forward momentum. What it meant was my upgraded intercooler guard at the front did smack the sand a little more often than I would have liked but no damage etc. If nodoby has been through before you in a little while the holes will probably be refilled etc as the wind moved sand pretty quickly.

The road from the edge of the desert to Dalhousie is vey rough and whilst the standard tyres will probably get though tyre pressures, picking a good line and going slow is recommended.

Thanks for the info, after reading a few articles regarding the ruts I have decided that under body protection upgrade is a must. Especially because the Prado probably won't have the same clearance as a lot of the live axle trucks.

[Rusty62 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rusty62]

we took 2 prado 120's across the simpson in 2008 east to west. one standard and mine raised. The standard car had a few issues across the top of dunes and one recovery at Boggy Hole. Both cars loaded up to the hilt. Roof racks and 4 passengers per car. Can be done but the standard car with standard tyres left a lot of dig marks from the towbar. The raised car had no problems, for my money the improved car wins every time.

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Interesting read for anyone considering a Simpson crossing
http://news.drive.com.au/drive/new-c...816-2s03i.html

[outback7 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close outback7]

Totally. Done the Simo a few times.....need a lift kit.

[Palmer Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Palmer]

Interesting read for anyone considering a Simpson crossing
http://news.drive.com.au/drive/new-c...816-2s03i.html

Nice read, but not overly impressed with the article. How can you compare the vehicles when one is loaded up with all the gearv for the others?
All I got from it is that they all made it across with varying levels of problems...

[Palmer Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Palmer]

Also, we did it this year, west to east, with a 2" lift. Our prado was down at the back-end due to all the gear we had loaded. I'm keen to add airbags to assist keeping ride height level befor we do our next big trip.

[sandman Member Find all posts View Profile Close sandman]

we took 2 prado 120's across the simpson in 2008 east to west. one standard and mine raised. The standard car had a few issues across the top of dunes and one recovery at Boggy Hole. Both cars loaded up to the hilt. Roof racks and 4 passengers per car. Can be done but the standard car with standard tyres left a lot of dig marks from the towbar. The raised car had no problems, for my money the improved car wins every time.

Boggy Hole meaning out near Hermansbugh ? I've seen a troopy with a lift kit, winch and every bit of recovery gear get stuck out there, took them 2 days to dig it out.....:-)

[baggs71 Inactive member. Find all posts View Profile Close baggs71]

Yep x100
Lift kit in the Simo is a good thing in the right hands...soaking up the humpty doos (non NT ones SOL) or woopty doos in some circles...is nessassary...we followed aty times in our party a non lifted 4x4...as a result he basically paved the way by flattening out the middle section like a iron.....sometimes when you come over a crest you fail to see a small dip on the other side....this situation is best greeted with some sort of lift as the non lifted 4x4 just slammed into it with no faulty of the driver as it was basically a wash away type dip from opposing traffic climbing a scalloping their way up....east to west....if you want to carry a little more speed then a lift will help avoid un nessassary strikes from iron stones etc ....

[Rusty62 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rusty62]

Yep that is the one. The standard Prado came to grief on one of the dry banks north of the water hole. Mainly due to driver error, but standard tyres did not help. The standard car, being an auto also got stuck on the top of some of the bigger dunes in the Simpson. As the driver would crest the dune, right at the top he would back off a little, then reapply the load pedal, the auto would then change back to first gear and dig itself a little hole or two. If he would have used the second start this would have been avoided. On my manual we used high range open centre for the majority of the crossing and only on the steeper dunes with holes used the centre lock.second gear was my gear of choice and the motor would almost snuff at the top of the dune and just rattle it's way onward. Beautiful place the Simpson, can't wait to go back, next time with the camper.