Standard Prado and Cape York??

[Peter07 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Peter07]

Have a question to those of you guys that travelled to Cape York OTT and other places.
What is absolutely necessary to install / modify in standard Prado (YM 2007) when going to Cape York? Are snorkel and diff breathers enough to venture to The Tip?

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

Re: Standard Prado and Cape York??

Tyres and shocks.

[Signature035 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Signature035]

Re: Standard Prado and Cape York??

Have a question to those of you guys that travelled to Cape York OTT and other places.
What is absolutely necessary to install / modify in standard Prado (YM 2007) when going to Cape York? Are snorkel and diff breathers enough to venture to The Tip?

Diff / transmission breathers and a snorkel absolutley,

and in addition to tyres & shocks, depending on the season, a winch and a winch bar to install it on (which then may then also necessitate a dual battery install) :wink:

The above,.. in addition to standard recovery gear.

[joey Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close joey]

Re: Standard Prado and Cape York??

2 spares,
first aid and emergency equiptment...
As it very remote in areas you should also have decent coms as well.

as others have mentioned stock suspension and tyres wont cut it...the corrigations are hard core...

joey

[Peter07 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Peter07]

Re: Standard Prado and Cape York??

Looks like I have a fair bit to do.
Thank you for advice
Peter

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

Re: Standard Prado and Cape York??

Mate I took a HJ60 there in '92. Snorkel, AT tyres, aftermarket suspension. The snorkel was never needed - we took the ferry over the Jardine & for $100 I would suggest the same! Aug '92 was a dry period so we had little in the way of deep creek crossings (nothing over wheel height)

To be honest we were told & noticed that the most likely thing to fall off you 4WD during a cape york trip is an accessory that you have added. Generally the car itself would be fine. We lost our driving light mounts on the first day of the corrugations. The fluro light we fitted instead of the courtesy light disintegrated soon after. The servo at Barmaga said most of their welding work was reattaching accessories - fuel tanks, bullbars, roof racks etc....

The biggest thing is the corrugations. Corrugations are only as bad as the speed you drive over them & the weight you are carrying & your tyre pressures. Overly heavy shock absorbers can break the mount points on the car resulting in more headaches - however in saying that if your car is loaded you will need to up rate the suspension not only for comfort but stability. There is a fair bit of bitumen before you reach the first dirt section of track unless your from Cairns .

If you have done plenty of other 4WDrive trips then you should be well on the way to knowing what to take & what to leave behind. Weight will be your biggest issue. The more weight the more you feel every bump - and so does the car. The standard Prado empty I would say would have no issues - you take it slowly on the rough stuff or you take the old telegraph road which has less corrugations but more creek crossings etc. The only mod I have done to my Prado is MT tyres, air compressor & a snorkel. The ride height is still standard (actually still above the factory numbers) & I have no issues throughtout the Vic high country. Going to the next tyre diameter as I have done can also be an advantage. It gives you an extra 10mm or so but also an light truck tyre (strongly recommend!) rather than a passenger tyre.

If you intend to be more adventurous, then lifting the vehicle will assist but & replacing the side steps with stronger higher ones would also be an advantage. My side steps are still straight & generally it is the erosion humps that come close to them - theres not many of those on the cape.

In summary, get your suspension to suit the weight your going to carry, it will make for a more comfortable trip.

Cheers

[stephenvsl Member Find all posts View Profile Close stephenvsl]

Re: Standard Prado and Cape York??

Write up here on a trip to the Cape with standard suspension.
http://www.pradopoint.com/viewtopic....tandard#p54652

[travelman Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close travelman]

Re: Standard Prado and Cape York??

Hi Peter 07
It's my write up on the Cape York trip we did in 2008. I have no regrets not changing the suspension before we went, but keep in mind the shocks and struts might be a bit tired by the time you get back from the corrugations. I think decent tyres are a must and an extra spare gives peace of mind, but I could have easily kept the standard Dunlops and still got to the tip of the Cape and back OK. I think luck plays a part re whether you'll get any punctures or not, but the road seems to be improving each year. Drive to the conditions and enjoy the drive rather than racing to get there to get back. It's a remote location, but a pretty busy road with lots of folks on their own grand adventure.
It all depends on your available budget. There's a lot of good gear out there on the market, but how much is really essential is another question.
Enjoy the preparation and the trip. I want to go back again in a couple of years.
Travelman

[Peter07 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Peter07]

Re: Standard Prado and Cape York??

Thanks once again everyone, your advice is very helpful and will guide me through my preparations.
I intend to do OTT (or at least a part of it) depending on track condition and levels of water in the creeks.
I am considering my options and hopefully will start the mods soon.

[JSloosehead Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close JSloosehead]

Re: Standard Prado and Cape York??

I lived in Weipa for 5 years and travelled all over the cape. The two most common problems I came across were people with blown tyres or who had taken on too much water and did not know the procedures to minimise this or to repair it afterwards. I would recommend the following:

. a thorough pre trip inspection and tightening
. another vehicle to travel with (especially if you are heading off the main development road)
. driving to the conditions
. decent tyres, LT construction, at the right pressure
. a second spare, and gear to repair a puncture or place a tube in if possible
. a communication system
. tools and knowing how to use them
. de-watering kwowledge and tools to suit your vehicle
. wheel nuts, wheel studs, belts and hoses
. gaffa tape, liquid steel, tie wire
. tarp for creek crossings, even if you have a snorkel
. stopping and checking the key things at least once a day (wheel nuts, battery tie downs, rack and bar mounts etc etc
. I think standard suspension is OK for any track you will find on a map , assuming you do not have extra weight because of steel bullbars or overloading the car etc
. I think it is more important to have well maintained suspension that lift kits
. keep weight off the roof - the biggest issues I saw was overloaded roof racks cracking bodies or impacting handling of vehicles by significantly raising the centre of gravity

Of course this all assumes you intend to go off the main development road and actually see some of the cape. If your intention is to stick to the development road only and go up and back just to say you've been to the tip, then don't bother going - simply find a corrugated road closer to home and drive up and down it for 16 hours!

[Peter07 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Peter07]

Re: Standard Prado and Cape York??

I agree with you JSloosehead whole point of going there is to see as much as you can and experience the tracks not just to drive along the development road, this is my intention. Thanks for sharing your vast experience of the region.

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

Re: Standard Prado and Cape York??

I agree with you JSloosehead whole point of going there is to see as much as you can and experience the tracks not just to drive along the development road, this is my intention. Thanks for sharing your vast experience of the region.

You could use your standard suspension. And then, when you get back home with stuffed shocks, get your dealer to replace them under warranty.

I did the trip with 2 inch lift and toughdog adjustables which were all replaced under warranty after that adventure. The lift wasn't really necessary for the trip but every little bit helps. I also lost a retaining bolt from rear panhard rod up the Cape because the lunatics that fitted the shocks and suspension obviously didn't use any thread lock to make sure the bolts didn't fall out.

[Clarky01 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Clarky01]

Re: Standard Prado and Cape York??

I went up to the cape with a few people in 08 and one of them had a standard 07 Prado towing a camper and did very well. Only water crossing which he didnt attempt was Nolans Brook which was/is quite deep. Only 2 issues he had was when the kids decided to attempt a Picaso with textas on the interior and damaging the wiring going to the camper.
I would advise to at least get decent tyres and travel in a group and share the adventure. Having extra sets of eyes watching the kids doesnt go astray.

[new driver Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close new driver]

Re: Standard Prado and Cape York??

Have a question to those of you guys that travelled to Cape York OTT and other places.
What is absolutely necessary to install / modify in standard Prado (YM 2007) when going to Cape York? Are snorkel and diff breathers enough to venture to The Tip?

we did it in a standard 99 jeep v8 no snorkle , no upgrades to suspension, replaced Tires with coopers all terrain never had a problem we did some of the OTL as well , took a car bra which was helpful .main thing is take your time dont rush it . cheers M

[edgeyhill Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close edgeyhill]

...main thing is take your time dont rush it ...

Too right New Driver, it's totally about the turtle and the hare... I did the OTT in 2010 and am heading up again in 2012. I wouldn't hesitate to take a bog standard 4bie and was even considering taking a K11 Nissan Micra (no joke! I just drove from London to Mongolia in one... www.teamdownunder.org ).

I've seen plenty of pictures, watched plenty of videos and read plenty of stories and my summary is that you don't know what you'll encounter - take New Driver's go-slow suggestion and you shouldn't need any accessories at all, BUT you never know what the weather will throw at you and you may end up needing to turn around and go back out the way you came in... or asking one of the thousands of grey nomads for a hand