Towing a Camper to Cape York, Advice Needed?

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

Does anyone have experience of towing a camper trailer to Cape York?

Rumour says that they are more trouble than they are worth.
Any comments would be helpful, thanks.

<Split from another post by mod as this makes a good independent discussion>

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

I have put much thought into towing my camper trailer to the Cape next year but have decided to put it into storage in Cairns while we tent it to the cape and back to Cairns. Simply because of the corrigations and most of the breakdowns that occur to the Cape is from trailers breaking down. In my mates trip in July, he said he saw about 6 broken down trailers, and 2 of them had rolled over. That was enough for me to change my mind.
Theres my 2 cents. :wink:
cheers

[Matt Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt]

yup.. defiantly leave it at cairns and tent it from there.

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

This is interesting as I am in the early stages of planning a Cape trip and have been looking at a camper trailer for the journey.

I would have thought spreading the cargo between the truck and the trailer would spread the weight over 3 axles rather than 2, therefore reducing the possible damage. Conversely, I have also been told that the trailers can be quite a pain in the backside on the more rough parts of the track.

Is there a particular reason why the trailers break (ie: suspension, bad construction, simply not suited, etc)?

[Fazza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fazza]

UberSarge,

One of your biggest problems would be your articulation approach & departure angles with the trailer.

I have been in some stupid places with a caravan with a huge amount of ground clearance but the weight alone has caused a lot of grief.
(If the caravan wheels had drive things would be different)

People have done it but:- To be safe I would leave the camper back Cairns.

But what ever it will be a trip to remember.
Cheers,
Fazza

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

I would love to know what plucker thinks. He is the man I now use as the Cape expert.
Come in plucker......

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

The blokes are right, leave the trailer in Cairns there are a number of storage places that you can leave it under cover and use a tent.

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

I went to the cape in '93 so a lot of water has flowed under the bridge (or down the Jardine :lol: ) - that time we drove up the 'The Peninsula Developmental Road' which whilst generally flat in terms of hills & slopes, was totally corrigated. You either had to drive at 10km/h or 70. With a loaded HJ60, it was only 10 :cry:

Anyway on the way back we took the telegraph rd. In my opinion it was a much better road. It was narrower, it had more corners & turns etc, but the corrigations where no where near as bad. Actually it was a more interesting drive since it wasn't as direct.

If your lucky though as we were..if you call it lucky that is...as we were delayed in Bamaga for a weekend due to a bearing failure 80km/h from Bamaga on the way home....anyway, on the day we left for the second time, the grader had left the same morning but a lot earlier than us, so we got a dream ride for about 40km - then we caught up with him :cry:

Anyway half your luck that your actually going :P

Also I wonder how many of those broken down trailers where still running highway pressures?

Cheers
Richard

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

MT,

I would have to agree with you. I have read plenty of plucker's comments on the Cape. I think I will defer to his greatness. :roll:

"Prado-point to plucker..."

[Jacto Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jacto]

I think it all depends on the ability of the trailer and the operator. I bought my camper trailer specifically to do the Cape and I know that several of the All Terrain brand have been to the Cape and back many times successfully and this is why I chose it. I personally cannot see the point in having to carry additional tents and have very little space to carry the extra gear in the back of the wagon when you are travelling with kids.

Trailer for me and looking forward to the fun and adventure of it all :P

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

I see that most of the comments so far have been in the negative.

I'm considering hiring a camper from a mob called Cairns Campers. They have off-road campers and although they claim to have only had problems with 2 campers in the last 5 years, they do provide a tool kit and spare springs, u-bolts etc; so they they obviously recongnise that there might be breakdowns.

I have 3 children and am thinking of taking a camper so that a) the load can be spread - I would not have to load up the vehicle with a packed roof rack; b) could carry a better quality/quantity of supplies and c) the additional convenience of the facilities of a camper.

The guy from Cairns Campers gave me some good advice, which is any camper that goes to the Cape must be a proper off-road camper, the user needs to check it every day for potential problems (same as one would check the vehicle) and that the speed needs to be slower, particularly on the development road's corrugations.

Taking a camper to the Cape surely introduces additional risk but it does have some benefits and I'm going to think about it a lot before deciding.

Some comments from anyone who has personally taken a camper to the Cape (and survived) would be great.

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

I think it all depends on the ability of the trailer and the operator. I bought my camper trailer specifically to do the Cape and I know that several of the All Terrain brand have been to the Cape and back many times successfully and this is why I chose it. I personally cannot see the point in having to carry additional tents and have very little space to carry the extra gear in the back of the wagon when you are travelling with kids.

Trailer for me and looking forward to the fun and adventure of it all :P

Hi Jacto,
When do you intend to go? We plan to do 3 weeks from Cairns starting about 29th June 08.
Space or lack thereof is definitely one of my considerations. I'm slowing introducing the family to the idea that they will not be able to take 21 changes of clothes, nor the entire contents of their toy cupboard.

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

We did the Cape in August 05. We met up with lots of people who were towing vans. We travelled with a family in an 80 series who were towing one. They had no problems.
There are several spots on the old telegraph raod that could cause problems. Obviously the gunshot is the biggie. Reports of camper-vand flipping over and landing on th e roof of the tow vehicle are often heard. :shock:
There is a bypass to the gunshot so if you don't want to go then its all good.
The corrugations are legendary and will probably be the main source of greif.

Lots of people have done it with no problems, would I do it ?-no
But I don't have kids and we love tenting!!

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

p.s looking at going back again around June -July next year. :lol:

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

p.s looking at going back again around June -July next year. :lol:

Thats somewhere around when we will be doing it. 3 weeks allowed, puts us back in Cairns, and 3 weeks from Cairns back to brissy.