Cape York: Any side step damage?

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

I am planning to do the Cape trip in July/August next year and would like from feedback from those who have done this trip as to whether they sustained any damage to their side steps. I have noticed that most of the trip reports have mentioned that the Palm Creek entry/exit was difficult.

Cheers

Jim

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

I had a few scrapes on the side steps when I went up there a couple of years ago. The most noticible scrape was on the corner of the rear bumper going down the first creek crossing on the Telegraph Track.
However, this track changes every season, so what may be OK this year may not be next year.
The corrugations are the worst thing, therefore a decent upgrade of the springs & shocks and decent tyres will make the trip safer and more comfortable (I have 50mm OME & Cooper AT3's).
I destroyed my side steps on a Vic High Country trip and now have sliders/steps which are much stronger and sit higher to give more belly clearance.

[toddy Member Find all posts View Profile Close toddy]

Just went in August this year and no side step damage, maybe a few scuff marks underneath but no big hits.

Like Jon my rear bumper hit on the palm creek entry and dislodged it. a quick hard tap and it popped back in place with only a few scuff marks to show where it hit.

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

in short yes . if you take a prado 4wding the side steps will get f#*@ed up along with the mud spats which is why they are hard to find second hand .

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

I went to cape york this year while i didnt do any damage to my rear bumper i can tell you my sliders have a couple of nice gouges in them that normal sidesteps would have just ripped off it depends on the driver in the trees at both palm creek and gunshot there were a lot of sidesteps left there from other people if you can afford it buy a set of sliders that way you dont have to worry to much about damaging them or your sills

[derek11 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close derek11]

damaged my sidesteps at Palm Creek this year in May, mind you we were the 2rd group to go thru, they were the factory units not rock sliders. That is the only section that required rock sliders when i was there.

[derek11 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close derek11]

also remember eachyear the track changes into creek crossings so next year it could different, but at Palm there is a big rock ledge that i can't see getting better.

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

you can do the cape in a bog stock prado if you want to without sustaining damage . it just depends on what ,where or how you want to do it . common sense will tell you what not to explore . but you may miss a whole lot of the fun .

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

I went to the Cape in August and I scraped my left side step dropping into Palm Ck. They're the original alloy ones that came standard on the 90 series. The left one bore a fair bit of the vehicle's weight from the left hand camber and it got bent up a little bit. The rear plastic cap on the side step was dislodged a bit too and had the screws stripped out. My rear bumper never touched with the steep drop-in, but the exhaust tip got a flat spot on the bottom that I had to bend to provide a full near round opening again. You shouldn't do any damage to the right one unless you take the wrong line somewhere along the OTT, or join the elite club of driving back up Palm Ck the way you came. But to be honest mate, the entry into Palm Ck has been getting worse every year from what I've noticed. That big rock on the left has been getting more and more exposed each year after the wet with the soil around the base of it being washed away more and more.

If you're really concerned about doing damage to your side step, just take an old thick blanket and drape it over the rock paying special attention to the edge you're going to be riding with your side step. It'll prevent the scratches, but probably not any slight kinking/bending. But then you could spend half an hour too packing up the ditch beside the rock with all the logs and timber laying close by to level your car out more to further reduce potential damage and get it to ride higher. Just make sure you return the timber to the side of the track afterwards as the sign suggests just before the entrance is visible.

You may be a little nervous when dropping into Palm Ck, but once you do, you'll be so glad you did and will wonder what you were nervous about. It's one of those must do's of the OTT. Make sure someone gets right behind your car too at ground level to take photos as you start to drop in.

Hope this helps.

[BIA 88 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BIA 88]

I am planning to do the Cape trip in July/August next year and would like from feedback from those who have done this trip as to whether they sustained any damage to their side steps. I have noticed that most of the trip reports have mentioned that the Palm Creek entry/exit was difficult.

Cheers

Jim

If you worry about side step I have spare one in pair at home if you want you can come to pick up for free

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

A quick scrape going into Palm Creek in early July was the only major hit we took. We fitted AJ's slider before we left and they worked a treat.

[Mark from Brisbane Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark from Brisbane]

I dont have sliders but managed to come through damage free.....BUT I took it VERY carefully....a lot just charge on through, and I suppose if you have an old 80 series done up for this stuff then all good, but I went not wanting to damage my 150....and I didn't!!

Palm Creek is by far the worst, and as I mentioned in my trip report I didn't attempt Nolans.....I think you'd def be better off with Sliders BUT if you were to choose them OR put them money into better suspension / tyres I go this way every time.

[Mark from Brisbane Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark from Brisbane]

I should add there's a bypass around Palm Creek, comes in just past Dulcie....if you were to have a look at Palm and decide not to give it a go just ask Jamie at Bramwell...he's the Guru!!

But take your time, have someone on the radio guiding you down and I reckon you'd be fine

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

Thanks for the feedback guys. Heading up to the Cape in July/August next year so I am trying to be as well prepared as I can.

Cheers

Jim

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

First thing i did was to pull those damn thing off from my rig. But man those original alluminium Running boards cost a fortune....
Local guy suggested he could weld a tube so i could have a nice sliders... I'll see