Fraser Island 16th-21st of September

[Byrnsie Member Find all posts View Profile Close Byrnsie]

its a great place to be. that was my third time back there and it gets better and better.

I agree.

I have also just got back from my third visit. First visit was 3 nights, second one 6 nights and this time it was for 10 nights from 2-12 October. Based at Orchid Beach, we did two trips to the Cape, two to Wathumba Creek, one to Woralie Creek via Lake Allom, the obligatory trip to Lake McKenzie / Central Station as well as many afternoons fishing into the night at Waddy Point and Indian Head. All up, we travelled about 1000kms on sand. Sand was softer than I have ever experienced. We travelled at 18PSI the whole time and never got bogged once. I did however find that when in the really soft stuff I was often much better off travelling in low range 3rd & 4th than high range 1st and 2nd. The V6 had oodles of grunt to handle all situations with ease. BEWARE - Fuel on the island was $1.80 per litre and that was for crap stuff - no high octane available. I do enjoy my driving but pay the price in fuel economy, averaging 22 litres per 100 kms for all sand driving.
Cheers - Greg (Byrnsie)

[Russ WA Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Russ WA]

Greg
Top Photo.
Petrol is not cheap but memories are priceless.
Unless you have a diesel. :lol:
I bet your planning your next trip already..

Russ

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

its not hard to rack the kms up if want to see a bit of scenery. my 1st visit we stayed a cathedral beach spent a week their, second was at waddy point campin, third at kingfisher (keep the bride happy). Have done the whole eastern side from hook to sandy, only done woolie on da western side. hopin to get up there next year for the fishin comp at orchid beach. No missus.

[Ian Rogers Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Rogers]

Mate i took it to place at Geebung and for $70 bucks they flushed the chassis rails and hosed out underneath, cleaned out the engine bay, put it up on the hoist again and flush out underneath again and then i went to my car detailer and for $45 it was again looking like brand new.

Hutch

Can you tell me the name and location of the place at Geebung you used?

I'm just back from Fraser this morning and have spent quite a few hours cleaning underneath and still not sure I've got it all.

When we got back to Rainbow I went to a place promoted as a underbody wash. Spent $12 thinking it would do the job. Got home and found large quantites of sand in and on top of the chassis rails and also on top of the fuel tank guard. Poked a hose on every hole in the chassis and guard and used a lot of the wife's garden tank water. Still not sure I've got it all and I'm thinking I would like to put it up on a hoist and even remove the fuel tank guard.

Also noticed quite a bit of sand coming out from under the plastic trim on the outside bottom of the rear doors.

None of this will put me off going again but I'm now more focussed on cleaning than I expected.

Ian R

[Ian Rogers Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Rogers]

Guys,

Further to the bit in my last post about getting the sand out from under - I crawled under again today and despite my best efforts yesterday I found heaps of sand still in the shield around the rear fuel tank, on top of the chassis rails and other bits up close to the floor. I'm now sure I will drop the guards off both fuel tanks and anything else that looks feasible.

Ian R

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

Ian, it is called downeys street lubritorium at Geebung. check here,
http://www.pradopoint.com/viewtopic.php ... ney+street

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

I paid 360 for steam clean and rust proofing a year ago. Should be half that amount for just the steam clean.

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

The clean is only $70 bucks, flush chassis, clean under neath, clean engine bay, and go over under neath again.

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

Jeez its hard to concentrate on work when i keep finding fantasic trip reports, with photos, like this one

Good work to all concerned

[TWC Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close TWC]

Great to hear you had a good trip Hutch and the weather looks like it was on your side. Some nice shots and a good report. It is not often that vehicles are forced to travel over the rocks at Ngala like that (travelled on the higher end of the tide?). McKenzie is a stunning lake isn't it, you can see why it is so popular. Glad you took the time to experience as much as you could, looks like you covered most of my favourites. Most importantly though - did you catch any fish?

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

No i don't fish, the boys that do, caught a few, that's the third time we had been and keeps getting better each time, this was the first time we went to the top.

[stephenvsl Member Find all posts View Profile Close stephenvsl]

Re:

When we got back to Rainbow I went to a place promoted as a underbody wash.
Ian R

We're heading up to Teewah Beach over XMas. We've been there before (with another 4x4) and usually use the underbody wash. This is our first 4x4 with an air intake in the guard. The water jets spray up quite a large volume of water. Is anyone aware of any problems with water being sucked in through the air intake through underbody washes? They recommend leaving the engine running but don't see that that is necessary with a Deisel. We still normally wash down thoroughly when we get home but I like the idea of the oil wash before going on the beach and getting salt and sand off as quick as possible after being on the beach. It'll be two weeks before we are home and can do a complete wash.

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Re: Re:

They recommend leaving the engine running but don't see that that is necessary with a Deisel.

That particular underbody wash is stationary... so in order to get full coverage from the spray you need to keep reversing and driving forwards again and again over the jets.
I've used it a few times and can't say I've had any problems with the air intake. (watch the first corner with oily tyres though :shock: 8) :lol: )

[stephenvsl Member Find all posts View Profile Close stephenvsl]

Re: Fraser Island 16th-21st of September

Thanks Snaga,

Yep, I usually do the back and forward thing (gets boring if you put in more than about 8 bucks). I've also seen some people come to grief on the tight bends on the access road after the wash with their oily brakes and tyres. Have you noticed any sand build-up in the air filter after your trips? I know some folks who have Discovery's that also have in-guard air intakes and they get sand in their filters.

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Re: Fraser Island 16th-21st of September

No sand as far as I could see... most I've ever had in the air filter box is a splattering of very liquid, light brown mud. Can't remember if that was LCMP or Mt Mee :?