Trust your XJ for Simpson desert.

[Flexy time]

Hi all, im after some opinions.
In 5 weeks im off to Cape York on a moto, but Dad and i are talking of doing the "Simmo" next year.
Now would you do this drive in you XJ?

Mine is lucky to get 350kms from a longrange tank has the leaky 0331 head and about 290thousand Ks so should i pump some money into it or would i be better off with another vehicle?
Let me know what you think.

[undecided]

I am at a similiar point with mine. 2 sides it will cost less to keep my current XJ but it still won't be worth anything

[xjdavid]

How many litres in your long range tank.

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[Big Dave]

If everything is up to scratch maintenance wise, no hesitation. We did the Tanamai, Kalumbaru rd and the Gibb River rd as part of a 13,000km 8 week trip in 2012 fully loaded & towing a 1000kg camper with no issues other than the transfer case jumping into neutral on the Tanamai corrugations. Something wrong with yours though if you only get 350km from 125l long range tank. I was getting 600km from mine plus we carried 3 20l jerry cans in the camper so we were good for 900km. Take spare sensors, belts & hoses and a sat phone and you should be good to go.

[junglejuice]

I would trust mine, I got an average of 17l/100 out of mine towing a 1t camper when I did the cape and that was with my original low compression engine so it should be better now.
Are you sure you have a long range tank if you'er only getting 350ks from it?
Sounds like it needs some work, the 331 head strikes again!!!

[hillsjeep]

I was forced to make the same decision after a piston broke. After looking around I decided I still didn't like anything as much as my XJ so I bought a second hand engine from Jeep Engines Australia. Its probably costing more than its worth, but I don't care... its a Jeep thing I guess!

I did buy a TJ to keep me on the road while this work is being done though (any excuse...)

[Hamsteh]

Do and Did

Decided to do the Simpson with 2 weeks of prep a few years back. Dual fuel system with 65L LPG tank and ~40L of usable ULP. Carried two poly boat fuel tanks at 55L each I think they were to give myself some breathing room for the desert section.

The Jeep did amazing. Was the cheapest on fuel for the trip thanks to LPG, was worth the least outright, and only had 2 issues: my boot latch stopped working and my drivers door fell off (got some laughs I can assure you) on the same day on the way home!

I spent the 14 days off I had before the trip installing front tow points, rebuilding my cooling system, fixing my NSS, rebuilding my starter, installing driving lights, ... you name it haha