Across the Simpson Desert in a TJ

[maggoo]

Hey guys

Not sure where i should post this so i thought the Wrangler forum will do.

I have just arrived home from going across the Simpson desert in my 97 TJ and thought id share it with you guys.

The route we took across the desert was West to East. French Line then onto the QAA Line into Birdville.

I carried 130ltrs of petrol across the desert and used approximately 110ltrs from Mt Dare to Birdsville.

Schedule

Day 1 - Gisborne (VIC) to Renmark (NSW)
Day 2 - Renmark to Coober Pedy
Day 3 - Coober Pedy to Mt Dare (last fuel stop)
Day 4 - Mt Dare to Dalhousie Springs
Day 5 - Dalhousie Springs to somewhere in the desert haha
Day 6 - Desert to Desert
Day 7 - Desert to Desert
Day 8 - Desert to Big Red then to Birdsville
Day 9 - Birdsville to Maree
Day 10 - Maree to Mildura
Day 11 - Mildura to Home

Preparation on my car:

Rear bar with tyre carrier and twin jerry holders - BlackjackWelding
New Shocks - Rancho rs9000XL (Which i think i stuffed my rear ones)
Built some rear storage for a third fuel jerry and a water jerry (will do a write up on them once i carpet them)
Installed a snorkel
Water pump
Thermostat
Spark plugs
Leads
Cap
Rotor
Front wheel bearing
Front Uni joints (never doing them again, such a pain)

Packing wise i fit everything i needed to for two people easily. If i was doing a longer trip i would then start thinking about getting a roof cage to put the swags on.
I kept all my drinks and food in a 80L waeco ice box. I would have loved a fridge but cant afford one at the moment.
The esky went surprisingly well. Stayed cold the entire trip up until Birdsville which i then just chuck my left over food in my mates fridge.


Problems:
The TJ had a strange "lurching" issue which i will go into further detail in another thread.
Forgot to extend the rear bumpstops.......
First day in the desert i was bottoming out my rear shocks.
We jacked the car up and took the springs out and made some extended bumpstops out of wood haha.
They broke the next day so jacked it up again and used a rubber mallet.
Seemed to hold up ok but i think the damage was already done.
I will post a picture of my shocks later and show you what i mean.

Apart from that the TJ ran great!
Little bit rough on the corrugated roads with only 235/75/15 tyres.

Pictures:

http://imageshack.us/a/img337/8588/1000049tp.jpg
4 cars - Cruiser, TJ, GU Patrol, GQ Shorty

http://imageshack.us/a/img59/8338/1000070x.jpg
Outside Mt Dare

http://imageshack.us/a/img854/7637/1000077r.jpg
Random windmill

http://imageshack.us/a/img528/5697/1000082v.jpg
My mate thought it was funny......
Copped alot of shit the whole trip about driving a jeep. Outdid them all in the end though

http://imageshack.us/a/img585/6199/1000116s.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img401/5248/1000141d.jpg
Big Red in the distance


All in all I had a great time
Anyone that is hesitant to do it in a TJ I say go for it!
Lets show up all those patrols and cruisers.


Cheers,
Paul

[Bozza]

Mate! Love the write up and thanks for sharing the pics. Looks like you had a great trip

[Dustbowl]

Really awesome! Leaves in the cherokee will probably save me the bump stop issue when I get round to the trip :mrgreen:

Go jeep OIIIIIIIO!!

[willo24]

Maggo,

what tyres did you use for your Simpson trip? Anyone else goat advice?

I'm taking my TJ to the Simpson this year and currently have a set of 33in muddies (for the Victorian winter) and a set of 31in all terrain wheels. Tossing up which to drive with.

Cheers,

Wllo.

[maggoo]

Awesome! Have fun mate!

When i went up i only had standard size tyres 235/75/15

They were Cooper ST's All terrain

The corrugated roads were pretty harsh. Been wondering if it was due to small tyres or not.
The other 3 cars all had 285/75/16 (33's) muddies and they drove alright.

Most important thing is let your tyre pressures down on the gravel roads and again when you hit the sand.

[wes]

What an adventure **)

Thanks for sharing :hump:

[willo24]

Awesome! Have fun mate!
...
The corrugated roads were pretty harsh. Been wondering if it was due to small tyres or not.
The other 3 cars all had 285/75/16 (33's) muddies and they drove alright.


Cheers!

The smaller tyres (31's) are a bit more civilised for the highway km's and my main concern was the clearance in the rutted tracks. Sounds like that wasn't too much drama for you though?
Willo.

[victoro]

Good on ya, we did the same trip and even took the TJ up to Mitchel Falls, I think the Jeep is highly underated when it comes to what most expect it to do on a outback run.
We have also done the canning stock route with ours, and had many on the trip laughing about bringing a TJ, however we made a soild statement by not backing down one dune, I can't say the same for them, the laughs stopped around well 19, and the conversations started around 25.
The other side to this story is not one failure on the rig! so in short we took it for a 2200k offroad trip with what should be the best of the off road vehicles, helped them repair, springs, shocks, battery trays, and ruptured fuel tanks, came out of the canning in halls creek, drove to broome and from there home in perth.
Yes the suspension was soft by that time, but NOT broken.
I have done many trips beyond that and to this day my jeep still turns heads.
Keep the storys coming because (I do understand).

Thanks for the write up

[Hotdognz]

Sounds like a great trip and proves I can do it in my shortie JK in a couple of years time.

[maggoo]

Cheers!

The smaller tyres (31's) are a bit more civilised for the highway km's and my main concern was the clearance in the rutted tracks. Sounds like that wasn't too much drama for you though?
Willo.


Don't need to concern yourself with rutted tracks. All the dirt roads up and back were just rough corrugations no big ruts.
When you hit the sand there's a few rutty hills but nothing that bad.

The most rutted section we hit was probably after big red on the way into Birdsville. Decided to take a "shortcut" through a salt lake that was full of water.
My mate got stuck twice in the ruts on his 33's
I took a completely different line and got through first go.


Sounds like a trip and a half Victor!

[eksjay]

You da man!

What an adventure. I always wondered what kind of fuel load was needed for the powertech I6. What kind of pressures were you running and how did you negotiate the dunes.

[Squall]

I will be doing the Simo later this year and am a big fan of the TJ for touring. I think the light weight of the TJ and the short wheel base are some of the greatest assets of the Jeep offroad. I know there is not enough space for all the fruit of other touring rigs but do you really want all that stuff offroad? I go out there to leave the TV and bed at home in exchange for a swag and a good view.

I have driven from West to East on the Gunbarrel and then the Hay river, from the south of Tassie to Cape York and all through Kakadu and the Kimberly in what most people look at as a weekend warrior truck.

Great write up and good on you for getting out there even with your truck not completely finished (no carport in the storage area and no truck is truly finished I guess). Keep up the write ups on trips I say.