Where do I start?
The 4WD:
Had to replace exhaust gasket in Cairns before starting(not to mention the steering pump connector,split turbo hose & breather hose on radiator in the week before leaving)
Lost a driver's side mirror(taped a replacement on in Laura)
Engine Management Light came on(dust clogged filter)
Bonnet wouldn't close
Air con died at Nolans(spent a month with the windows down breathing in the lovely Cape dust
)
UHF died at Nolans but we got it working again later
Mud flap came off
Lost power to dash, including lights, heading into Weipa at night
Lost bolts for sway bars
Found a hole in a DIP which locked the hazards on. The air con did work for 5mins afterwards though, so bonus
Lost dash accessories: radio/stereo and fan, which meant we couldn't use air con(turned out to be the ignition barrel was faulty)
Had to manually hold light switch on(replaced headlight switch stalk with one from a commodore...poor Monty)
A stick took out the brake line
Lost ABS and Traction Control(we had Christmas in July on the dash)
Diff seal leaking
Water in car at every crossing, so we left the carpet mats out(need to plug the drain holes)
Exhaust gasket on the way out, again
Monty had only been offroad once before this trip, so is now also sporting the latest Cape fashion pin striping too
I'm sure there's probably more. We'll find out soon as it's going in to our mechanic next week. Fingers crossed.
The CAMPERTRAILER:
Bearings collapsed? wheel came off, brakes destroyed and the axle dug into the ground(new axle made and flown up)
Jockey wheel destroyed skull dragging camper onto flatbed(they made us a new, better one)
Lost brakes LHS
After an altercation with a tree on a 50 point turn at Maytown, the lock on the door/steps jammed
Jockey wheel handle snapped off somewhere on Old Coach Rd
One tyre had a deep crack through the tread running half way around the tyre, and both tyres were completely stripped on the inside only. Anyone got ideas why this would happen only on the inside?
Back in Cairns, after washing under the 4WD so it would be clean to go in for a check over, hubby found a handful of odd bolts, nuts, screws and washers laying in the mud(haven't found a home for them yet).
The repair bill, including labour, came to $9,900. Over half of that is just for the ABS module replacement part :'(
As luck would have it, the Defender was out of warranty a week into our trip.
Add to that the $3000+ repair for the camper + accomms for a week. Hopefully our wonderful, gracious insurance company will help
We had a very expensive, but absolutely fantastic trip, and would still do it all again in a heartbeat!!!
We did, however, manage to carry a carton of eggs about 8000km from home, across millions of corrugations through Cape York, along the Old Telegraph Track, across the Old Coach Road and all the way home without breaking a single one.
Maybe we need a car made of egg shells and cardboard
Cheers
Karen
