Author Topic: Carnage of the Cape (Read 20764 times)

duggie · « **Reply #25 on:** July 07, 2011, 12:58:05 PM »

Quote from: darren on July 07, 2011, 07:43:03 AM

G'Day Duggie
Great to hear you had a good trip. Was it an aftermarket panhard rod that failed? and what brand of winch was it
Thanks

Hi darren,
It was in fact the original Nissan panhard rod that broke, I must have sat down on something hard during one of the creek crossings and bent it and after some time it became a banana and broke on the bend. The winch problems was a Premier 9000 lb winch but respect to the makers the winch and bullbar sat around for a couple of years and the solenoids were fairly rusted up, when needed the wind in solenoid stuck in the winch position.

darren · « **Reply #26 on:** July 07, 2011, 01:07:53 PM »

What did you do about the panhard rod? Did you repair it?

duggie · « **Reply #27 on:** July 07, 2011, 02:30:23 PM »

I was able to pull one of a wreck at Bamaga wrecking yard, only cost me $60.00, I think my saving grace was that I am running external airbags and the helped stop to diff from walking too much.

darren · « **Reply #28 on:** July 07, 2011, 02:32:32 PM »

lucky. Good on you for keeping going.
Darren

Gunna Do · « **Reply #29 on:** July 07, 2011, 02:36:28 PM »

$60.00 for a panhard rod in Bamaga was a bargain. One benefit of driving Cruisers or Patrols, there are always parts lying around somewhere in the remote spots.

jk · « **Reply #30 on:** July 07, 2011, 02:56:48 PM »

Broke an engine mount on the CREB ( carry a spare so no biggie )
Developed a leak in the gearbox ( warranty work/just rebuilt )

Bent mudflap brackets on camper ( same as last time )
Loose body mount bolt
Scratches

.............thousands of the things
Cut finger trying to separate two snatch straps after Nolands Brook
Left front brake calliper not working at full clamping power, full of crud I guess ( bloody Gunshot )

not bad all things considered,..................can we go do it all again

Vi_n_Geoff · « **Reply #31 on:** July 07, 2011, 09:45:47 PM »

We mirror those other who went, a great bunch of people. Only real issue for me was bending all the checkerplate edges on the camper and a lot of little bush pinstripes. Oh and the dent on a rear quarter panel from me losing grip on a log when it slipped whilst putting on the roof rack.

The Paj performed like a champion, not a single loose bolt (and i was checking every day

). The only thing i had to do was clean the air filter daily to keep her fed as much clean air as possible.

Sitting here in Cooktown, i have done some fuel figures checks. So far since we left home, covering 3400km with the camper on all but 200km it is averaging 13.9l/100km!! This included doing the OTL, so i am very impressed to say the least.

cheers
Geoff

bert56 · « **Reply #32 on:** July 10, 2011, 06:56:26 AM »

The BT50 performed far better than I thought it would.

I do need to do some repairs which include

repair tigerz 11 winch that failed the first time I went to use it, Rope will need resplicing as it rubbed because I could not wind it all the way in,
windscreen now has 2 big chips, both whilst on bitumen,
Bonnet protector
possible burnt out clutch, sure put out a lot of smoke at gunshot,
1000's of scratches
cracked wheel carrier and associated dent in tail gate,
investigate knock in the front end when reversing with full left lock,

Would I go again, HELL YES.

Bert

dno · « **Reply #33 on:** July 10, 2011, 09:48:55 AM »

Hi Bert.
Great to hear you guy's all had a good time while away. Was wondering what size the failed tigerz winch is and what went wrong with it.
Thanks Dean.

Black Diamond · « **Reply #34 on:** July 10, 2011, 11:03:21 AM »

Quote from: bert56 on July 10, 2011, 06:56:26 AM

The BT50 performed far better than I thought it would.

I do need to do some repairs which include

repair tigerz 11 winch that failed the first time I went to use it, Rope will need resplicing as it rubbed because I could not wind it all the way in,
windscreen now has 2 big chips, both whilst on bitumen,
Bonnet protector
possible burnt out clutch, sure put out a lot of smoke at gunshot,
1000's of scratches
cracked wheel carrier and associated dent in tail gate,
investigate knock in the front end when reversing with full left lock,

Would I go again, HELL YES.

Bert

Thats the spirit

bert56 · « **Reply #35 on:** July 11, 2011, 06:20:34 AM »

Hi Dean,

My winch is 12000 lb version with rope. It feed out about 50mm and then gave up the ghost which left it flapping and caused it to wear through the rope a bit. I tied it up with cable ties for the trip home. Anyone know a GOOD rope splicer in Gladstone. I'm going to have a look at it today and see if I can find what's wrong.

Cheers Bert

idlegossip · « **Reply #36 on:** July 11, 2011, 08:00:56 AM »

We like everyone else had our issues.

On the car we had 2 cracked driving lights, cracked windscreen, dual battery controller gave up the ghost from the corrugations, ruptured water tank in the car from corrugations, 1 demolished tyre, tree trunk protector, rear stone guard bent, melted the airbag tube to the polyair bag in the rear.

On the camper we demolished the handbrake guard on the camper, bent a leg, bent checker plating under the kitchen, broke off a latch for securing the hardfloor closed, need to replace the foam seals again on the top as they were damaged whilst the side was scrapped.

Bush pinstrips on both the vehicle and camper like others that will buff out. We also had to upgrade the suspension when we got to Cairns initially because the springs that were on the camper were not up to the task. Some we were had some heavy duty springs installed which gave the camper about a 4 inch lift from where it stood initially. This made the world of difference in the way the trailer handled.

Our only other disappointment was having our laptop and internet stolen from our hut during the night at Seisia.

Overall we are happy with the way things went in general with all things considered.

D4D · « **Reply #37 on:** July 11, 2011, 08:08:56 AM »

Quote from: idlegossip on July 11, 2011, 08:00:56 AM

Our only other disappointment was having our laptop and internet stolen from our hut during the night at Seisia.

Farkers!

Gunna Do · « **Reply #38 on:** July 11, 2011, 08:28:55 AM »

IddleG, I see a few have mentioned that their vehicle suffered plenty of bush pin striping. What section of the track was this suffered mostly.

Was the hut where your laptop was stolen from, one of the open beach front ones (camp kitchen style)?

What brand was your dual battery isolator?

Water tanks inside vehicles have always worried me, hope there wasn't too much water leaked inside.

Sounds like an epic trip this year. Looking forward to a few more pics if you've got any to leak to the waiting masses.

BigJules · « **Reply #39 on:** July 11, 2011, 08:48:42 AM »

Quote from: bert56 on July 11, 2011, 06:20:34 AM

My winch is 12000 lb version with rope. It feed out about 50mm and then gave up the ghost which left it flapping and caused it to wear through the rope a bit. I tied it up with cable ties for the trip home. Anyone know a GOOD rope splicer in Gladstone. I'm going to have a look at it today and see if I can find what's wrong.
Cheers Bert

I'm betting it is the dodgy switch and/or wireless module. I thought I had a solenoid failure, bought a replacement (~$30) but obviously this didn't fix it. Try direct connecting the wires and see how you go.

dno · « **Reply #40 on:** July 11, 2011, 10:39:29 AM »

Quote from: bert56 on July 11, 2011, 06:20:34 AM

Hi Dean,
My winch is 12000 lb version with rope.
Cheers Bert

Thanks Bert.
I think it would pay to have a good look inside to soliniod box for poor conections, there electrical conectors and fittings are a little poor.
Thanks for your reply.
dno.
Also thanking everyone else that posts. Sorry to hear about the laptop IddleG, there sure is some scum out there.

MDS69 · « **Reply #41 on:** July 11, 2011, 01:13:48 PM »

WOW what an adventure. Sounds like some lifelong memories there.

idlegossip · « **Reply #42 on:** July 11, 2011, 09:10:32 PM »

Hi Gunna do,

There were various sections along the way that were a little tight to gert through with branches overhanging on the track that couldn't of been easily avoided and some sections needed to be cut wide to get through.

The huts were one of the beach front open air ones and I got a little complacent with it as we hadn't heard of any problems and there were no signs warning of night visitors and having covered it to a point I thought it was ok. Guess I won't be doing that again.

The dual battery controller was a Piranha older model. Was lucky in that our fridge didn't go over 2-3oC as I was watching it constantly and the moment you gave the controller a tap with your fingers it came good again for a couple of days. It was an intermittent fault that was a concern so I changed it out yesterday back in Cairn to be on the safe side.

Our water tank in the care ruptured some where between Archer river and Canal creek. we had about 60 lt go through the car. Initially I though it was some water leakage from a river crossing until I want to fill a water bottle with drinking water and realised that the tank was empty. One of the problems with stainless steel tanks I guess.

Epic is an understatement. Will see what photos I have salvaged that I can put out but I don't want to steal Marks thunder on his report, which will be well worth the wait.

Gunna Do · « **Reply #43 on:** July 11, 2011, 09:30:12 PM »

Thanks IddleG for the update and info.

Unlucky with the stainless tank leaking, I was thinking it would have been a plastic one.

The huts at Seisia, whilst they only having basic facilities, are a welcome oasis after the trip north. Just not a secure one by the looks of it.

Tks

bert56 · « **Reply #44 on:** July 12, 2011, 09:31:42 AM »

I've fixed the winch, faulty switch, I tested it before leaving home. This was the first time I needed it and it failed. The wireless remote never worked properly. Just shows that you get what you pay for. I bought a cheap winch and it was useless when I needed it.

Bert

Bird · « **Reply #45 on:** July 12, 2011, 10:22:58 AM »

Quote from: bert56

I've fixed the winch, faulty switch, I tested it before leaving home. This was the first time I needed it and it failed. The wireless remote never worked properly. Just shows that you get what you pay for. I bought a cheap winch and it was useless when I needed it.

This post should be made a sticky. :'(
Thats a bugger though. Lucky you had others with you

BigJules · « **Reply #46 on:** July 12, 2011, 10:31:20 AM »

Quote from: bert56 on July 12, 2011, 09:31:42 AM

I've fixed the winch, faulty switch, I tested it before leaving home. This was the first time I needed it and it failed. The wireless remote never worked properly. Just shows that you get what you pay for. I bought a cheap winch and it was useless when I needed it.

As I suspected. I think the winch itself is a good bit of gear, but the controls are not the best.

SteveandViv · « **Reply #47 on:** July 27, 2011, 04:19:18 PM »

Well the run down for us is.

Rear diff seal on the way over from Broome. No issues An extra day in Cairns before we left
Winch solenoid burnt out doing the Wenlock. Diverted to Wepia to get it fixed before doing the OTL Added a few days there but we were planing to go the for two days on the way down so only an extra day

Did the Auto Tensioner (Belt) idler pully just out of Coen on the way down. Spent 2.5 days there while part sent from Cairns. A bit pissed off about that one as I did have a noise in a pully but thought it was another one. Seized and snapped the tension-er arm.

On our way back to Cairns we had a CV noise grow worse and worse. On inspection there was a split in the CV boot that had finally filled up with OTL water and grit. Sort of lucky it went where it did as we were just off the CREB. This was due to me not checking the CV properly before we left Broome, not due to the CREB. In Cairns for 4 days while part rebuilt. Also getting a new left front wheel bearing, again old age and thousands of Kays and corrugations. Ours are not serviceable items so no way to check etc.

These are the only repairs we have had over 8 years so all in all not to bad, shame they happened now as we also miss the end of the trip with Frostd which is a sh1t...

Frostd · « **Reply #48 on:** July 29, 2011, 09:37:43 PM »

Just arrived home from 6 weeks to the Cape and have read the thread. I feel quite happy, considering what you guys and my good friend Steveandviv have sustained. My damage, jockey wheel, slight panel damage to the CT, broken handles and feet to stabilizer legs. The pin stripping will match the other pin stripping.

Gunna Do · « **Reply #49 on:** July 30, 2011, 05:44:11 AM »

Frostd, have you any clues as to why your DO35 hitch popped off the pin on the way up north? Anything bent or broken in the locking mechanism?

News:

Author Topic: Carnage of the Cape (Read 20764 times)