Hi
Today finds Goldilocks (Keith Batson's friend) who is riding with them and tenting each night and the four bears in Birdsville.
Just returned from Big Red where everyone with 20psi went back and forth over Little Red (the first dune entering the Simpson) and Keith and Phil Batson went over Big Red with 14psi.
This is our trip so far:
Byron Bay - Yetman
Yetman - Bollon
Bollon - Thargaminda
Thargaminda - Roadside Stop
Roadside Stop - Innamincka
Innamincka - Cadelga Ruins
Cadelga Ruins - Birdsville
Birdsville - Mungerannie Roadhouse (saturday)
Other than lots of fun and good company the trip has been quite uneventful - no real dramas.
For those of you that have Rancho shocks with the air adjusters be sure and put a good guard over the inflator and attached hose, and those of you that have manual adjusters, put a good guard over the manual adjuster.
Also depending on your system, carry some extra air or manual inflators.
When we drove across some of the gibber plains the rocks hitting the underside of the vehicles was like a machine gun, and one of the bullets (rocks) nailed one of the inflators, and then the next day the other took a hit.
On the F-truck the rear wheels have two shocks and the inflators are on the front side of the foward rear shocks. They both went out of commission and as a consequence in Birdsville we had to remove the air inflators from the rear pair of shocks on the rear wheels so that all of the rear wheels are on manual inflators.
Before someone suggests the problem would not have happened if we had not installed air inflators, when the first air inflator took a hit and we replaced it with a manual inflator about 150k from Birdsville, by the time we got to Birdsville (sounds like a song) the manual inflator was a smashed mess too.
We put the truck up on a hoist and put guards over anything exposed.
I used heavy walled reinforced 2" pipe that I split and then tied in place with wire - cable ties would never take the beating.
Back to the trip - fantastic!
When we were at Cameron's Corner there happened to be a writer-photographer from Express publications - they own Caravan and Motorhome and 4WD Monthly. I introduced myself - he remembered that Big Red was on the cover a year ago - and we all had our picture taken and it will be published in a few months showing four BTs at CC! Rather cool!!!
Lots and lots of pics are being taken and will shortly be posted by Cruisin Twosome.
Saturday we head for Cooper Pedy via Maree.
Cheers,
Luvntravln on behalf of Goldilocks and the Four Bears
