Canning Stock Route July/ August

[Rob M]

We have recently completed the Canning Stock Route with a Prado 150 towing a Tvan Mark2.
In summary, a wonderful trip and a great experience. We travelled with another vehicle that was not towing.
Travelled from North to South and from our seats the southern approaches to the dunes were more chopped up than the northern approaches.
The whole unit performed really well. Extremely pleased with how the Tvan handled it.
It took us 24 days with 2 nights at well 33, 3 nights at Durba Springs and 2 nights at well 6.
We carried 270 litres of diesel. 150 in the Prado tank, 100 in Jerry Cans on the Tvan and 20 on the roof rack. We used 170 litres between Billiluna and Kunawarritji and 230 litres between Kunawarritji and Wiluna. Visited every well except for well 20 ruins. Total km was 1941 as we did lots of short side trips.
Fuel consumption was the big unknown as we were unsure of consumption while towing over dunes.  Pleased we did carry this much fuel as it removed any concerns.
Towing over the bigger dunes was a low range affair with vehicle tyre pressures down to 16 psi and Tvan down to 12 psi. We used a strategy of having a reasonable speed up on the initial ascent and then letting the power of the motor take us to the crest. We felt racing at the dunes with lots of whoops posed a risk of damage. Having an automatic with the capacity for second gear start was such an advantage in crossing dunes. We managed to get over all dunes without assistance of another vehicle. Two dunes we backed down , reduced tyre pressures and got over on the second attempt. Two dunes we got over using 2 sets of max tracks and one dunes we winched off a perfectly placed ghost gum.
We carried food for 30 days for 2 people. 70 litres of water in the Tvan single tank and 60 litres in Jerry cans in the Prado. One Jerry Can was never touched.
At Kunawarritji I replaced the shock absorber bushes and covered the new ones with rubber grease. The only damage to the Tvan; we lost one of the knobs off the stove. It is inside the cabinet some where. The only damage to the Prado; one indicator cover and a UHF aerial that snapped off as a result of vibration. Food damage; eggs scrambled themselves without cracking the shell.
Did not need a Spinifex shield as it was well mowed down.
We used Panel Protect on the sides of the Tvan and Prado to reduce Pin Striping from grevellias and wattles. Worked really well with no damage where we had it. Much of the overhanging scrub had also been cut back by large vehicles such as Outback Spirit.
Early on we received lots of smart and negative comments about towing the Tvan but as we need the end only respect from other travellers. We certainly did not cut up the dunes and did far less damage than those who had tyre pressures too high and travelled too fast. It was interesting to watch and be part of the negative psychology aimed at creating doubt about the capability of the Tvan being towed. They were usually "experts" who thought they knew it all and had the perfect rig.
Saw lots of damaged vehicles. Cracked and bent chassis, broken springs and shock absorbers, cracked ute tray mounts largely from over loading and speed.
We rang Cunyu station and were able to get permission to tow from Well 5 through their track even though trailers are not permitted. Explained that we wanted to go to Windich Springs and that we had come all the way down towing the Tvan. He knew the Tvans and gave permission without hesitation.
In summary, we were well prepared, took our time and enjoyed the drive, the landscape, the history and the plants and flowers.
If you are considering it go for it.
Cheers,
Rob.

[FnD+2GS]

Sounds like a great trip was had, but with the amount of thought and planning along with a sensible attitude I think it was always going to be a success.  Tyre pressures are so important but so misunderstood. 

I would love to see some pics of your trip as we want to do the same one day ourselves though probably south to north.  We were hoping to do so this year but can't get that time off work so it will need to be either long service time or between jobs I think.

[Patrol Dude]

Nice work Rob - some pics would be great. Looking forward to this trip also in the next few years. Work keeps getting in the way [emoji6] I've heard varying reports on how bad the corrugations are on the track, where were the worst sections and over all what did you do to make them not shack your rig apart??? I f cause getting your speed right is very important what speed did you guys sit on, on average? Cheers

[Rob M]

Hi Jeff and Trish,
The corrugations were a complete pain in the "A". We found them worst at the Billiluna end and both sides of well 33. In places there were 3 deviation tracks parallel to the track. We have encountered lots of corrugations on previous trips and these were at the top end of the range.
Many other sections were really corrugated as well. Especially in open country where the track was flat and straight.
Upgraded the Prado suspension with Old Man Emu and certainly handled corrugations better.
Tried to keep weight down but virtually impossible on such a trip
Lowering tyre pressures certainly helped but we kept to around 40 km/hr on the really bad sections. When we completely lost rhythm we just coasted and then started again. We found that it worked for us and no damage. Others will recommend travelling in the 70 km range to get across the top of corrugations.
Each will work out what suits.
It is very difficult to estimate an average speed as we stopped to look at lots of stuff, travelling in dune country was slow but open country much faster. 100 km was Enough for a day for us.
Cheers,
Rob

[Rob M]

I should have mentioned that we heard from north bound travellers that there was another group of 3 Tvans travelling south that were well ahead of us.
It was only after we had completed the trip that we met one of the group (Jeff/ Geoff) and heard of their great trip as well.
Cheers
Rob

[Patrol Dude]

Thanks Rob, appreciate the feed back. Seems as though Tvaners and Tvans are making easy work of the Canning. Looking forward to this trip. Cheers

[Graham Norfolk]

Hi Rob,
We were probably part of the group of three T-vans that you were talking to Jeff about in front of you that became three T-vans and a Cub.
The corrugations were rough but probably no worse than most off the beaten tracks, I think the worst thing was meeting people coming from the South who said our worst was to come.
As far as trailers causing all the problems it was amazing to be calling fellow travellers on the UHF and then when you meet them their jaws would drop and they would look past you at the T-vans. You could see that they thought every hole in the track, every stick on the track and every grain of sand that was out of place would be caused by people towing trailers even though they were travelling in the opposite direction.
It was a great trip and I would recommend it to any one, I think travelling from North to South is good as the scenery gets better and the track gets more diverse as you go South and most of the long sections of corrugations are in the Northern part. Rescuing the Cub added to the excitement.
What a awesome trip.
Cheers
Graham & Maxine

[Rob M]

Absolutely agree with the comments about attributing all the track damage to trailers. Some of the same people who made the comments were the ones not prepared to lower tyre pressures and drove at speeds that caused corrugations.
Lots of ill informed "experts" who were very quick to make judgements about towing a Tvan when they know nothing of its capability.
Interesting that the manager of Cunyu Station knew of Tvans and was prepared to give us approval to go all the way through the property. Someone must have been through before?
Cheers
Rob

[Patrol Dude]

Managing different people's expectations for what's is acceptable and what is not when in remote areas is far to difficult. That's why God created BEER!! [emoji482] Just Smile and Wave [emoji41]

[nicki01]

Hi Rob,
Sounds like a great trip, we are hoping to do the Canning next year, will look into all the info you put on your post so can arrange things correctly. Understand the corregations founds some pretty bad sections on our last trip on our way out to Cameron Corner in August at times we were down to 20kms as they got bad and were trying to avoid damaging our tow vehicle or our Tvan.
As always we would need to look at fuel storage/capacity as our Patrol doesn't hold 150lts but are thinking of putting in a larger auxillary tank to cope with greater distances without the possibliity of fuel stops.
Nicki

[Young Nomads]

Absolutely agree with the comments about attributing all the track damage to trailers. Some of the same people who made the comments were the ones not prepared to lower tyre pressures and drove at speeds that caused corrugations.
Lots of ill informed "experts" who were very quick to make judgements about towing a Tvan when they know nothing of its capability.
Interesting that the manager of Cunyu Station knew of Tvans and was prepared to give us approval to go all the way through the property. Someone must have been through before?
Cheers
Rob

You know...trailers don't damage the track..they cannot self propel or spin their wheels...they just follow the "driver" and their bad habits LOL..,maybe that's the answer to give the snide comments about towing trailers

[joga]

True, trailers don't spin their wheels, but they MAY cause the tow vehicle to spin its wheels.

From my observations, FWIW, most corrigations are caused by vehicle not engaging 4wd on soft surfaces.

Invariably the corrigations are just before and after a point where vehicles slow down.

Using 4wd on soft surfaces reduces the wheel spin and reduces the effect of corrigations.

Remember the "axle tramp" we used to get before we got limited slip diffs?

[Young Nomads]

True, trailers don't spin their wheels, but they MAY cause the tow vehicle to spin its wheels

....Not our beloved TVans though LOL. They always sneak up behind you. LOL
You do have some good points though
Cheers
Robyn

[Auscgu]

I have done the Canning in my Patrol and loved it
We did the North South trip and found the shorter steeper tracks easier to climb
Crawling down the south face at slow speed was so much better than having to climb at speed
I have a camper trailer and choose not to take it on the canning but have no problem with people who choose to take a trailer

We had the same issues as you and found plenty of people who would not let there tyres down
Had know idea where they where and found on coming vehicles a concern in the dune country
We would radio a head to inform people of our position and direction
One idiot nearly hit us head on one of the side tracks even though we radioed our details
I knew they where on our track and traveled slow to look out for them
The track had heaps of bends and high trees

We had a large group of 13 vehicles and split into two groups
The difference in damage was amazing between the groups
The first group went so much harder and had heaps of damage and missed the best of the trip
We went slower and tried to see everything we could in the time we had
Speed was very interesting as we had a few different vehicles with different suspension types
Each suspension type needed different speed as they have different dynamics
We tried slow and faster but found the coils worked better at around 60kms on the canning corrugations

Our trip was 2 weeks on the canning but would never do the trip again in that shorter time
You are forced to drive long hours and push harder than I would have liked
Missed most of the best campsite and found it hard to plan as time was the enemy

I have 210 litres in the patrol and took 3 jerry cans of fuel and one for shower water
We used the fuel drop for the trip and I used the entire drum
You don't need to have the fuel drop as the community has plenty of fuel so would not bother again
I planned on 20lt per hundred kms and used 18lt our safety margin was extra travel distance avaliable

The funny thing where we saw a 4wd truck and a ML320 do the trip with no problems
I was disappointed in the 4wd aspect of the trip as it not so hard
But the remoteness and having to copy with your vehicle issues is what the trip is all about
Looking forward to doing the trip again with plenty of time

[derek]

I was disappointed in the 4wd aspect of the trip as it not so hard

Did the trip in 2006 (before TVan) and agree with this sentiment.

I recommend anyone doing travelling the Canning buy themselves a copy of the Gards book on the CSR and read it before you go and then find space to take it with you. Turns a 4WD journey into a historical pilgrimage. So many of the wells have so much to tell.