Trailer to Fraser

[Cheech]

For what is now the annual camping trip to Fraser later this year, I was thinking of taking the trailer this time. Can stuff everything into the explorer and roof rack, but would be easier to just use the trailer.

Where we camp is south of indian head, so the only difficult bits are on and off the ferry, and the 2 spots you need to detour around the rocks.

My trailer is a fairly good 4x7 in that it is sturdy construction. The wheels are 14 inch 4 stud, tyres are medium to lowish profile. The springs are your standard 3 leaf 375kg.

So, I know the easy answer would be to change the hubs to ford pattern ($75.00) so that I can use the car spare as the spare to save the expense of buying a spare, buy 15 inch ford wheels (the other car is a falcon so that gives me a spare for each car I tow with) and a higher profile tyre for the clearance ($100), and replace the 3 leaf with 5 leaf (don't know that cost, but $70 - $100?).

Or I could replace the current 14 inch tyres with 14 inch high profile (($50 - $80) and buy a 4 stud spare (whatever that will cost) and either leave the 3 leaf or replace with 5 leaf.

Or I could do nothing and just run with the current wheel setup (but would get a spare just in case).

A friend of mine said his old man use to tow their standard box trailer up there all the time without any issues and all that happens in the sand in the couple of spots (mentioned above) is that the axle just drags through the centre road sand without any damage as you are going really slow there anyway.

So what do you think? one of the above or a combination. I am undecided about the springs as I will probably put the esky in the back of the 4by and the weight will not be excessive. Is more about space than weight with the trailer.

Cheech

[Lucky_Phill]

Mate, simply stick with what you have. Buy the spare of course. I would not take all the weight out of the trailer either. Load it up to a " good " weight. Don't want it bouncing all over the shop....

If you're not traveling over the soft stuff, you'll not need to deflate tyres at all ( make sure you hit Hook Point at low tide. ) But having said that, I always lower tyre pressure, just in case. Hey, you can always let pressure out if you bog down...... easy.

Just keep the spare, wheel brace and jack in a handy position and NOT at the bottom of the trailer underneath all that fishing and camping gear..

Have fun.............

Cheers Phill

[Lucky_Phill]

PS, when you going ? Might join you for a couple of days. Need a break from the big smoke....

Phill

[Mark-P]

Hey guys whats the damage to get over to the island these days ? Not only
has the price of living gone up, but the price of relaxing 2 !!!

Mark

[TheRealAndy]

85 return from inskip. I am thinking of taking my folks over anzac day long weekend.

Phil, I was also thinking of trying to drag Brad and Linda over as well if you are interested. Tried to call them last night but could not get hold of them.

[chisel]

$85 for the barge, about $33 for the car permit. $4.50/day/adult for camping.

[Cheech]

Thanks for the reply Phil. Nobody else has commented otherwise, so does that mean we have consensus?

I suppose the difference between the current profile and a higher profile is only about an inch extra clearance, so not worth the trouble. I will stick with the current setup and just get a spare. Way cheaper. Will pack a spare wheel bearing as well (same as I do for the boat trailer).

We are heading up for 2 weeks starting September 14. This is a week before teh school holidays so will have at least one week of peace and quiet. Last year we camped about 2k north of cathedral beach. Terrific area. Had a magnificent gutter about 2 k north of the campsite that I pulled some greenbacks from. This year we are planning to find a spot a bit more north near one of the fresh water creeks to save the trips to the shop for water. We go up there with 5 family's. All with kids the same age as our's so they are out of our hair most of the time.

Then back for 2 weeks and then off to 1770. Busy month.

Cheech

[Lucky_Phill]

Yes Craig, we have consensus. Any other questions please fire away.

Phill

[Mark-P]

Hi Cheech , i took a trailer to moreton a few years ago & got bogged twice ... Luckely it was school holidays & we where asisted by three girls in there late teens ( in bikinis ) mind you , so i pretended to know nothing about my vehicle while they got down and dug sand away from my tyres !!! Sorry getting back to the point, the biggest problem we had was the difference in wheel base & too much air in the skinny ass tyres (61/2") !!!!
It was similar to towing a dead weight .... IMO I think you would be fine if your vehicle & trail are similar in wheel base !

Mark

[Cheech]

Thanks Mark. There is 100mm difference centre to centre, but are the same inside width due to the 4by tyres being so wide. So should be fine.


Cheech

[SnowE]

I have done a few trips to fraser towing the old box trailer. I ended up fitting a couple of recovery hooks to rear of my trailer, and when I got bogged it was a simple matter of unhooking the trailer and then snatching the trailer back to some harder sand and hook up again and off you go. I fitted 2x old recovery hooks off a Land cruiser that I got from the wreckers, and then used a tree protector between them to share the load and to pull the trailer back as square/straight as possible.
I got bogged at hook point, I had a good run up, but the car in front stopped and forced me to stop and become bogged. I also had some trouble around Indian head as well. We took the trailer all over the Island and had a great time.

Cheers,
SnowE

[murf]

you will have no worries Cheech with the trailer, just watch out for the exploder

the recovery points on the back of the trailer are a good idea, have seen some funny sights with trying to get out bogged trailers

your current settup will do fine though

cheers Murf

ps see you at Agnes Water

[Cheech]

Good idea SnowE. I will add them.

Steady Murf!! Just because a few motors back in the 90's had a few issues, they are branded for life. Mine is a 2004 Limited V8. If in doubt, just use more revs . The grunt in low range is fantastic.

[gawby]

Cheech,
I agree with Phil,
If you are only going to the south side of
Indian Head the set up you have will
do the job fine.
The only thing is that tyre pressure is critical.
My son was up at Inskip at Easter and he got bogged at the
end of the bitumen when he dropped onto the sand.
This can be a trap so i would suggest to go onto the beach
before the end.
Have a good time.
Graeme

[skipalong]

its a long haul