FG's in Action

[whatcharterboat]

Thanks for the heads-up John. Will be heading to Fraser after Xmas and the crowds have gone.

All the best for Xmas and the New Year. Guy.

Hi Guy.

How are you mate? You're looking pretty good for an old fella.
.
What vehicle will you be in? I'll keep an eye out. Hopefully we'll get a bit of rain before you head up. That usually sorts out the tracks after the Chrissy madness. We didn't have to air down below 35 with 19.5" tyres on both those trucks in the photos but there were some very rutted and soft sections especially on the hills.
.
Anyway hope to catch up with you one day.
.
Kind regards and seasons greetings
John.

 

[Sixinarow]

Not mine but wish it was!

 

[HazMan]

Black Fellows Hand Trail. NSW

 

[HazMan]

Turon River. NSW

 

[HazMan]

Sand Bar. NSW

Just a few shots from our first family trip in the unfinished truck.

We had 3 days up the North Coast and then a four days exploring Newnes to Sofala. The truck went well and we are enjoying it more and more. We would still be out there if we didn't have to come back for work. I think this truck will be a big part of our family adventures from now on. The wife is already talking about taking off for Easter and the next school holidays.

 

[canter tourer]

love your table and chairs, nice economising of space.

 

[yabanja]

That is a good looking rig! Thank you for sharing!

Allan

 

[Butch1979]

Those four doors are sick!

 

[steve4wdaus]

Hi John,
What weight do you reckon are in those buses? How do they go on the soft tracks off the beach? We are running around the 6 tonne mark. In soft sand on the flat we do ok at around 35psi, but tend to did in on the hills. We have the 19.5 Toyos. We want to be confident that we can do Fraser without getting into bother

Cheers Steve

 

[steve4wdaus]

Hi All
Back tripping again so time to put up another photo of the FG in action by my wife.
Cheers all, hope to see you on the road
Steve

 

[LeishaShannon]

We want to be confident that we can do Fraser without getting into bother

We just did a few days on Fraser and had no problems with the inland tracks (or the indian head bypass) running 9.5r17.5 @ 35psi front and 45psi rear. We only went as far north as Ngkala rocks. The 50+ seater busses running all over the island are huge so even with our ~3.5m height we had no issues with branches either.

(We did have an issue 2 minutes from the barge when I hit a washout at 70km/hr breaking the straps holding the battery causing the lugs to pull out of the cables, so we couldn't start the truck on an incoming tide but thats another story

 

[whatcharterboat]

Hi John,
What weight do you reckon are in those buses? How do they go on the soft tracks off the beach? We are running around the 6 tonne mark. In soft sand on the flat we do ok at around 35psi, but tend to did in on the hills. We have the 19.5 Toyos. We want to be confident that we can do Fraser without getting into bother

Cheers Steve

Hi Steve and Alison,
.
Mate, so sorry I did not see your question earlier.
.
No problem doing Fraser with the 19.5's. No problem at all. The bus I usually drive is a FG84 on 19.5's. Very occasionally they give me an 84 on 255/100R16 XZL's but slowly the guys are changing the whole fleet over to 19.5's due to them giving less problems. Staking tyres with tree roots on the inland tracks or spiking a tyre with sharp rocks jutting out of the mining road (to bypass Hook Point at high tide) is a real issue over there and the 19'5s are bombproof by comparison.
.
The time of the year you go makes a huge difference. Over the start of summer, the tracks are at their worse.....chewed up from the Christmas traffic and as those months are also the driest, sand turns to bottomless powder. Also the tracks receive little maintenance around then as all the rangers seem to be flat out dealing with the extra crowds.
.
Over the Christmas break I did a dozen trips or more and didn't get stuck at all. On the worst day I ran 35psi in the front and 38 in the rear. On the best days, usually after rain, you could get away with 48/50psi or higher.......but hey, if you're just cruising up there and not on a schedule that forces you to run across a high tide beach at some point of the day then you should be fine with even higher pressures. Weight would be up towards maximum 6ton with 16 passengers and eskies.....so similar weight to you. I did a two day trip last weekend and the inland tracks were very easy compared to a couple of months ago. The high tide beach with the giant swell from that Fiji cyclone was another storey. Very spongey and soft at high tide, so ran 40/42 without too much drama but running downwind of the 25knot SouEaster resulted in almost zero airflow over the radiator, so you've got to keep one eye on your temp gauge in those conditions. BTW don't really like the factory temp gauge.....get a real one if you haven't already.
.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you're heading up and I'll to get some more up-to-date info. Mudlo Rocks change daily this time of year with the big SE swells coming and going........or ask Engineer. He's the Fraser guru and an absolute master behind the wheel of a Canter.
.
Kind regards
John
PS Steve, really enjoy the pics you've been posting around the forum. Thanks.

 

[whatcharterboat]

We just did a few days on Fraser and had no problems with the inland tracks (or the indian head bypass) running 9.5r17.5 @ 35psi front and 45psi rear. We only went as far north as Ngkala rocks. The 50+ seater busses running all over the island are huge so even with our ~3.5m height we had no issues with branches either.

(We did have an issue 2 minutes from the barge when I hit a washout at 70km/hr breaking the straps holding the battery causing the lugs to pull out of the cables, so we couldn't start the truck on an incoming tide but thats another story

Hi Shannon,
.
Just a little tip..... Never hit a washout under brakes in one of these trucks. You can snap a spring so easily up there. Always come off the pedal just before impact. It makes all the difference.
.
Regards John.

 

[steve4wdaus]

Hi John,
Many thanks for your reply. Full of great information! Your comments have given us a bit more confidence about taking our FG up to Fraser, and other dune areas (including the Simpson and Googs). The Toyos perform well in soft sand on the flat, but we just haven't taken on the hills yet. If we get stuck there aren't many that can pull you out ��.
I agree on the bullet proof capabilities of these tyres. Last year we did a bit of a trip around Oz, with the return being across Gary Junction Highway and Plenty and Donohue Highways. The tyres went very well and just ate up the corrugations and bull dust holes. And I had confidence they would be pretty resistant to stakes and stones.

Mud is a different matter, and I found they slicked up pretty quickly. I have not been caught in too many muddy conditions, and avoid the stuff wherever possible, but I am pretty sure mud is not their strong point. Any other comments in this matter gladly accepted.

Anyway, this is not a thread on tyres, so will leave it at that. But many thanks for your input. Much appreciated, as were the track condition comments and suggestions.

Trust all is well with you, and great to see you still here on the forum. BTW, do you have your own Canter yet, or have you had enough of them and just drive other people's when you get the chance.

PS glad you like our FG pics...haven't wanted to flood the forum with them.

Cheers
Steve

 

[whatcharterboat]

Mud is a different matter, and I found they slicked up pretty quickly. I have not been caught in too many muddy conditions, and avoid the stuff wherever possible, but I am pretty sure mud is not their strong point. Any other comments in this matter gladly accepted.

Anyway, this is not a thread on tyres, so will leave it at that. But many thanks for your input. Much appreciated, as were the track condition comments and suggestions.

Trust all is well with you, and great to see you still here on the forum. BTW, do you have your own Canter yet, or have you had enough of them and just drive other people's when you get the chance.

Hi Steve,
.
No worries. Happy to continue the conversation elsewhere. I agree. Not the place for in depth tyre discussions. I sold the last Canter I owned at the start of 2015. Had my eye on a couple of other 84's in the interim but am building a crewcab VW Synchro at present.....very left of field for me but a challenge all the same.

. Regards John