Travel, Roads and Terrain

Suitable vehicles for your destinations.

It is pointless trying to travel the outback bush tracks in a 12 metre long 2WD vehicle, that is also 4.3 metres high and only has 100mm of ground clearance! You will be stuck on the first causeway or bend in the road, not to mention tearing the roof off by hitting low tree branches!

While it may be fine to putter along at a top speed of 75 k's an hour on the back roads, admiring the scenery in your ex-council bus, you are not going to make any friends while on the highways or freeways at that speed!

Nearly everyone that I have ever met, who owned a slow-poke bus or a truck has cursed the day they bought the damned thing! The expense to retro-fit a highway diff or an overdrive gearbox usually exceeds the cost of paying a few thousand more for a better vehicle in the first place.

There is nothing worse than a heavy, under-powered, and badly geared bus slugging away in the hills, then traveling at the same speed on the downhill runs. A damned good way to incur the wrath of every truckie or caravan coming up behind you!

Double-decker motorhomes belong on the bitumen, with route planning for low bridges etc. Long vehicles are not suitable for winding mountain roads, and two wheel drives are not much good in the sandy desert either!

Did you really consider travelling down that dirt road over humps, bumps and dry creek crossings in that mid-engined ex-council bus with 100mm of ground clearance. What about smashing a rear-mount engines manifolds off as you exit the dip in the road?

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong at all with mid or rear-mounted engines, you just need to consider how you will approach obstacles! Mine is a rear-mount, but it has higher ground clearance and a decent exit angle!

So if you think you will be doing most of your travel on the beaches, or way out in the outback during the wet season, then you obviously will need a 4WD vehicle like a B-class Isuzu or Canter etc. Hey don't forget the old 4WD Inters as well.

A very simple rule of travel - if a semi-trailer traverses that route, then you should be able to get your 12 metre motorhome there too, providing you watch the ground clearance. Remember, stock trucks often travel back-roads to collect or deliver cattle from properties. Ask which way they go at the local store or pub!

Aimless wandering is fine, but it's a real bastard when you have crawled along a very narrow dirt track for 30 klms and are confronted by a 2.0 metre low bridge with no way around! That's a lot of reverse gear to get back out mate! Pre-planning is essential, even if it just involves "asking a local" first.

Okay, so now we have decided whether we are just travelling major highways on the East coast, following the second grade sealed roads in rural NSW, or running the gravel in outback QLD. This gives us an idea of the type of vehicle best suited to our needs, be it in a Coaster or a Denning!s