RustyNavs 2012 Cape York

[RustyNav09]

Now i dont want to over run Boxy and his thread but we did do the trip at the same time. except he was able to do Frenchmans and Creb in his trip. Reason being is that we were up there a little earlier and the Frenchmans was still apparently rooted(mud slop and garantueed panel damage), not that it worried me but others had car that they had just purchased or were selling was trip was over.

So here is the trip outline

Brisbane to Cairns - 2 Day trip for us. 16hrs to Townsville and then a easy 4hrs to Cairns. Only damage was a chip in the window from a rock. Resin repaired in Cairns.

Cairns to The Lions Den and Cooktown - Day Trip via the Bloomfield and Daintree taking the Coast Road. Wow what a sight some amazing crossings and awesome scenery. Stayed 1night in The Lions Den

Lions Den to Archer River Roadhouse - Stayed 1 night

Archer River to Wenlock Falls - Stayed 1 night, but could spend more time there if wanted. Amazing spot right on the waterfall.

Wenlock Falls to Chilli Beach - This was a nice spot. Aart from the fact that you have to book you stay somehow when you dont have reception. Was super windy when we stayed we had to use the cars as wind breaks. Would probably avoid this spot next time and stay somewhere else. Stayed 2 nights

Chilli Beach to Bramwell Junction - This is where the fun starts. Stayed 2 nights for 1 simple reason. To sus out Palm Creek and see who had the balls to do it and who chickened out. after the first day we watched atleast $20,000 of damage to series of cars going down Palm Creek. i was still doing it regardless.

TBC.....

 

[RustyNav09]

Bramwell Junction to Bertie Creek - The start of the OTT. We spent 2hours modifying Palm Creek to avoid damage to any vehicle. All cars got through with no damage. Stayed 1 night

Bertie Creek to Elliot Falls - WOW what a spot. beautiful waterfalls and awesome swimming. Only downside is this is where i busted my radiator. Put the fan blade through the bottom of the radiator core slicing 6 tubes open and bending a few more. thanks to the 30mm bodylift it sliced it in the right spot that it was patchable. 50mm bodylift would of shattered the fan and put it through the tanks and core and no bodylift would of just put the fan straight through the centre of the radiator core. HINT: put a water bra on OR take the Bypass Track(Bypass wasnt in my books).

Elliot Falls to Bamaga - why you may ask. Cape York Spares and Repairs for my radiator to be done. Insurance cavered all the repairs after a few kind words over the phone etc. We stayed at Loyalty Beach for 3 nights until the radiator arrived from Townsville. Fitted on the last day of our stay.

Loyalty Beach to Punsand Bay - Early Morning wake up as the mechanic was ready for fitting day. I would liek to thank the guys at Cape York Spares, great job awesome service and Andy was a bundle of help and really tried to get us on the road again so we could finish our trip. Stayed 3 nights in Punsand Bay. to be honest it was a beautiful spot but next time may spend more time on the OTT somewhere. In the 3 days we hit the TIP WOOOHOOOOO. took the 5 beach drive starting from Somerset Beach. Did a beach drag with the group on one of the beaches. 1x 4.2 Patrol, 2x 3.0LCR Patrols, 1x V8Landcruiser, 1x 2.5L Nav, all cars unloaded sorta and the Nav pooed all over them. I stuck to 2H and they were all in 4H, less traction and still left them, but the Toyota couldnt take it on the chin and wanted a rematch(typical), i got a bad start on the 2nd run and still came 2nd behind the Toyota. Good fun really

TBC...

 

[RustyNav09]

Alright so from Punsand we went South again. Punsand to Nolans Brook Creek - Ok so we had to do Nolans From North to South. Again it was because of the radiator job and we had to bypass the north section to get to Bamaga. Stayed at Nolans 2nights and i could of stayed a week it was flippin awesome. watching people sink cars and etc was funny. Probably watched a totaly of over $200,000 of damage in 2 days. Prado(with the works)+ Camper Trailer DEAD, F250 DEAD(this guy was a dick), Field of cars drowned etc.

Nolans Brook to Elliot Falls(the Start/Fiish of the North Section) - Nolans i finally put a face to a Nav. Boxy it was a pleasure meeting you and your mate + dad. Alot of hard earned there and well equip vehicles. Thanks for pulling one of our cars across so it made it easier for us. Finshed the OTT in a wierd pattern but we did it. It was super fun and i had a ball showing the Patrols how its done IFS style. I think i surprised a few people on how well the Nav goes and what it can tackle. Only 1 recovery needed at Cannibal i think on the hill. I only had 1 attempt at the hill and just said pull me up. From Elliot Falls we went straight for Bramwell Station for a few coldies and a feed. Stayed 1 night at Bramwell Station

Bramwell to Cairns - we actually stopped short of Cairns and stayed at Mareeba in the National Park called Davies Creek. very nice spot and we stayed 2 nights there. After that we stayed in Cairns 1 night then disappeared back to Brisbane. Once again 2 days home to Brissy and it was all over. Back to Work.


Lots of piccies to come and a video of me almost shattering a CV

 

[RustyNav09]

Video First

 

[RustyNav09]

 

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[RustyNav09]

Ok GradiatoRus5 was the name i got after busting the Radiator. It was catchy so im getting decals made for the car. It all came from Gladiator Radiator Russ. my number plates has RUS588 and the 5 is another S as such. Jumble it all together and we ended up with GRADIATORUS5

 

[RustyNav09]

Wheel stand much. this was the only time i needed snatching but i got that far on only 1 attempt from a dead stop at the bottom.

 

[RustyNav09]

FINALLY THE TIP Shots. notice the Radiator hehehehehehe. It had to be done.

All in all it was an amazing trip. i recommend anyone that hasnt done it to get off there ass and do it. i reckon we need to do a navara muster up north to the top. do it in a few weeks and back to cairns.

Cheers

 

[FatBoy89]

Nice mate. Those springs flex well

 

[gunning1987]

Looks to be alot of fun, myself and lunn are off there next year around this time cant wait!!!

 

[RustyNav09]

Nice mate. Those springs flex well

Thanks mate. The springs were the Sax 3SDS units. heavy loads were no problems. Didnt get any sag in the rear loaded and the flexed like they were comfort springs. They certainly got my tick of top mods. Only problem i had was the Rancho Shocks being a bigger bore they fouled on the chassis on the passenger side. lucky for the outer tube not being the only tube in the shock.

 

[RLI]

Good onya mate,

Another Navara forum member that has been their done that got the farken T-shirt!!

Congratulation farken mission accomplished!

Regards,

RLI

 

[robmacca]

What were people doing wrong at Nolans Ck to cause all that damage?

 

[RustyNav09]

RLI

thanks mate. i got the shirt and the wife got a few goodies aswell. thats one mission down. next is Kimberleys hehe.


Robmacca

its called being stupid. its not hard ot open your mouth and say "hey can you have a car here just incase i get stuck so i can get recovered asap and ill shout you a beer". but noone does it anymore they are all KNOW IT ALLS. it just purely stupidity. earlier this year nolans took hold of a brand new 200 series and turned it into a submarine. Insurance didnt want a bar of it apparently.

 

[Boxy]

Now i dont want to over run Boxy and his thread but we did do the trip at the same time. except he was able to do Frenchmans and Creb in his trip. Reason being is that we were up there a little earlier and the Frenchmans was still apparently rooted(mud slop and garantueed panel damage), not that it worried me but others had car that they had just purchased or were selling was trip was over.

So here is the trip outline

Brisbane to Cairns - 2 Day trip for us. 16hrs to Townsville and then a easy 4hrs to Cairns. Only damage was a chip in the window from a rock. Resin repaired in Cairns.

Cairns to The Lions Den and Cooktown - Day Trip via the Bloomfield and Daintree taking the Coast Road. Wow what a sight some amazing crossings and awesome scenery. Stayed 1night in The Lions Den

Lions Den to Archer River Roadhouse - Stayed 1 night

Archer River to Wenlock Falls - Stayed 1 night, but could spend more time there if wanted. Amazing spot right on the waterfall.

Wenlock Falls to Chilli Beach - This was a nice spot. Aart from the fact that you have to book you stay somehow when you dont have reception. Was super windy when we stayed we had to use the cars as wind breaks. Would probably avoid this spot next time and stay somewhere else. Stayed 2 nights

Chilli Beach to Bramwell Junction - This is where the fun starts. Stayed 2 nights for 1 simple reason. To sus out Palm Creek and see who had the balls to do it and who chickened out. after the first day we watched atleast $20,000 of damage to series of cars going down Palm Creek. i was still doing it regardless.

TBC.....

dont worry bout over running my thread rus been hanging to see ur pics ,u got some great ones we camped at the top of the creek where u took that video,glad u guys all got through nolans,shame u didnt do frenchmans i didnt see any trace of mud on the whole track , oh except the bit where i nearly rolled the nav lol ,how did u find the crossing after nolans ?its quite deep also

 

[robmacca]

Fair enough....

Cool pic of the water coming up through the bonnet? I gather u made sure your snorkel was water tight b4 hand?