Preparation of Vehicle

Preparing you vehicle properly will almost certainly make the difference between an enjoyable adventure and a harrowing ordeal.Since we are looking at driving with the budget traveler in mind we have to assume that you do not have the means to simply go out and buy or hire a brand new vehicle. This would no doubt simplify matters,greatly reducing the chance of a breakdown ,and major expense.

Therefore the difficult part is how do you get a reliable vehicle for under $4000?The answer is of course that it isn't easy.Most of the cars you see budget travellers driving could best be described as a bucket of bolts.How they manage to get from one side of the country to the other is completely beyond me.I just wish I had photographed some of the cars I have seen.The worst one I can remember was an old Ford Falcon stationwagon which some backpackers had just driven from Perth to Cairns. I suppose it would have been a 1977 model XC Ford Falcon.This car had no windscreen,headlights or side windows.I hope they never drove the thing in the dark !If that was what it was like on the ouside I hate to imagine what the mechanicals were like.I suppose it is amazing just how much punishment these old Aussie cars can take.

Tyres

Recaps or retreads as they are sometimes called are quite simply not up to the rigorous conditions you will encounter driving in Australia.Recaps are sometimes made from second hand casings of dubious quality .A combination of heat ,speed and distance usually causes failure within a relatively short time.Road temperatures can frequently reach 60 to 70 degrees celcius.Testament to this is the number of delaminated tyres you will see whilst travelling in the outback,this is especially true of truck tyres which use Recaps almost exclusively on their trailers,but never on their front steering tyres.A blowout on the front tyres means instant loss of steering and possibly disaster.

Original tyres or ‘clean skins’ are probably the only choice for the kind of road conditions you will encounter.Good second hand cleanskins with plenty of tread will outlast recaps.If you have already got recaps then it may be best to use these as spares.Assuming you have the space carry two spare tyres, distances between roadhouses or repair facilities makes this necessary.If you have a four wheel drive and intend driving off road in more isolated regions of Australia then you must carry at least two spares.It is not unusual to see four wheel drive vehicles carrying four spare tyres plus equipment to remove and repair tyres. .