The Birdsville Track P2 final
Вставка
- Опубліковано 13 вер 2024
- The Simpson Desert in a Sprinter Van. Part 2, the Birdsville Track.
After climbing the big eastern sand dunes of Australia's Simpson Desert in our Mercedes Sprinter 4x4 Adventure Van in episode 1, part 2 sees us heading south down the Birdsville Track. A change of plans see us venture into the Northern Flinders Ranges, where we get the van dry bogged. Join us on our short experimental journey, learning about Vanlife and what the Sprinter 4x4 can and can't do off road. Will it be suitable for remote travel?
A bit of reality on UA-cam! Thank you.
I'll be watching with interest. I've subscribed.
Safe travels.
Great effort when you got stuck, good to have the maxtrax and a shovel 👍you will be surprised at how many people don't even have a shovel with them, I like the way you present the video in a calm and relaxed manner, well done to both of you, I enjoying every part, thank you for sharing ❤ 👍 stay safe from rick in Perth Australia 🇦🇺 😊
I have subscribed first time chaps.
From William
Mount Gambia-South Australia.
Really enjoyed these videos :). Keep them coming!
Thanks. There is at least one one more coming soon.
Much appreciation for sharing video ....GOD bless u😊
Well done guys, not a bad effort with the van. I enjoyed the content of the video’s. Planning my own solo adventure around Australia. I have a 2WD Triton with a camper trailer, but just purchased a 4x4 Pajero. So will see how it goes.
Keep up the good videos, I’ll keep an eye out for more content
Thanks, good luck with the planning, and the new machine.
I like your content and honest video style. Keep up the great work.
P.S. please keep the videos coming.
P.P.S. Loved that table setup, keeping it simple is the best. 👍
Thanks. We might have one more video inn the short term, and then we'll see what happens a bit further down the track.
Noice video you two. Go Fuggly.
Awsome
I think your front wheel drive only engages if the front wheels turn as its front wheel assist other wise good video
All good fun that :)
Why wasn't the front left wheel spinning when you were hung up on the bank?
Sounds like you need a diff locker so both wheels drive at the same time! Otherwise a 4x4 is still only driving 1 wheel on each axle, whereas a diff lock removes the ability of the differential to only give power to the wheel that doesn’t slip! If that makes sense or just consult a four wheel drive specialist ,interesting Vlog, cheers ❤️🦘🦘🦘
Thanks Steven. A rear diff lock is definitely on the wish list, but very expensive for this van, although in this case both rear wheels were basically off the ground so it wouldn't have helped. A centre diff lock would have. The system in the sprinter in theory does the same job, by braking spinning wheels. In practice it is too slow to react in sandy conditions. This very interesting video I found since our bogging shows how, on hard ground, it can attain drive from just one front wheel, as I thought it should. But it also shows just how slow it is to understand the problem.
ua-cam.com/video/YbFSW5iDej0/v-deo.html
I could have possibly driven out with a more persistent accelerator foot....or dug myself in deeper as a result.
@@WeHitTheRoad-qo8wn Not sure if you've come from a land rover but watching that link that is pretty much how traction control works in every other vehicle including the dual cabs. DMAx is even slower to react. You probably just gave up too early
Those locomotives were there already in 1995. Their colors and condition seem not to have changed since then. What I find striking is that they are not covered in ugly graffiti all over, as they would have been over here, in Holland.
Good point, maybe I've sold Maree a bit short.
What a great video. Yeah, I don't know about the sprinter 4x4, with my subaru its pretty quick grabbing the spinning wheel but I saw a Jimny take forever to apply the brake on the spinning wheel. They do rely on the brakes, perhaps your rear brakes are worn, or were hot when you got stuck?
Regardless, what a great adventure and what a great choice of vehicle.
Yes I have seen the Subaru in action. It's way quicker to work out what is going on. Brakes are not worn, but a bit underdone for this vehicle generally I feel. In hindsight I should have tried the handbrake in that circumstance.
Diff lock required, watch USA AWD Sprinter reviews
Those 3 Irish wolf hounds never had collars or breast plates so they wouldn’t want to show themselves to the station owners like that
They had collars. We were a little concerned that they may had left an injured stockman or something. Unusual dogs to be out there as working dogs I would have thought, but I really don't know.
Lovely Ep Guys, Maybe your 4wd needs better shockies fitted and diff locks maybe
Rear locker is on the wish list, but expensive for these vans. I have Koni 88s on the front, which seem good, and Fox adjustables on the rear, which have been great on my previous vehicle, but look well underdone on the dunes. I didn't see the video until afterwards. They were way too soft in the settings I think. The design of the springs and the way the axle is spaced away from them doesn't help.
@@WeHitTheRoad-qo8wn ok sounds like you are all over it,
Personally i think if you are going to play with lockers on a van you are likely asking for trouble (snapped axle or cv). Id go winch, far simpler and with a 30m second strap you will likely alway be able to reach something. With the simpson the winds shape the dunes. To travel west to east is easier because the western faces are generally not as steep as coming from the east. I remember one dune in particular you would likely not get over. It had a long run up and 80% of the way up you had to turn left 90deg drive another 10m then turn right and punch through an almost vertical top 1m of the dune. I remember only seeing sky for 15 seconds then immediately had to turn right 90 deg to not fall into a wind hollow. We had a 2wd hilux with us and end up he got stuck on that dune and through a snatch bad anchor point lost his brake lines. The desert is not a place to be messed with, imagine being 80% across and finding a part impassable, not enough fuel to turn back but an impassable object in front. Don't want to end up a statistic. Myself after doing it once id only do it with some sort of communications and a second vehicle if possible. We went through 200l of water in 5 days while crossing it with 3 people and had around 60l left over. Its ok going in 50 odd km where you were because you could potentially walk out if you could carry 20l of water. Anyways great series have fun.
This was just a test run, but we do carry a sat phone and a PLB, and the van has two water tanks totalling 180 litres, but the plan is always to never need the first two. I would never attempt to walk out. I agree with the west to east for a full crossing but there is still at least one concerning dune that way on the WAA line. Last year in a BT50 we went solo from Birdsville on the WAA into the NT and then up the Hay River Track. Obviously a more capable vehicle, but we had no issues with any dune, but the conditions change daily and it's pot luck as to what you get, and what sort of vehicles and drivers have gone before you. On that trip there was someone coming west to east with a camper trailer that had been trying to get over that concerning dune for half a day. They had made an awful mess of the track. Interestingly, using a gentle approach to climbing dunes, I got better fuel consumption in the desert than I did on the drive from Brisbane. The 80 km of corrugations at the top of the Hay were easily the worst I have seen, and damage from them would be one of my biggest concern in the van. The broken axle has crossed my mind as has a winch. Pros and cons.
The only way to have all wheels driving is to have lockers, even in 4x4 you have a limited slip diff , which will send drive to the wheel with least resistance coursing wheel spin, this where diff lockers come in but they are expensive if I'm wrong for this view point could someone please let me know , I don't have lockers either 😉 I have a troopy.
A front and rear diff lock plus a centre diff lock between the front and rear is a good as it gets. Iveco 4x4s were like this. This video link is very interesting though. It shows what is possible with the Sprinter system. It also shows how slow it is to react. It shows it driving from just one front wheel.
ua-cam.com/video/YbFSW5iDej0/v-deo.html
You are right, what the merc is missing by the looks is the LSD and the centre lock. Your troopy has both of these. Some 4x4 have better traction control systems than others, they can make a massive difference and negate the need for front and rear lockers in most cases but you still really need a centre lock at a minimum for this case, looks like the merc TCS is not so good.
Yeah 12 seconds to react, interesting. I've seen 4x4 tests with worse results on the roller tests :).
The front wheels weren't spinning so you may have thought you were in 4 low but maybe the electrical acuators hadn't grabbed properly. That's the trouble with modern systems.
I’ve seen a video with a sprinter in rocky terrain , one front wheel half a metre in the air and still completely locked up so…
I’m wondering why yours isn’t working successfully
I have a grand Cherokee with the Merc 3 litre diesel and possibly the same drive train system and it is just like having a full set of lockers when engaged!
Hi, heard the Birdsville track was pretty narly with pot holes and corogations
It wasn't too bad, a few corrugations here and there, but pretty good mostly.
It was pretty smooth when I drove it, 100km most of the time in a cruiser, unless wet then it turns to super slippery (like ice driving, almost no control). A light shower is fine. I can't remember any corrogations or massive pot holes. But if it gets really wet the track will turn to very soft boggy clay that coats your tyres. In that case I suppose people could chop the road up. But at that stage they normally close it.
it didnt look like you where in 4x4 as neither front wheels where spining
Turn your traction control off 👍🏽
it's not in 4wd.
Diff lock required. Watch USA video reviews
@lnhojr, neither front wheels were spinning so either it's broken something or it's not in 4wd. A locker is not gonna change that.
@@robbot9877 watch reviews and then you will understand. Rear diff lockers can be fitted. Changed capabilities greatly. Others wise it will only use traction control which is fine but you can still turtle vehicle
@@robbot9877 also there is a built-in safety mechanism that will disengage AWD if over rev/spin
@@lnhojr fitting a rear locker isn't going to change the fact that the front wheels weren't spinning, therfore not 4wd