twrama 1990_final oc.. - AMA WA

DRIVE
communication ability. We installed the usual Citizens Band
40 channel radio for convoy communication, added a High
Frequency 100W long-distance radio and bought membership in
VKS-737. This organisation runs a network across Australia with
bases in Perth, Derby, Alice Springs and Mt Isa, among other
centres. They have daily schedules of messages and links with the
Royal Flying Doctor service. Finally, we also carried a satellite
phone.
Inside the Prado, we fitted a drawer system and cargo barrier to
prevent flying objects from decapitating us in a rollover or head-on
(a real risk in dune country). Under the bonnet, we installed a
double battery system, and ran an Anderson plug to carry heavy
amperage current through to towed vehicles. There was further
electrical backup from a roof-mounted solar panel which could
retro-charge the car batteries as well as feed into the caravan
battery. On the Prado roof we carried a second full-size tyre/wheel
to back up the same-sized combo on the van, which also had a
spare on the back.
We did not touch the Toyota suspension which in the Grande
variant has extra lift capacity for higher clearance on demand,
but did add a bullbar to avoid a roo in the radiator. Big spotlights
finished off the additions, converting a $78,000 car into a $93,000
mean machine.
Our first adventure when all of these additions were still sparkly
was a dash from west to east along the Great Central Road to
Alice Springs, then onto the Simpson Desert. We left our off-road
camper trailer at Alice – trailers are banned from the desert as they
tear up the fragile track. From Mt Dare Hotel to the Birdsville Pub
is serious off-road work, with the Prado using its constant 4WD
capacity every inch of the way.
For this heavy-duty work, over exactly 500km, we used just
100 litres of diesel. That is a remarkable 20 litres per 100km. Our
travelling companions in a Nissan Patrol manual 3-litre turbodiesel
used 25litres/100km.
I had been attracted to the Prado initially by the praise it
had received worldwide for the then new 3-litre direct injection
turbocharged D4-D engine, as well as the huge 180 litre capacity
Continued on page 59
Trouble: The broken shock absorber that held up the trip.
Adventure: Sporting a clutch of new additions, the Toyota
Prado Grande heads into the Simpson Desert.
October MEDICUS 59