Driving around with a Hatchback in WA

[Ben Mag]

Hi to all, it's been 2008 since I last went to WA, I went with a van and that was adequate, I was able to go to most places. Now I only have a small hatchback with about 7" clearance at it's lowest, what are your thoughts on driving around the WA goldfields, how much clearance would I need for most places?

I remember when I was there, thinking that I could have gone to about 70% of the places (old timers' diggings) even with a smaller car, but not everywhere. I saw two or three prospectors using small cars at times. It was a long time ago, not sure if I should try.

 

[Moneybox]

A lot will depend on your off road experience like retrieving a bogged vehicle.



Most of our tracks can easily be traversed in 2WD if you have the experience.



However if you are going bush in a 2WD, at some point you are going to come across a sandy creek crossing and that's always a trap.



It's not easy to tell how deep the sand is or how rough the bottom is beneath.



All these photos are from my last trip out a couple of weeks back. I was in a 2WD towing a trailer with a Honda 250 quad, my plan "B" incase I fail to extract the van. As it turned out I made it through every obstacle trouble-free but it's a risky business when you're a very long way from any form of help. I never saw another person or vehicle in the two weeks I was in the bush and that's plenty long enough to perish in the harsh outback.

 

[grubstake]

Hi to all, it's been 2008 since I last went to WA, I went with a van and that was adequate, I was able to go to most places. Now I only have a small hatchback with about 7" clearance at it's lowest, what are your thoughts on driving around the WA goldfields, how much clearance would I need for most places?

I remember when I was there, thinking that I could have gone to about 70% of the places (old timers' diggings) even with a smaller car, but not everywhere. I saw two or three prospectors using small cars at times. It was a long time ago, not sure if I should try.

As long as you drive very carefully, ground clearance probably isn't your biggest potential issue. The problem is that you're proposing to use a lightweight, front-wheel-drive car, that was designed for city/suburban use, on some of the dustiest, roughest, most corrugated and rutted roads and tracks in Australia.

With front-wheel-drive, all of the steering, all of the traction and most of the braking, is done by those two small diameter front wheels, shod with lightweight tyres designed for bitumen roads. You're gonna wreck your vehicle and it probably won't take long to do so, most likely in the worst possible location.

You don't have to use a 4WD in WA, but a hatchback is just asking for trouble, IMHO

 

[Moneybox]

As long as you drive very carefully, ground clearance probably isn't your biggest potential issue. The problem is that you're proposing to use a lightweight, front-wheel-drive car, that was designed for city/suburban use, on some of the dustiest, roughest, most corrugated and rutted roads and tracks in Australia.

With front-wheel-drive, all of the steering, all of the traction and most of the braking, is done by those two small diameter front wheels, shod with lightweight tyres designed for bitumen roads. You're gonna wreck your vehicle and it probably won't take long to do so, most likely in the worst possible location.

You don't have to use a 4WD in WA, but a hatchback is just asking for trouble, IMHO

You might be right there but surely you was young once? Have you ever tried to break an unmodified light 2WD vehicle?

I used to rally a Chrysler Gallant 1500 way back when they first came out. Those days we ran the same car that took us to work every day and the rallys took us over hundreds of kilometres of rough forestry tracks and country roads. I never broke that car.

In later years we used to run a mobile computer repair business with a couple of Hyundai Excels as the service vehicles. One was nicely sign written so it was the ideal race car too. During the week the young computer tech would flog it around town but it got to go out on the weekends too. I bought Mrs M a light weight aluminium trolly jack and a 12v rattle gun. She would drive it to the autocross track, jack it up and swap the wheels then race it competitively through a tight rough 1.8km track with several laps during the day. She won several trophies for fastest lady driver over several years. That Hyundai always drove home at the end of the weekend and never needed a repair.

The weakest link is the street tyres, they aren't usually suitable for rough offroad work.

 

[grubstake]

I reckon the minimum WA prospecting vehicle would be a 2WD ute (HiLux, Ranger, Navara, Triton etc). Doesn't need to be recent or flash and has decent ground clearance, rear-wheel-drive, bigger rims and a good choice of light truck tyres available.

 

[Greg_wilson]

I find sand is your biggest stopper out here.

 

[geof_junk]

The biggest problems are the tyres and the driver. Make sure you have tubeless tyres and plenty of plugs for repairs. The driver has to know it is not worth trying to get through a wet patch or steep dry (or wet) river beds and banks. Many 4WD get caught trying to get through them. I spent 8 to 10 years with a 4WD in WA gold fields for 3 to 4 months per year. In good weather nearly every spot that I got too, a mate with a standard car could get in also. Remember that you can walk some of the way swing the coil and might find an virgin patch while doing so.

 

[Ben Mag]

A lot will depend on your off road experience like retrieving a bogged vehicle.

View attachment 11555

Most of our tracks can easily be traversed in 2WD if you have the experience.

View attachment 11556

However if you are going bush in a 2WD, at some point you are going to come across a sandy creek crossing and that's always a trap.

View attachment 11557

It's not easy to tell how deep the sand is or how rough the bottom is beneath.

View attachment 11558

All these photos are from my last trip out a couple of weeks back. I was in a 2WD towing a trailer with a Honda 250 quad, my plan "B" incase I fail to extract the van. As it turned out I made it through every obstacle trouble-free but it's a risky business when you're a very long way from any form of help. I never saw another person or vehicle in the two weeks I was in the bush and that's plenty long enough to perish in the harsh outback.

These pics are great! I think I can get through some or all of these, i wouldn't try without traveling with others though. However, there's one more problem...

 

[Ben Mag]

As long as you drive very carefully, ground clearance probably isn't your biggest potential issue. The problem is that you're proposing to use a lightweight, front-wheel-drive car, that was designed for city/suburban use, on some of the dustiest, roughest, most corrugated and rutted roads and tracks in Australia.

With front-wheel-drive, all of the steering, all of the traction and most of the braking, is done by those two small diameter front wheels, shod with lightweight tyres designed for bitumen roads. You're gonna wreck your vehicle and it probably won't take long to do so, most likely in the worst possible location.

You don't have to use a 4WD in WA, but a hatchback is just asking for trouble, IMHO

... it's this. There is a lot of corrugated road out there, they didn't always get graded. I remember someone telling me they destroy every car, 4WD SUV or not, it's the shaking that will trouble my hatchback.

 

[Ben Mag]

How often do they grade corrugated roads nowadays in WA? I went there with a 2wd van and it was tough but after four months the corrugated dirt road destroyed the alternator.

 

[Ben Mag]

What's a good vehicle for corrugated roads? My budget is around $7000.

 

[Hippyty79]

Sounds a bit like taking a 12ft tinnie deep sea fishing.
I agree with all comments above, particularly in regards to tires defiantly consider light truck boots for walking in these woods.
Sounds like you’re committed, so keep the news for the forum and not the west Australian.
Good luck with your journey's

 

[Moneybox]

What's a good vehicle for corrugated roads? My budget is around $7000.

Some vehicles handle corrugations better than others and you probably won't know until you give it a go. Tyre pressures can be adjusted to help as well but I find the most important thing is to get your speed right. If I can keep the bus on 70kph it pretty much ignors most corrugations but slow to 40kph and you need to see the dentist as soon as you reach civilisation.

 

[Moneybox]

I have a perfectly good Mercedes MB100D 2.8L diesel van that I should sell. I bought it for a quick trip around the big block last year. I fitted a water tank, fridge, storage racks and ramps for the Honda 250 quad and travelled about 20,000km by the time I got home. It's an excellent 2WD offroad with good ground clearance, good fuel economy and oodles of space. The reason I've upgraded to the Hyundai Iload is because I already owned it as a Toll parcel delivery vehicle and it's a lot nicer on the highway. The Merc is noisy at highway speeds and the Hyundai is really quiet. I took the fridge, ramps and luggage racks out of the Merc ready to sell it but haven't got that far. The fridge is now in the Hyundai but the Solar panel and water tank are still there.

PM me if you're interested. Phil

 

[Hippyty79]

Doing 70 on the sandstone track at night you’d probably get overtaken by an explosives truck, those blokes are next level

 

[RichardWest]

Find a Model T Ford and you'll be right, beat most of the new fangled 4wds of today.

 

[Hippyty79]

Datsun 120 or 180 was my bush basher of the day absolute beasts in the bush, can’t believe we use to pick them up for a couple hundred back then

 

[Moneybox]

Datsun 120 or 180 was my bush basher of the day absolute beasts in the bush, can’t believe we use to pick them up for a couple hundred back then

That's what I was saying, you can't break these light weight 2WD vehicles in standard form. Any modified vehicle is a different story. Take a look at your average 4WD. As long as the suspension or exhaust system hasn't been tampered with usually the only things that give you trouble are the aftermarket tanks, roof racks, roo bars and other attachments. The base vehicle is bulletproof.

 

[Hippyty79]

Agree Phil,
Had a mates whose parents were caretaking a sheep property in Perth, now a suburb,a fwy and train line
We would all chip in weekly for a bash busher to flog around the property,
The first things to go were the tires.
I think boots suspension and roo bar are a must though, must 4x4s seem to be build
For suburban roads

 

[grubstake]

Datsun 120 or 180 was my bush basher of the day absolute beasts in the bush, can’t believe we use to pick them up for a couple hundred back then

Both of which are rear-wheel-drive, I believe? Surviving examples are worth a surprising amount of money now!