Hi all,
I'm just chasing some advice on road access and 2WD vs 4WD during the wet season in the NT. Background info is below, questions are at the bottom of the post.
I'm looking to head up north this summer & spend a week or two around the Top End. I flew up there last dry season, & went on a minibus tour. Some of the "4WD-only" unsealed roads the minibus went down looked simple to do in a 2WD Hi-Rider Hilux. Frankly I'm amazed the tour operator didn't beach the bus, particularly on the 20km road to Barramundi Gorge. If I was heading up again in the dry season in my Hilux I wouldn't be making this thread to be honest as I have a fair idea of the roads up there in the dry.
I'm looking to do the Kakadu loop (pulling off the hwy to do day hikes etc) assuming the highway from Humpty-Doo to Jabiru isn't underwater. I'm also looking at accessing parts of Litchfield & maybe camping at Wangi Falls, + heading up to Crab Claw, assuming access to Wangi Falls, and the route via Berry Springs to Crab Claw aren't underwater. I understand that Road Closed = ROAD CLOSED and in being smart around croc-infested waters. Even if my Hilux was 4WD I'm not planning on any bush-bashing, hill-climbs or river crossings. I bought a Hi-Rider over a Low-Rider only for clearance & to fare better against the roos down my way, it suits my needs for my paddocks at home & my route to work.
My questions:
1. Hi-Riders disappointingly come with an open diff and no form of locker. Is some form of locker (ie ARB air locker or Harrop E-locker) required or *should* an open diff suffice? How drastically do the unsealed roads change in the wet? (not those underwater/inaccessible)
2. My (from new Dunlop AT Grandtrek) tyres will be due for replacement before I drive up there. Keeping in mind that all of my normal driving suits the originals, and that I'll have 8000kms of sealed highway between home & Darwin & back, would buying these same tyres potentially get me stuck up north? The only time my open diff + these tyres have let me down was when crossing a sloppy hillside at FarmWorld that was saturated with rain. I had to park elsewhere with the hatches & sedans rather than cross the hill to park with the 4WDs lol. If I either had an LSD (or locker), or different tyres, I probably would not have been embarrassed.
If the kind of Kakadu/Litchfield access I'm looking to do is strictly 4WD-only then my Uncle's Hilux Surf is Plan B, although as mentioned I'm not looking to bush-bash/hill-climb/cross rivers
Looking forward to your replies,
Dave