Top End trip, truck or 4WD&van?

best setup ive seen was a bt50 extra cab 4x4 with a 2 person 5th wheeler off the tray, wasnt big, had space, carrying capacity, easy manouvering,

Any experience driving either set up and off road driving tracks corrugations water crossing recovering a bogged vehicle winching experience what tyre pressures to drop to in different situations basic mechanical trouble shooting. Changing tyres which may sound strange but quite a few people have never jacked up a car with a flat. For an expedition truck you may want to carry a couple of push bikes or something similar. With a 4wd and caravan you can unhitch and go other places without having to pack the van up for day trips or shopping etc.

Packing up a camper trailer takes 90 minutes or more (from our observations of others).
Packing up a caravan takes 45 minutes or more.
Packing up a "truck" takes 15 minutes or less.
Similar in reverse when arriving somewhere new.
This will be a 'ritual' almost EVERY day on a 6 month 'lap'.
On the odd occasions if we need to go to the shops, it is advantageous to have our fridge, freezer and grocery storage with us in the car park.
If we go sight seeing, lunch and a cuppa or cold drink is always with us and we can always change our mind and not go back to the previous camp site for the night. "Reserving" a camp site is as easy as leaving a table and chair.
There are many places that you will not get to towing and some you will get to but shouldn't.
We are 2.2m wide, 3.05m high and 6m long. I can not recall anywhere we could not go except underground car parks and that includes everything else between supermarket car parks and the toughest tracks in Oz. Shorter overall vehicles sustain less damage.
"Light" vehicles, towing or not, will all have significant weight limitations that can 'go away' with a "truck".
Insuring, registering, maintaining and fueling a single vehicle will be cheaper than 2.
I am not (very) biased...... much :)
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

ps.... 6 months is no where near enough for a "lap" in any vehicle, but it is enough to give you a taste for the life.

So many variables
Are you going to stick to the sealed roads or rough tracks?
Do you intend to set up overnight and then move the next day or stay in one spot for a while?
The big expedition trucks are limited to where you can stay simply due to their size.
The small 4x4 trucks can give a very rough ride (ask them and they will say they are great but go for a ride in one first)
I had a converted coach which was way too big and I found that I just couldn’t get into most places. The rare times is stayed at van parks, they charged double
I’ve had 4 caravans and its my preferred option simply because I can set up camp and then radiate out to explore in the 4x4
Trucks/motorhome must be fully packed up before moving off so it depends how organised you are.
Everyone will give their opinions regarding their setup but few will tell you of the downsides.

Tasha k you for the feedback, a two person fifth wheeler! Didn’t know they exist. Might be worth look8ng into. Cheers.

Yes, so many variables. Ideally, I would like freedom to explore, off the main highways from time to time, with some off grid capacity for a week or so between replenishment. I am concerned about the size and parking issue, didn’t know parks would charge double, is that jealousy ? Cheers, things to ponder!

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Hi Carlos, If you are considering an 'expedition truck' and '4WD etc' it would seem that you intend to get off-road. In which a single-vehicle (i.e. no trailer) has some advantages. Consider for example heading down a minor track and being blocked by a washout…… turning around to get out with a van or trailer on the back may be nigh-on impossible. However, an expedition truck does have some limitations due to its height although I'm sure Peter could reliably dispute this.

A single-vehicle rig certainly has its manoeuvre advantages but if you want to 'take-it-all-with-you' then a towed van could be the way to go. I have used several camper-trailers, a sole-vehicle Troopy, and now a Sprinter camper-van, progressing through these as our needs changed and found each style had advantages and disadvantages peculiar to our individual needs. The current camper-van (small motor-home) is great for quick set-up and comfortable but although being 4WD I would not put it over the more rugged or confined tracks.

The problem with asking others about "pros and cons" advice is that the responses are biased to their individual preferences which likely do not match yours. Perhaps the question may be better put as "What don't you like about the style of your set-up?" In my case the answer is "I cannot go everywhere that I may wish to go".

in the big scheme of things, you are only planning to go for 6 mths so if you end up with something you dont like, you wont have to put up with it for the rest of your life.

likre said, there are pros and cons to both types.
i just dont like having to pack up every morning but you are only doing a shortish trip so you will be fine
I met a couple who did a 6 tmh trip and never disconnected the van because it was too hard for them.

A cost effective compromise (compared to an expedition truck) is a 4wd +Tvan. It has the advantages of being able to access places which any 4wd can access, plus *much* faster set up/pack up than other camper trailers. A used Tvan can be bought for $22K+ & sold for the same 6 months later. Older Tvans are just as capable off road as new ones (arguably better). Combined with a 4wd storage is enormous for two people, allowing for extended periods off grid. There is canvas, but it is minimal, with a 5 minute setup/pack up, but the real joy is that accomodation is not reliant on the canvas, so possible to pull up for the night & being set up in 30 seconds. We frequently camp in this way with ours. Queen sized bed under a hard roof. Downside, like most camper trailers, is outdoor only cooking. For a six month trip around the country not really a deal breaker. We have called our Patrol ute/canopy & Tvan home for almost 6 years now.

I do agree with the advantages stated by others about expedition trucks/off road motorhomes, but for a 6 month trip would consider this overkill unless money is no object & you already have familiarity (& licence) with driving a heavy vehicle.

6 months is a very (in my view 'overly') short time period for the sort of trip you are contemplating. I would suggest that 12 months would be a bare minimum & even that will miss a great deal. Our first around Australia trip was in a converted 7 metre bus (Nissan Civilian - like a Toyota Coaster) - it excluded high clearance 4wd tracks, but still took in a number of the major off road routes (like the Birdsville Track), as they have reasonable ground clearance & ruggedness. 2wd. It was a wonderful adventure, but the 18 months passed in a flash.

We changed to a Patrol & Tvan to access country which the bus could not - with zero regrets.

Now with more age on us we are looking again at expedition trucks for added convenience/comfort but with ability to access most that the Patrol & Tvan has allowed (and with similar storage to allow for extended periods off grid).

A final point on timeframes. If 6 months is a definite maximum for a round Australia trip, paying out big bucks for any serious off road travel rig really is likely to be pretty much a waste of money unless you restrict yourself to a small section of the country. A six month lap simply will not afford you the time to 'do a lap' which includes 'off road'. It'd be hard yakka with little time to stop & smell the roses just on bitumen.

What a thoughtful reply, thank you!

I do have a heav vechicle licence, and some truck and bus driving experience. The Tvan set up sounds interesting. Quick is king! Will look into them, sounding like I will have to retire and just take m time!