Birdsville Races 2017

Damage and other issues 
The preparations we made including the protectiion of the pipes and wires under the caravan, screening the caravan gas bottles on the drawbar, etc, plus covering the D-Max rear canopy window with rubber help minimised damage.  However we did have a jerry can bracket break (metal fatigue) on the dirt going into to Birdsville.  The bracket was located on the rear of the caravan with 20lts of spare diesel.  This bracket had been installed on the caravan for about 5 years after we almost run out of fuel in the Northern Territory.   Diesel was not lost! 

On the dirt on the way out we lost the caravan trailer plug but managed to get a replacement plug in Windorah and did a roadside repaired.  In hindsight, an  adaptor  (7 pin round (D-Max) to 7 pin flat (caravan)) was used since we lost the Narava D40 in Perth and this should have been replaced to all 7 pin round before the trip.  Also the dust cover on the D-Max anderson plug was broken.

Other issues were more maintenance then damage (caravan is over 8 years old);  Door lock handle broke, one window came open while travelling (on going issue since new), one 240VAC GPO (kitchen) and one over bed 12V lamp stopped working.   Just a pain as work around had to be used during the trip!

Dirt road in from Windorah 
About 270km (540km total) was dirt road and was in good condition (recently graded) on the way in to Birdsville but was starting to have issues as we headed home.   Thank god it didn't rain!  The biggest problems was moving over to let the

fast moving 4WD's, many with camper trailers, pass us, as they were travelling way above our 70-75km.   Lots more flying rocks when you move over to the edge from the road and passing vehicles!  We did reduce both the D-Max and the caravan tyres by 20% for the dirt road.

The caravan got little dust because of the scupper vent at its front which pressurised the inside.  The scupper we had never used before and now we highly recommend.  The only caravan vent we covered was the door gas safely vent just while travelling on the dirt.  The D-Max canopy you could have grown tomatos in the dust!  Maybe it needs a scupper vent if we do any more long dirt trips!   The D-Max also got a mark or two from flying rocks.  There was evidence of rock hits on the temporary rubber protecting the canopy rear window plus a few rocks found laying on the rear bumper and the caravan firewood basket on the drawbar.  On checking after we got home the two front caravan brakes had damaged wires and the front water tank protection plate moved about 5cm.  Also the drain inline tap was damaged with a very small leak.

Summary  
Having a caravan with simplicity suspension, high clearance and front/sides plating plus the  preparations we did, save us getting lots of damage, we beleive.   When purchased, we never intended to take the caravan off the 'black' and this will be its first and last time, as the risk of serious damage was high!  Love the D-Max, its a great towing vehicle and easy on fuel.   It was a great experience as you can see from the photos above.