Patriot Camper Trailer Voyage!

[pursuit1980]

Hey guys,

As a few people have asked about towing camper trailers etc. I thought I would post up my photos and results from towing my camper trailer over 4000kms (2500 miles) from the west coast of Australia (Perth), to the east coast (Melbourne).

My camper is a 4x4 off-road trailer weighing 1000kg (1-Tonne or 2205 lbs) when loaded, which means I also had to fit independent trailer brakes as well as an electric trailer brake controller inside of the Patriot.

I also had the Patriot completely loaded up, as we were moving our family across the country. 2 Adults, 1 Child, Loaded to the roof inside.

The trailer was balanced quite well, with approximately 60-70kg drawbar weight to the hitch.

The Patriot had absolutely no problem towing the camper trailer, and I never once felt that it was under-powered, even as we crossed the Nullarbor Plain (Long, straight boring road that links the west to the east of Australia), which is notorious for head-winds, which I did unfortunately encounter.

Fuel consumption for the overall trip was an extra 2-3 Litres per 100kms worse than usual, but that was to be expected. Usually I experience 9-10litres/100kms, whereas on this trip, it was anywhere from 11-13litres/100kms. So I was happy with that.

I carried an additional 60-90 litres of fuel in the camper trailer, as the roadhouses along the Nullarbor are far between and quite expensive, so to save a few bucks I'd fill up my cans along the way to push past a few expensive fillup points. Plus it means you dont have to stop as often.

Driving hours per day was anywhere from 4hrs to 9hrs, dependent on location, some places and towns were so bad, (weather or location), that I would just push through until i found a nicer place to setup for the night.

The only occasion where I found myself putting it back into 4th gear, was encountering the head-winds as mentioned earlier, crossing the very centre of Australia, other than that, 5th was perfect and sitting comfortably at 2500 RPM.

I will add, I did a complete oil and filter change the night before I left, and a week after arriving at my destination, due to towing 4000+kms. (The oil that I drained out after the trip was not all that bad, a little bit dark, but smelled fine and looked fine, but I still wanted nice fresh oil back in the Patriot.)

Anyway, I attached some pics, and any questions just ask.


Leaving the in-laws on Day 4, (Cheynes Beach, Western Australia)



Bremer Bay (Western Australia)


Bremer Bay (Western Australia)


Fitzgerald River NP (Western Australia)


Somewhere across the Nullarbor (South Australia)


Port Augusta (South Australia)


Lake Colac (Victoria)


St Columba Falls (Tasmania)


Map of the journey....Approximately 4000-4500kms.




Jeep Patriot! You Little Beastie!

[the_jeep_now]

Sounds like a great adventure. Love the pictures. Thank you for sharing your Jeep experiences.


Sent from my iPhone using AutoGuide.com App

[MrJeepR44]

Very nice! I love the pictures, and like the silver accent on your front bumper. Does it come that way from the factory, or did you add it?

[pursuit1980]

Originally Posted by MrJeepR44

Very nice! I love the pictures, and like the silver accent on your front bumper. Does it come that way from the factory, or did you add it?

Thanks, its actually a light bar/nudge bar, which I placed there to act as a nudge bar. It was about $30 AUD. ($31.53 US)

I actually mounted mine upside down, as I wanted it as more of a nudge bar than a light bar bracket for spotlights, which is what it is marketed as.

I mounted it by screwing directly into the bumper with tech-screws, and its solid as a rock and looks pretty good.

Anyway, this is the link for them, at our major auto-parts shop, everyone in Australia knows of Supercheap Auto stores.

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/onl...d=219098#Cross


Thanks for the comments.
.

[tt1]

those pictures look HOTTTT

[Creation]

Looking good! Glad you had a great time, you covered a lot of ground!

Sent from my Galaxy S III using Autoguide. Please excuse my spelling.

[dixiedawg]

Great post, looks like you had a good trip.

[RadOso]

What an epic adventure, thanks for sharing!

[Coppertrailer]

WOW

[Medic311]

dude those pictures are EPIC

you should send them to Jeep's marketing department.

i'm serious

[FirstJeepOH]

I managed to read your post with an Australian accent in my head.....


Very interesting trip, very pretty countryside!

[deepwaterscott]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the trailer looks like the box off a Nissan Frontier.

[pursuit1980]

Originally Posted by deepwaterscott

Correct me if I'm wrong but the trailer looks like the box off a Nissan Frontier.

No need to correct you, as you are indeed correct....

Down here the Nissan Frontier is known as a Nissan Navara, but exactly the same vehicle.

The box or 'well body' was complete, and I just added the new heavy duty axle, suspension, and load-rated wheels and manufactured a heavy subframe and drawbar to suit, along with an off-road coupling, that can move in 360 degrees fully articulate. It's called a McHitch.

http://mchitch.com.au/platinum-series

and some video's of how it works.
http://mchitch.com.au/videos


Thanks.

[MrJeepR44]

Originally Posted by pursuit1980

No need to correct you, as you are indeed correct....

Down here the Nissan Frontier is known as a Nissan Navara, but exactly the same vehicle.

The box or 'well body' was complete, and I just added the new heavy duty axle, suspension, and load-rated wheels and manufactured a heavy subframe and drawbar to suit, along with an off-road coupling, that can move in 360 degrees fully articulate. It's called a McHitch.

http://mchitch.com.au/platinum-series

and some video's of how it works.
http://mchitch.com.au/videos


Thanks.

That's very cool! I need to get one on my camp trailer just for getting in and out of my driveway... it is steep and has a sharp turn. I hear the hitch binding up a bit when I am backing it in.

That McHitch looks like a fancy version of a pintle hitch. I've seen some similar designs on other off road camp trailers, but I don't recall any of the hitch brand names

[FailWheelDrive]

I encourage you to post your favorite 3 pics for Patriot of the month.