Going on a road trip? These are the essential off-road touring modifications and accessories for your 4WD - including tyres, recovery gear and more

Several of the best-selling vehicles in Australia right now are dual-cab utes. Specifically, four-wheel-drive dual-cab utes. There’s a huge waiting list for the all-new LandCruiser 300 Series, and, if you can find one, a second-hand 200 Series can easily be fetching more than its brand-new sticker price. Meanwhile, over at Nissan, dealers can’t deliver the latest Patrol fast enough. Clearly, there’s a post-Covid intention among Aussies to get out there and see this great brown land.

Which is fine, but it also means that many expeditions will be some families’ first foray. And that means that equipping the vehicle correctly and safely can be the difference between the holiday of a lifetime and a road-trip disaster. Trust us, it can seem an awfully thin line at times.

So, what are the must-have modifications and accessories that will make an extended outback journey more appealing, more comfortable and, importantly, safer? We’ll ignore high-lift suspensions, engine tune-ups, locking differentials and other, ultra-specific modifications and instead, let’s stick with the absolute basics.

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Tyres

There are light-duty and heavy-duty All Terrain tyres; either of which typically provide better flexibility than a pure HT or MT tyre.

A brand-new 4WD is very likely to be fitted with tyres that will be found lacking should you get into a situation where traction becomes critical. Experienced hands refer to these tyres as Showroom Terrains, alluding to their suitability for a dealership forecourt and not much more.

A good-quality All Terrain style tyre will have a stronger sidewall, a better tread pattern and will perform better when the chips are down and you’re trying to struggle out of a bog-hole or a stretch of outback sand or bull-dust. Mud tyres are best left to the weekend thrill-seekers as they’re (the tyres) noisy on the road and overkill for most off-roaders.

It’s also best practice to carry at least two spare tyres in remote areas, as well as a puncture repair kit. Don’t forget the pressure gauge.

Auxiliary battery

The second battery will be set up to charge when the vehicle’s engine is running.

A second battery is vital for vehicles where you’ll be in remote areas for a stretch. That’s because your fridge (which we’ll get to in a minute) will flatten a battery pretty quick smart and, if that’s your only battery, you won’t be going anywhere next morning. A second battery is usually fitted under the bonnet, and it’s a specialist job as it requires extra wiring as well as the physical fixings. The battery itself is often a specific type which will better tolerate deep cycling.

The second battery will be set up to charge when the vehicle’s engine is running, but you can also attach a solar panel or blanket when you’re stopped to extend the battery’s charge. From there, you can add an inverter to charge mobile phones, computers and more, and be that little bit closer to fully self-sufficient on the road.

Be aware that many modern 4WDs use what’s called a smart alternator which varies the charging rate as part of its fuel-saving job. The problem is that in many cases, the smart alternator won’t produce enough charge to keep a second battery topped up, particularly if the vehicle is also running a lot of electrical accessories. There are fixes for this including reflashing the car’s computer and fitting a battery-to-battery charging system, but you need to be aware of it.

Storage

This Colorado sports a set of Ironman 4x4 drawers. (image credit: Ironman 4x4)

Extra storage is a big thing for families who often find the vehicle’s interior won’t swallow everything they need. A roof-rack is the logical place to start here and it’s a great place to store lighter gear such as bedding and surfboards. Bear in mind, though, that you’ll need to carry things like bedding in water and dust-proof bags to avoid wrecking them in the process.

Speaking of storage, many owners fit tailor-made drawers to the back of their vehicles to keep things like kitchen gear organised and easy to find. With a few metres of plywood, you can make your own dividers and use op-shop wicker baskets as the drawers. It works well and is a much cheaper alternative than custom drawers. It’s no mistake the hot-air balloon industry still uses wicker for its baskets; it’s light and strong and, in a 4WD sense, it doesn’t rattle on corrugated roads.

Protection

A front bar is a common addition on 4WDs. (image credit: ARB)

Kangaroo strike is a common problem in remote Australia, so a front bar of some sort is a common fitment. But modern vehicles need to be fitted with a bar that is compatible with the airbag system, so that’s the primary concern. But a front bar is also a great place to mount other accessories such as radio aerials, extra lighting and a winch. They also make for great recovery points should you need to be towed clear of an obstacle.

UHF radio

You can fit a radio to your vehicle. (image credit: Eureka 4WD Trainin)

In some parts of Australia, it’s actually mandatory to carry a UHF radio. For the rest of the country, it just makes good sense to be able to communicate with authorities, other travellers and even roadwork crews as you happen upon them. You can fit a radio to the vehicle, but a hand-held unit that can be used remotely from the vehicle is another option. Just buy the most powerful transmitter you can afford, as range is the biggest complaint with these units.

Fridge

ARB's weatherproof Elements fridge/freezer is claimed to be “the ultimate 4WDer’s fridge” (image: ARB).

You won’t be staying in a remote area too long without a fridge. Even a long, hot day of four-wheel-driving is vastly improved by a chilled beverage at the end of things, and that’s where a quality fridge comes in. These are not cheap additions, but given what you’ll put them through and the beating they’ll take, skimping on fridge quality is a bad idea.

Many off-roaders like a fridge that doubles as a freezer so they can make ice while the vehicle is running, transferring that ice to a day-pack esky to avoid constantly opening and closing the fridge. Some fridges have dividers that allow for both freezing and cooling at the same time, but make sure you buy a fridge big enough for your family’s requirements. Consider mounting it on a slide, too, to make it more practical. A drop-down slide makes the typical top-opening fridge more useful for shorter folk.

Make sure you take a spare thermal fuse for the fridge as a conventional fuse won’t work.

First aid kit

A First Aid kit is always essential. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

Should we even have to mention this? But make sure the kit you take is appropriate for the sorts of circumstances you may find yourself in. Definitely include lots of bandages, but maybe go easy on the altitude-sickness medicine. Don’t forget the sunscreen.

Jack

A high-lift jack will be better than the standard vehicle jack. (image credit: Bushranger)

There’s a fair chance the jack supplied with your 4WD could be fairly useless in an off-road recovery situation. You can buy a high-lift jack, but make sure you know how and where to use it as these things can be dangerous. Even a higher-lift, high-capacity bottle-jack will be better than the standard vehicle jack, but make sure you include a large piece of flat hardwood to sit the jack on in sandy country.

Compressor

An air compressor for pumping up the tyres. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

Altering tyre pressures off-road is a constant procedure when moving between sand, gravel and bitumen. The first thing an experienced four-wheeler does in sandy terrain is to reduce tyre pressures to somewhere below 20psi to allow the tyre to `bag out’ and increase its surface area and contact patch. But what about when you hit the bitumen again? That’s when you need a compressor to return the tyres to a bitumen-safe working pressure.

Again, like fridges, you can find cheap compressors, but the really poor ones will overheat before you’ve pumped up the second tyre. Make sure the one you buy has the duty cycle and the capacity to do what you need it to. Don’t forget, off-road tyres are big and have a lot of air in them.

Recovery gear

Rated bow shackles and snatch strap are useful for towing cars out of certain situations. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

A winch is kind of the ultimate piece of recovery gar, but they’re expensive, heavy and dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. A lot of touring four-wheel-drivers find that a set of sand tracks will get them out of a lot of sticky situations perfectly well. A snatch-strap is also essential for safe recoveries by a second vehicle and make sure you have proper `rated’ shackles to go with the strap. Let’s be honest, if you’re being rescued by another vehicle, having your own strap and shackles is just good manners.

Snorkel

A snorkel gets your air intake higher and (partly) out of the dust of other vehicles.

You mightn’t be planning on crossing rivers and creeks, but it would be a shame to be stopped in your tracks because of a waterway between you and your chosen camping spot. Of course, crossing waterways is a specialised skill, but even an experienced four-wheel-driver will think twice about a river crossing if the vehicle is not fitted with a snorkel. Just like a swimmer snorkelling off a reef, the vehicle snorkel allows the engine to breath even though the rest of the truck might be partly submerged. Engines can’t cope with ingesting water, and can be destroyed if it happens. Beyond water crossings, a snorkel also gets your air intake higher and (partly) out of the dust of other vehicles, making your air filter last longer between clean-outs.