Telegraph pool is on the Fitzroy River and was recommended as a top barra spot. On the way there we stopped at the Willare Roadhouse for some locally grown steak. It’s on a cattle station and the restaurant sells their home grown beef along with beer, both are delicious.

The road into telegraph pool is a little bumpy and corrugated which was a slight concern with the broken leaf spring. I caught one undersized barramundi and nothing else. People have landed whoppa barras here but I had no luck. The leaf spring held up ok and we made it in and out without any problems.

Now that we made it to Broome it was time to sort out the leaf spring along with a couple of other Gibb River Road casualties. The bull bar side wing underguard pans broke at the mount on both left and right sides. And the long range fuel tank developed a crack that fuel was leaking from. All the problems were related to aftermarket accessories. The leaf springs are Ironman, the bull bar is ARB and the fuel tank is Outback Accessories. All original bits of the hilux held up fine.

I drove to the Ironman dealer in Broome and showed them the broken leaf spring. The leaf springs were around 5 years old and out of warranty but I was hoping Ironman would share the cost for some good will. To my surprise they agreed to give me two brand new leaf springs for free. Nice work Ironman!

With such a good outcome I decided to see if Outback Accessories would offer the same deal. The fuel tank was already on the car when I bought it second hand so I don’t know how old it is but could be up to 10 years old. Outback Accessories said it was too old and they couldn’t help. Not even share some of the welding repair costs. Bummer. It’s disappointing that an expensive fuel tank doesn’t last the life of the vehicle but sometimes you get unlucky, especially after several tens of thousands of kilometers of corrugations. I removed the tank and took it to some local repairers to get the crack welded up.

The ARB bull bar I fashioned a dodgy fix with some metal plate to hold the underguard pans in place. I’ll weld them up properly when settled back at home.