Camper trailer brands, New vs Used

[TPC]

Every pole, every guy rope, every bit of canvas ............ adds to the PITA level. What is acceptable for the occasional weekend or two week holidays is very different to what is acceptable for longer touring trips. Every *minute* it takes to put something up or to take it down quickly compounds over more than a couple of weeks travel. I am reminded of TPC who whilst having a great Kimberley trip with camper trailer found that toward the end of a few weeks they were really over the daily grind of setting up/packing up & opted for motels IIRC.

This was the main reason we went for a Tvan, & even with that, setup can take anything from 2 minutes to 20 minutes depending upon how much we set up. I can’t imagine setting up the 20 minute option unless planning to stay at least a few days. One camper trailer I saw which had every bell & whistle imaginable, all stainless this that & the other, a gazillion poles & acres of canvas - looked fantastic......... until I saw them packing. No exaggeration - pack up took over two hours!

I wouldn’t dream of buying any form of touring ‘accomodation’ without first watching the seller set it up, or setting it up myself. The reality for many is very different to the promise.

I did not think anybody would remember my laziness at the end of that trip. lol

We can do a basic setup of our camper in about 30min when we are doing a one night stay but by the end of the Kimberley trip we were definitely fed up with the camper.
When we bought ours about 12 years ago it was all we could afford, I would like to change over to a hard floor camper but the misses wants to go for a caravan next so I am reluctant to change.
We did have a good look at the Jayco offroad caravans at the Adelaide Camping show on the weekend but I don't believe we could take it to half the places we have taken the camper trailer.

[lucus30]

as I'm not real tall so I take a small ladder with me. Lol.

Yeah I don't have this problem ha ha. However being tall does have its disadvantages I hit my head on everything poor mego must be worse than I

[BigRAWesty]

We did have a good look at the Jayco offroad caravans at the Adelaide Camping show on the weekend but I don't believe we could take it to half the places we have taken the camper trailer.

Now this is an odd statement.. lol.
If your worried about limited access then a full size van aint for you..

I'm stooked with my little purchase of the jayco dove..
It sits in behind the patrol so well..
One of our recent trips required to drive threw some thickish scrub.. still designated road. I went without second guessing. It the patrol fit so did the van..
The other 4 with full size vans stopped and found another access point..

Now I'm also with you all about long setup / down times and I'm in a similar boat to cuppa with his tvan..
Setup of the dove can take as little as 5 mins.. level it up, wind it up, beds out, beer..
Or a full setup of all canvas is around 15 - 20 mins. .

So glad we didn't go a soft camper in the end..
But the wind ups have more that can go wrong so catch 22.. I've already fully gutted the cable system on ours and re done it.. it's not difficult just a pita..

Another thing I've notice with camper trailers.. stay away from white roofs..
My parents camper is a grey roof.. dark threw the day but pitch black until the sun if fully up and windows open..
Inlaws is white and your getting up at dawns crack.. which atm could be 5.30-6am!!!

[gaddy]

If you like the one you got , why not retro fit independent suspension, there's quite a few mobs doing good quality kits around

[TPC]

We did have a good look at the Jayco offroad caravans at the Adelaide Camping show on the weekend but I don't believe we could take it to half the places we have taken the camper trailer.

Now this is an odd statement.. lol.
If your worried about limited access then a full size van aint for you..

I'm stooked with my little purchase of the jayco dove..
It sits in behind the patrol so well..
One of our recent trips required to drive threw some thickish scrub.. still designated road. I went without second guessing. It the patrol fit so did the van..

I don't think it is an odd statement, I am sure there are a lot of places my camper would go that a Jayco could not.
The Jayco Dove is 4.5 feet longer, wider and double the weight of my camper which are all things that work against it off road.

Having said that I will probably still end up with one and will just use a tent for those places where it will not go.

[BigRAWesty]

I don't think it is an odd statement, I am sure there are a lot of places my camper would go that a Jayco could not.
The Jayco Dove is 4.5 feet longer, wider and double the weight of my camper which are all things that work against it off road.

Having said that I will probably still end up with one and will just use a tent for those places where it will not go.

Yea sorry I clipped a bit much. Yea I agree you'll drag a trailer further than a pop top, but if you get a caravan for the missus that'll restrict you a bit..
But the ability to hook on and drive is nice..

[katwoman]

Ok. When I said independent suspension I kinda meant 'suspension of some kind'. The Kanga is a solid axle, we looked at fitting shocks, but for some reason cant. ( I dont know why) It bounces no matter where or what driving conditions.
No, it doesnt need to flip forward.
Roofy- Would you take your Penguin down zeka spur, or into Talbottville via crooked river track during winter? And be confident it wont get damaged? Just curious.
And it's still a little on the small side for us. We still have a teenage daughter that tags along when her social life allows. As for fit.....pffffft. NOT
Cuppa- every time I see a T-van I think to my self, I must have a closer look at them, so they are on the list. Yes weight probably should be an issue, but I figure because it's made with thick steel and canvas, not tin foil and tissue paper it's acceptable.
We wont even look at those tent on trailer things. Been there, done that.
The Kanga is all gas strutted, so it is almost one handed to put up. Its almost like flipping up the bonnet, pull the canvas out, two poles in, peg floor, done.
I'll put Complete campsite on my list. Love the Exodus, but at $88k, it's a little steep, ATM.

[LaughingBeagles]

Campertrailer Australia do a great write up of the exodus here: http://www.campertraileraustralia.co...-video-review/

They also do a good review of all the top,ten brands.


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[BigRAWesty]

I'd take our dove down crooked river..
But the main thing is (and I guess every trailer has this issue) water egress..
You'd want some good sealing covers on the vents of a van..
The penguin is a great 2 person van. If your wanting something to sleep a fee extra the eagle is small packed down than the dove but has a queen mattress at one end and either a double or single at the other.. our dove is smaller than the penguin but only has doubles at either end.. I'm 6'2" and sleep comfortable with my wife on the double..
The Swan is the next one up, same closed size as the penguin but sports double queen beds..

Or if you want really small look at the swift or finch..

The out back range is a good off road van..
As cuppa said the indapendant suspension is true..
Off the top of my head the only van to really sport a decent setup is the t van with its cross axle setup..

Anyway it's a very personal choice ey..
Also don't forget jayco ain't the only ones who do pop top vans..

I personally don't like the fold foward campers due to the massively long draw bar.. so steep crests or river beds could pose clearance issues, and I could imagine the tow ball weight would be high with all that storage on the bar.. but have never owned one so purely commenting on what I see in mags

[Maxhead]

Hey Kat, If you're happy with the current one why not replace whole suspension to independent. this is just the first on the list but many more there:http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1600KG-OF...wAAOxyRNJSk-yK

You have the right person to get it done, use him....LOL