Drifta Off Road Camper Trailer

[jimb]

Hey AULRO'ers

Anyone had a look at the Drifta Touring Trailer?

My family currently use a tent etc but must admit the whole unpacking the entire car on trips is starting to wear me down. I put an extra two seats in the rear of the Defender and just means heaps of stuff on roof rack.

I was really loving the look of the smallish trailers like Daniel is selling from Mission, price wise it isn't apples & apples because Mission includes basically everything including the fridge- but even then a fair bit cheaper. Also, $25 k is a truck load of money ( for me anyway).

The overall length of the trailer. How important is this? 90% of the time I'll use it fairly tame stuff like Fraser, Moerton but I do want to do Cape York this coming year and hopefully a big trip for 4 months in 3 years time (exact route is up for debate!)
So basically my reluctance in a camper trailer is I don't want to think- gee wish I could get up that creek or that crossing but this camper trailer I'm hauling will prevent those possible excitement trails.

I have read heaps of your comments and would appreciate your thoughts on
- what length and off road capabilities does an off road trailer need?

Probably cannot purchase for a whole and think I'm dreaming if I get it before the Cape in 2015, but with all purchases the hours of dreaming and thinking is part of the journey.

Thanks
Jim

[Redback]

At $20 to $25k, that's a lot of money and not ideal if you have kids, great for just a couple though.

There are a lot of campers out these for less and have enough room for up to 4 kids.

Yes camper trailer have there draw backs in regards to not being able to do some tracks, although it's amazing where you can go and the Cape is one of those places, you would no issues towing a camper all the way along the OTL.

There's not many places you can't go with a camper, it all depends on the weight and size of the camper and of coarse the toughness of the track, lets face it, when your touring, you are not going to do really tough tracks with the camper on, or without for that matter, but you can use the camper as a base and explore from there, this is what we do.

Anyway here's an option, good price too.

Tambo Camper Trailers - The Cooper (http://tambocampertrailers.com.au/cooper)

The best way to find out if a camper trailer is good for you, is hire one, just hire a basic camper, don't go for the flash one or a large one, something that is easy to setup and set it up before you go away, don't wait till your on your trip to set it up for the first time;)

Baz.

[debruiser]

I was watching his video on youtube just the other day although I've never seen one in the flesh. I like the concept. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't that tent supposed to sleep 4??? Although I recon it'd be crowded. I like the simplicity of the idea. Using the Rtt, and still having access to the trailer while it's up. Those other trailer tent things where you have to lift the tent up to look for something in the trailer doesn't float my boat, but it must work.... people have them and use them.

Looks like a quick easy setup/pulldown which in my books is great.

I would NEVER part with 25k for a trailer though....

I'd 2nd the suggestion to hire one for a trip to test it out. There is that hire mob out towards seaforth, maybe they have one... or at least you'd be able to go have a look at different models in real life. Do we even have a camper trailer dealer here in Mackay?

[Tombie]

If ever there were industries that gouge the public the Caravan and Camper industry would be right up the top of the list :cool:

[Redback]

Drifta don't give these spec for some strange reason.

Full Specifications
Common Fields


CountryAustralia
Standard Fields


MakeDRIFTAModelOFFROAD TOURERYear2014
Specifications


Tare - kg 500ATM - kg1,100 Brakes 10in electric brake hitch Coupling OzHitch
Axles


Wheels 16in steel Tyres 245/75R16 mud terrain
Suspension


Suspension Type Five-leaf, shackled rebound springs with 40mm spring over solid square axle. Optional seven-leaf springs with 1400kg ATM
Dimensions


Trailer Body - Length - ft 5'11" Trailer Body - Width - ft4'Travel Length - ft6
Electrics


Battery System1 x 125Ah
Configuration


Number of Berths 2
Options


Fresh Water Capacity - lt1 x 80L Cooktop Two-burner cooker

[jimb]

Yeah the RTT is 2m x 2.4, so squeeze 2 small kids + 2adults.

The basic drifta model is $16k, not sure what isn't in the 20k spec

[jimb]

Tombie
I gather you reckon they are generally over priced. ? I must admit when I first started looking at a show here in Mackay I was just blown away by the prices!! I couldn't imagine buying a " tent on a trailer" for as much or more than I'd pay for a car. Funny though the more you read the more desensitised to the prices you become.

When I mention to the missus she freaks out at the prices.

I must admit, been thinking if just making my own but don't want to find I save a handful of dollars with a build quality less, and factor from the team for taking so long to make it.

[Redback]

Yeah the RTT is 2m x 2.4, so squeeze 2 small kids + 2adults.

The basic drifta model is $16k, not sure what isn't in the 20k spec

No Kitchen, no electrics, no electric brakes, would be all 3 or 2 of the 3, I would imagine, that kitchen is $1625, electric brakes are $700 +, full 12v/240 setup would be $1500.

That Tambo Cooper at $10,990 is looking pretty good compared;)

Add a kitchen, 12v/240 electrics and electric brakes and it would still come in under the Driftas basic model price and it's the same size trailer, but lower:cool:

Baz.

[Redback]

No Kitchen, no electrics, no electric brakes, would be all 3 or 2 of the 3, I would imagine, that kitchen is $1625, electric brakes are $700 +, full 12v/240 setup would be $1500.

That Tambo Cooper at $10,990 is looking pretty good compared;)

Add a kitchen, 12v/240 electrics and electric brakes and it would still come in under the Driftas basic model price and it's the same size trailer, but lower:cool:

There's always the second hand market:D

Baz.

[Cammo]

I just so happened to be in at Drifta today.
Being that Luke started with kitchens, it would be silly for him to not put one in his own trailer.
The tents receive LED lights before they're installed, and the actuators for the tent frame/platform are electric - so the trailer would have to have at least a basic 12 volt system. I didn't even look underneath to see if it has brakes or not.
The trailer I was looking around today was $22 500. It had a kitchen - although im not sure how big or what was in it, the big tent, a water tank and pump, led lights, alloy wheels and heaps of storage. I also got to see one in the early stages of manufacture - they're built solid.

You miss out on nicities you might find on dearer trailers such as solar, independent suspension, and possibly a hot water system. As I said, I didnt look into brakes and I can't say what hitch is on it.

I like that its an Australian company using Australian suppliers wherever practical.

[debruiser]

Jim, I built one myself, set me back about $6000 i think.... not including the trailer or RTT.

Camper Trailer Slideshow by debruiser | Photobucket (http://s1295.photobucket.com/user/debruiser/slideshow/Camper%20Trailer)

That's what I made. Your welcome to come round and have a look if that helps you.

[Redback]

I just so happened to be in at Drifta today.
Being that Luke started with kitchens, it would be silly for him to not put one in his own trailer.
The tents receive LED lights before they're installed, and the actuators for the tent frame/platform are electric - so the trailer would have to have at least a basic 12 volt system. I didn't even look underneath to see if it has brakes or not.
The trailer I was looking around today was $22 500. It had a kitchen - although im not sure how big or what was in it, the big tent, a water tank and pump, led lights, alloy wheels and heaps of storage. I also got to see one in the early stages of manufacture - they're built solid.

You miss out on nicities you might find on dearer trailers such as solar, independent suspension, and possibly a hot water system. As I said, I didnt look into brakes and I can't say what hitch is on it.

I like that its an Australian company using Australian suppliers wherever practical.

That would probably the case, just the basic 12v, his basic $500 kitchen and override brakes.

Tambo is all Australian also.

Baz.

[Tank]

I purchased an off-road hard floor camper, new for under $6K just over a year ago, it is a Chinese import and assembled here in Australia.
Now all the purists (who have probably never looked at my camper will say it is a POS).
It has a fully Galvanised chassis, electric brakes, LED tail lights, handbrake, solid axle/shocks, Leaf (7) springs with military wrap on shackles, springs sit on top of axle for more ground clearance. 70 L water tank w/electric pump, slide out kitchen with 4 burner gas stove, sink with tap, all stainless steel, 3 new 15" Sunraysia rims and tyres w/Toyota bolt pattern.
All of the chassis/drawbar welds look good to me, a mate who was a boilermaker could find no faults with the construction, the draw bar is bolt on which extends almost back to the axle with 6x 1/2" bolts.
the body panels are alloy/foam/alloy plating with alloy checkerplate on corners and edges, slide out compartment on drivers side (opposite) the kitchen has a battery, a charger and some switches.
All of the rubber seals are auto style (double pinch) with seals on the body and doors, never leaked the seal between the hard floor and the camper body is a triple lipped rubber seal.
A large alloy checkerplate tool/storage box sits on the draw bar, along with 9Kg. gas bottle holder and Jerry can holder, Spare tyre, rock shield and winch for winding the hard floor back.
Canvas is Ripstop type and is adequate, nothing too fancy, comes with a full annex, walls and wind breaks and floor, full set of poles (very heavy).
It is exactly the same body width as my Disco and the wheel track is the same, only weighs 760kgs.
The bed is a 6" spring type mattress, Queen size, this mattress weighs around 40kg and is too wide, very hard to fit sheets and bedding, we gave ours to Vinnies and replaced it with a Dunlopillo 6" foam which much more comfortable and only weighs about 15kgs. and about 6" narrower.
This Chinese manufactured trailer is imported with all the camper bodies in 1 container and all the drawbars, axles and tyres in another, I'd estimate they (importer) could bring in 40 camper trailers in 2 contaniers.


A mate of mine bought the exact same trailer as mine except for, nice alloy wheels, some fancy good looking transfers on the sides and a better battery/charging setup. This bloke has confirmed that his "OZZIE" built trailer is identical to mine except for the shiny items mentioned above.
He paid $26,000 for his, now I have seen many, many ads hawking my trailer as Australian made and charging over $20,000 for something that was imported from China in BULK for about $3K each, Tarting them up and making a horrendous profit on them.
So if you want a good trailer assembled here in OZ for around < $10K,have a look at a hard floor Chinese camper, sleeps 2 to 4 adults in the bed (if your kinky) 2 kids (or more) on the hard floor section and God knows how many in the annex, Good Luck, Regards Frank.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/06/860.jpg


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/12/610.jpg


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/12/611.jpg

[SPROVER]

I purchased an off-road hard floor camper, new for under $6K just over a year ago, it is a Chinese import and assembled here in Australia.
Now all the purists (who have probably never looked at my camper will say it is a POS).
It has a fully Galvanised chassis, electric brakes, LED tail lights, handbrake, solid axle/shocks, Leaf (7) springs with military wrap on shackles, springs sit on top of axle for more ground clearance. 70 L water tank w/electric pump, slide out kitchen with 4 burner gas stove, sink with tap, all stainless steel, 3 new 15" Sunraysia rims and tyres w/Toyota bolt pattern.
All of the chassis/drawbar welds look good to me, a mate who was a boilermaker could find no faults with the construction, the draw bar is bolt on which extends almost back to the axle with 6 1/2" bolts.
the body panels are alloy/foam/alloy plating with alloy checkerplate on corners and edges, slide out compartment on drivers side (opposite) the kitchen has a battery, a charger and some switches.
All of the rubber seals are auto style (double pinch) with seals on the body and doors, never leaked the seal between the hard floor and the camper body is a triple lipped rubber seal.
A large alloy checkerplate tool/storage box sits on the draw bar, along with 9Kg. gas bottle holder and Jerry can holder, Spare tyre, rock shield and winch for winding the hard floor back.
Canvas is Ripstop type and is adequate, nothing too fancy, comes with a full annex, walls and wind breaks and floor, full set of poles (very heavy).
It is exactly the same body width as my Disco and the wheel track is the same, only weighs 760kgs.
The bed is a 6" spring type mattress, Queen size, this mattress weighs around 40kg and is too wide, very hard to fit sheets and bedding, we gave ours to Vinnies and replaced it with a Dunlopillo 6" foam which much more comfortable and only weighs about 15kgs. and about 6" narrower.
This Chinese manufactured trailer is imported with all the camper bodies in 1 container and all the drawbars, axles and tyres in another, I'd estimate they (importer) could bring in 40 camper trailers in 2 contaniers.


A mate of mine bought the exact same trailer as mine except for, nice alloy wheels, some fancy good looking transfers on the sides and a better battery/charging setup. This bloke has confirmed that his "OZZIE" built trailer is identical to mine except for the shiny items mentioned above.
He paid $26,000 for his, now I have seen many, many ads hawking my trailer as Australian made and charging over $20,000 for something that was imported from China in BULK for about $3K each, Tarting them up and making a horrendous profit on them.
So if you want a good trailer assembled here in OZ for around < $10K,have a look at a hard floor Chinese camper, sleeps 2 to 4 adults in the bed (if your kinky) 2 kids (or more) on the hard floor section and God knows how many in the annex, Good Luck, Regards Frank.

You wouldn't happen to have any pics?

[Cammo]

If you type "luke sutton" into youtube, he has a spec sheet video on his trailer. Complete with standard inclusions such as alko running gear with electric brakes, ozhitch, and his full DPOR kitchen.

No fridge, I care to note before someone more negative does.

[loneranger]

Quality trailers hold their value. We're on our second Follow Me Camper which is a WA brand. For us the advantage of going with a locally built trailer was being able to work out exactly what we wanted. George made changes to their standard design and built it how we wanted rather than giving us a list of options and having to pick from the list.

Our first trailer was $24,000 which we traded back to them for $18,000 when we upgraded 2 years later. The one we have now cost $43,000 but is top of the range and had extras built in.

For example, we have a boat loader which can carry our fishing kayaks and bikes. During construction we changed how we wanted the boat trailer to be carried on the front after seeing something George had done on another trailer. He made up a mesh rack to sit on the front drawbar which I tie my boat trailer to.

We came up with an idea for turning the clothing drawer with crates into 2 separate drawers which is now a standard option on our model.

The primary reason for our upgrade was we got fed up with carrying and assembling camp cupboards for our kitchen gear and the jigsaw puzzle of fitting crates into the trailer.

Our current model has slide out kitchen with gas plumbed, slide out drawers above the kitchen for pots and pans and a large slide next to it which we currently carry 2 crates on it. We have lockers all around the outside of the trailer and you'd be surprise at how much can fit in the lockers. I was able to just about empty my toolbox on the old camper.

We paid a premium for our trailer but we intend to keep it for a long time and camping has never been so much fun. For an overnight stop we can pull in and within 15minutes have the tent up and dinner cooking.

My advice is work out how you want to camp and how much fiddling around you are prepared to do each day to set up camp if you are touring.

[Tank]

You wouldn't happen to have any pics?
I will dig some out tomorrow and post up, Regards Frank.

[Yorkie]

I purchased an off-road hard floor camper, new for under $6K just over a year ago, it is a Chinese import and assembled here in Australia.
Now all the purists (who have probably never looked at my camper will say it is a POS).
It has a fully Galvanised chassis, electric brakes, LED tail lights, handbrake, solid axle/shocks, Leaf (7) springs with military wrap on shackles, springs sit on top of axle for more ground clearance. 70 L water tank w/electric pump, slide out kitchen with 4 burner gas stove, sink with tap, all stainless steel, 3 new 15" Sunraysia rims and tyres w/Toyota bolt pattern.
All of the chassis/drawbar welds look good to me, a mate who was a boilermaker could find no faults with the construction, the draw bar is bolt on which extends almost back to the axle with 6 1/2" bolts.
the body panels are alloy/foam/alloy plating with alloy checkerplate on corners and edges, slide out compartment on drivers side (opposite) the kitchen has a battery, a charger and some switches.
All of the rubber seals are auto style (double pinch) with seals on the body and doors, never leaked the seal between the hard floor and the camper body is a triple lipped rubber seal.
A large alloy checkerplate tool/storage box sits on the draw bar, along with 9Kg. gas bottle holder and Jerry can holder, Spare tyre, rock shield and winch for winding the hard floor back.
Canvas is Ripstop type and is adequate, nothing too fancy, comes with a full annex, walls and wind breaks and floor, full set of poles (very heavy).
It is exactly the same body width as my Disco and the wheel track is the same, only weighs 760kgs.
The bed is a 6" spring type mattress, Queen size, this mattress weighs around 40kg and is too wide, very hard to fit sheets and bedding, we gave ours to Vinnies and replaced it with a Dunlopillo 6" foam which much more comfortable and only weighs about 15kgs. and about 6" narrower.
This Chinese manufactured trailer is imported with all the camper bodies in 1 container and all the drawbars, axles and tyres in another, I'd estimate they (importer) could bring in 40 camper trailers in 2 contaniers.


A mate of mine bought the exact same trailer as mine except for, nice alloy wheels, some fancy good looking transfers on the sides and a better battery/charging setup. This bloke has confirmed that his "OZZIE" built trailer is identical to mine except for the shiny items mentioned above.
He paid $26,000 for his, now I have seen many, many ads hawking my trailer as Australian made and charging over $20,000 for something that was imported from China in BULK for about $3K each, Tarting them up and making a horrendous profit on them.
So if you want a good trailer assembled here in OZ for around < $10K,have a look at a hard floor Chinese camper, sleeps 2 to 4 adults in the bed (if your kinky) 2 kids (or more) on the hard floor section and God knows how many in the annex, Good Luck, Regards Frank.


Is that the *** model?

[Redback]

Is that the *** model?

Don't mention them Liam:twisted:

[rar110]

I will dig some out tomorrow and post up, Regards Frank.

I bought something similar in a hard floor camper. It looks like a similar layout to a Kimberly camper from 10 years ago. Except these are new. Galvanised box section chassis with quality welds, butterfly coil dual shock suspension, electric drum brakes, slide out kitchen and fridge slide, dual wheel carrier, new coopers tyres on alloy rims. The father in law is a mechanical drafty. He was impressed with it. Weighs under 900kg.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[Tank]

Is that the *** model?
???, Regards Frank.

[Tank]

No it isn't a *** model wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.
I just finished typing for nearly an hour a description of the pros and cons of my C/T and the mods I made to it to make it more user friendly.
When I hit the Submit button a warning saying because of a security problem my post could not be loaded, well I was a bit more than ****ed off, I'd rather poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick than have this happen, not the first time though, but this time it was different whoever it is out there in the ether that gathers all this info sent the message saying what supposedly happened.
Anyway if anyone wants the info that just disappeared into outer space/Mongolia or down the street, PM me, Regards Frank.

[Fluids]

If you have any questions about the Drifta offering I can ask my son for you as he works at Drifta.

Send me a PM

Luke has AFAIK all the info you should need up on the web site.

Cheers

Sent from my iPhone using two tin cans and a length of twine

[stewie110]

Hey AULRO'ers

Anyone had a look at the Drifta Touring Trailer?

My family currently use a tent etc but must admit the whole unpacking the entire car on trips is starting to wear me down. I put an extra two seats in the rear of the Defender and just means heaps of stuff on roof rack.

I was really loving the look of the smallish trailers like Daniel is selling from Mission, price wise it isn't apples & apples because Mission includes basically everything including the fridge- but even then a fair bit cheaper. Also, $25 k is a truck load of money ( for me anyway).

The overall length of the trailer. How important is this? 90% of the time I'll use it fairly tame stuff like Fraser, Moerton but I do want to do Cape York this coming year and hopefully a big trip for 4 months in 3 years time (exact route is up for debate!)
So basically my reluctance in a camper trailer is I don't want to think- gee wish I could get up that creek or that crossing but this camper trailer I'm hauling will prevent those possible excitement trails.

I have read heaps of your comments and would appreciate your thoughts on
- what length and off road capabilities does an off road trailer need?

Probably cannot purchase for a whole and think I'm dreaming if I get it before the Cape in 2015, but with all purchases the hours of dreaming and thinking is part of the journey.

Thanks
Jim

I have been looking at various camper trailers recently and have decided on the DOT trailer for the following reasons.

1. It's very simple in design and manufacture. That to me is a major win because it's more likely to be easily fixable in the sticks if something does break. That is not to say that the design lacks any functionality that we feel we need. They have a number of nice features that really work well in the Australian bush.
- The bench space behind the "canopy" which is gives a nice place to work if you need to do something mechanical away from the dusy of the ground.
- They changed the wheels and stud pattern to suit the defender so we do not have to carry a crazy number of spares. This actually saved us $200 off the trailer price (1 steel wheels and 2 land rover stud pattern). Other vendors we looked at either would not do this or it was a crazy expensive option.
- It has electrical pumps and mechanical hand pumps for the water. That gives me a good feeling having had pumps fail in the past having the option to always get to the water was a major win.
- You can do anything you want custom. We have put additional storage space to suit the family size etc which is not something that was possible on some of the other trailers that we saw.
- The kitchen is very modular and can be easily changed.
2. Australian made and manufactured, I will pay a (small) premium to keep manufacturing in Australia. I know that puts me at odds with many people but I feel very strongly about this point. It's particularly important for me to support rural manufacutring in Australia.

For interest sake after spending considerable time looking at the various options (about 3-4months and inspecting at least 20 different models all up and down the east coast). In the end our selection came down to the mission and the drifta dot 6.

[Cammo]

Stewie,

Where's all the pics?

[debruiser]

:ttiwwp::rulez::tease:

[stewie110]

Stewie,

Where's all the pics?

PIC's and a full review will come after a few months of usage.

[stewie110]

:ttiwwp::rulez::tease:

As promised I thought that now would be a good time to write a report on owning the drifta camper trailer for a while and having done 7 nights camping with it. So while it is not an extended length of usage it is getting used.

The original concerns that I had with the DRIFA was that it was a trailer. Having always been traveling on the lighter end of the scale it was a big step up. However something had to give now that we have kids and all that it entails.

Size.
The overall size of our version is great. We have the DOT 6 equip customised to suit our requirements (we already had our own tent). It is rather short compared to many of the other camper trailers that we looked at (mission excluded). However what it lacks in length it makes up for in space utilization. The kitchen and storage drawers all fit nicely and we have been able to easily fit all of our food, water, drinks, etc in without any issues for 7 nights continual no side trip camping. The ease of access to various area's of the storage also make it ideal to "figure out" the routine in. I've always found that it takes a few trips to get into a routine of where to pack items so that you can find them again. With the DOT 6 it's been really easy to fit into and find a pattern.
The ground clearance of the unit is pretty good and it rides level with a stock 110 defender.

Build Quality.
The build quality was what drew us to the DOT originally. Owning one now and the attention to detail is superb. As I have seen other earlier models you can see directly the improvements that they have made to the manufacture and detailing. Small items like increased checker plating in area's prone to stone damage, optional additional boxes, the quality of the electrical work is all flawless.
One area of particular interest to me was the quality of the dust seals keeping everything as dust free as possible. Having spent some time in beach area's with the camper it's remained dust free inside. Later in the year I will provide an update of how well it keeps the bull dust out.
The overall balance of the DOT is very good, it is easy for a single person to move around on the flat ground even with semi soft sand under the wheels when it is loaded. However when the sand was soft the front dumb wheel would get stuck and require some additional motivation. Solution was to slightly lift the weight off and it was not a back breaking exercise. This is a huge win, we saw a few guys with a massive twin wheel caravan get stuck in the soft sand and had no way to get it out without extra vehicle assistance.

Kitchen.
The kitchen takes at max 2 minutes to setup and be ready cooking dinner. The lighting provided by the under roof top tent floor lighting is bright and clear. Access to the fridge is easy. I am 6ft4 and the height of the benches are superb. No more back breaking chopping up of vege's etc. The only downside is that the sink drawer comes out into the path of the storage boxes. I would also like to see some magnetic fly screen nets over the shelves that fold out from the main unit (just a nit pick). Overall the kitchen is really built well. It has clearly been well thought out and the fixtures are excellent quality. We got the optional EvaCool fridge which is a big step up from the ARB unit that we had fitted in our car previously. The internal usable space is much better, it also has a nifty cover so that when you open the lid the freezer remains covered. However it is still relatively small in size, it would be nicer to have a larger model fridge (even if it is just an optional upgrade).
The awning that covers the kitchen and goes around to the side awning is easy to setup and adjust for someone that is 6ft4 tall. My wife had a go and found that even with the actuators at the lowest setting (reduce the height of the RTT) it was a little difficult to juggle the awnings. Having said that it's not different from any of the other products we looked at when it came to awnings as there is no substitute for height when doing things up-high. We will likely buy a small one step "ladder" to make it easier for her when I am doing other tasks.

Hitching.
Hitching up with the ozhitch is so easy compared to previous trailers I have used... I don't want to ever see a towball again.. :twisted:

Future Mods.
Getting some fold out solar panels and an additional 120ah battery are the two big items that I will be looking to change or add soon. Apart from that the spec's are just what we wanted.

Pics.
106906

106907