tVan anyone?

[Martin]

I have had a look at the T-Van, and it all looks very impressive, (and expensive) but I wondered if anyone had any direct feedback or owned one. My intention is to take it (or some trailer) through a wide variety of 4WD situations, although I would leave it at home for anything as ardous as the simpson. Still - I would expect to be able to pull it through somewhere like Canunda national Park. Anyone has an experience?

martin

[Redback]

We looked at them at the 4x4 show, i thought for the price a bit small and the annex a bit cramped as well.

Ozromer or Aussie Swag were better i thought.

Baz.

[p38arover]

I think Kelvin (known as Dolfn on this forum) has a TVan

Ron

[incisor]

i looked at them and the ulimate ate the show, ultimate won me, but i was only tyre kicking... hanging out for a lotto win...

[LRHybrid100]

Barney did a write up in the LROC Sydney magazine a while back after testing one of these. There are places you can rent them to see if it works out for your needs first.

HTH

LRH

[LRHybrid100]

i looked at them and the ulimate ate the show, ultimate won me, but i was only tyre kicking... hanging out for a lotto win...

naa, when I win lotto this is what I'm buying:

http://www.highrise.com.au/images/index_15.jpg

http://www.highrise.com.au/ and that tow vehicle

LRH

[RR5L]

hey LRH ,

maybe one of these?

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

http://www.kimberleykaravans.com/images/Karavan-Opened-Off-Side-1.jpg

[p38arover]

hey LRH ,

maybe one of these?

http://www.kimberleykaravans.com/images/EA5V0898-retouched.jpg



Now, why would he want a Land Cruiser? :eek:

Ron

[LRHybrid100]

my thoughts exactly!!!

LRH

[Martin]

The kimberly caravan uses a design they purchased from highrise. It talks about it in the website. The Kimberly looks like an awesome beast I must admit, but I wonder if it is too long for my liking. I like the compact nature of teh TVan. but a nice pop up and a shower and toilet? Now that is tempting...

Martin

[LRHybrid100]

My misses always wanted the Ultimate - we saw them first in 1998, but since she saw the Offroad Appartment changed her mind - doesnt like the KK either!!!

LRH

[noddy]

We are a bit biased, but we did do our homework.

For us the TVAN is too claustrophobic, you have you head wedged into the pointy end. Extremely well made, but I reckon they would be bloody hot up north.

The Ultimate is the best of all worlds (IMHO). Very well built, extremely good resale, nice and airy and very well designed and engineered.

[PCH]

I don't have one but have 4WDed with my mate who has one. The suspension system is truely well designed and used by the army on their trailers. I saw a video of the TVan over corrugations and the LC that was towing it was out of control and the TVan was very much under control. If I were ever to consider a camper then it would be out of TVan, Ultimate and Kimberly Kampers.

The advantage of the TVan over the Ultimate is that the Tvan would be quicker to set up and better in a storm and high winds since you are surrounded by fibreglass.

I guess it will alway come down to personal choice and budget. The above 3 brands are all big bucks.

Chris

[Grizzly_Adams]

For us the TVAN is too claustrophobic, you have you head wedged into the pointy end

ke?

Why would you put your head in the pointy end unless you have dirty feet (and then you just clean your feet before crawling into bed)?

I have a Tvan and we're taking it on her first run to Rainbow Beach in a couple of weeks as preparation for our trip to Cape York in August. I'll let you know how she performs.

[solmanic]

Why would you put your head in the pointy end unless you have dirty feet

The reading lights are up that end aren't they?

[noddy]

ke?

Why would you put your head in the pointy end unless you have dirty feet (and then you just clean your feet before crawling into bed)?

I have a Tvan and we're taking it on her first run to Rainbow Beach in a couple of weeks as preparation for our trip to Cape York in August. I'll let you know how she performs.

Because your pillow and everything else falls off the bed at the other end. No bed head.

[DougLD]

Hi All
On our trip to Central Aust last Sept there were two Tvans both handled the trip well the only problem was the wheel bearings in the hire one had to be replaced in Alice but they both did the Boggie Hole & the Old Gahn tracks with ease. So did our Aussie Swag.
Regards
Doug

[Grizzly_Adams]

The reading lights are up that end aren't they?

Yup

[Grizzly_Adams]

Because your pillow and everything else falls off the bed at the other end. No bed head.

ok well on the test run we did at a friends place we didn't experience that, however I will be sure to take note if it happens on our trip up the Cape.

EDIT: Been up to Rainbow Beach for the weekend, no problems encounted except poorly written instruction manual. I can see how people would be worried of things falling off the end of the bed, however it just hasn't been an issue. Besides, there's nothing stopping you making up your own bedhead... :D

[VladTepes]

and the Cape York trip report is where ?

[Grizzly_Adams]

... haven't got around to doing up an official one yet, I need more time. I mean the 1 dayer to the Land Rover factory was several chapters long - I'd have to write a whole book to cover the 27 day trip to the tip and back :)

[VladTepes]

Yeah and didn't that LR one cover a lot of ground before you even got to the factory....

Feel free to write a trip report for both the AULRO and LROC of B newsletters. Instalments is fine. We pay by the word, and we pay exactly $0.00

[Michael2]

I went & had a look at the TVAN at the factory today. They're bringing out the Free Spirit next year which is a flip top that sits lower and can carry a boat on top. But with the same suspension.

Incidently, the one I saw had reading lights on both ends of the bed.

I was thinking of renting one for 3 weeks for the trip to Perth, but at $550 p/w (they were booked out anyway), I thought I'd be better off buying one and then renting it out. Now I just need to remember which sock in the sockdraw I stuffed that spare $35K into.

I don't know enough about other vans to compare them, but I think the TVAN is likely to win as 1st choice due to the suspension. It doesn't matter how much 'nicer' the van is, if it falls apart on the Gibb River road.

The only thing I can really afford is to put the old shocks from the SIII on my off road trailer to prevent it bouncing around.

[noddy]

I went & had a look at the TVAN at the factory today. They're bringing out the Free Spirit next year which is a flip top that sits lower and can carry a boat on top. But with the same suspension.

Incidently, the one I saw had reading lights on both ends of the bed.

I was thinking of renting one for 3 weeks for the trip to Perth, but at $550 p/w (they were booked out anyway), I thought I'd be better off buying one and then renting it out. Now I just need to remember which sock in the sockdraw I stuffed that spare $35K into.

I don't know enough about other vans to compare them, but I think the TVAN is likely to win as 1st choice due to the suspension. It doesn't matter how much 'nicer' the van is, if it falls apart on the Gibb River road.

The only thing I can really afford is to put the old shocks from the SIII on my off road trailer to prevent it bouncing around.


Try the Ultimate as well. I can guarantee the suspension will not fall apart, or anything else for that matter.

[rmp]

Have a look at www.campertrailers.org. There's a Tvan review in the December Overlander (plug plug). Also wait for the next Caravan & Camping show and you'll see pretty much everything on the market (135+ manufacturers) in one place. The Tvan is worth a look if you're considering a high-end camper. There are at least two interiors lights, another two are an option.

[tombraider]

I have had a look at the T-Van, and it all looks very impressive, (and expensive) but I wondered if anyone had any direct feedback or owned one. My intention is to take it (or some trailer) through a wide variety of 4WD situations, although I would leave it at home for anything as ardous as the simpson. Still - I would expect to be able to pull it through somewhere like Canunda national Park. Anyone has an experience?

martin

Why? It would easily cross the Simpson

[walker]

TVan's were made for the Simpson.:D I just wish I had one to take across.

I took my wife to a caravan/camping show recently to get a few idea's for my own trailer I am making. We looked at the all including the TVan and the new Kimberly Karavan. She said she would rather the TVan to the Karavan. For me , when you line them all up, the Tvan wins by a mile..

[Michael2]

I think the TVAN has a great layout for trips where you're breaking camp each day, but it's biggest advantages are the suspension and its light weight. I was surprised just how light they are in comparison to others. This would be especially of benefit on a desert trip.

I think if I were going to build a camper, suspension & weight would be the 2 lessons learnt from the TVAN. I'd probably go with aluminium rather than alum and fibreglass combo though. And I'd use less timber than the TVAN. Just in changing from a ply to an alloy rear draw system in the Defender I saved heaps of weight. I think these weight savings in a camper would pay off in performance and economy. I'd also consider a heavily gusseted U section chassis to further reduce weight.