Thread: help needed in my purchase of a caravan

We had this same discussion when I got fedup with packing the tent and all the stuff away at the end of trip.

I wanted full off road camper trailer and low towing height wife wanted solid caravan walls and no flappy canvas.

After much reviewing and discussion the result was a compromise called AVan which 7 years later are still happy with.

It has low tow height , solid walls and has a capacity for good dirt roads and has a number of floor plans to suit families not just 2 adults.

We have also got an OZtent for those excursions off road.

As far as i know, Coromal and Goldstream are the best if going for an offroad campertrailer/caravan type camper, they are a genuine offroad trailer, unlike Jayco's Outback model.
http://www.coromal.com.au/products/c...cts-detail.asp

http://www.goldstreamrv.com.au/campers.html



Baz.

this is our pride and joy



the kitchen area slides out for more internal room


back bed is a doublebed
front bed is a queensize

and the table bed is also a double



full annexe including floor and draft curtain
bed flys

power winch raises the top (no winding)



stick your Jayco's i say

Coromal all the way

Having towed a van into many parts of remote Aussie, I'd look for one that doesn't fall to bits.

Over 25,000 + kms, I suffered the following, in no particular order:
Holed (plastic) water tank.
Gas bottle bracket let go - that was interesting!
Both rear legs failed - one disappeared and the other did a superb job 'panel beating' the rear of the van.
Frame cracked behind the axle.
Footstep fell off.
All (240v type) light fittings shattered.
The canvas around the popup roof leaked.
Water got into the light fittings and dripped onto the rear bed.
Filled with dust.
Fridge dislodged.
One rear window disappeared somewhere between Marree and Oodnadatta.

While I was 'fixing' the holed watertank at Ayers Rock, I discovered the frame cracks and, noticed the (rear) nuts on the spring hangers were a few turns from leaving the van forever.

Curiously tho' I still see the occasional little York van, just like mine, tagging along behind some lucky 'vanner.

Two axles will help with stability, for many reasons, ie: if you lose a tyre at speed, a single axle van will test your driving skills

...like the guys have said, rent one for a while and see what you then really need.

And one other thing: weight!

cheers, GQ

Originally Posted by Quiggers

noticed the (rear) nuts on the spring hangers were a few turns from leaving the van forever.

A guy in our club had the u bolt nuts come loose on his Kedron offroad van. The axle crept backwards up the spring and punched the floor writing off the van. Something like that anyway.
Happened in NT I think.
However this could happen with any leaf sprung trailer or vehicle.

Originally Posted by Redback

As far as i know, Coromal and Goldstream are the best if going for an offroad campertrailer/caravan type camper, they are a genuine offroad trailer, unlike Jayco's Outback model.
http://www.coromal.com.au/products/c...cts-detail.asp

http://www.goldstreamrv.com.au/campers.html



Baz.

Funny story....

Some friends of ours purchased above van once and we went camping with them and a few others...

Anyhow, a few reds into the night and the two of them retire to the van for a "cuddle"

We're all still drinking the night away when all of a sudden we hear a "pop pop thud"

Spin around to see the pair of them, birthday suits on! Her looking bedazzled, Him in all of "proud glory" laying intermingled on the dirt

What had happened is they had rolled around a bit and the canvas had popped from its base and out they rolled....

I nearly died laughing!

They were embarrassed but by morning saw the funny side of it!

I'm always worried we might bend the bed bars
hasn't happened yet

do some maths

caravan $12000 plus
registration & insurance
additional fuel to pull it along
caravan park site daily fees for any trip

divide by the number of days likely to have use of the caravan over the next 5 years

the resulting figure has to be more than booking in a motel hotel for 90% of any likely trip. Your wife will be lot happier in motel hotel style accomodation than any caravan.

For the remaining less than 10% of time she will swap for a canvas tent arrangement

spend the savings on upgranding the land rover experience