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Thread: Jayco style pop up campers

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by LandyAndy View Post
    People.
    After finally using my home made camper trailer its not what I want.
    Its difficult to erect/pack alone,my trailer is extra heavy duty so heavy to tow.It also is VERY big,it took up a van site without putting the extra room up.
    Thinking I will sell the canvas top and then put all my good stuff into a pop up camper and use the trailer as a kick ass trailer.
    Would like to know others experiences with these campers,the newer versions are pretty flash,the sort of thing I may be looking at.
    Thanks
    Andrew
    I have had the same sort of problems with mobile accomodation, so I looked around and ended up with a Chinese CKD hard floor C/T, I paid $5200 for it new, I couldn't have built one for that price.
    Over the last couple of years I have noticed some Australian camper trailer builders have been selling MY exact same C/T under THEIR names and as Australian built adding some frivolous luxury items and flogging them off for over $20K.
    A friend of mine bought one of these Aussie made Chinese Campers, so it gave me the opportunity to compare mine with his.
    Other than suspension (independent his, mine 7 leaf military wrap HD springs, shocks and axle), nice paint job and alloy wheels, better electric system and a price tag of $26K, it is identical to mine.
    I have got rid of the crappy tasting plastic water tank and electrical system and replaced with stainlees steel water tank and a good quality elec/charging setup and some HD Optima deep Cycle batteries.
    The workmanship on the chassis and drawbar is good to excellent, not a crap weld in sight, 10" drum brakes work well, camper rides well, everything is hot dipped gal.
    The body outer skin is alloy plate with a material between it and plastic interior, comes with a Queen size innerspring mattress that weighs 50kgs, got rid of that and had a Dunlopillow 6" mattress made to suit, the ply floor under the bed is crap and I'm in the process of changing that out for quality Marine Ply. A couple of water leaks till the Rip-Stop canvas seasoned up. The body when closed up had a leak which allowed a little water in, found the spot and repaired, this CT weighs 760kg with the 50kg mattress, so it is down to around 700kg. now.
    This C/T is good value for money and easily modified to suit, easy to setup and pack away, more so with 2 people, packing away is fiddly cause you need to tuck the canvas in along the sides while you wind the floor over, not hard just fiddly.
    If you could get one of these CT's for 8 to 10K you would have the basis for a good strong Camper, I have a Post in here somewhere with a good description, see if I can find it, Regards Frank.

    Previous post, description and pics of C/T.


    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.
    http://www.aulro.com/app/data/1367/medium/IMG_3003.JPG

    http://www.aulro.com/app/data/1367/medium/IMG_3005.JPG










    ______________

  2. #12
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    If it's just gravel road use ... and not "true offroading" .... Can you go past an aussie made Bailey caravan these days. Not cheap..

    [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO72mVDliIA[/ame]

    My father has a pommy version ... They are bolted and locked together... The structure being a really strong "box" ... Think of how strong a garden shed becomes as soon as you screw the walls and roof together.

    [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBrXICtUq0g[/ame]

    My father chatted to the guy that's setup the aussie operation. He was showed pictures on his phone of the caravan they hammered around the proving ground. The thing was unmarked structurally. However a lot of the aussie (well chinese) sourced locally fitted furniture fell apart, the fridge fell out etc.... So they went back and added extra fasteners everywhere.

    No australian 'van will have been hammered to death in testing like these caravans.

    Obviously no good for serious offroading, but if your just looking at gravel roads and corrugations, I reckon it'd be unbreakable.

    Pitty they have fitted them out with the hideous furniture all the local 'vans are fitted with. They look really crappy inside (just like all the locally made caravans). The furniture the aussie manufactures use must be flat packed out of china.

    With these caravans ... 18foot 'vans are about 1.5tons.... not really any heavier than a big offroad camper trailer

    seeya,
    Shane L.
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  3. #13
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    Andrew,

    We have a foward-fold camper trailer and are very happy with it.
    It is a chinese fabricated and australian assembled unit of which you can now find many examples, some better than others.
    The photo below is not the best but gives you an idea. It is far, far easier to set up and pack up than the more traditional style of camper trailer.
    It also has a relatively small footprint when setup because it folds forward over the drawbar (good for small sites).
    Properly designed ones do not require you to unhitch at all and on single night stays we often remain hitched (eg overnight stop when on a longer trip).
    And we can still get into the tailgate no problems.
    Also comes with a full room type annex and simple awning so you can do the full setup if staying in one place for a week or more.



    Having said that, a pop-up will always be easier than a canvas-top.
    When we were looking/researching all the pop-tops were quite expensive with nothing under $50k that seemed any good (that we could find anyway).
    However, have a look at this pop-up by Lifestyle, called the Breakaway.
    Breakaway 'Two Plus'

    This is all australian and looks pretty amazing, if a bit on the small side with less storage than ours. But very light too (~1.1t).
    We've had a look through their place and were impressed.
    I reckon if such a product was around when we were buying we'd have got one. Their bigger products look good too.

    There are other excellent products around; Jurgens, AOR and Complete Campsite come to mind. But these are all next level for cost too. So depends on your priorities.
    http://www.completecampsite.com.au/h...-exodus11.html
    http://www.australianoffroad.com.au/...banner=3257777

    Cheers,
    Scott
    D4 TDV6 MY14 with Llams, Tuffant Wheels, Traxide DBS, APT sliders & protection plates, Prospeed Winch Mount w/ Carbon 12K, Mitch Hitch & Drifta Drawers
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  4. #14
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    I think my next van will be one of these:



    Topaz Overview - Track Trailer

  5. #15
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    Homestar is offline Super Moderator & CA manager Gold Subscriber
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh View Post
    I think my next van will be one of these:



    Topaz Overview - Track Trailer
    At over $80K for the base model, I think I'll pass. For that I'd get a 6x6 Perentie fully fitted out the way I want and have change to travel around the country twice.
    If you need to contact me please email homestarrunnerau@gmail.com - thanks - Gav.

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by bacicat View Post
    At over $80K for the base model, I think I'll pass. For that I'd get a 6x6 Perentie fully fitted out the way I want and have change to travel around the country twice.
    OK by me.
    I'd tow it with the Perentie.

  7. #17
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    Sad to here so many negative coments.I hope they arent based on "I heard from a mate whos mate told him a mate had etc etc etc"
    Jayco seems to be picked on,perhaps there are issues.Any other brands???? Would like to hear from those who have used them.

    Andrew
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  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dudela View Post
    Andy,

    Check these out they sound great although cost as much as a D4. On my Wishlist.

    Kimberley Karavans - Range Offroad Caravans Couples Family

    The caravan show is in March so if you sort out what you want by then you can order and they usually throw in a sweetener, not much as they say with the new national pricing they are all good prices anyway. They signed up nearly 500 sales at the show last year which caught me off guard and added extra time to the build. Nearly bought a Jayco early last year so have been thru caravan land in Cannington a few times. I started looking at camper trailers after years of camping and somehow we needed up with a van.

    Jayco style pop up campers
    A great mate of mine has a Kimberley Karavan.Its a space ship on wheels,would love one but they are VERY expensive.
    Andrew
    DISCOVERY IS TO BE DISOWNED
    Midlife Crisis.Im going to get stuck into mine early and ENJOY it.
    Snow White MY14 TDV6 D4
    Alotta Fagina MY14 CAT 12M Motor Grader
    2003 Stacer 525 Sea Master Sport
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  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by LandyAndy View Post
    Sad to here so many negative coments.I hope they arent based on "I heard from a mate whos mate told him a mate had etc etc etc"
    Jayco seems to be picked on,perhaps there are issues.Any other brands???? Would like to hear from those who have used them.

    Andrew
    Members here Phil&Liz have a Jayco Penguin - one with on off-road chassis, and have towed it around Australia without issue - not on the bitumen either. They've dine 1000's of KM with it, dragged it through the high country and over countless dunes and would very positive comments about it.
    If you need to contact me please email homestarrunnerau@gmail.com - thanks - Gav.

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by bacicat View Post
    Members here Phil&Liz have a Jayco Penguin - one with on off-road chassis, and have towed it around Australia without issue - not on the bitumen either. They've dine 1000's of KM with it, dragged it through the high country and over countless dunes and would very positive comments about it.
    And The Wombat Hilton is an old Jayco. It's been up through The Daintree and on numerous Wombat camps.

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