Jayco style pop up campers

Lots of good advice, and some opinions above. I emphasise those who suggested working out what you want to do with your CT before buying it. Long stays at caravan parks with 240v and water vs free camping near Dargo or way up north. Once you've figured that out then you can narrow down options based on price. A Swan is fine for caravan parks, but are not built for lots of corrugated dirt. Build quality can be iffy but they have good back up if something does go wrong - on a new one anyway. Find a leak in your 10 year old roof join and they won't care (post 2007 have single piece roof).

If there is only 2 of you your choices are much wider with soft floors, rear folds, forward folds and a myriad of other 2 birth options. 2 kids is ok but 3 kids narrows choices substantially hence we are looking at either a Complete Campsite Uluru/Kakadu, or more likely especially given where we live, a Mountain Trail Escalade with a 10 foot tent. They pretty much compete against (copy) each other - when one comes up with a good idea it soon appears on the other. Both absolute quality. We have looked at the Swan but would have to put the kitchen on the outside as we want to camp, not caravan (ever see those people who rock up at a campsite in their $80k van, hook it up to water and power, go inside, close the door, turn the air con on and stay inside for the whole weekend.....why bother?) by which stage we will be getting close to the price of the other two anyway. Both will carry 500kg more than a Swan (bikes, kayaks etc) and I suspect a Mountain Trail will cope better in the High Country too esp with its Webasto heater:D

Spotted this review a while ago on this little popper.
Know nothing more bout it
Their bigger vans have good reviews too.
Good Luck
Steve
http://www.campertraileraustralia.co...ies-ii-review/

Hi young Andrew,

It is not out of your possibilities to go the way of a Kimberley Karavan. They often come up second or third hand as the owners finally succumb to old age issues. And the prices are affordable when you consider their resale value.

Primary advantages - Low profile towing, same track of the towing vehicle so bush track access. not smacking low or protruding tree branches, established full off road credentials. and hot shower, airconditioning and inside toilet to keep the Lady of the camp happy.......and no bloody canvas, unless of course if you erect the annex.

Disavantages - complexity

Most of the issues published on various media has been effectively been addressed by the various owners on the KK owners website - including mine! KKOG forum home

To pull up at a camp site and knock a beer back after five minutes is normally confined to owners of full size caravans.
Something to consider anyway........
and no i have no intention of dropping dead in the foreseeable future.

Cheers from the 'retiree'

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Originally Posted by LRD414

Complete Campsite make three different sizes. Can't comment from personal experience but have talked with a couple of owners and had a very quick look. Quality and functionality seem high. Similar price bracket to AOR. Also have a new 9' smaller model now too. Unsure of price.
Website: http://www.completecampsite.com.au/h...-exodus11.html
http://www.completecampsite.com.au/i..._Exodus_02.jpg

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I can comment on the Complete Campsites Exodus (14) - we own one. Not cheap, but a quality product designed and built in Gosford, NSW. Original concept for the Exodus was the brainchild of a boatbuilder who worked for a mob in Newcastle who still produce the shell for Complete Campsites. Monocoque design on a chassis (umm sounds familiar), full offroad suspension and quality all round. The small number of warranty issues we have had have been dealt with without any fuss. Now 4 versions available - 9', 11', 14' and 16' versions.

We spent 3 years researching prior to my retirement and looked at many of the offerings, some detailed above + others. My wife cannot be happier.

One of the beauties of these is that in the event of poor weather (read peeing down with rain), you can simply open the door, pop the lid and you are set up. No canvas to setup - which is a big plus for us (lazy!).

Every setup has its draw backs.
We have a 2002 Jayco Hawk Outback.
It has been to Darwin and back including the Oodanatta track, plus local offered areas.
The Bad:
Yes dust does get in on dirt tracks - due mostly to the door vent and the vents for the fridge, most of the dust has ended up on the floor. I have put plastic over the door vents and has helped to keep dust out.
A stray rock took out one of the water tank lines on the way to Williams creek, but was a standard irrigation fitting so easy to fix - has not happened since.
One of the electric brakes failed on me a couple of years ago - easily sourced and replaced.
The inverter packed it up when about 4 or 5 years old. Later I found out that Jayco changed inverter brand due to the problems with that particular model.
I have just replaced the flexible gas line from the LPG bottle.
Just replaced the two front clearance lights - the plastic that the lens sits has deteriorated due to sun damage.
The Good:
Takes me about 10minutes to setup - excluding annex and bed flys (only use them if going to be setup for 3 or more days)
Cooking facilities are inside - good for bad weather - for outside cooking I have a small LPG bottle and a single burner with a hotplate that i can setup on a picnic table -this is accessible from the outside.
3way fridge included.
Travelled with 3 other adults for 8 weeks - had enough storage room for us. Their are a lot of hidden spots behind drawers etc. Have modified a couple of the cupboards to be able to better organise things.
Bedding can stay on the bed when packing up.

Fully loaded it is less than 1.5t. The TD5 tows it easily. I would not hesitate to take it almost anywhere - I would not take it through the dessert or up the cape - but then again I would not take ANY trailer / camper / caravan there either.

Bit late on the thread, but better late than never..

We have a Jayco Dove, 2013 "Outback" model. Brought it at a caravan and camping show as a demo(instead of the camping chairs we went there for(Still havent got those chairs)).

Our (My) experience has been mixed.

I love the idea of them. Compact and gives you that bit of luxury when required. During the waranty period, we had all sorts of issues getting things fixed. Door would randomly pop open during the night, Water pump would randomly make a high pitch squeal after use and when they fitted the roof rack, they drilled tex screws through the main roof, allowing water to get in during heavy rain/storage.

That stuff has since been sorted and we are glad to not have to deal with that dealer again.

I can say that parts are cheap from online suppliers and easy to get. After our trip up here in Dec/Jan 14/15 I have had to go around and make a few repairs, but overall, the poor quality has held up.

It has towed very well behind every vehicle that has pulled it. My Rangie has dragged it through the Adelaide Hills, our old triton towed it comfortably at 105kmh everywhere and the new D4 pulls it with ease. We fitted it with a Treg hitch as a option for easier connect/disconnect and flexibility off road.

Fully loaded with water, food, luggage, solar power, BBQ, full gas bottle, fishing gear, etc etc.. it would weigh no more than 1600kg with a ball weight of 160kg. Honestly, the only reason you know it is there sometimes is because it fills your mirrors.

On our trips it has completed a few dirt roads including the Odnadatta Track, Arkaringa Hills, Merinee Loop and even all the way the the walking tracks at Palm Valley. The only issue out of all of that was the steps caught a rock and bent slightly.

As mentioned on here, it wouldnt be suitable for high country tracks, you will need towing mirrors and you become one of those caravaning people.

The only major drama we have had was blowing a tyre on the way home from Mataranka.

They dont take long to pack up, even by yourself. Once you get a set up/pack up routine, ten minutes by yourself tops. If you want awnings, thats when it drags out, but I have seen those roll out types fitted to them. If I could go back in time, I would get a Jayco Expanda. Simply because if you have kids under five, you get no help when you need it.

My suggestion to you; if you go down this path and you have no kids, get the penguin. It simple, just wind it up!

Good luck with your search and choice.

Kon

P.S. PM if you have any questions regarding this type of van, I have spent a few hours crawling around it and reading about it.

Check this out ... the most amazing design I've ever seen for a family caravan :o :o :o :o

1992 Custom Expanding Caravan, Suit family of 6 with Ensuite | Caravans | Gumtree Australia Queanbeyan Area - Queanbeyan | 1107712947

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Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

Check this out ... the most amazing design I've ever seen for a family caravan :o :o :o :o

1992 Custom Expanding Caravan, Suit family of 6 with Ensuite | Caravans | Gumtree Australia Queanbeyan Area - Queanbeyan | 1107712947

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Yep it must have been good, it's already gone from the page. ... ;)

Have a look at this not sure if you need to take kids but we love our trak shak and awesome value for money. Very easy set up in 15 minutes and our followed the disco up the OTT and the cape without issue. Trak shak camper trailer for large family on Gumtree http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/1106941125

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Originally Posted by TerryO

Yep it must have been good, it's already gone from the page. ... ;)

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Damn, I should have grabbed the photos. I was a tiny single axle van. toilet/shower in the back. beside this was 4 "pods" that rotated out like the old cabana end beds ( 4 full sized bunk beds). hard roofed with windows.

The front wound up and over like a clam shed to create a solid top queen sized bed with windows. So you end up with a huge family 'van with no canvas the given 5 minutes would wind down to a small single axle 'van.

It must have cost a staggering amount of money to build, as you would have to build as a one off the bunk pods and clamshell queen bed.

seeya,
Shane L.