Thread: Is caravan manufacturering viable?

What type of reputation did they have? It wouldn't surprised me if their van division was run seperately to their electricals and camping.

When I was at the last Sydney show looking at the hybrids, I really liked their one by a big margin.

But when I got home and looked at the details, found the ball weight was miles too high at about 320kg empty, and the van was only a couple of hunderd kg shy of max weight.

Despite what looked like a really great product in so many ways, it just wasn't going to work.

I've really been surprised by how many caravan manufacturers are in Australia! There seem to be so many!

The current crop of Vans are all an unknown. Hardkorr sounds like Trakmaster , At load Capacity with full tank & gas bottles. Only 2 ways of knowing what youv'e got. 1 buy a Jayco. 2 build your own.

I just wished I'd built my own from scratch, Said I'd never buy another after the Trakmaster experience but got duped & bought a new 2019 Red Center for the next big trip , then Covid hit , Then medical issues, So had 5 years sitting at home would have been perfect for a self build Van . Hindsight eh. Oh well I restored the 2 Dodges instead & now after the Red Centres first month long trip , Ive had it in the shed fixing everything going on 6 weeks, another 2 weeks on the tools and it should be good for a 3 month trip.

Originally Posted by goingbush

The current crop of Vans are all an unknown. Hardkorr sounds like Trakmaster , At load Capacity with full tank & gas bottles.

Thats it. The HKC15-H is 2650kg dry, ATM 3000kg, add 200litres + 2x gas bottles and you're at 2900kg then add a fridge, food, personals and maybe a small generator and I cant see it being under 3000kg assuming the grey water tank is empty. The ball weight would be pushing 400kg loaded, the poor Disco will only take 250kg.

Hello All,

One of the local welding workshops here in Bundaberg made a handy living out of repairing brand new caravans that had been bought in Victoria. By the time they had reached Queensland some of their suspension had already self-destructed. Their trips were usually just on bitumen as they were not off road caravans. He also got to be on a first name basis with all the local tilt truck operators who hauled in the broken down caravans for repairs.

I just remembered our tour of the caravan/trailer suspension place at Geebung (Brisbane) where Arthur Goddard, the founding engineer of the Series Land Rovers was helping his son design off road trailer/caravan suspension. That was a while ago. He is now - one of the late and great engineers. RIP.

Kind regards
Lionel

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Have Hard Korr gone bust?

2023 Hard Korr HKC18-L Outback Explorer Off-Road Caravan Travel Trailer (Unused) in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia (Asia-Pacific Item #11776292)

With little regulation, shoddy workmanship and exorbitant pricing, one could be excused for believing it's a veritable gold mine.

More than a Million caravans in Australia! Yep really. Suspect my WA mate picking one up in a few Months may not be the only one as he checked up another one brand imported from China at a business here who was run by a gent I was surprised to see as I know his family very well.

A trip to the Cravan show put paid to the imported one being build in Sydney I think?

The imported brand Gent was shipping several out when I was there. Its a huge business. Not for the shoddy ones I hope. Noting I gave my e-bay special cheapish camping trailer to a nice gent who brought my Disco. It did a great job for my then 70 year old mum and dad road trip to Darwin. If the Caravan parks I run past over the last two weeks are in any way typical the grey nomads are not at risk of extinction any time soon

Originally Posted by NavyDiver

More than a Million caravans in Australia! Yep really. Suspect my WA mate picking one up in a few Months may not be the only one as he checked up another one brand imported from China at a business here who was run by a gent I was surprised to see as I know his family very well.

A trip to the Cravan show put paid to the imported one being build in Sydney I think?

The imported brand Gent was shipping several out when I was there. Its a huge business. Not for the shoddy ones I hope. Noting I gave my e-bay special cheapish camping trailer to a nice gent who brought my Disco. It did a great job for my then 70 year old mum and dad road trip to Darwin. If the Caravan parks I run past over the last two weeks are in any way typical the grey nomads are not at risk of extinction any time soon

YEP Pandemic was boom time for shonky caravan builders. Punters could not go on their usual cruise or holiday to Bali so all bought caravans instead.

Now theyre stuck with them & seem to be using them en masse . I go to great efforts to fond a 'campsite' out of sight of the road because they congregate like flies on a turd if they spot you.

( the Keep out & Private property signs help )

Some of those hybrids look good but way too heavy for what they are, I would like to build my next one but also considering just re- cladding the jayco and upgrading the interior.
17ft and only 1150 tare it tows well behind the D3.

Originally Posted by loanrangie

Some of those hybrids look good but way too heavy for what they are, I would like to build my next one but also considering just re- cladding the jayco and upgrading the interior.
17ft and only 1150 tare it tows well behind the D3.

Do you think they're heavy because they're poorly designed, or because they're HD for offroading?