Member - Melissa replied:

Hi Greg,

If you've been looking around, you are probably already aware that campertrailers come in all shapes and sizes. Some are very light weight and are specifically designed for on-road (ie bitumen) travelling (despite what some salesman will try to tell you). This type are easy to spot.

Then you go up to the more robust units such as Jayco Outbackers etc. These are not a true offroad camper but you could feel confident about travelling on gravel roads with them. From what I've heard, the chassis and suspension set-up is good, but people are experiencing problems with inside panelling, _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx etc coming apart on heavily corregated roads because they are only staple together. A bit of reinforcing here and there seems to do the trick.The only other problem I can see is that the Jayco "offroad" pop-tops may be a bit on the big side for the Rav4 but I'm not entirely familiar with their range so there may be a light weight version available.

Next class up is the full offroad campertrailers custom built for all conditions. This class includes the likes of the Kimberley Kamper, Aussie Swag etc but unless you are planning at some point in the future to move into a bigger 4WD and getting further off the beaten track, there is probably no point looking at these.

Lastly, you might like to go to http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/campertrailers/ and ask there also. This is an Aust based campertrailer group with over 400 members who have a big variety of campertrailers.

Hope this helps.

:o) Melissa

John replied:

Hi Greg,
I have done a lot of research over the past 12 months regarding off road camper trailers. In the end I bought an Aussie swag second hand (18months old from the trading post. Rover LX model for $17000. with independent suspension, annex pack, battery pack & the whole nine yards.) It was a toss up between aussie swag and Kimberly camper, they are both extremely good and like anything decent they are not cheap.My final decision was influenced by the availability of the Aussie swag second hand. The wait for a new Aussie Swag was about 6 months. Go to www.aussieswag.com.au or www.kimberlycamper.com.au. These companys exhibit at camping and caravan shows so you get the opportunity to compare products. Downside is the weight they vary between 550kg & 850KG empty depending on the model chosen. if you go that way you would need something bigger than the RAV 4.
happy hunting

Eric replied:

Greg.
Rav 4's use the transmission from the celica 4x4 this has a small pinion driving out of the fron diff, this pinion brakes if you tow anything with the celica. If you are not going of road you have a huge range of options beter than a trailer vw vans, hiace or the very impresive and cheapish Mercedes vito, 6L/100k and beter to drive than the Rav4. Eric.

Truckster replied:

You can hire camper trailers.... would be in your best interest to hire a few and see how the car handles it..

The RAV4 isnt well known for strong drive train parts.

Also the campertrailer group on yahoogroups would be VERY well worth dropping into.

Joe replied:

Greg,

I was up at Cania Gorge a few months ago and met a couple with a RAV4 and an Aussie Swag camper.

They were absolutely rapt and couldn't stop raving about how good it was. They had towed it all over the top end and down the east coast with no problems.

They selected the Aussie Swag as it was quite a bit lighter than the Kimberley or Camp/o/Matic campers and more suited to their vehicle.

Definitely worth looking at.