Member - DAZA (QLD) replied:

Hi George

We recently purchased a York Lassiter Off Road van, we traded a
York Procyon 20 ft tandem axle, which was 9 months old,
we found we couldnt take it to places to far off the bitumen,
owing to not having ground clearance and heavy duty suspension ect. We looked at the Kedron Off Road and the Trakka ect, which
are in my mind the Top Shelf of Off Road Vans, we discussed our
requirements, with the York Caravan People and they had taken
delivery of the new Lassiter Off Road Van, their design people
copied, the Kedron and Trakka and other off road vans, and taken
all this on board and built the York Lassiter, I am not saying it is as good as the other top shelf vans, but it would come in a very
close second, it was good value for money and it suits our requirements, for the places we go, or intend to go.

Cheers
Daza

Member - Willie , Epping .Syd. replied:

George ,
I did a lot of research on this and it seems the three top companies for off road vans are Bushtracker , Phoenix (Phase 3 ) and Trakmaster .
I bought a second hand 16' Bushtracker and it's built like a brick outhouse .
Cheers ,
Willie .
PS The York mentioned here sounds interesting .

Trevor R (QLD) replied:

I would think it depends on your requirements. For long term or extended stays in the van you may prefer a longer van but this van may not suit tighter tracks and exits to creeks ect. I think some manufacturers are better at building larger vans than another that builds a very good small van. My personal choice for a small van would be Phenoix but the Bushtracker is a better larger van manufacturer (my opinion only). You will pay for the name in many vans but you may not need all the frills of the expensive mobs and some cheaper options with equally robust chasis construction exist and you should seek these out if it suits. You will get plenty of people giving advice on their van choice being the best, I would prefer to get under a van and have a good look at the chassis/suspension and steel quality (thickness ect). From this I think you can make a pretty informed decision as to the suitability of that particular van to your circumstances. Check out Supreme Getaway and you will see why this was my choice for a heavily loaded van.

Plenty of other brands apart from the three I have mentioned that are worth a real hard look in my opinion.

Regards, Trevor.

AdlelaideGeorge replied:

Thanks each - all good information.There's only 2 of us so fairly small should suffice but I know we will want to continue use 'bad' roads and bush tracks so an off-road version is essential. Initially I was interested in the Little Robin Mini but the Trakmaster Sturt looks interesting.

Cheers

George

Member - eerfree(QLD) replied:

George
My Phoenix has Alko suspension and is only 7' 2" wide, we have had it over some of the better known tracks as well as some that do not get too many mentions on this website.
It is not as flash as some (all grey inside) but it does not leak, does not get dusty and is still there when we get where we are going.

eerfree