Windsor Rapid caravan

Member - Teege (NSW) replied:

FJB
To my knowledge no more issues than any other type of van or camper. Dust will get in and you learn to live with it. You can block off door and fridge vents and do all sorts of things, but in the end the dust will still get in. Some people will swear by roof pressure vents, but in my experience they have minimal effect.

teege Thumbs UpThanks 0

ao767brad replied:

Have taken our rapid offroad on a few fairly easy dirt roads but nothing like bulldust with no issues of dust ingress. Pressure hatch open seems to stop dust into the door vent and generally does a better job than when closed. There are a few on this forum who have done the tanami and gunbarrel highways so hopefully they will reply.

Will be taking the rapid through the Flinders Ranges and to Coober Pedy via William Creek in May so will get a better indication then. Thumbs UpThanks 0

Member - colin J (VIC) replied:

Hi FJB,

I have done thousands and thousands of ks on dirt roads from dusty to b---dy dusty to very b---dy dusty and there has been no issues what so ever on dust getting in on the ends. I have a scopper vent in the roof and they are a must if you are going off road.

Regards from Col. Thumbs UpThanks 0

David Jje replied:

Hi, FJB

I had a mate follow me from Booroloola to Mataranka via the Nathan River road

including Lorella Springs (after talking him into it over a few beers the night

before. lol)in his tandem axle Windsor Rapid. The van was fine. It did get dust

in it but not exceccive amounts and nothing fell off it. Or at least he didn't tell

me about it. lol. The rapids don't even come close to the dedicated offroad

vans but like most vans they will still get to most of the places the full

offroaders go, if driven accordingly.

cheers David

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Member - Captain (WA) replied:

I used to have a Windsor Rapid and its dust sealing was very good. Mine had a compressor fridge so the door vents were all sealed. As long as I used the forward facing roof vent I had no issues, except for the odd dead grasshopper that found its way in!

On corrugated roads the van end bed walls did get a bit of a shake, you could see the vibration marks as they moved ~1cm within their frames. However I never had any dust get past the bed end seals. The only dust issues were when I forgot to open the roof vent, but you cannot blame the van for that.

The Windsor Offroad vans were suprisingly well built, well my 2001 model was. It came from the factory with treg hitch, compressor fridge, independent suspension, proper offroad chassis (drawbar to suspension mounting, braced A frame) and I never had any issues with cupboards failing etc...

Mine went many a place that you shouldn't take a van, the biggest issue was when I ripped off the awning, all roof clips, side lights, power connections and damaged the side walls so that it required a re-skin. Apart from the obvious damage that I caused, it came thru with flying colours. I am not sure how well the newer models are now made, but mine had the capability that the full offroad ones had at 2-3 times the price. Only real issue was rear ground clearance.

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Cheers

Captain Thumbs UpThanks 0

garny replied:

hi fjb
i have the small off road rapid and travel exstensvly on dirt roads to eliminate dust entering i added an extra rubber seal for the bed ends to close onto just the stick on rubber. the hatch on the roof needs to be opened, when travelling on dirt roads your speed is reduced therefor the air intake through the roof vent is reduced. to rectify this problem i fitted a 12 volt radiator fan to suck air into the van mounted in the space next to the air cond sucking through an air cleaner filter. this can be wired to your car accessories with an independant switch and presto the van is vacumed.
regards garny Thumbs UpThanks 0