Kimberley Karavan weight & off road ability

Hi Tanya,

We owned a Kimberley Kamper, not a Karavan, but I can tell you they are heavy, but if they are anything like the Kimberley Kamper, they are well made & will go anywhere your tow vehicle will go. Out of curiosity, what vehicle will you be towing it with? There is an online forum that you may be able to join as a guest member that will enable you to ask questions of other owners. It is Kimberley Karavan Online Group, you can find them by "googling" kkog.org.au

Hope this helps.

Macca.

Hi Tanya,

We have a 2007 model Karavan, have had it almost from new. It's done over 100,000km of outback travel including GCR, GRR, abandoned section of the Gunbarrel from Giles to Carnegie and beyond, Rudall River NP (very rough, cut a tyre, bent a rim but the van was great), Gary Junction Hwy, numerous forestry roads, tracks and firetrails in the Snowies, Blue Mountains and Vic High Country. It's tough enough to do the rough work, but like a 4WD that goes to those sorts of places, needs maintenance.

When closed up for towing it is only as high and as wide a the average tow vehicle, so it will fit where the tug will fit. It's pretty nimble.

Your 2007 model will have a long hatch in the floor which allows easy access for maintenance to a major part of the lifting system. Later models do not have that, so you will be ahead in that regard. Ask the seller what has been done maintenance and modification wise to the lifting system. There are known problems, with fixes available through the Owners Group.

There is also an issue with improperly located bearings and seals in the hubs. It's a design issue. Again. the Owners Group has a fix for that, with parts available through our on-line shop.

McLaren3030 mentioned an owners group, as I did above. It's the Kimberley Karavan Owners Group (KKOG). We don't have a website as such, but an excellent forum at kkog.org.au, and as Macca said, you can get a temporary, restricted membership set up so that a possible purchaser can access the forum and ask questions of the members.

Weightwise, the 2007 model has a GTM of 2000 and an ATM of 2200. The plated and registered weights and tares of all models are all over the place when you look at compliance plates and rego certificates. There were some variations in the first few 2006 models, but from September 2007 onwards the weights are 2000/2200.Mine had an original tare of 1400. It was never realistic and I discovered how unrealistic when I had to get it weighed as part of a GTM/ATM upgrade. The actual tare is about 1800, a 400kg discrepancy.

Towball weight is in the range 150 to 250kg, depending on how you load the van and where the large water tank is. (Somewhere between 2007 and 2008 the 120 litre tank was moved from well in front of the axle to the rear.) Also if it has had a lithium battery conversion, which many owners have done, that makes a big (favourable) difference to ball weight.

Because of unrealistic tares, etc, many members of KKOG have had weight issues and many of those have pursued a weight upgrade to keep legal. I'm in NSW. My local engineer required upgraded springs (which I did anyway as I had a broken one) and wheels to Australian Standards (ie stamped with load capacity. The originals were not to the standard.) Other states, notably Queensland, are not so fussy. The hoops you have to jump through for this upgrade depend on which state you live in and the engineer you choose. My GTM is now 2380 and the ATM is 2500.

The Karavan was first released in mid 2006. The original weights of 2000 and 2200 were designed to be towable behind the likes of Prado, Pathfinder, Pajero class vehicles of the day. Many owners still do that, but be aware that if your Karavan has had a weight upgrade that class of vehicle, particularly if it is older, may no longer be adequate. For 7 years I towed mine with a 2007 120 Series diesel Prado. It was an excellent combination. I tow now with a BT50. Same again.

Although it's called a Karavan, it's a hybrid. For a van it's small. For a camper it's, shall we say, not compact. But it's a very compact caravan! 5 people will be a squeeze. You can fit 5 people around the inside table, but it is tight. OK occasionally, say for visitors having a drink on a wet night, but not on a regular basis for meals. You will need to exercise the camper part of the hybrid deal and eat outside when possible.

Similarly, sleeping 5 inside will be a real squeeze. I've never investigated the bunk bed option. There were bunks in a vertical arrangement available in the early days, but whether the new management still makes them is unknown to me. You would still need a 5th bed and that would fill the central walkway, which makes it very difficult for mum or dad to get out of bed for a nocturnal call of nature.

If your kids are old enough there is a three man kids tent that hangs off the extended bed out the back. If the new factory cannot supply it, any canvas maker could knock one up. The Kimberley version is nice, though.

There is also an excellent full awning available which would give you an enclosed outside room. Your's might come with that. Being fully framed, it's very strong. It's a fair effort to set up, so not really designed for single overnights, in which case there are simple awning options, such as a Fiamma bag awning or Kimberley's own Kwik Awning. Again, yours might already have that option.

If you want to try the temporary membership of KKOG, and I recommend you do, contact the secretary at
sec_treasurer@kkog.org.au

If you want more info feel free to email me at

frankponetwonine( the one two nine in figures and no spaces before the at sign) at gmail.com

Cheers

I looked at buying one myself, loved the unit but was concerned with the weight.

Friends were looking to purchase one too, I voiced my concerns but they decided to byte the bullet and purchase one. They purchased one of the later model units. On their first trip away the shockers failed due to overheating. Apparently it is a known issue with them, Kimberly stated if shockers fail it was due to operator error. Later on in the trip the chassis cracked and had to be patched up to get them home.

After legal proceedings unit was returned to KK and KK had to refund in full, contact me for more detail if required.

Moral of above, carefully check suspension and chassis for cracking and signs of repairs.

At the end of July 2018 we towed our Mk 2 Tvan From the Telfer mine down into the Karlamilyi NP. On the way we passed to late model (Common rail) 4wd's, each towing a Kimberley Karavan, where they had pulled up for lunch. As we continued on part of the route was *along* a dry soft & sandy creek bed for several kilometres. I recall saying to my wife, "rather them than me" referring to those pulling the Kimberley Karavans behind us, knowing that they were significantly heavier than our Tvan. We continued on to the campground at Desert Queen Baths. The last 15 or 20kms of track into the camp ground was tight & narrow in places, with many dry creek beds to cross, nothing we found difficult, but nevertheless often feeling thankful that we had great departure angle of the Tvan. Again I recall commenting to my wife that "If they try to bring those Kimberley Karavans in here, they may struggle with their additional length" (compared to us). The following day both Kimberley Karavans lobbed into the camp ground. With the exception of a puncture in one of them which had slowed them down, they had had no problem following our route. I was impressed & a little surprised. Both were owned by Kimberley Karavan 'enthusiasts, they loved their karavans, with their only criticism (mild) being the pulley system used to raise & lower the upper section - not that it was problematic, just that it was 'fiddly' if it ever went wrong. Guys, if it was you in the Kimberley Karavans - thanks once again for your help & generosity to me when I had to fix the water supply to our Tvan sink!