Caravan Crash Course
Submitted: Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 at 19:24
ThreadID:
106369
Views:
2875
Replies:
4
FollowUps:
4
This Thread has been Archived
Member - kwk56pt
I am located in west Australia and I am looking at buying a small 12 to 14 foot on road caravan around $10000 I have a fair idea what to
check for, water damage etc but can anyone tell me what brands in that late eighties to mid nineties I should be on the look out for because of some redeeming feature for example it might be a model that had independent
suspension or a alloy frame. I am thinking of models that might be regarded like the 80 series or the 4.2 patrol of the caravan world.
Most seem to be pop tops although I have seen a couple of full height versions for sale. I know to
check that the windows still have butyl mastic rather than someone putting silicone over the top/ I think being able to identify
well made brands would be a good start. Any advice or information is appreciated.................Peter
Reply By: disco driver - Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 at 20:03
Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 at 20:03
Hi Peter,
Vans in that price bracket will be those made in the late 70s/early80s.
Anything much younger than that I would treat with a fair amount of caution. They may have been flooded or otherwise damaged and could possibly be moneypits.
Some of the older names that spring to mind are the older versions of Millard, Modern, Coromal (all made in WA) and Viscount. These are generally solid reliable vans of that period. They all had re-incarnations in later years but were not as good as the originals
I have a 1982 82 Viscount "Grand Tourer" which was allegedly one of the best made in that period which I bought a few years ago for around $6500. It was a 1 owner unit and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to snap it up.
A word of warning about some models of that era...
A number of companies made what was usually termed "UltraLight" with various spellings. Most of these units were extremely light in both chassis and body comstruction and didn't last too
well on anything other than good bitumen.
Most vans of that era were the usual leaf spring, rigid axle
suspension and I can't think of any with independent systems but there may
well have been
Looking for a suitable van involves visiting van yards and asking about trade ins, local newspapers and
shop notice boards. Even Gumtree and ebay are worth a look
Hope you find what you are looking for
Disco.
AnswerID:
527032