Sunday, Mar 16, 2014 at 20:19
Don,
I would just look at any van which took my fancy and speak to the salesman and get a general feel for what they are telling you and after a while you will have a fair idea if they are potentially spinning you a yarn.
Full gal chassis are a major selling feature and will be a major sales point in any salesman's spiel.
Ensure that the van has 6" chassis rails as opposed to the 4" rails and the underslung truss bar or whip bar on the drawbar.
Our 24' Jayco has the whip bar but then my previous van, a Gazal Champion, which was very
well built, had a 6" chassis rails and drawer bar on an 18.5' van. As I said,
well built.
Don't be in a rush to buy, keep looking till you are sick of it and by that time you will have built considerable knowledge of what is good and what is bad or not so good.
You could go to a full blown off road van but it will have the full blown off road price to match so unless you are going to do a lot of rough road work I would not spend the money on them.
Jayco get a fair bagging from time to time but I am a firm believer that you get a fair amount of van for your money with them. That has been my experience and they are made for the Australian conditions.
Then again, a good second hand, there is no other sort, Gazal champion will stand you in good stead also. They were last made in 2000 as far as I know. Millard or someone are currently making a Gazal as one of their range but they are not the same I as far as I am aware. I am totally unaware of the quality going into them.
I have had experience with the two brands mentioned, namely Gazal and Jayco, but cannot speak for other brands.
Just as an aside,
I was talking to a couple of chaps who work the show circuit when they were up here at Port during the Xmas tourist season.
They said they go over to America every year to attend Carnival type Conventions and while their they buy maybe 6 vans (Travel Trailers) at a time for shipping back to Australia.
He said the first thing they do is to toughen up the chassis as the American ones are not up to the Australian conditions and invariably crack if not strengthened. His words not
mine.
Mind you they do get
well up into Central Queensland and the NT.
Moral of this part of the story is, buy Australian as they are made for the local conditions, don't be tempted by cheaper imported units.
If you need any more info don't hesitate to ask as the only dumb question is the one that never got asked.
Hope this helps,
Cheers, Bruce.
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