Ford Ranger and Trayon Camper Combination

Look at the photo of the BT50 on the right side of the Forum Is what can happen to a dual cab Look at how far back the slideon goes.
No wonder it broke the chassis.

A single cab would be far better

All in this thread

http://www.exploroz.com/Forum/Topic 988742008_bt50_daul_cab_suspension.aspx

Yep, that's not good which is why I am asking about the Ranger. Also, supercab allows the Trayon to come forward and keep the weight front/over rear axle.

We have neither a Trayon nor a Ranger, Ian, but we have friends who visited us for over 10 years and they had an early model Trayon, mounted on a Triton 4wd single cab ute. Maybe a late '80's or early '90 model ute, literally minute compared with these modern utes.

They travelled extensively, throughout Qld & NT, as well as a lap around Australia. They had some early minor issues with the Trayon, but never had a drama with the ute. It was pretty much stock, and not weighed down with heavy bars, big wheels and extra stuff that many deem necessary these days.

The Trayon would be in the top 2 or 3 for a lightweight, comfortable slide-on.

Bob

Best is talk to Trayon they would know all the engineering .They were going to do one for my dual cab but in end I opted out due to cost ..and thought I could use the money elsewhere...good luck they are dam good though.Made on Sunshine Coast

Ian, if it is a PX super cab and not the older PJ ranger, the difference between chassis is quite different. Best to jump under and have a look for yourself.

If you decide on one, Make sure the manufacturer is not telling Furphies about the tare weight and load any heavy gear to the front.

Another tip is try and take it easy over whoops in the road or track, you know the ones like railway crossings that try to launch you into orbit.

Re Trayon.
The folks at Trayon couldn't be more helpful. I have visited the factory, had two phone calls and dropped in at the 4x4 Show in Brisbane to say hello. Nice people with a great product which they stand by.

Whilst they are enthusiastic towards the new Rangers they also turn them around quicker than most to take advantage of leasing through the business. While I can see they take them off road for promotional videos it isn't the same as people using them constantly on extended trips in rugged country.

In short there is no substitute for feedback from people who own them and use them constantly for touring, often in difficult terrain with the load on the back.

Of course nobody wants the outcome of the 2008 BT50 Dual cab with the bent chassis (currently featured at the right of this page). That's why I am reaching out to you :-)

I could cut the Patrol and turn it into a tray back but by the time I strengthen the chassis etc it might be better to just look at a new vehicle already purpose built. The Ranger seems to have such an outstanding following for all the right reasons but the media hype and feedback doesn't seem to be from those doing the above.

So keep the feedback coming if you own or know people first hand - it helps in the assessment. Thanks.

As mentioned single can should be fine, even weight with tray evenly over rear axle.
The extra can though is handy with the full side opening, great for fridge in back of cab behind pax.
But it is a foot shorter, so get some pics online up if the single and extra cab side on and just take a look at rear axle placement on both.
The new Ranger (PX on) is a lot heavier than earlier models, but a trayon is going to take a fair whack of your GVM, make sure over all the weight usnt going to put you over.
Most likely you'll need at least the rear suspension upgraded a little.

Hi Ian,
The Trayon is a good choice. They are light weight and Trayon pays a lot of attention to weight distribution within the actual unit.
From all the slide on campers out there, I would say Trayon is the pick in this regard.
We might be slightly biased though as we pick up our Trayon in August. We have a converted dual cab 200 series LC.
The fact that you are aware of weight distribution and potential problems has put you ahead of most people out there.

Cheers,
Bryan

This is our own setup (2014 PX Ranger extra cab 3.2l and the larger Trayon model 1980) and I think i put a similar post on here before we purchased about 18 months ago. There is a Trayon forum also that you could join which is very helpful and you will find some similar posts on this topic in there.

We did as much research as we could and eventually went with it and have been really pleased so far. We had long service leave last year and traveled through the North West of Australia for 5 months. Lots of beaches and long rough dirt roads and we have been fine so far eg. Steep Point, Kalumburu & Mtchell Falls and Cobourg Peninsula

We did get the suspension done by ARB that also lifted the vehicle GVM from 3200kg to 3330kg. This has been a must for us as when leaving a regional town fully loaded we are usually up near the max GVM and then we slowly come down.
If we did a long desert run like the Simpson we would make sure we were a bit lighter as we wouldn't need our inflatable boat but either way I think we would be fine. In any off-road conditions so far we haven't felt under powered or vulnerable which has been good. I don't worry about the chasis in particular as there as many things that can happen, I focus more on driving carefully and getting the tyre pressures right to minimise stress on the vehicle generally.

If you are Brisbane based then it will be a good choice for you as been near the factory which would be handy at times as they know there stuff, I have spoken to them quite a few times on various small modifications etc.

I might think harder about a dual cab as I don't think we could ever be light enough to get the weight balance right but luckily this was not what we were looking at.

Thank you for your response and sharing your experience. It seems the extra cab is the best compromise and keeps the weight forward/over the rear axle. The motor sounds like it performs well and everything fit for purpose. We will likely go this way. Cheers.