Offroad Caravan

To be serious there is really no such thing as an off road caravan. The salesperson will tell there is but when you look at the warranty papers suddenly you find off road is really AT BEST a graded dirt road. That is especially so for the vans you mention here. Yes there are some other brands but with a price tag north of $100K they still are not suitable for SERIOUS off road work, in off the show room spec. I have a New Age 16' Manta Ray Deluxe which is supposidly rated as off road. I have had to put better bash plates on all water tanks (clean and grey). Taken anything underneath that has been screwed and changed to bolted. Lagged every pipe again as the lagging is not thick enough for stones. Rerouted the electric brake wires as they were exposed. Things to look for is if cabinets are stappled then forget the dirt roads, it needs to be screwed and glued at a minimum.

Just like a 4WD, you need to determine where you want to take the van and then do the appropriate beefing up to make sure it will survive.

Mine has done, Old Coach Road, Beach run at Cape LE Grande, Tanami Road, Old Eyre Highway, Great Central Road, Meekathara to Mt Augustus and then out to Coral Bay via the Milyaka Roadhouse route, the GAwler Ranges National Park just to name a few places. It handled it all OK but then it is not a big van and although heavy for its size, is well within the vehicles capacity. (ie car is Landrover D4 with 3.5t genuine towing capacity, and the van weighs 2.5t all loaded up)

It depends where you want to take a caravan LazyLux. I do know some people who have Goldstream off road models and are happy with them for roads like the Gibb River Road and Cape York Peninsula. However if your are thinking of tracks like the Anne Beadell for example, I would not recommend you take any caravan.

off road campers are NOT caravans.

Problem my Hilux towing capacity only 2250kg.
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You may think that towing capacity is not enough but if you ask Toyota, don't be surprised if they say to come down well below it in off road conditions. The maximum advertised towing capacity is usually for good sealed roads only. Off sealed road conditions will always increase the stress on cars. Just how much the increase will be depends on the conditions.

I have not asked Toyota but I have seen an email from Land Rover saying the 3500 kg towing capacity of their Defender comes down to only 1500 kg in off road conditions.

If you want to be able to drive down any dirt road or track that the car and van are capable of rolling over then keep the size and weight of the van down as low as possible.

A major point to keep in mind in off road conditions is the tow ball weight. Big vans have big ball weights. High weights so far back behind the axle will be flexing the end of your chassis up and down as the wheels rise and fall on uneven surfaces. This can be the result. Chassis Damage

Read the towing instructions in the handbook of your car. I have two Hiluxes and the book for both of them say a weight distribution hitch is essential for any ball weight above half the maximum. A WDH is the only thing that can add support to the far end of your chassis. Stiffer rear springs or air bags can't do it.

It is easy enough to install a WDH but they can cause a lot of damage if the angle between the car and van exceeds a certain limit. This restricts their use in many off road conditions.

You rarely see a WDH on a cab chassis ute towing a camper trailer for this reason but bent chassis on the those towing big campers with high ball weights are common.

Do a lot of research first be you buy anything and don't let your heart rule your head..

LAZYLUX16 - She might be happy with one of these? (links below).

Well within the capabilities of the Hilux - and it also comes with shower and toilet!!
This is surely enough to keep her interested in camping out?

Armor A12 off-road pop-top caravan

Keep an eye on Graysonline, these appear for auction occasionally.

Graysonline auction - Armor A12 pop-top off-road caravan

Cheers, Ron

You mentioned tenting, what does your wife want out of a van, if she just wants better comfort, a hard roof & excellent off road performance you couldn’t go past a Vista RV Crossover, or if she doesn’t mind some canvas maybe a Track Tvan, if she wants internal shower & toilet then possibly an AORC Quantum, many of which have done the Anne Beadell albeit with some severe bush pinstriping.
The Chinese caravans seem to be improving but are still too heavy, for instance the Ezytrail Parkes 13 has a tare weight of 2140kg whereas the AORC Quantum up to series 3 is around 1670kg.

A workmate has the same model hilux. He ended up with an mdc xt12 hrt. It gives him 400 odd kg to play with in loading. He likes it and it is lighter than the pop tops.

If she has been used to a tent get her a Tvan. It will seem luxurious in comparison.
The Hilux will be able to tow it and you can take it to most destinations.
The reality with any van regardless of the tow vehicle is it will prevent you from seeing the majority of the county. If you really want to be able to get to most places and you have a van, you will need to go back to the tent and a set up that allows you to travel independently of the the van for a week or so.
Oh, and if you can only travel with the van you will be sharing your space with a LOT of other people!

Good luck.
Cheers
Lyndon

Sorry to say Lazylux, but you will never get the answer to your question on a forum with a 3 line description of your requirement. There are 1000 caravans and campers out there and 10,000 opinions.

The only way to decide what you want is to go to a caravan show and get a short list of your needs. IMHO you need to go 2 - 3 times because your perceived needs will change as you learn what you want and how expensive things are.

The biggies IMHO are

Inside or outside kitchen
Set up and tear down times
Shower or not shower
How off road do you want it to be?
Weights and sizes
How many people.
How long will you go away per trip?

No one can give you recommendations until they ( and you) understand these issues and more).

Don't rush, whatever you think you need right now is probably wrong. Buying is a journey.

Out of the 4 you mentioned, Goldstream is the pick.
Goldstream
Phoenix
Bushtracker
Trackmaster
Supreme Getaway
Are top picks for off roading.
Pros
Open the van door and that's pretty much it. Unless you have to pop the top.
Cons
Weight
Maneuverability
May have to dump van to access some spots, then double back to collect van
Be prepared to spend more $$$$ once you purchased any van and on the vehicle
Storage when not in use
Tow vehicle fuel consumption
Tow vehicle payload
Van payload............some have a couple 100kgs only which is not much whatsoever.
Van ball weight
It really depends on where you want to go.
I went from really wanting a 18ft bushtracker (3t +) to purchasing a Tvan (1300kgs).....miles apart. I didn't want to tow a van that weighs more than my vehicle.
The full van is very appealing but didn't suit where I wanted to go.
Consider the time spending setting up and packing up when on the move
Dustproofing a must.
What's the budget?
For the Hilux...................a 12-13ft Surpeme Getaway would be a good match.

Lazylux16, Boobook has nailed it. I also think that for your vehicle, a Goldstream 1760 series full off road van is the way to go. I have been to the factory that makes their chassis, and was very impressed with the strength and workmanship with the build.

Macca.

You need a Tvan.

If you have to trade/upgrade a tent for an offroad caravan, then I agree with the "dear wife" bit.

LazyLux?,
Not trying to be rude, but understandably you don't give your wife's reasons.
We started camping in a swag when young & up graded as we aged.
The main reason being flapping canvas in very strong winds & continually having to get up during the night to wrestle with the tent to tie it back down in these sometimes wet strong winds. There doesn't seem to be a member message to contact you if you are a bit embarrased to say . It would help if we knew what put your wife off of tents so badly.
Take care, Safe travels. Ma.

If you want to get into remote places with convenience and some comfort, forget towing anything and get yourself a 4WD motorhome :)

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome.

LazyLux16, Ma here,
In answer to your Member Message Question.
If you were a member I could have Member messaged you or you could have Member messaged me just between us.
I also had been looking for you and was going to let you know of 1 but it was a small one. I didn't think we could do that on E.O.
Hope you have some luck.
Take care, Safe travels. Ma.

Look at an Ellis Base Camp from Ellis Rec Vehicles near Caloundra. Paul Ellis (an honest business man) builds serious off-road units. We could not be happier with ours. The Base Camp LIght model (we have) weights 1000 Kgs with 650 kgs capacity..