Camper trailers

Have no personal experience, but on recent trip to the Cape a group of three cossed the Pasco River on Frenchmans track. Two of them had Track Shaks pulled by landcruisers. No probs at all and the crossing was pretty rough.
We also camped beside them at chilli Beach and the CTs looked quite large and well built.

Dont recall hearing too many bad reports of the Trak Shaks . . . Its all been pretty postive.

If you situation you might them them to be ideal.

BIG . . . HUGE . . . good incase you get a bit of rain somewhere. Plenty of room for the kids.

You may have an issue in some spots with space though, because they are so big.

Hi Vicki

we have a TrakShak Deluxe offroad camper trailer, an older model that we picked up second hand...owned by a middled aged gent who bought it to take his mum and aunt around australia, it's 10 years old and in great nick...we have 2 small kids...and it's perfect for us as they are too young to want to camp in their own tents or swags...it also came with the extra "room" underneath where another queen bed can be...we have organised solar panels through a contact we have, but as yet Alan has not had the time to set them up - we decided to go solar rather than gennie as some nat parks etc don't allow them and we use solar at home for hot water and are more than happy with it, but others prefer gennies and I guess that's a matter of choice, we decided on the TrakShak as we liked the fact that it could accommodate the whole family and even friends if needed....

I guess with anything, as long as you take it easy in rough places and be sensible it'll be fine, I'm sure a few others on here who own them will comment further, we have not had the chance to take ours offroad yet

can't wait to use it more now the weather is picking up

cheers

Lyn

We have one and they are fantastic, we looked at all the others, but this one had everything we wanted in a CT, especialy with 3 kids as well. I got tired of a lot of the others saying they were great for families and all you had to do was put up the extra room. the great thing about the TS is the bedding stays in place when you fold it up, (apart from in the room underneath if you shoose that option) so when you set it up, it's actualy set up. We recently did a trip to camerons Corner, and our son got sick part way thru, so we had to cut the trip short, camping and packing up at a different spot each night, all bush camps, and it was fantastic, very easy to set up and put away....just like they show you at camping shows, but you don't have to have done it 1000 times to know how.

As for boat rack and solar panels, yes theyd be very handy, but add a bit to the weight, and a fair bit to the price. Depends on what your needs are, best thing to do is talk to the TS people, and ask others about theirs. try:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/campertrailers/

There are a good selection of CT owners there as well, any questions about the TS feel free to ask me, and think about what options you might like, because they do a hell of a lot that aren't listed on the website

They're a very good unit.

Mate of mine went with us to Cape York recently towing one with his 3L Patrol. He converted the from passenger's side gerry can storage area into a "cupboard" using a sheet of aluminium hinged at the bottom. It was a great place for him to store his Honda 10i generator. He and his wife could set-up and pack up in about the same time as it took me to set up the Ultimate camper.

I'd say go for it....

Good luck

Vicki,
they appear to be a very good unit. My concern (besides price) is that you must be comfortable with the kids sleeping next to you and your other half. 6 months of travel is a long time to be away without the occasional cuddle!

I have 4 kids (2 1/2, 4, 11 & 14). I haven't travelled extensively but now own a Cavalier offroad camper with a 16 ft tent section. We get a queen size bed and, with the 16ft tent section, the kids have another area where you can put out 3 king single beds (side by side) or at a pinch 4 blow up mattresses. this then allows you to do one night stopovers without the annex area (and walls) being setup. With the annex setup we have another complete room (if required) and, for longer stops, the big kids can sleep in a smallish dome tent. This gives everyone enough room to be comfortable.

Regarding setting up beds. No, it isn't as easy as the TS however, we leave all of our soft bedding on top of the CT mattress when we pack up. This means that our bed is always made and the kids bedding layed out after accessing the beds from underneath our bed (in the trailer).

There are a lot of larger CT options out there so look at as many as you can. My setup is currently available in QLD for about $14K with a 60 litre internal water tank, kitchen, annex and walls, rego, etc. Cavaliers are made in SA and, I believe, are available in most areas. You may be able to save some money through purchase of a CT other than the TS although personal preference and desires are always the driving factor. I would start a list (similar to what you would do with a new house) with the Essentials, Importants and desires for your purchase and start short listing CTs based on your requirements.

Good luck
Rob

Have you looked at deluxe camper trailers?
we have one, same setup as the TS, 2 x q/s beds & a huge tent.
cheaper too! you will see ours on their home page (the red & silver one)

Cheers Rowler (dave) SA

Hi Vicki ,

Not ten minutes ago I opened up my two year old Trak Shak to dry the canvas as it rained on us when we were away last week and this is the first hot day we have had without the threat of rain .

It took me 10 minutes to put the canvas out and the poles up , but it takes it takes 15 to put the canvas down and away .

It takes a lot longer than that to break camp because you tend to have so much room in them , that you take everything but the kitchen sink so it takes a while to put it all away and make it shipshape before you even start to drop the canvas .

I looked at campers for three years before I settled on the TS . I was a camping show groupie ! I think they are way ahead of the pack . They are big , but not nearly as heavy as the other delux models around . They do not put a great big storagae box on the draw bar to weigh down the back of the car , in fact they are very well balanced and there is little weight on the towball .

My mate and I both have a TS and we towed them into Bendethera by the East track and out by the west track last weekend. The west track is really rough , but the TS s never missed a beat .

Mine will be in the Pilbarra next July and before that in April it will be running around the NT barra fishing . It will handle all that easilly .

Mine has 6 jerry cans for water on one side and an area on the other side with two gas bottles and one with an enclosed hatch where I store dirty stuff .

If you are going to need a camper which you need to put up and pull down every day , I would say that the TS will be a bit of a pain in the bum and I would go for a
trailer that opens from the back with a floor in it . If howeveryou intend to take a more leisurely course and set up in places for a reasonable space of time , then it it would be worth getting the TS because of the huge space in them .

They are second to none in design and quality , and hold their value for resale .

Get back to me if you have any questions .

Cheers ,

Willie .

PS - mine has the boat rack on top . I was going to get solar panels , but I thought they wanted too much money for them and changed my mind and bought a Honda generator .

Hi Vicki

We bought a Trak Shak about 18 months ago and love it. Our family consist of two adults and two children (11 and 13). We have the extra room underneath which up to now have used for placing items like clothes bags and games when camped which leaves the room free of clutter especially if raining. The extra room takes about one minute extra to set up and pack up.

We have towed ours through some pretty dusty and wet conditions with no leakages into the tent area or into the trailer compartment when travelling.

If travelling for extended periods I think the extra room in the tent is invaluable if you experience a lot of rain. The room gives the children an area where they can play games or amuse themselves without being too cramped, making life easier for you.

Discuss any concerns you might have with Mark or Peter at Trak Shak. They are very nice to deal with and have plenty of options form their standard setup.

Hope this helps

Jason

Vicki,

We have had a Trak Shak for 8 years now and love it.

I had it at work once to dry out after a wet pack up and hte guys put a stop watch on me. I didn't know they were doing it so I just loped around in no great hurry. 6 mins. That was only 2 poles and 2 pegs so pretty simple. We have camped like that. In fact we have camped without any pegs, just tied it to a fence.

We have been to Cape york, Simpson Desert, various parks in NW Victoria, countless trips to the Blue Mountains and lots pf caravan park stuff on the coast. The TS always attracts attention for the amount of space and the ease of set up. Most of the time we are doing one night stands and settting up is not tiresome. As far as how long it takes to break camp, that is up to you. Most mornings we are on the road before 9 and that is with 3 kids who are now 16, 12 and 11. Oldest and youngest are girls and the hardest part of breaking camp is getting them out of bed. We have been on the road before dawn.

As for privacy it is pretty easy to organise curtains to hang between the two beds and they can stay in place when you pack up. Use shock cord to hang them on. Also because of the height inside there is always room to hang towels, or other wet things if needed. You also have the option of leaving the kitchen on the tail gate and cooking inside if you need to. Internal acces to the storgage is also a big bonus.

As for the solar panels, I don't think I would ever need that much power. I have fitted a battery that is charged by the car as we travel. Before I set off on a trip I hook the battery charger to it in the shed for a week or so and I have never had a prob. Lets face it, it only drives lights (the fridge stays in the car, as we need it there for days out away from the camper) and with LED's now so useable lights don't need to draw much.

The Trak Shak is a bit dearer than some but think about this. If you are going to be travelling for 6 months would you rather live in the camper you want to pay for, or the one you wnat to live in?

Hope you ahve fun shopping and travelling.
Duncs

Have to agree with all and sundry re the quality of the TS. I don't have one though, I just have a standard side fold camper on a box trailer with an enclosed annexe.
We find on average it takes 1.5 to 2 hrs to pack up and go in the mornings (including breakfast and pack up) and around 1 hour to fully set up in the evenings. The time is not in setting up or folding the camper but in all the extra stuff you tend to carry "because you can".
For this reason I'm looking at selling ours and going for something like a Camp-o-Matic hard floor job with slide out kitchen. Will be a lot faster to set up/pack up when travelling every day.

Have a great trip....
John

I agree - a top quality trailer and if anything goes wrong - My old man came across a bloke in the top end of WA who had one with a snapped axle. Trak Shak were flying a replacement in then out to him via a chopper - Now thats service!

G`day Vicki,
Great to hear that families want to go away together.We built our own camper trailer,[we have our own small engineering business], because we couldnt find any that had the storage capacity or the room required.Unfortunately as the children have grown older they no longer want to go away with the oldies, so enjoy them while they are young.We currently have our CT on the market, when it is sold I will build another smaller one.
We have been to the Centre a couple of times and have had no dramas with the CT.One of these trips we carried food for fourteen people plus all our own gear, and all this we towed easily with a bog standard 3.0lt Hilux dual cab.If you are interested we have some pictures, or better still give us a bell on0428300357 or burnsmob5@bigpond.com
Best thing I can say to you was said to me by an old spud cocky years ago ,when I was still single.He said ,your kids are only young once make sure you are around to enjoy it ,dont work all the time. Unfortunately I didn't heed his words until it was too late, so get out ther and enjoy this great country of ours.
Keep wandering
Regards Bob

Hi all

we purchased a Trak Shak Hybrid in july this year. We have three kids 16/13/12 and we added the extra bedroom. The TS is an awesome beast. Easy to tow, HEAPS of room and Peter at Trak Shak is a pleasure to deal with both diuring the transaction and after. The wife was a dedicated 5 star camper and she is now a convert after spending 3 weeks touring the outback with another family of 5 (also with TS Hybrid). In fact most of the journey we slept 6 in ours and still had plenty of room to move when the weather dictated.

I thouroughly recommend the TrakShak AND the company.

Cheers

Hi Vicki,

We did a 9 month trip around Australia with our 2 kids. We used a Jayco offroad Eagle pop up camper. This took us literally everywhere; the Meerenie loop, Oonadatta track, the Savannah way from Normanton to Katherine, Gibb River road, plus the road to Kalumburu, arguably the worst dirt road we have encoutered in Oz. Overall we would have done over 5,000km's on dirt road, the rest of the trip was easy!!! We have also done the Old Telegraph Cape York four years ago(not with the camper though). While we were away we compiled a website, which goes through all the things we did to set up for our trip eg. choice of car, camper, what kind of tinnie to take. We put our tinnie on the roof of the car, so we didn't have to get it down each time we set up camp.

All the detail plus where we went is on our site; www.kepper.net. Hope you find this useful. Please send any queries you have. And happy planning. We had the best trip of our lives last year, our kids still talk about it, and we met some fabulous people on the way. Have a fanatstic time, you will never forget it, neither will your kids!!!

Cheers,

Melanie