Trak Shak off road trailers

Mal,

Try here before making a decision

CT's

First I have heard of the "Made in China"

Where did your info come from?

Rolande

Is anything not made in China ? Seems odd - will email them to reply to this post. They make the Campomatic now too.

I've got a mate in Yass (NSW) who is in the process of selling his. It's about 3 years old and is in excellent condition. I think he wants about $18,500- for it. It has independant swing arms suspension.
Don't know anything about them being made in China. They used to be made in Adelaide and i thought they still were, although I know the company has changed hands.
Cheers
Roachie

That might explain a couple of things. I was down at the factory earlier in the year asking about getting some modifications done to mine. I looked out the back and they have stacks of them (perhaps 50 ?) all lined up and they told me they had all been ordered and were ready to go. At the time, I thought it was a bit strange that they didn't sell them as they finished them rather than hoard them up like that. Then, in July, I met another camper who bought one recently and they said they got a special deal because the company was "moving into mass production". They also said some of the things which used to be extras are now standard, such as the boat rack. This might all fall in line with big production somewhere other than the Regency Park factory.

Support Aussie made - give the Trak Shak the flick. There's plenty of others to choose from. Can't recommend one as I'm the process of looking around myself.

Have a look at the Deluxe Camper Trailer range at www.deluxecamper.com.au, these are locally produced in Adelaide, solidly built to withstand hire fleet use. My particular units have recently returned from trips through the centre and north west, were checked over and ready to again immediately without having any problems.

Contact George 0417 816 649 for details of the units, he is based at Woodside or there are agents located at Para Hills and Happy Valley. The Deluxe units are like most available today in that you can have either On or Off Road and in a Side or Double camper configuration. The Side provides a single queen sized bed and the Double opens to give two queen sized beds.

At least do yourself a favour and have a look at these units as a means of comparison.

Cheers for now
PeterA

As a trak shak owner I can't imagine them being made in China , will be interested to hear some more. Could it be that maybe someone has said they are using steel from China and this has turned into the camper is made in China.

I also heard the other day from a mate who rang them up and it sounds like it's true.

As for finding the right CT, I found a magazine at the newsagent called "Caravan World's Campertrailer Guide for $6 only two days ago. It reviews nearly 30 campers,plus their prices.
All Terrain,Windsor Rapid,Adventure Camper, Gulf King,Bayside, Kimberly,Red Rock,T-van, blah blah blah. Very good reading. In the back is a comparison of all the species. Tare weights, extras,tent size,annex, tyre sizes, etc. Rus.

Wow!

I don't have a CT but I've certainly looked at quite a few with views to purchase and the Trak Shak was definately my preference so far but if they are really made in China, I'll have to review my decision.

I'm stunned about this for two reasons:

1. I'm suprised that a specialised CT manufacurer has sufficient volume to justify the expense, complexity & risk of venturing offshore for manufacturing (CT's are hardly a commodity item and I expected many were custom made to suit each owners specific needs. Is this still possible?)
2. I'm suprised that the economic benefit to the manufacturer is worthwhile. Obviously labour costs are much lower but when you consider the freight charges etc, I'm surprised the benefit is great enough.

However, many, many excellent products are made in China so if that's what's required to be competitive then so be it.

It's a shame though, I'm always a fan of purchasing the locally made product even if its slightly more expensive as I believe in supporting the local economy and creating opportunities for our kids wherever possible.

Thanks for the heads up.

Andrew

I sent them the email - maybe it takes a day or two to sort out a response.

hey mel checkout casuarinacampers at www.casuarinacampers.com.au

I have a new trakshak for sale, it is perfect for a family. . Ours has only been used for two nights, & is only about 4 months old. It is being sold (only) due to a recent back injury. It upsets the family seeing it sit there.This has all the options, & is the original not a cheap copy like the deluxe.check them both out there is a difference. See my 4 sale add in explroz trader section.

Its funny how when campers come up on the forum lately that there is one company (in particular) that pushes their product and even quotes their website and often contact name.

RE CHINA
I bought a tent some years ago from a large outdoors company that were importing from China. Not sure of the techincal reasons but the tents were made from a type of canvas that stretched as it got older and became baggy. They dumped hundreds of these suckers and exchanged just as many!!!

If rumour is true, then I'd make sure I bought an Australian made job from a reputable mob..

How rumours will fly????? Let us see what will come out in the end. At the moment they are all rumours. Believe in what you see, not what you are told. Trak Shak have been around for about 17 years and are still going and build a quality product. Good enough, obviously, for other companies to copy. Doesn't that say it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read in archives what other Trak Shaks owners have to say about them. There after sales service by Steven (the manager) is second to none.

My family and i bought a Trak Shak earlier this year and it has only been used a handful of times but even for a novice like me it was easy to jsutify the Trak Shak over the other brands on the market.

Features, staff were a huge difference they took the damm time to actually listen to my questions not jsut fob me off like so many do at a show, they knew their stuff and had good answers not jsut flippant ones.

The rigidity of the unit seemed pretty solid, but i took a mate who has owned one for 8 years and is a builder and he said it was quality work and pointed out some differences on other models.

Pricing was also competitive when compared to others.

The biggest thing for me probably was that i have tow young kids and the two full size beds with room to throw a doubel mattress in under the second bed and still ahve heaps of room in the two rooms, one standard the other extra was a real plus.

For a family what better CT is there, i couldnt find one and i looked extensively, as for the China issue go back twenty years and it was the same with the Japenese now most of us are driving 4WD made in Japan perhaps.

Secondly it is just a rumour, who knows whether it is fact or fiction and what does it mater if some parts are not made here, big deal, go round your house right now and throw out everythigng made in China or elsewhere, you might find you ahve a fairly empty house, plus you may end up anked as guess where a lot of our clothes come from.

Lastly, i will judge Trak Shak by when i call them with a question do they help me, how long does it last, what condition is it in after the kids have been trashing it for 5 years etc etc.

Until then i intend to enjoy it and this great country and hope you all do the same.

Mark

Mal

I would be concerned if they wont advise where they are made - makes you a little sceptical. Surely if they back their product they would be proud to confirm they are either made in Aus or made in China.

CUSTOMERS NEED TO KNOW.

Toby

Well here is the truth. I phoned Trak Shak and they didn't hide anything. They are now made in China with mostly Australian made products, except for the things that we don't make. (Like all the things on everyone elses camper trailers). The owner of Trak Shak is over there standing over the process of the manafacture of the trailers to the highest standards (take a look at the finished product). I did see an older model and it wasn't finished off as well. I don't work for Trak Shak. I am just a person who looked for two years to find the right camper for our family. I live in Queensland and live a long way away from Adelaide and purchased the Trak Shak after visiting the Camping Show in Brisbane and having a close look at other camper trailers. I have looked in to this further and since found out that some other major brands of camper trailers have their components made in China and assembled here. Who cares in the end, it is the finished product that counts.

Well I care very much where they are made. I’d rather buy a local made product to support local industry. Also a local company will have a local labour to fix the things that inevitably go wrong.
Have their prices been reduced to reflect the $2 a day labour they are using?????

Is there steel the same grade?
Is their canvas work going to last - and if it doesn't what then.
Are their poles the same thickness and Australian steel ??
Is their suspension of the same integrity??

Buy local and be confident.

I'm starting to look around and wont have Trak Shak on my list.

Robbo

You'd probably be surprised what materials are used to build all campers. Many campers may be built in Aus but I'll bet they look for the cheapest supplier of steel, axles, springs etc, etc. Which means most will have chinese, indian etc components.