Jayco offroad campers

Submitted: Monday, Aug 29, 2005 at 15:29
ThreadID: 25960 Views:4831 Replies:4 FollowUps:1
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Hi Guys and Girls, a mate of mine is off to have a look at a used offroad jayco camper,
is there any thing in particular we should be casting our wary eyes over, do they have any common faults to look out for, what problems have the forumites encountered if any.
Thanks in advance,
Will
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Reply By: flappa - Monday, Aug 29, 2005 at 15:53

Monday, Aug 29, 2005 at 15:53
Dont know about common faults , but a couple of things to look for.

The obvious one is the chassis. Make sure its as delivered. Look for ANY sign of fixes.

The other one is , the cabinets.

Thats the one area in these vans that cops HEAPS of abuse offroad. A friend of mine that has one , is always fixing the cupboards. Nothing ultra major. Nothing a bit of glue and screws wont fix.

Should give an indication of its life.

The other areas to take notice of (but not isolated to Jayco's) , woudl be the roof , the lifting mechanism , and the slide out beds.
AnswerID: 127317

Reply By: JohnWD - Monday, Aug 29, 2005 at 16:18

Monday, Aug 29, 2005 at 16:18
Hi Wilb

Agree with points from Flappa. My personal thoughts are that for extended formed dirt road travel (campers are really not designed for real tuff off road stuff) that your mate considers a camper with independent suspension. Jayco's I think are beam axles only. We have a Goldstream camper with ind suspension and on talking to other travellers on the road with beam axles, the story is similar.... On bad /corrugated formed gravel roads, beam axles can take a pounding and can cause damage such as shock absorber mounts tearing off etc. Ind suspension is somewhat more forgiving as it irons out the bumps.

Mind you, as with lots of things, it also comes down to how you drive and speeds etc.

The main thing is that you get out there and just do it!!!!!
AnswerID: 127319

Reply By: hanson - Monday, Aug 29, 2005 at 16:18

Monday, Aug 29, 2005 at 16:18
Just another by note, re suspension.... the shock assorber mounts top and bottom will break if going off road on corrugations. We owned one went up Mitchell Falls and saw several with shockies hanging loose. (we modified our suspension by welding 10ml gussetts on top and bottom ) We also modified suspension by placing another beam - box tubing- above axle and then placing coil springs from axle to beam above, we never had suspension problems..... but cupboards is a pain in the butt fixing shelves all the time, also rivets fell out of main door of camper. But ..... we still had a good time, have now off road coromal caravan 17'6" solar gear etc and no modifications and going well .... Ric
AnswerID: 127320

Follow Up By: Member - Roachie (SA) - Monday, Aug 29, 2005 at 16:46

Monday, Aug 29, 2005 at 16:46
That's right about the shockies. I was following one up around Innaminka on the way to Birdsville a few years ago. We went over a grid and I nearly pyssed myself when I saw BOTH shockies fall away at the top mount....both at the exact same time. When we got to Birdsville, the bloke there at the servo went up to the driver and said "I bet I know what you want me to do" (or words to that effect). He said there had not been a Jayco camper arrive in the town that didn't have broken shockers (I think he might have been exaggerating, eh?).

The other things that we noticed about the Jayco were that it had a nasty habit of sucking in dust. This might seem like a relatively minor issue, but for the "cook" it was almost a "deal-breaker"......she was getting very pyssed-off, very fast. (RULE # 1....keep the cook happy and you've got a better than even chance of having a great trip!!!).
The other issue we noticed was the poor ground clearance, caused by the "snow-plough" A-frame and the fold-in step. The latter got all bent up when we had to do a relatively easy detour around a boggy patch, getting off the main track involved driving over the smallish, continuous mound of dirt previously deposited there by a grader (no more than 18" high).

Cheers

Roachie
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Reply By: Willb - Monday, Aug 29, 2005 at 20:14

Monday, Aug 29, 2005 at 20:14
Thank you for your replies, he is travelling up to Newcastle tomorrow to have a look at one and I will pass on your thoughts.
Will
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