Corrimal Silhouette camper

Submitted: Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006 at 13:48
ThreadID: 32993 Views:3553 Replies:4 FollowUps:4
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Hi to all
We are planning a trip to Central Australia later in the year towing a Pioneer Silhoutte. a considerable part of it will be over gravel/dirt roads such as the Plenty Highway.
Iwould appreciate any feedback from other Silhoutte owners who have done some travelling with them over gravel roads whether the covered foam "guard" along the front of the camper is an effective stone guard for stones thrown up by the vehicle or do the stonesjust break cut or chip it?Also is it of any use preventing stones from rebounding on to the tow vehicle?Should I be considering fitting a good stoneshield similar to that which comes with the Adventure Camper Trailer?

Any other owners experience / feedback would be appreciated.

Drover
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Reply By: pmacks - Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006 at 14:30

Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006 at 14:30
Hi Drover

Dont have a pioneer but do have a goldstream that has been towed everywhere, we also have the foam padding on the front and over time it has been cut a little bit but not torn to shreads, just small cuts from stones ect. I dont think it stops the rebound effect very much but we have two gas bottles and a jerry can on the front so most stones hit these and not the front of the camper anyway.
Our rear window protection is core flute plastic that we got from an old supermarket display and it has two bloody big red bloodshot eyes on it but as we cant see over the top of the camper anyway rear vision is not an issue for us, i would recommend the rear window protection as i belive ours has saved the window at least once.

hope this helps
pmacks
AnswerID: 167570

Reply By: Member - Fred L (NSW) - Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006 at 16:30

Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006 at 16:30
Hi Drover
I've got the 3.9 off road model with quite a few nicks in the protection foam guard. I also have a nice big ding in the back of the patrol from a stone that kicked up - so I would suggest you go with a stone guard.

By the way how does yours cope with the dust. I was out the weekend before Easter and spent a few hours cleaning the dust out. A lot seems to come in thru the fridge vent. I am tempted to just close them up when travelling but I had better speak to somebody who knows before doing that!

I also lost the handle which lifts the roof but found an old table so I cut off the legs and now have something that is much better because it has the two arms - even the wife can lift the roof now.

Cheers
Fredl

AnswerID: 167583

Reply By: brian - Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006 at 17:25

Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006 at 17:25
Depends on where you go and what tyres on the truck,we took our corrimal 440 offroad magnum through innaminka ,bore track etc.Had brand new goodyear MTRs on the patrol these threw stones unbelievably,cut the padding to pieces punched holes through the front aluminium sheeting of the van,split the battery box on the draw bar, destroyed the 6 inch pvc tube carrying the poles that was mounted to the draw bar,rocks bounced of the van back onto the roof of the patrol even rolling down the windscreen when driving forward.Had the windows of patrol protected with coreflute,lots of dents in coreflute but windows undamaged,rear doors peppered with dents etc.I now have replaced the front padding with custom fabricated aluminium chequerplate this works a treat about $600 to have made and fitted.
Stone Shield yep a good idea.
AnswerID: 167600

Reply By: Member - Kingsley N (SA) - Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006 at 20:30

Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006 at 20:30
We have done a number of trips on bush tracks (Birdsville, Innamincka, Tibooburra etc) and we have a stone guard fitted. I would say that it is worth its weight in gold. There is no damage to the padding because stones hit the mesh guard first. It is slanted forwards at quite a steep angle and consequently throws the stones downwards. There is no stone damage to the back of the Patrol, but I did manage to bust a taillight when reversing because the stone guard potrudes quite a bit. Also the guard makes it a bit more difficult to open and close the front bed (no big deal). We do have stone damage along the sides of the van however. I am considering bigger mudflaps on the Patrol which has had a 2 inch lift.

We only had dust come in once and it was through the lower fridge vent. I now cover it from outside with plastic sheet and duct tape. (Leave the top vent uncovered). We also noticed on early trips that we got some dust in around the rear where the lid clamps down. If you watch when you are folding it down the dust seal can flip up where it touches the vertical guide. We now make sure that the dust seal is straight and we also tighten the overcentre locks twice. This ensures that a good seal is made.

By the way we have done about 15000 KM in 12 months and only just figured out how to lock the beds with those pins that dangle on straps!

Kings
AnswerID: 167654

Follow Up By: drover - Wednesday, Apr 19, 2006 at 13:53

Wednesday, Apr 19, 2006 at 13:53
Kingsley
Thanks for that.
thanks to others as well

Do you run the fridge ( on 12v) with the lower vent closed? If so is there much heat build up?

Drover
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FollowupID: 423002

Follow Up By: Member - Kingsley N (SA) - Wednesday, Apr 19, 2006 at 19:50

Wednesday, Apr 19, 2006 at 19:50
Yes we do run the fridge on 12v with the bottom vent covered. We do most of our dirt road travel in the cooler weather so it is not a problem. There is no doubt that the three way fridge requires good ventilation for maximum effect, so as soon as the day's travel is over we open it up and get onto the gas. I have noticed that the fridge does not work terribly well on 12V and it works almost too good on gas, causing the main area to freeze up (tomatoes, eggs, lettuce etc!)

Kings
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FollowupID: 423120

Follow Up By: drover - Wednesday, Apr 26, 2006 at 16:43

Wednesday, Apr 26, 2006 at 16:43
Thanks for your help.
One further query- have you experienced water leakage into the canvas bags at the front & the rear in which the bed end flys are carried? Mine lets water in each time it rains-I think through the zipper. Just wondering if its a common problem or if I need to find some way of sealing the zipper.

Drover
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FollowupID: 424439

Follow Up By: Member - Kingsley N (SA) - Wednesday, Apr 26, 2006 at 20:16

Wednesday, Apr 26, 2006 at 20:16
Yes mate. The bed end bags do let water in. I'm not sure exactly how. It is important to open them up fairly often when travelling in the winter. I haven't experienced mould forming yet, but it is possible. I don't know about sealing the zippers, but you could try one of those tent wax sticks. I have run over all the seams (on the main van sides and ends) with Coleman liquid seam sealer. We did have leaks on the bedding due to doonahs touching the seams. We use plastic on the beds when folding up wet and we also have 12 inch high plastic barriers vertically around the mattresses if rain is expected.

We also have a shade awning on the side and this had an annoying leak on rainy days when set up. I checked it closely when folded down and noticed that there is a mismatch between the edge of the awning and the side of the van. A quick bead of silicone fixed it.

I store my van in the open but with a tarp covering the roof and awning bags. The worst problem we had over summer was an ant infestation. We had not used the van for about 6 weeks over Christmas. They got in by climbing up a stabiliser leg and nested in the folded canvas . I now have the plastic feet fitted and we keep a bit of water in them to discourage the ants. We also inspect it periodically.

Kings
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FollowupID: 424514

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