Jayco Caravans

Just to clarify, I don't intend taking the van off-road, rather I intend to leave it parked as a base and use my Oz tent for side trips. However, I daresay there are many rutted roads which will shake the hell out of the van and if Jaycos really do fall apart, then I guess I wilol have to rethink my first choice.

Hi Don,

I have a Jayco Swan Outback which we take off road. Yes they do rattle a bit and bits do drop off. We have never had anything serious drop off but I am always putting little screws back in etc. They are built to a price so if you can accept that (and save $30K) you will be happy. Also being an Engineer you should be reasonably technically adept so small jobs shoudn't be too much of an issue.

Good luck whichever way you go!!

Hi Don,
For what it is worth, and that's probably not a lot, over the years I have pulled various makes of caravans over roads ranging from freeway smooth to cap rock track.
Most of the vans stood up reasonably well but, as the previous writer said, you are always running around checking and tightening, or should be. That and a dose of common sense(like "If it looks too rough,it probably is") will ensure that you can do all you want.

Happy Travelling

Disco

AFAIK , Jayco are the largest Builder of Caravans in Oz. With the number they sell , its only natural that you see a few lemons. They are massed produced and not hand built.

Personally , I would buy a Jayco in a flash. They are excellent value for money.

Gidday Don,

I bought a Coromal camper trailer as opposed to a Jayco for a few reasons. As Grizzle wrote, they are built to a price (well, all vans are to a certain extent). It wasn't because I thought the Jayco was necessarily an inferior product.

Having said that, I think Jayco's version of sandwich panel sided vans has been out for less than 2 years, so there probably aren't a huge amount (particularly the Sterling) on the road as yet. I took a look in some at the Rosehill show, and thought that they looked quite reasonable for the price. Particularly the Sterling. As a layperson, the quality has improved (IMHO) since the last Rosehill Show. Once I sell my camper, I'll consider the Jayco when I start looking in ernest.

I think Jayco has a club which you might be able to make enquiries of.

Don:
I am one of those people who poured heaps on Jayco in a previous posting. At the end of my posting, I said “Would I buy another Jayco? – probably yes”. I reckon that Jaycos are as good (0r bad) as any of the other brands and probably represent better value than most of the others. Just don’t expect too much from them.

We have now done about 94000 km with ours, including through SW Qld to Tiboorburra and then out to Broken Hill etc. We have done several trips ‘round the block’ - mainly on blacktop, leaving the van in a central place whilst we go exploring in our Pajero. Even now, bits occasionally fall off but I think we have just about sorted the beast out by now. Like you, I like the idea of an aluminium frame, but seeing what I have of mine, I wouldn’t want to hit a truck or anything for that matter with it because I really don’t think there is much strength there. As for ‘Fully Insulated’ … I think the insulation is mainly air gap between the inner and outer skins.

Go for it, but be prepared and check it out thoroughly because sure as hell, Jayco don’t do adequate quality control in their own patch.