Buying our first caravan

Hi Peter:

Having just come off a trip around Oz, the two vans that caught our eyes in places where caravans should not be seen were Coromals and Kedrons. Seemed to be built for the rough stuff, had heaps of ground clearance, sensible sized wheels/tyres, and enough heavy stuff to make them "off-road" capable. In all cases, the owners were more than happy with the capabilities of ther respective rigs.

I don't have a caravan, but if I was after one that could get off the black tip, these are the two I would be taking a close look at.

Jack

You usually get what you pay for in caravans. I found looking at second hand vans gave me a good idea which vans were more durable than others. Some vans 12 months old look old and others 4 years old look new. Have a look at the tyres to see how much work they have done. All this is just another indication.
Some vans have lots of pretty things, some vans have the safety and practical things and other have both. Some vans are chip board and other are ply.
I found it hard comparing vans as you couldn't get to compare apples with apples. They all have different features. Lots of mirrors give a great WOW factor but are they practical.
Work out what you want, what you need, and what you don't want and get looking.
For what it is worth I now have a Roadstar.
good luck.

Neil

Fridges - go for a compressor fridge rather than a three way with gas.

Caravans - spend time researching, looking, talking. Bail up travellers with caravans on the road and ask them. Consider your tow vehicle and the weight it can tow - don't be near it's maximum, you may need extra power, and the heavier the van the more wear and tear on the vehicle and it's gears.

Consider buying second hand, as you won't have lost much if you decide to change after a few trips. In fact when you buy, think of it as temporary (you do say your first van, so you are thinking right).

You may have already decided on size; this would be dependent on the length of time you will be away on trips, your driving experience, and personal choice as to whether you want to take a roomy home, or prefer the maneuverability of a small van.

Just my thoughts
Motherhen

G'day again,
Thanks to everyone that answered my question on caravans.It helps "She who must be obeyed" and I a lot. As we have been working all our lives we have decided to pack up and travel for a couple of years. This is new territory for us, that is why we are trying to gather as much information and personal experience from other travellers before we start on the road. Any tips or suggestions would be much appreciated.I would like to know from Motherhen, or anyone else about compressor fridges.
Regards
Peter and "She who must be obeyed".

Peter and SWMBO

Take your time to choose a van as there are so many makes to choose from these days. As a previous post says in this thread 'what looks nice might not be practical'

In 1990 we bought a 27ft Viscount shell in Darwin(relic from post Cyclone Tracy). Over two years I fitted it out with some furniture, we packed our gear in it, lived in it for a while, carried a 125cc Honda Bike on the drawbar and in 1992 relocated to Alice Springs. When I weighed the Landcruiser and van at the weighbridge near the Showgrounds the total weight was 6.5 tonne. In 1995 we left Alice Springs to go 'On the wallaby' full time and had reduced the weight of the van to 3.5 tonne. even this was fraught with danger as the brakes on the van were inadequate. By the time we stopped travelling in 1999 the weight of the van was down to 2.5 tonne. Along the way we had a few 'hair raising ' experiences towing the van and I swore I would never two another thing, ever again.

Yeah, never say never. These days we tow a bush trailer on our annual exploratory camping treks across the country.

Cheers

Please if you intend to travel and live in the van consider the following.

1. 12 volt frig/freezer is really the way to go, gas works usually OK, but there are circumstances where they are lacking, particularly if not wired correctly, which most are not. 12 volt is more expensive, which is their main downside.

Additionally you really need a battery pack, to run it when you are stationary and there is no external power.

2. Also if you intend to travel away from caravan parks, you really need to consider a toilet and shower combinations, that really means you need a gas hot water heater.

This will tend to limit the minimum length of the van down to 17 foot, and the increase in weight will mean dual axles. It will also mean that it is hard but is still done, to put a shower into a pop top.

Price is also a factor, but high sales of a brand, does not always mean that it will suit you guys. The best way to evaluate your choice is to do a spread sheet, with the factors or points about each van, are marked down and that way you do not miss any of your own important factors.

Talking to owners, and not salesmen will quickly show you who the real players are.

Regards

Col'

TRy these sites for a solid van.

www.bushtracker.com/

Site Link

Site Link

Hi Peter and Dawn,

It may be hard for you to go and see the manufacturing process at some of the van manufacturers but if you can this will also give you a clearer indication of what is solid and what is not. I was astonished at Kedron's process and vowed never to buy one there and then but I am the first to admit others seem to love them so maybe their process has changed since 2000 when I looked.
If you will be in any high ambient temp regions the gas fridge will NOT cope and one of the compressor fridges would be classed as essential in my opinion. Downside to this is a HUGE power supply if you wish to bush camp for any length of time, remember generators are frowned upon in many areas and in Nat. Parks they are not welcome at all, so solar charging may be required???
Golf do a nice van IMO and their on road versions would cope with more than some of the so called "off-road" packs of other manufacturers but you will pay for it in your purchase price (which put it out of my league :-(
One not so well known off-road van I would have a good look at if I was buying again is a TrakMaster (find them HERE ) as they seem to cope with the rough stuff from what I have seen, but my choice is off-road as opposed to on road.
I ended up with a Supreme Getaway and it has served the purpose well with nearly 300000km on the axles with only maintenance to speak of in running costs. But I needed to load the eyeballs out of my van and the steel floor of the Supreme was the only one that could have coped with this IMO. Downside to this is the tare weight of the van it is HUGE for a small van. Supreme can be found HERE if you want.

Happy hunting and what ever you get enjoy the freedom.
Regards, Trevor.

Hi Peter & Partner,

Congratulations on making the decision to 'hit the road' for a few years - you won't regret it.

A few observations from we who've being doing it since mid-02: We'd go for a small-ish tandem van, say 17-19 foot. We managed in a 16' single axle for a couple of years but it was terribly overloaded most of the time. Of necessity, you need to carry a lot more gear when living in the van than for a few weeks holiday (e.g. summer and winter clothes, more tools & bits and pieces if you want to carry on a hobby or craft, etc.), so you need good load-carrying ability.

Recommend you continue to read CW, especially Tom Oltoff''s excellent technical articles and advice. Get hold of back issues if you can, particularly a series a year or two ago about caravan weights, ball weights, weight distribution hitches, etc. - excellent stuff. And DO buy a proper weight distribution hitch, no matter what van you get.

Also, carefully check the compatibility of your proposed tow vehicle with the van - not only maximum braked trailer weight but also maximum ball weight (including ball weight reductions if the vehicle is approaching it's maximum load (GVM = Gross Vehicle Mass)).

On weights, a typical tandem van should have an ATM (aggregate trailer mass = when fully loaded) at least 400kg higher than the tare (completely empty), preferably more. Manufacturers' spec plates have been notoriously inaccurate in the past so, when you are getting serious about a particular van, I'd try to get it to a weighbridge and weigh it empty (disconnected from the tow vehicle and with the jockey wheel sitting on the weighbridge) and see if it's close to the compliance plate Tare Weight. If is a lot higher, that's a lot less gear you can carry without exceeding the ATM and being technically illegal. If buying from a dealer, I'd INSIST on a weight from a registered weighbridge (witnessed personally!) before signing on the dotted line.

Electrolux three-way fridges work quite OK, even in 40C+ if they installed to the manufacturer's recommendations, with proper ventilation. And you can add simple 12V fans to assist if you like. 12V compressor fridges are very good but expensive, especially when you factor in the battery packs, solar panels, regulators/chargers you need to run them for any length of time.

The new purpose-built 'rough road' caravans can be very good if you have the $70-100K asking price but I'd suggest few actually use their 'rough road' abilities to any great extent. For much less than half the cost you can get a near new, quite adequate 'normal' caravan that will easily handle "90% of our time on the black top". There are plenty of near- new vans that may have been "around the block" once and are no longer required and that's what I'd suggest as a "first van". It will give the experience you need to decide what you really want, so that your "second" van will be "just right!".

We like pop tops because they are light and airy with good ventilation but they are not quite so suited to cold climes - as we are finding now in Tassie! I'm about 5'11" and find many so-called full-height vans a tight fit, especially with roof-top air conditioners. Taller blokes must have real problems.

We've found many shower/toiler cubicles tend to become a storage cupboard and we're quite happy not to have one - but this doesn't suit everyone and can be a problem if you really DO do a lot of free camping/bush camping.

That's enough waffle for now. Hope this is of some use.
Ian & Annette

may also suggest you ask on specific caravan forum

Thanks again to everyone that replied.
Peter and Dawn

A bit more Peter and Dawn

Ours is an 18' Bushtracker, built 1998 and purchased 3rd or 4th hand 3 years ago. Plenty of room for me and oodles of storage space, but my big man would like another couple of feet to feel comfortable and have 'his own space' being with me 24/7 for a few months. But 20' would require a large tow vehicle and would really limit where we can go. We know having the BT it will not full apart on us out there in the never never - my husband wouldn't consider anything else after we saw the first one (saw outside only - looking underneath it convinced him).

We have sideways bed as this way we have queen size without loosing floor space, and climbing over each other is no bother (if one gets up in the night, we usually both do). We have the short a-frame. We have combined toilet and shower 'en suite' and gas only HWS.

We had a fridge fatality (i think) last trip, and will most likely need to replace the fridge. We can really only fit the same type in the space, which is one with the small freezer inbuilt. I would have chosen a model with a separate freezer if buying a new caravan. It is a 12 v only. We will buy same again (is really 12v 24v - doesn't come in 12/240), and get a transformer with it for occasional 240 volt use. For our previous little camper, we bought a beaut Engel upright (still with freezer inside) in 12/240 which was excellent.

We prefer dual axle - safer, and less tossing around. No finding the milk has leaked, the eggs have scrambled themselves and the cans have got swapped around and all mixed up etc!

We have 4 solar panels mounted on the roof, and 3 deep cycle batteries. Usually ample power. We use 2 small inverters (added a new pure sine wave and kept the old there) and have run things like soldering irons, and recharge batteries, including portable electric power tools.

Just for the air conditioner (not used often but heaven on a really hot day) we got a Honda 2oi generator, which lives in a box on the a-frame with the ULP & oil cans. We also used the genny for the angle grinder when the pin in our fixed jack (instead of jockey wheel) broke and we were stuck alone in the bush, and to help out another camper who needed a wheel stud that had snapped ground out.

When we got our previous little old wind up van, we got one solar panel and mounted it on a frame to put facing the sun when we stopped and one deep cycle battery; this ran the Engel fridge and a couple of lights, but we were in fine weather all the time - didn't even take the genny.

With our shorter rig, we have been able to get out of places where, driving down a 4wd bush track to a tourist site, the track has just stopped, whereas with a long rig - i shudder to think. Our caravan comes with us most of the time. In Tasmania we did a bit of leaving it behind and day trips, but on the mainland, you may have to come back a huge distance to pick it instead of continuing on. There is also the security worry about leaving it, although we have had no trouble. Our ideal life (don't get there very often) is to drive until we find somewhere worth stopping - and our home is right there with us.

What ever you decide to get, try it out a few times before taking off. You will want to take different things, and will be able to leave lots behind that you pack but find you can do without. As Willem wisely says, keep the weight down.

Motherhen

goodday peter
just got back from a weekend away in our paramount
but a question have you and your partner done any long trips in a van if not my suggestion is that you hire or borrow if you have some nice friends to try caravanning before you buy a van as there are quite a number of people who say we are off and a 1000ks up the track have a blue or 1 says i dont like this (we love the life and will soon move into a bigger van which will become home).
#2 suggestion is if you can get to the southern states to buy your van as you will have a better choice(sorry darwin caravan sellers but we have had 3 year s in a row in darwin we love it but have seen whats available also)
we have spent a fair bit of time researching vans (every caravan show for the last 12yrs )we have had jayco hawk freedom offroad ???? currently a paramount but our new van will be we (the boss) think is a coromal with almost the works ,solar, extra battery, compressor fridge(would never go back to a 3 way) not sure yet wether it will be a ensuite or shower /toilet model walls for awning 9500 series with aluminium rollover,gas electric fridge (a must if staying on the side of the road)
if you have any questions feel free to ask or MM me

steve
ps motherhen also has a lot of experience with the vans

Hello Peter and Dawn,

Congratulations on joining the long list of caravanners. One thing you really have to decide is "where do we REALLY want to go" in our new van and then work from there.

We spent 9 months travelling Oz last year in a camper trailer, loved every moment of it and have decided to hit the road again in January for a considerable time 3+ years or so but whose going to count.

After a lot, and I mean a lot, of research we finally opted for a special build Paramount 21'6" with independent suspension and 4" raiser on the chasis, 2 x 100 amp hour batteries and provision for solar.

Our main aim with the suspension and raised chassis was to make it comfortable accessing some places that you would not take a normally kitted van, nothing extreme like Gibb River Road, Plenty Highway, etc. but just to get us into N.Parks.... a good example would be Douglas Hot Springs, where a lot of vanners wouldn't take their vans that last little step through the shallow, often dry, but deep (for a standard van) creek crossing.

We have portable 80watt solar panels which can be plugged directly into an Andersen plug on the draw bar to charge the batteries.

One thing we did include was a tunnel boot to the rear of the van, this gives us a tremendous amount of storage, we keep our 2kva gen. on a fridge slide in the tunnel boot, along with any annexe poles, fishing rods, etc. that would normally take up room in the van.

We opted for the 3-way fridge, the new "tropical" models hold their temp. well, even in hot conditions... we mainly opted for the 3-way because of power considerations. Last year we used an 80 litre Waeco, with dual batteries, solar, etc. and some times we struggles to maintain power.

For our travels "off-road" this time we have decked out the rear of the Patrol with draw system, fridge slide, yep we still have the Waeco, and other camping gear, leaving the van in storage.

This has been rather long-winded, but thought we would share our experiences with you...

SandynGraham