Steel/Aluminium versus Wood Framed Off/dirt road caravans

Gday,
No personal experience in off road vans but as a boilermaker who has worked as a carpenter for a lot of years I wouldn't have thought it was even fair to compare.
I would think aluminium would leave timber for dead and except for the weight factor steel would be better again.
Cheers

I reckon you will lucky to get a proper analysis of the two materials from anyone - unless someone has actually owned and traveled off-road in extreme conditions with both.

I have asked the same questions and came up with - it depends on who makes the vans. From my understanding Bushtracker and Coromal are very pro aluminium and Trackmaster is pro merbu. All excellent vans. Take your pick.

aluminium framed won't rot if it gets wet .Termites don't go for it either

Interesting subject,,, we've just ordered a wooden frame van after having been convinced for 2 years to go alloy.

Primary deciding factor for us,,,,,, went to factory production line,,,,,,,,,,,,alloy was good cross section material in horizontal and vertical sections and through jointed, ie one section bigger than the other and the smaller inserted inside the larger,, make sense I hope,, problem was a very small rivet held it all together at each joint,, when rivet lets go what holds it??? It still has flex as does wood frame so outcome likely to be very similar in terms of rigidity overall.

Anothe rissue is the quality of the chassis and flex ie fairly rigid chassis to support the monocoque section on top.

Ours is now ordered so one day I'll be able to provide feedback. we'll probable pick it up and go to Birsville races. We will be inspecting on the production line as well.

Every material has its + and - 's ie wood, fibreglass and steel boats,, owned one of each and each needed its own level of care to suit applicaction.

I would suggest that fully welded alloy frames could have high stress areas also and this is evidenced by cracks in aircraft alloys that cost millions of $ to produce.

One key decision we made quite recently is " if we encounter a situation that is likely to cause significant damage to van" we'll back off, but we don't anticpate major problems if we act smart and don't "flog it".

Another 2 cents worth as I don't usually write this much, but I hope there is some logic here.

Barry

I expected the above responses, that is why I posted the thread. There from what I can gather is no significant and definitive advantage of one method of construction over the other. It depends entirely upon who you listen to.

I would of course go for a welded steel frame every time except for the weight problem and the issue of join failures behind the scenes, and as an former airline pilot would never fly in an aeroplane made with a wood frame. Steel framed aeroplanes never get off the ground.

I hope I am never in one place long enough for white ants to get above the wheel arches, but have seen a van bought by my new by my old man in 1962 collapse in a heap of wood dust and aluminium sheeting in Karratha in 1982. I was to say at the time quite shocked at how a perfectly functional van with good interior fittings could turn into a pile of junk so quickly. I lived in that van for well over a year and it was rented out in Dixon's Caravan park (Port Hedland) for several years before it finally collapsed.

BTW I have just purchased a new Meranti framed van. On the above record I will be in my 80's before it too collapses :-)

I thought aluminium until I had a Coromal for 6 mths and the rivets started to give way. I now have a timber frame and no problems.
I agree that aluminium wont rot but then the aluminium leaks and needs to be rot proof. Personally I prefere a van that doesn't leak.

Neil

Well all this was my fathers old all wood caravan,On a trip to Brisbane from Sydney 1942-43 was mostly all dirt ,It fell to pieces @ Taree. End of Trip .
As the rest wood is out it moves to much

Try and get the best suspension setup available to minimise the vans (accomadation part of) need to soak up the rough stuff. All vans taken off road will shake rattle and roll but the suspension system on each van will determine to what extent that van will shake to bits.

I chose the Supreme Getaway for it's steel floor and timber frame. The steel belly gives a good platform for the independantly sprung axles to do their job before the shaking starts up top. So far so good and mine has done 250-300 thousand k's (no exaggeration).

Happy trails.
Trevor.