Jayco Campier Trailers

Goldstream is the go, a bit dearer but a far superior camper in build quality and suspension and are a TRUE OFFROAD camper.

Have a look at the Coromal too.

Jayco are not an offroad camper, that outback name is very misleading.

Baz.

'Been there done that' with a new Jayco Outback camper trailer and sold it after 4 months. Part of the reason was we decided the effort to put up & down was not ideal for continuous travel - OK if setting up for a few days (we are much older now than when we last had a van). However, on our first trip I had 2 rivets break (boot lid & bed end support pole) and the fold down wardrobe started to come apart (only stapled together). This was after about 1500km on sealed roads. Decided to go for a pop-top van but refused to look at a Jayco even though their prices are cheaper.

G'day Caroline,

A few months back we brought a new Goldstream Star 2 offroad package and are really happy with it.

I feel the quality is a lot better but then again you pay approximately ten grand more for that. Even so don't let anyone fool you into thinking that these can cope with extreme off road conditions because they won't. Moderate stuff is Ok however and use some common sense in where you want to take it.

Can't comment on Jayco after sales service and as yet we haven't had to follow up on any problems with ours.

Ours takes us about 15 minutes to get fully set up and you can double that if we put the bed flies and the awnings out. We opted for a small second awning on the kitchen side as well and it is great for privacy and protection in bad weather.

I'm sure you will enjoy whatever you end up with.

Not going to say which is good or bad but always remember that they are cheaper for a reason.....Everything is built to a price and the more expensive it is generally the better it is......Though there are a few exceptions to this.....Good luck but choose wisely.....

have a look at the Coromal Silhouette. They do an off-road version. For me, much better quality than the Jayco or Goldstream but it comes with a higher price. They have an excellent range of layouts, most of which are available in the "Pioneer" off road range. None of these campers are as rugged as say, a Kimberley, Aussieswag(think that's the name???), Camprite or Adventurer etc as well as the numerous tent-trailer types, but the level of comfort and space, particularly in the Coromal Silhouette is comparable to a large caravan. A great compromise between the "hardcore" offroaders and a large caravan.

Mif
I have had 3 Jaycos. The 1st was an Eagle off road and it was good but as mentioned if you had to set it up each day it was a pain. It travelled on moderate dirt roads, Gulf Road, Tanami several times and even part of the Canning when the Sturt Creek was over the Tanami road. I had a couple of minor issues, a wind down jack siezed, the two part door arrangement needed strengthening. I had the van for about 3 years and traded ot for a pop top westport as our travel methods changed and we were sick of the set up. Anyway we paid $13500 new (1994) and got $12700 as a trade in 1997. The westport was about $30,000! We kept that for about 8 years and once again a lifestyle change (kid) made me change to an Expanda. I got that in 2005. The change over was $12500, with the expanda priced at about $30,000. If you look at it I have spent $42,000 and had 3 new vans!

Anyway as far as after sales service goes I have found Jayco to be great. Although with all 3 I have only been back a couple of times the service has been great and there is often a dealer nearby. The expanda was recalled for a possible wire routing problem but mine was not affected but recalled to check anyway.

Jaycos get a bagging. They are the biggest selling make in Australia so they will have a few more problems than other makes due to volume. People will take the off road versions as a true off road and punish them and things will break. They do not do a course on off road travelling let alone off road towing so
what can they expect. If you use common sense, don't rush and think about what you are planning to do, you will be surprised how far these vans can go. Keeping an eye on the entire van and vehicle is the key to avoid disaster.

My expanda is an off road model but that was to make wheels common, give a better clearance and create a level ride height without all the stabiliser and load sharing crap. I just hook up and go. The axles are stronger and the chassis is larger. They have a crap water tank guard and paper thin checkerplate but these are easily rectified. It has been to the Flinders, Lake Mungo, Lawn Hill, Burketown etc and coped easily on these good dirt roads.

So in your position I would buy any of the vans you mentioned if I got a good deal and the layout suited. In my position I would not buy a wind up again due to the set up time and the fact that it is too hard to access things on the side of the road like at lunch time. I would not but a pop top again yet, as they are generally set up for two people so for kids they are too small. You can get bunked versions but they seem even smaller. The expanda suits me now. I like the windsor rapids set up better as far as a sold roof over the beds but I liked the jaycos floor plan. Plus as mentioned I have had no trouble with Jaycos and I was getting good deals from the local dealer so why change.

If the difference is $10,000, well that is a lot of holiday money. Remember it is not a house you are buying and these things generally live in a shed for most of the year, unused.

Thankyou too everyone ! :o) all comments are valued and anymore will be appreciated I figure the more knowledge the better position we will be in to make a sound decision based on our requirements.

Regards
Caroline

Hi Miff,
We have a Jayco Outback camper and so far we are happy with it. We looked at the Goldstream and from memory it had a painted frame. we wanted galv as we take ours on the beach. I hear stories about Jayco's falling apart in the outback and on corrugated roads. But I suspect any thing will fall apart if you go fast enought. I certainly wouldn't entertain taking ours anywhere near the Cape or anywhere 4x4 challenging for that matter. I enclosed a link to a DVD of a mob that took a few Jayco's on an inland loop across the Simpson etc. Which is a lot further than we would take ours.
Site Link
So I guess it can be done, just have to drive to the conditions.
IMHO I don't think any of them are build for serious offroad work. They are all as wide as a caravan, their wheels don't travel in the towing vehicles tracks and they are not fully dust-proof. But on the plus side they are fantastic in the way of providing a good level of comfort with minimum setting up and a light towing weight.
As far as after sales service goes. I could not be happier with our local Jayco dealer and would not hesitate to buy another van off them in the future.

We have a Jayco Dove, (1978 vintage) not an off road model, but we underslung the axle, and put larger wheels on it and it follows us with no problems. Just drive to the conditions. Of course there are limitations, just learn to live with them. We took ours along the Gibb River Road at a steady pace with no problems. In fact it got less dust inside than a couple of dedicated off roaders travelling with us. Enjoy.

Hi Caraline,

Personally I believe value for money the new Jayco is the go, I don't see any problems with the suspension, we also hire out canvas flop over style campers and these along with many other CT's use the standard shackle to shackle leaf springs without any hassles (at least if in the middle of nowhere the suspension can be repaired easily).

Value for money if you can see your self spending a few hours redoing a couple of things (quality control is Jaycos biggest problem) you can save around the $7,000 difference in price, as for their after sales service we are very happy and my brothers unit needed a new canvas after delivery (it had been a show specail and the canvas had been stretched by people over tensioning it) Jayco are replacing the lot, no problems and all thats wrong is it has a few creases on the door side.

I have taken ours through the Gawler ranges (roughest tracks) all along the Murray tracks from Mildura to the Riverland, Big Desert Wilderness Park. I have no qualms taking it anywhere that its width will fit through, so don't see that either the Coromal or Goldstream would be any better, n ow ours has had a few modifications done.

We also bought our eagle outback from jayco adelaide 18months ago and mainly bought it over the competitors on price $18,400 inc awnings,tregg,twin tanks and boat racks.
On our last trip on the GRR,Cape Leveque,Tamani and the Gawler Ranges it did very well considering the corrugations the shocker did break its weld from the chassis and we just took it off but on the other hand our brand new hilux both front shocks died totally no dampening at all left in them toyota replaced under warranty and jayco was going to do the same but i did it myself wanting to do top and bottoms.
We have done lots of mods to it from sat tv to dust seals but over all we are very happy and on that Kimberley's trip we had a 3month old and a 2year old the little one slept in a cot with the table down and the 2 year old slept in the bed and i remade the child restraint out shade cloth to make it higher.
The biggest thing we have found with taking it off road is mainly on sand as the wheel track is wider than the car on one of our trips through the Murray Sunset you can see the camper tyres acting as a plough on the sides but low range sorted that out.
What i looked at was resale say on a Coromal i could not see getting the extra $7,000 on selling it in 4years as we are planning on an expander in a couple of years. These campers are for us families that are on a budgets so selling it $7,000 cheaper secondhand will sell quicker and easier i think anyway.
Mods
low wattage fluro lights inside
front and rear dust seals
2x9kg bottles
fridge vent covers outside seal from dust
3xwater pumps and out side tap with pump
two taps/pumps inside drinking and washing one from each tank
outside 80ah battery
rewire fridge direct from batt 12mm cable
fridge fan
extra screws in all inside timber work (before first time out)
swing out bike rack
rear tool box
kipor generator at rear in box
lcd tv on swing out arm and sat tv and booster tv antenna but is not worth it
rubber guards over all tank taps and and extended shock gaurds
80watt solar panel
converted cupboards to drawers
shelfs and plastic tubs to stand up wardrobe
flyscreen to door
velcro to front awning to stop blowing up when driving
pole holders front and rear
stone guard
staberlizer feet
bedside light switches
12v sockets on side and rear for shower and extra fluro light
soft rubber to steps for when the kids go up and down steps
door vent cover
swing out bbq/roaster
boat rollers
awning end
water gauges