Where can a dinkum off-road caravans go?

Eric, I agree with your comments about the weight of the towing vehicle versus the weight of the towed vehicle. I would question the suitability of dual back wheels though. IMHO large singles are less likely to bog. After doing a fair bit of research on vans such as Bushtracker it seems most of them around the 20ft or larger need an F truck or similar for anything other than bitumen or reasonable dirt roads.

Cheers Pop

Hi Equinox

You did well in the late 70s early 80s we had to put a grader

from Glen Florrie to Ullawarra every 2 years and it was tough.

dave

A couple of years ago , we were caught on Glen Florrie when they had over an inch of rain in 24 hours . Very interesting drive to the homestead , especially crossing the flooded creek at the HS .
Willie .

Dave
Did you see the Native Drawings upon the rocks, where the main track crosses the creek from memory.


Willie
I want to see one of the big creeks flowing one day - that would be awesome.

Cheers

Equinox

Did not know or hear about the paintings,

besides it was get in and get out as there was no money

to really do the job,

will look for them when i go back up to have a look around.

dave

Willie, how does narrow tracks through trees / scrub affect you. Being high and wide I thought that might even bring these vans undone at times. Would cladding stand up to it? JD

Yes I have seen it Bware - my favourite off-road video. But I didn't mention it because they pushed things way beyond where people would go normally (they own Kedron so damaging a van not a such a worry to them either LOL). Reckon its a great advert for Kedron - van put up with a lot. Cheers JD

You would be taking a wide line on corners now though Willie? Was the track in difficult? Just reading about it I thought it would have been interesting.

JD,

Willie is spot on with his comments, so the open corrugated outback roads would be taken in a true offroad van's stride. True offroad tracks with washouts creek crossings and tight tree lined tracks will cause damage and may even stop you completely. As said by others, it depends on how much repairing you are prepared to do as to how far up that off the beaten track you go.

Like willie, I took my 16ft Supreme Getaway into West Kunderang on the weekend and also had no drama's. (John, I don't no where the reports of 1st low required come into it but 3rd low was well and truely adequate down and up in my rig with the low transfer gear, Pezza went down and up in 1st high with his camping trailer in tow behind his 2.8 Patrol).

Willie, Good to finally catch up with you on the weekend and I look forward to the next one.

Cheers, Trevor.

Hi Trevor & Willie
Thanks fior you company on the weekend ,glad to see you made it home,I made home midday Monday the old girl did not miss a beat.

Regards

Trev , Col ,

Good to finally put some faces to you guys .

Col ,
Beach - last sale $1.15 . I bought some more at 1.20 today . Tricky market though . Use caution or maybe sit on the sidelines for a bit . I guess it al depends on how much risk you are prepared to take on .

Cheers ,

Willie .

I was driving the Land Rover when crossing the King Edward.

We later went along the Duncan Hwy and the Savannah Way.

We hope you enjoyed the Mitchell Falls area?

Here is another one:

Phoenix Caravans

If I had not found the Bushtracker second hand I was going to order a new Phoenix Phase 3 . Top stuff .
Willie .

I think we may have had this discusion previously Willie.

What's the reports on the New Phoenix Vans ?

My parents own a Phoenix which was bought from the original owners.

Phoenix changed hands a few years back , and the product suffered quite badly.

I haven't heard from any recent owners about the product and whether the product has improved.

Hi Flappa
We are very happy with the quality of our 1yr old Phoenix and the warranty (2yrs) is excellent and well supported. Product quality seems to be the same but a certain area with their customer service is a common complaint with the owners I have met. Every brand has their problem areas I suppose.

How did the product 'suffer quite badly'? Just interested in the history.

We bought a Phoenix because they started improving the interior fitout from the old grey look and all owners we met in our 2yrs leading up to the purchase had zero complaints about quality. Also the construction hasn't changed and quality is still good according to the old owner Barry who had our van recently for a service.

Phoenix owners are a pretty quiet bunch, never hear much, I believe that's because there is no forum setup or club established. There have been a few attempts to try and address this but the it requires co-operation from the business owners which is apparenty been the stumbling block in the past.

The marketing seems to have picked up pace in the last few years and with a new factory orders are now out to Sept '08. This should over time improve re-sale similar to what Bushtracker enjoy. In addition to that you would be hard pressed to walk out with a Phoenix van for under $100k now.

We looked at Kedron and Trakmaster but Phoenix had the edge - which yes you pay for. Bushtracker didn't seem to be as flexible with customising as Phoenix and I felt we were just another order to get on the production line. I certainly wasn't keen on having to deal with a particular person there down the track when it came to warranty or mods.

Anyway I might attempt to rasie the profile for Phoenix owners by starting a yahoo or ninemsn forum this year. The business owners would benefit and it can only improve their product with ideas and feedback.

Cheers
John

Hi John,

So the story goes , the original Phoenix owners had something like 12 to 15 staff. Just after they sold the business , through little work and various problems , the staff numbers had reduced to a hand full.

My parents had to have their Van reskinned due to hail damage , and they actually took it to the old owners who had a repair business not far from the Phoenix business. Again , as I'm told , most people took their vans to the old owners for work , rather then the new owners.

"apparently" the business was being run down so badly , the old owners were considering repurchasing the business.

Now , that was probably 5 years ago ??

I do NOT know what has happened since. It would appear from a few sources , Phoenix has once again picked up their game. The reason for my post was that some people know that Pheonix has been around for sometime , and rely on older reviews. The Older Vans and New Vans are somewhat different. Which is better . . . . not for me to say.

Just on the Bushtracker/Phoenix comparision.

When my parents were looking into buying their van , Bushtracker would not even given them a quote unless they put money down. Phoenix were very accommodating with their requirements , and thats the main reason they bought the Phoenix.

Flappa, We have friends who had a Phoenix made to meet their stringent requirements, after they found Bushtracker (their first choice) and Kedron not willing to consider their every need. They found the people at Phoenix extremely co-operative and are very happy with the result - and they have been on some out of the way tracks with it, and have been 'on the road' for a couple of years or so now.

Motherhen

John ,

What are your ideas for the next one ?

I would like a 15' dual axle in 7' width . Phoenix were willing to go to dual axle down to 15'6" for me , but that all fell in a hole when I found a cheaper second hand Bushtracker .

Phoenix Phase 3 would be my pick of new vans .

Willie .

Hi All

We have a 20ft Procyon Lassiter Off Road Caravan. made by York
Caravans, they copied all of the above caravan features, took the best bits, and made a reasonable off roader. for the dollars we paid.
Owing to my business commitments, we havent been any where
as yet, re some of the tracks ect, but we often tow it up to
Teewah Beach which is fairly straight forward, we are mad beach fishing enthusiasts, and it keeps the cook happy re the ensuite in it.

Cheers
Daza