Camper trailer advise
Submitted: Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 14:13
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Member - jjt98 (QLD)
Hi all, Can anyone give me some final advise on a camper trailer before I buy one?
I'm looking around the $8-9k mark, off road (
cape york tough), 9' tent, kitchen etc etc I am heading to Bundy this week to take a serious look at Armadillo Campers unless someone has any other advise. I have been looking (procrastinating) for a few weeks now.
Cheers
Jason
Reply By: Steve from Top End Explorer Tours - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 14:19
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 14:19
The only advice I would give is make sure you have a 2 tonne rated axle, this will give you larger bearings and you won't break that stub axle, I would have the same wheels as the car as
well.
Cheers Steve.
AnswerID:
285341
Follow Up By: Member - jjt98 (QLD) - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 14:37
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 14:37
Thanks Steve - note taken.
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550176
Reply By: MEMBER - Darian (SA) - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 14:48
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 14:48
If it is as tough as they claim, it seems plenty of trailer and kit for the money (I ran over the list on their site). My guess is following the first bush trip there would be quite a few small issues to remedy - many makers have little actual bush experience on issues like
suspension reliability, dust ingress and keeping stones off things that matter. 2 to 3 weeks is a very short lead time - do you know of any other Armadillo owners you could get some advice from ?
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Follow Up By: Member - jjt98 (QLD) - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 15:53
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 15:53
Thanks for that Darian - They have tweaked the trailer recently after a trip THEY did & werent happy with a few things. I think it is good value as they haven't been operating long. The only down side is that they only have a 12' tent & I really want a 9'.
Thanks for looking
Cheers
Jason
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Pedro the One (QLD) - Monday, Feb 04, 2008 at 02:19
Monday, Feb 04, 2008 at 02:19
Hi Jason.....
A point I forgot to mention to you in my previous comments to you on ArmaDillos .....
the steel frame of the bedbase has been painted without a priming coat and literally flakes off at the slightest rubbing ..... which you cant really prevent when you are fitting the top to your own trailer.
Because the top is now fitted and hinged, rectification becomes a major hassle.
Overall, this was the only real quality control issue with the tent.
Would also appreciate your
feedback on the 'tweaking' done by Steve, as I may be able to 'tweak' mine.......
FollowupID:
550383
Follow Up By: Member - jjt98 (QLD) - Monday, Feb 04, 2008 at 12:34
Monday, Feb 04, 2008 at 12:34
Hi,
They are making the annex walls 2 piece instead of 1 & are attaching awnings to the windows & the cover will be a zip-on with velcro overlay. The tent will also flip out on the other side keeping in line with caravan pad sites.
I'm heading to Bundy on Wednesday to have a good look at them & order one (trailer and all).
Cheers
Jason
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Member - Kevin J (QLD) - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 16:02
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 16:02
Try www.Campertrailers.org
KevinJ
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Oldbaz. NSW. - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 16:10
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 16:10
Hi Jason, its a difficult choice. If time permits & you can get to one of the larger Camping/leisure shows, I suggest you do that & compare as many as possible in your range. Having said that, & doing it myself, I then bought a decent leaf sprung, unshocked,
unbraked 7 by 4 offroad trailer, bolted on a 9ft Chinese Oztrail
tent, built my own kitchen, added wheels to match my Jackaroo.
Registered, insured & ready to go & got change back out of $5k.A
similarly equipped package was going to cost me near $10k.
A 14k outback trip followed (Tanami, GRR etc) & everything worked perfectly.
I would look more closely at construction details & build quality
than at the toys & gizmos on offer, there are heaps out there &
all have their followers. Good luck.....oldbaz.
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Follow Up By: Member - jjt98 (QLD) - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 16:58
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 16:58
Yeh good advise Oldbaz. I thought of 'building' my own. I'm confident the trailer i'm looking at is well built - had a mate check it out last week - it's just the tent I have a question on. Do most tents fit off road campers ie floor to bed hight?
Again, thanks for the advise.
Cheers
Jason
Ps. That video is a classic :-)
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Reply By: Member - Rotord - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 16:26
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 16:26
As Oldbaz said , matching wheels and tyres are good , but also try to match track width of the trailer with the track width of the tow vehicle .
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Follow Up By: Member - jjt98 (QLD) - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 17:00
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 17:00
Thanks Rotord - Bit harder than normal as I have a Disco, so matching up wheels & track widths may prove difficult.
Thanks again
Jason
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Follow Up By: goldiedingdangdo - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 22:35
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 22:35
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news on the wheel department but 2 ton axles and Disco's dont match with alloy wheels.
The 56P wheel offset can also be an issue sometimes.
Ian
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Follow Up By: Steve from Top End Explorer Tours - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 22:40
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 22:40
2 Tonne axles and Disco's don't match.
Please explain.
Cheers Steve.
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Follow Up By: goldiedingdangdo - Monday, Feb 04, 2008 at 12:22
Monday, Feb 04, 2008 at 12:22
Steve,
The disco's have insufficient clearance on the hub centre to allow the wheel to fit on the hub. Even using the smaller slimline hubs you need to machine approx 3mm to allow clearance. The old TD1 series are ok as they have the larger (5/165PCD) The TD5 went down to 5/120PCD and very little clearance for braked hubs.
Ian
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Member - Lance S (VIC) - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 17:17
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 17:17
jjt98, try tambo trailers, very basic, plenty of extras u can add on as u save the dollars , and tough, worth a look. I might be biased but i think they r a great trailer.
cheers,
Lance
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Lance S (VIC) - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 17:21
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 17:21
and well in your price range.
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Reply By: guzzi - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 17:48
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 17:48
These are also worth a look, very happy with mine.
http://www.lifestylecampertrailers.com.au/index.php
Also Camel and Trackabout are also worth alook
http://www.camelgroup.com.auhttp://www.trackabout.com.au
These 3 are all in the
Slacks Creek area, less than 5 mins from each other.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: T-Ribby - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 21:03
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 21:03
I have a Camel light offroader (5 leaf springs) and this has done some hard work offroad. The trailer construction is as solid as a Russian brick outhouse and they didn't skimp on canvas quality either. They only mod I made was to put on Federal Ecovan LT tyres and I built a slide out ply kitchen and trolley. Love it.
cheers
T.R.
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Follow Up By: T-Ribby - Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 21:05
Sunday, Feb 03, 2008 at 21:05
Correction "has done some hard work on rough roads"
T.R.
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