Off-road Caravan

I would say that there are three basic van levels.

Highway only, with perhaps a well made smooth dirt road or two thrown in.

Dirt road van that will handle dirt, with mild corrugations. These are basically a highway van with beefed up suspension and wheels, but interior fittings etc are the same as highway.

Full off road that you would be game to take anywhere your tow vehicle will be able to tow it, having said that things like Bush Tracker can weigh up to 3.5 tonnes. These have decent suspension, internal fittings designed to take rough tracks and corrugations and are generally waterproof up to a reasonable height.

Hi Mark,

The two replies above are great but once you get to this isolated beauitful place, that you have all to yourself, you have to live there.

So a true off road van can carry 300 litre + of water and have the ability to source water from dams and rivers. This is pumps, filters, hoses.

It has the ability to provide power for lights, refrigeration, heating and entertainment. So lots of batteries and solar power. At least 3 X 120 amp hour batteries and 3 x 120 solar panels. This then translates into the need for at leasta 40 amp battery charger. 800 watt inverter and the regulating electrical components. Then for bad weather a generator and the petrol and oil to keep it going.

To keep clean you need a shower and we all need a toilet facility.

Those dirty clothes need to be washed and the washing machine needs 40 litres per load. It also need electricity as it will not run off and inverter, so we are back to the generator.

Add this to the frame and suspension mentioned above and your getting a off road caravan.

Firstly may I add my vote for everything the previous posters have said.
The piece I would like to add is the tow vehicle. Now if you want to go full size with the lot i.e. mega water tanks, generators and a significant size of battery bank plus showers and toilet you will need a good size tug to pull all that around, particularly in an off road (as opposed to rough road) situation. I currently own a "on road" van and loaded up goes about 2.5 tonnes. This is ok behind our trusty Cruiser but I feel a similar specced full off road van is going to involve a bit of an upgrade in vehicle. Not just to pull the load but to have the bulk to control it as opposed to the van controlling the vehicle.

Cheers
Pop

Just remember that Bushtrackers et al are not only heavy but they are humungously tall.
I spoke at length to a guy at Karajini and inspected his Bushtracker, and a beautiful thing it was.
BUT he was very diappointed that he couldn't go down a lot of tracks in the Eastern states because the thing was just so tall.

I could have said "And you didn't think of that before you spent 100K?" but I restrained myself.

Another thing of course is , although they can take punishment , the weight means that you are really confined to capped roads. You would sink like a stone on sand or mud unless you like lots of winching etc..

I met 2 guys at Lorelle Springs in off road vans. Both had their Microwaves fall on the floor on the track in. That could become expensive.

My old Camp'o'matic just followed along. Sometimes simple is good.
Regards Philip A

The basic differences are the offroad van has chequer plate sides, an all terrain coupling, 15" white wheels & a stone guard. Some are even called "Outbacks" so you can tell them apart from the road going vans ;-)
Cheers Craig............

Hi Mark,

I have had off-road vans and camper trailers and have finally have what is an idela setup for me. My first off-road van (not a true off-roader) was a Windsor Rapid. While I dragged it most places, it was simply too wide and long to get where I wanted to go. After one particular trip I had to replace both side panels and the awning.

I then went to a camper trailer and it simply goes anywhere you can tow it, no issues with ny track at all. I also realised how much I liked cooking outside and how much a van was anti-social with its indoor cooking. But I must admit the easier setup of a van was appealing even with a Camprite (one of the quickest setup campers around).

So now I have a full off-road van thats suits ME. It doesn't have an indoor kitchen, but it does have a shower and toilet and can sleep 4. It is only the width of a normal vehicle (actually narrower than my 200) , is the same height as my 200 and is only 600mm longer than my camper trailer and is 160kg empty. Yet it has reverse cycle a/c, a diesel heater and up to 300L of water capacity. Its off-road ability is only limited by where my modded 200 can drag it. For me, thats what an off-road van is; small, relatively light but enough creature comforts that make life easy.





Cheers

Captain

Hi Benmarca,
I agree with a lot than has been said, we have had numerous vans, camper trailers and there is a different set up that suits you at different times of your lives well ours anyway and that is our excuse. We now have gone for a crossover like the post before except we went for a Topaz by Track trailer, for various reasons my hubby wanted to do lots of 4x4 stuff and I am really susceptable to sand flies and mossies and we live on the North coast of NSW where everytime we go camping it rains so I wanted to be able to get out of those things, Do your research think what suits you and where you live and where you want to go then be happy with your decision everyone's requirements are different
Barb

Thankyou for the responses, your comments are noted.

Mark