GIC Hardfloor camper

I learnt from the first camper I bought that your better to save a few more $$$ and get Australian canvas. The stuff from china (not refering to GIC at this point only the brand of camper I had) was absolute crap, within 2 uses it had torn, could see the sun through it, leaked, scuffed some thing shocking, the list goes on. When I questioned GIC at the 4wd show as to where their canvas was from he told me china that was it for me. There are other makes out there that use Aussi canvas and are not over the top in price. I had to spend a few hundred $$$ on mine so that I could at least sell it. Myn was a soft floor but most of my problems were with the roof and the walls except where it tore on the two corners on the soft floor where it pegged down. Might just say all this happened with in 12 months and I bought it new for $6700 and sold for $5000 best $1700 I ever lost cause it would have cost me more to get the rust fixed in the trailer as well which was also new. I know your talking hard floors but the walls roof are still going to cop a flogging over time and is the thing that cops most of the abuse from trees,rain,wind, etc. Also mine was suppose to be 14ounze canvas, where I had it repaired said that meant nothing, its the thread count you need to know same as bed sheets, 250 crap, 1000 very think and cant see through them. Regards Steve

Hi Krooznalong
check out the trailer build quality, they tend to just spot weld panels and rely on the thin paint to seal the trailer panel seams from dust and water "FAIL" it's no fun spending hours getting dust or water out of everything when setting up camp after a hot days drive.

The springs are very cheap Indian &/or Chinese, not reliable off road. Paint very thin and scratches easily. It's not just a matter of tent quality alone. The overall quality is not of a reliable enough standard to go even mildly remote camping.

I spent 2 months looking into them last year with my son. He ended up buying one from KangarooTent City, while still cheaper than some, they were a bit better built.
Cheers Colin.

Hi Krooznalong,
I only have a soft floor Extreme purchased 2yrs ago. The canvas is still OK (from China) but the trailer (as said before) fell apart on our trip up The Odnadatta Track - out through Mt Dare and Chambers Pillar to Alice
The dust was not kept out the spring hangers broke off and pushed the sping bushes up through the chasie rails on both sides. We limped home after temp repairs in Alice. But they have a new trailer builder so check them out.
We are now looking at upgrading to a hard floor but I will pay what is required to get a good off road Camper Good Luck

Well, after reading the above tirade against cheaper C/ts & Chinese canvas I cant
believe how lucky I have been to put 30k of outback touring behind me with a
Chinese Oztrail top & a trailer built by an Indian gentleman. Total repairs...2 sets
of shackle bushes, problems...none.
I also had the total misfortune to tow & camp in the mates GIC soft floor for a
month..from southern NSW to the gulf via Qld outback. Guess how many problems with tent & trailer...none. This thing cost $4800. You get what you
pay for....maybe...I find no value in pretentious, over priced C/ts that are lauded
as must have rigs for general outback travel. Have a look at the number of these
invaluable rigs on the Trader that their owners are trying to offload, upgrading
I guess. We offered assistance to 2 lame C/ts out in the Diamantina area,both
with must have independant suspension failures. Sad to watch the face of a bloke
with a $20k plus rig disabled as you give him a lift to the next town, 200k away,
with your $5k cheapie happily intact behind...cheers....oldbaz.