THE MOST POPULAR OFF-ROAD CARAVAN? Let me know what you have & why.

Mine is a Bushtracker.

A lot of details about the van and mods I've done can be seen on my blog:

Gone Bush in a Bushtracker

cheers

Also have a Bushtracker 19ft ($100K)

There is no such thing as a standard bushtracker - they are all built to order.

Alan

Morning Dingo

Don't have one as yet but the CT will get harder to put up as the years progress so a van is the next thing. Looking at a few brands - Lotus Trooper, Billabong BushBasha, Phoenix, SLR, Sunland Blue Heeler and of course the Bushmaster and Trakmaster. No plans for any at present - just looking and gathering information.

Cheers

Alas, we don't have a BT, have got an 06 Concept Ascot X pack with modified chassis and simplicity suspension, it's currently done 79000+ ks, and still going strong.
Cheers
Baz

If you want serious offroad Kimberley Karavan, got every thing the others have(for 2),without weight or size. Don't need many mods comes with most $83k
Cheers Ken

We looked at impressive rigs out in the camps for years and years. The labelled 'off road' run of the mill brands would not do, and a number of brands had disclaimers on their websites or on the van itself. We met some Queenslanders with a Bushtracker at Karijini one year, and just a look underneath told us it was the one to aspire to. They were rare on the second hand market in the early days, as were Kedrons and Phoenixes at that time.

Ours is an older and at least third hand - 1998 model. I think the first ones were sold in 1997. No bells ans whistles - back then made as a solid basic caravan to get out into the real Australia. Since then, people have been requesting more and more conveniences and each time we see a new one - wow - we'd like that!

We added television and DVD - virtually never used it. Most appliances are 12 volt, and we have converted lights to LED.Solar power was a must. Wheels to match tow vehicle, so the caravan has had several wheel changes during its life.

Motherhen

Hi Dingo,

We have a 19' (Ext) Kedron Top Ender. Great van and the after sales service is second to none. No real extra mods as they come with everything. A deciding factor was that their factory is 10 minutes drive away from home.

Regards

Chris

dont have ours yet.....but will have in 8 weeks time,...........not a well known brand to the "public" but they have been manufacturing for the mining companies , telstra etc for many years.......

and now more recently for the recreation market

look here

http://www.explorex.com.au/

G'day Dingo,
we've also got a Kedron - ATV 16'6". Cost about $87 last yr new. Tare is 2.4 without H2O.
Yet to get it onto to the planned rough roads such as the Plenty Hwy & GRR, but that is only few short mths away now for a planned 8 mth trip NT & WA :)

We looked at most other OFF ROAD CARAVANS as well, some with similar cost as the Kedron & like Chris aka youngharry52, we're only 15 mins from factory as our deciding factor.
We want to be able to camp most places without it being an issue for access, have own power, water & T/S. It shouldn't need any modifications.

cheers Sue

OKA196, extreme off road motorhome..... :-)
http://www.oka4wd.com/xt196.htm
About $130K (plus about 3,000 DIY hours).
Fully equipped and self contained. Goes where no caravan will go.
No "tug" required :-)

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

Ours is a 20' Free Spirit with separate en suite and toilet (the original one out of the factory, we believe), still with all-steel chassis and Simplicity 4 tonne rated load sharing suspension. Tare is 2500kg, ATM 3500kg. The van was made to order for a French couple who toured Oz in 2009/10. New cost was north of $100k. We acquired it in July 2010, and towed it back to Perth from Maroochydore. So far, very happy with the van and the deal we got. Have made a few additions and are getting prepared for our big lap in a couple of months. New Free Spirit vans use an all-aluminium chassis, and there should be a few more of those on the road now.
Mike and Helen

I had, until recently, a golf slipstream campervan offroad. We had it for 13 year or so and did the GRR, the Gulftrack, Fraser, and a multitude of other trips without a hitch....but of course we did have an orac hitch..ha ha. Anyway, this was a great investment for the family of four and we spent up to 6 months in it a time. sold it to a another young family and I reckon it will do the same trips many times...it has a full 6" chassis from hitch to tail and sits on fully independent suspension. Weighs much less than a full caravan, tows at 16' long but folds out to 21 feet or more and is great for flow through ventilation - even stood up to the full assault of the a windy night at arkaroola where the trees were lying on their sides....not that the minister for war was all that comfortable at the time....

they don't make them any more but if you can find a second hand one, figure on about 13k to 15k for a 1996 on model, then you will be on a good thing.

only takes about 15 minutes to set up from scratch, awnings etc take a bit longer...

Dingo, it depends how far off road you want to go. You can take a Kimberley Karavan a lot of places your Bushtracker, Kedron or phoenix can't go, on width alone. Where your tow car can go, the Kimberley can go. Even white posts on the roadside are safe if your car missed them. Having a single axle means they don't chew up on tight turns either.

I remember a member telling me a Kimberley was heavy. But he turned around and bought an off road van 500kilos heavier

aussie-d,

another brand that I have had experience with is Trakmaster. My dear old mum taught me not to say anything at all if I didn't have anything nice to say.

I have also had a good look over a Spinifex van. A friend of ours just returned from QLD after placing an order for one.

Some of the current prominent van manufacturers should not be complacent because Spinifex is going to gazump them if they don't watch out.

Worth a serious look, I reckon.
At least it uses modern materials and technoques.
http://www.gemhunter.com.au/about.html

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

Hi Everyone,
Have any of you thought of a Topaz by Track trailer. we have one and enjoying it at the moment a crosssover more like a small caravan double bed , cook inside, external shower, hot water, worth a look especially if you want to do some serious off road stuff and not going to live in it. When we are going to live in one we will go for a Kedron I think that is what the hubby says
Barb

Back in 2003 we were about to buy a Tvan, but we changed our minds and bought a small off road van – it is the Supreme Getaway. At 11ft long it is pretty compact, but it has outstanding suspension, brake, wheel bearing etc credentials and has plenty of ground clearance.

It cost is $34k back in 2003, about the same as the Tvan.

This decision is all about compromise isn’t it? Size vs manoeuvrability, or weight vs easy off road towing. We went with a small and (relatively) lightweight package, although 1.46 tonnes empty can’t be regarded as flyweight, as we get ourselves into some pretty gnarly off road places. Certainly the places we choose to visit would never see something like a Bushtrakker or Kedron without the driver doing a fair bit of road building or tree removal.

Of course, if you want to travel the more open roads and need the strength of the Kedron etc to cope with the beating that many of these gibber strewn and bull dust holed tracks will hand out then you can choose the more comfortable quarters of a bigger van with confidence.

Think about it anyway. I know that there will come a time when we will have done enough of the trips where we are dragging the van up a cliff face with a steep banked creek crossing and a couple of switchback bends along the way just to make thing interesting. Once we get past that point we will almost certainly trade our beloved little Getaway in for a Kedron (my wife prefers them) and we’ll stick to the more easily accessible destinations.

Back in 2003 we were about to buy a Tvan, but we changed our minds and bought a small off road van – it is the Supreme Getaway. At 11ft long it is pretty compact, but it has outstanding suspension, brake, wheel bearing etc credentials and has plenty of ground clearance.

It cost is $34k back in 2003, about the same as the Tvan.

This decision is all about compromise isn’t it? Size vs manoeuvrability, or weight vs easy off road towing. We went with a small and (relatively) lightweight package, although 1.46 tonnes empty can’t be regarded as flyweight, as we get ourselves into some pretty gnarly off road places. Certainly the places we choose to visit would never see something like a Bushtrakker or Kedron without the driver doing a fair bit of road building or tree removal.

Of course, if you want to travel the more open roads and need the strength of the Kedron etc to cope with the beating that many of these gibber strewn and bull dust holed tracks will hand out then you can choose the more comfortable quarters of a bigger van with confidence.

Think about it anyway. I know that there will come a time when we will have done enough of the trips where we are dragging the van up a cliff face with a steep banked creek crossing and a couple of switchback bends along the way just to make thing interesting. Once we get past that point we will almost certainly trade our beloved little Getaway in for a Kedron (my wife prefers them) and we’ll stick to the more easily accessible destinations.

Hi aussiedingo,

I have a Supreme Getaway 16'6 single axle, apart from the weight issues surrounding this van there has been no other setbacks with this van in 11yrs and 300+ thousand k's. I would suggest it to be up there with the best of them in terms of robustness and reliability. Mine has been to hell and back a number of times with no ill side effects to this van long term. I am even thinking of getting it remodelled to suit my growing family as I don't think the newer van options can add anything to what I already have in terms of reliability or strength, but I already own this unit and know it like the back of my hand.

Cheers and hope this helps in some way.
Trevor.

Hi Ausie dingo, copy and paste as requested.

Ours is a 2000 Jayco Westport Full Van, bought it 2003, tandem axle, we haven't changed much on it as we bought what we wanted in a van.
We have put a reversing camera on it.
It's decked out so that we only have to put food and clothes in when we pack, can be gone in an hour if need be.
Only Hubby and I.
'Love that van' LOL
Cheers
D

We bought a 2006 jayco expanda 16.49.1. 2 adults 2 kids. Second hand, offroad version, $25000, had it about a year. Before that we used to borrow a family members jayco finch. The expanda is bl**dy fantastic. The finch was good to tow but just not big enough. The expanda being bigger is obviously a bit harder to tow, but, heaps easier to pack, you can get in it at roadside stops, no need for extra bags because of all the cupboards, I could go on and on. Doesn't take us long to setup and as you can tell, we love it! I have put new foldable legs on the table as i wobbled a bit and if i was buying new, i would get the larger fridge.

cut and pasted from other thread for you dingo.

wizzer

Soon to take delivery of a Davidson off road van (DRV). What these people don't know about building a tough off road van probably isn't worth knowing. The knowledge base these people have on building and repairing caravans is impressive.

When visiting the factory during the build process I often wander through the repair yard and there is always various popular off road brands in for repair or modification, some very costly. Every week there are new examples arriving with issues such as chassis failure, suspension failure, design flaws, overweight issues, compliance and warranty issues, leaking and electrical issues. These are 100+k off road vans who's owners are NOT happy.

No one's perfect but from what I've seen with my own eyes I think we've made the right choice.

John