Travelander Tray Back Campers

Submitted: Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012 at 20:28

ThreadID: 91276 Views:7479 Replies:6 FollowUps:3

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Stephen U

We are seriously considering purchasing a Travelander Camper. Have only ever seen one on the road at Sandy Cape (WA) last easter and were pretty impressed with it. Have seen the archived comments on them but wondered if anyone has any other comments on them. We're only looking at the base model to go on a new Mazda BT50. Any info would be appreciated.

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Reply By: Mick O - Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012 at 21:38

Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012 at 21:38

Stephen,

I've looked at the extensively and they are a good piece of kit. Their nearest competition is the Trayon which is also a nice rig. The only down side to them is that the kitchen area is still "outside" is it were. You have an awning above but generaly you are exposed to the elements unless you set the annex up. The trayone gives you a facility to sit inside and cook if need be. 90% of the time that type of exterior arrangement of the Travelander will be fine but she's a bit more miserable when it's wet, windy and/or cold.

A great unit that we were very seriously looking at as well. Both units are expensive though.

Cheers Mick

''We knew from the experience of well-known travelers that the
trip would doubtless be attended with much hardship.''
Richard Maurice - 1903

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Reply By: Member - Serendipity(WA) - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 01:19

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 01:19

Hi Stephen

What did you want to know? Maybe I can help.

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Follow Up By: Member - Serendipity(WA) - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 09:13

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 09:13

I notice people are saying the kitchen is a problem. I love it where it is located. The fridge is right there next to all the food and stove. The stove / sink is so easy to access especially when just stopping for a cuppa tea break. Further my preference is to cook outdoors (mostly on the fire) - tried cooking inside once and nearly choked to death. The travelander comes with (ours does anyway) gas port and water lines on the inside so I can setup the stove / sink inside if the weather is so bad.

For unloading - well it takes 10mins - or less time than it takes for my friends who have just tent and gear to unload their vehicle - lots less time and that does not include them setting up. Loading up is a bit longer - 15mins.

But to setup while still on the back - say when you pull up for an overnighter - well that is 2mins and I can crawl into the already made bed and with no effort at all (except my thumb on the button).

As with any campsite I choose the location so I can drive straight out from underneath so need a car length in front of me but that is not much. Never had a problem settling even with beach camping but have not set up on the soft part of a beach.

It is a big investment - I went for the everything in it model and the price was just unbeatable to other units if you checked off all the accessories. Then the ease of setting up which stops those arguments when setting up. Happy life.

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Reply By: Ozhumvee - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 07:47

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 07:47

We travelled with friends who have one and it was certainly well made and provided easy access to kitchen and storage areas.
But the downside was that in inclement weather the kitchen is very exposed requiring another awning to be erected which really only gives marginal protection, also the fridge isn't in the actual kitchen section but either around on the outside or inside depending on which fridge is used as a freezer etc (it has two).
Don't even mention taking the unit off the vehicle to them, I doubt whether they will ever do it again. We were in soft sandy conditions on the trip and despite timber baseplates etc the unit sunk and moved in the sand making the job of getting it back on the ute a major exercise.
On a firm surface I would imagine that it would be much easier.

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Reply By: Member - Geoff M (VIC) - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 07:55

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 07:55

Hi Stephen,

We looked closely at the Travelander Camper, they do appear to be reasonable units, but we ended up selecting a Trayon and have had over four years of trouble-free camping with it. Actually have the Trayon on a BT50 freestyle ute!

There are lots of slide-on campers on the market, and plenty of traps for people to fall into. As with any purchase, you need to determine what things are important to you and balance this this the cost. In my opinion, the biggest trap is the weight - many of the slide-on's we looked at would exceed the GVM of most utilities on the market (including the BT50) when fully laden. This is a big issue - you don't need to search the internet forum's much to see examples of broken chassis's. I also have some first hand experience with this.

Things that swayed us to the Trayon included: Weight (380kgs unladen), Cooking facilities undercover, track record, Australian made (not imported from China), aluminium construction (not fibreglass that supposely can crack), features, and the overall package.

Good luck with your deliberations and hope you have many years camping with your BT50 and selected camper.

Cheers, Geoff

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Follow Up By: Member - Serendipity(WA) - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 08:56

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 08:56

Stephen

Geoff raises an important part - the weight of your rig when fully loaded. I know the BT will carry a big load but do you want that much on the back. You may have to sacrifice a bit of luxury for less weight.

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Reply By: Member - Phil G (SA) - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 09:51

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 09:51

I take it you're talking about a single cab and not a dual cab.
I wouldn't put anything too heavy on the tray of a dual cab.

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Reply By: Stephen U - Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 17:36

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012 at 17:36

Hi all
Thanks for the feedback. We are looking at the standard model as the majority of the accomodation for our travels will be in a caravan. This will give us the option of leaving the van to go to more remote places. The camper will be the dual cab model but on the freestyle ute. Darren from Travelander tells me the weight of the unit is around 360kg so that should be fine for the new BT50. We did look at trhe Trayon but couldn't justify the extra expense for our purposes. Did look at the Carry-Me Camper too. They seemed a good unit but by the time you option them up to something half decent the Travelander wasn't much more for what seems to be much better quality.
Thanks again guys.

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Follow Up By: Member - Geoff M (VIC) - Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 08:09

Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 at 08:09

Hi Stephen,

Good luck with your purchase. If you were still interested in the Trayon I know that they were offering discounts at the moment so it may be worth a call. In my opinion they offer significant benefits over the Travelander and they're made in Australia (not China).

Happy camping (and good luck with the BT50 - had mine for over 4 years now).

Cheers, Geoff

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