Offroad vs Outback vs All Terrain - does it mean anything?

Yes I have a personal and professional interest in what people think here, too... You can add 'semi off-road' to that list as well

Yes I have a personal and professional interest in what people think here, too... You can add 'semi off-road' to that list as well

Hi Scott

They all mean different things to different makers - no standard terminology. This can be very misleading for a newcomer.

You are quite correct in saying you make your own assessment of strength and quality, and ignore the name.

As said on the Tanami thread, some badged as off road have disclaimers that contradict them even being a dirt road (middle of the range) product.

Motherhen

G'day Scott M
I am one of those posters who raised the suitability of various setups particularly suspension.
A large number of the population who might buy a caravan/campervan or camper trailer probably don't have a knowledge of engineering or have an in depth technical understanding and this is something which dubious manufacturers/sellers no matter how high a profile they have, obviously take advantage of, it is business after all.
Some vehicles are over engineered and that total weight is part of the problem which a suspension system has to be able to handle and when the going is really rough it is paramount in importance, hence the number of failures we hear about.
Also some are under engineered and fail because of stresses concentrated in a particular area will crack the frame for example.
Supple compliance which absorbs road shock while carrying the load is something most suspensions don't do very well. Only a few do it well.
Some models of the popular brand mentioned earlier have short/sharp highly curved 9 heavy leaves which can't possibly flex very easily at all and they break axles off the swing arm which is supposed to flex to absorb road shock. Too high a tyre pressure would also compound this problem. It was called OFFROAD, I helped repair it.
Other brands of campervan also break axles because of welds being applied poorly on the swing arm to axle, this caused fracture of the axle and loss on a steep a track through mountains.
Many salesmen don't have any idea about engineering though, in fairness some do.
Build quality of the body work is another issue and relatively unimportant if the chassis and suspension aren't much good.
The average person has great difficulty learning enough about these vehicles to make and informed decision when buying because there are a myriad of concepts to compare/evaluate before purchase.
Unfortunately people today want to take caravans and trailers where they never went before and where folk used to tent it.
Just cos it got wheels doesn't mean it will be able to go there!
Just a point of view and I realize others have far more experience than I do in this field.

Ross M

I think such terms are meaningless for the simple reason that there is no industry standard defining the use of the term which means that such can definitions become emotive sales pitches to be used anyway one chooses.

What does ‘Outback’ mean, ‘off-road’ could mean anywhere, and then ‘all-terrain’. These terms could mean different things to different manufacturers, and also to buyers, thus rendering the description almost useless unless they are qualified by the manufacturer as to what they mean specifically.

An industry standard as to how these terms are defined would assist. Until then it is up to buyers to assess suitability, and this is often done in these types of forums.

Cheers

I thiak I will have to be careful here (!) but n my years obsrving industry, and now as a manufacturer in it I have learnt the thickness, the depth and the smell of BS is astonishing

Very good thread. We have just started to look at caravans and want an ‘off road’ one and find the whole exercise very confusing. For example, I am under the impression that independent suspension, tandem not single, is the way to go, but one caravan yard manager told me that he believes standard suspension is not that bad as it is easier to fix if you are out in the bush. He said with the standard leaf spring suspension they are similar to most horse floats as an example, so spare parts are almost everywhere.
There are so many makes now claiming ‘off road’ status. (We cannot afford a Bushtracker or Kedron.) Once they do claim the status the price seems to go right up?
Kevin

I think the point is being missed here.

IMHO all these terms are "weasel words" so that caravan manufacturers can deny warranty when anything happens away from a bitumin road!

They deliberately make the terms obscure so that if say you are driving on a corrugated dirt road and the fridge falls apart, they can say
" oh no Outback means you can drive from the bitumin road across the road verge to a free camp spot "
Having said that, I have seen Jayco Outback campers going much too fast on the GRR and spoke to a bloke in Boulia who had done the Plenty with one with only a broken shock mount and lots of dust inside to show for it.
I cannot see how many of the so called offroaders could be ,given their size and weight.
IMHO the only REAL offroaders are light camper trailers such as Kimberley(even that is heavy) , Camp o matic ( I have towed mine up the Northern OTT) and a few others.
All the others should maybe be called "suitable for bad outback roads"
I have also seen some of the best have internal issues eg at Loralla Springs in NT, where even a Bushtracker had dropped out its microvawe on the track in.
My theory is KISS.
Regards Philip A

Its an interesting discussion. In 2006 I spent a year of my life chasing a caravan dealer in Brisbane through the legal system trying to get my deposit of $6500.00 back.
I had ordered an "off road" van to be built based on the sales reps description. This is after we had viewed their "on road" version. The on road version was to be bulked up with the interior to be made tougher to withstand corrugations etc. Add an off road "independant suspension" and we were away. This was at the Brisbane caravan show.
After a few follow up discussions that caused me some concern I rang the interstate manufacturer. After speaking to the "national sales staff" which included the technical director I was really worried. Their attitude to their customers was astounding. The national sales director described the bulk of his buyers as "stupid".
I eventually rang the parent company and spoke to the CEO who was sympathetic but straight away admitted they did not make off road vans and that I should go and see either Bushtracker or Kedron, his words not mine.
To cut this story short I ended up in court,at one stage heading for the supreme court. At the end of the day I got a lot of my money back but was a little over $2500 out of pocket.
This manufacturing mob now sells "dirt road" vans I notice.
Happy travelling
Jim

As with anything else Scoddy - look beneath the bu!!$hit at the nuts and bolts

Therein lies the rub GT. Not tarring all camper builders with this brush, however as some of the replies above indicate, the need to make a sale quite often overrides sound advice.

These forums are a great source of information, however in a lot cases the new buyer would rely on the advice of the sales folks, and even some of them wouldn't have off road experience.

"She'll be alright on a bit of gravel" doesn't convey the impact of the Tanami Rd or parts of the GRR. The problem is that the new punter sees 'off-road' on the side of the van/trailer and off they go.