Troopy questions again

Best thing since sliced bread.
If you have to ask – you wouldn’t understand

Stef,
from a one eyed Troopy owner.

Yes it is harder to tie thee kids in the back.

Yes they are a dinosaur that the ice age can't kill.

But when it comes to carrying gear you can't beat them.

You sit high and have a great command over what you are driving over.

Top heavy. No they are not unless you load them that way but we are not talking about a Mini Cooper S here. Drive it like it was designed for or forget it and buy a high ted electronic jobbie.

Mine has been a gem but I treat her with the respect she deserves.

I found it excellent for travelling with kids. Nary a problem.

I'm a recent convert to a Troopy and I drive mine like I do my Terracan and it drives like a dream and have had no issues what so ever with top heaviness. Car corners well and I haven't experienced any adverse body roll.

My biggest issue now is what do I do with all this space? LOL

Stef, either you love them or hate them, they get into your blood, they are an awesome vehicle, so flexable and adaptable, you can do so much with them.
They have their critics, like verything else, and you have to cop a lot of mud sometimes for choosing to own one, but Troopy's once you have owned one, are special, they are built solid and can handle just about anything, and give years of faithful service.

Just think through the modifications you want to do, false floor or extra seating or whatever and go for it.

Lcool is a good source of info and you can always ask on here.

Hi stef

That they are very top heavy is just a fact , I don't think any other wagon is below 40 degrees on tilt tests.

This has been reflected in rollover statistics before and refferenced on this site.

Its a bit frightening to drive behind one around a sweeping curve and i would never put kids in them.

But many people do genuinely drive them within there limits and love them for there interior space.

We have our current Patrol setup to sleep in and many do this in troppies howver i notice that with the 2 door versions friends of ours still need to climb over their double bed setups , even though our Patrol has less interior room we don't need to do this in it and it seems to be a pain for those less fit.

We have had ours 10 years now and love it. You have to realize that you are driving 3 ton of heavy metal with in our case skinny tyres but it is very rare that we hold traffic up, unless we are on a steep hill with our non turbo motor. You should drive to the conditions and vehicle.

They may look tall and skinny but most of the weight is low down which makes for reasonable handling for what they are. On or off road, we have never had a concern about the handling, and we are not slow drivers.

It is a comfortable, reliable drive with a good view of the counrty side and heaps of room. They may be dated when compared with the new electonic controlled vehicles of today but I know what I trust in the deserts today.

My guess is that we will sell ours in around 10 years time when we are too old to do much more touring.

Stevesub

Like any vehicle drive it within it limitations and to the conditions.
Robin make valid comments about centre of gravity etc and sensibility needs to apply.
Do silly things behind the wheel of any vehicle and someone will pay.

I have has Troopys for about 15 years now and just love'em, a real soft spot for them.
Others don't like them and thats fine, to each his own.

Stef,

Re 2 doors and kids, you'll find the RV Troopy comes with a forward facing rear passenger seat (complete with seat belts) as opposed to the side seats. And in the RV version the front passenger seat swings forward to allow easy access for people access in and out.

Cheers

I own this negative because im short and female. The bonnet is bloody heavy. I struggle with it everytime we need to pump a tyre up or something. There wasnt enough room to put the air compressor under the seat.
Sharon

I love my 2000 model Troopy, just put a decent set of springs and shocks under her give a 2inch lift and sits lovely on the road. If you had the money you should concider a third door conversion. fantastic!! from Polan's Truck Refinishers, in Dandalong Vic.

Regards..................Jeff

We brought an '08 model (GXL with the forward facing seats) last year. With a set of black widow draws in the back it's pretty much like a big wagon. We had an older mode (maybe '95) way back, we did end up trading it for an 80 series GXL because we didn't think the troopy with bench seats was suitable for young kids (one baby and potentially more at the time). Ha ha in the end after some years we traded the 80 series because it was really heavy (done up for touring) that you could barely fit 4 adults and some gear in the back and still keep it under GVM or whatever.

With the troopy It's not that big a hassle in regards to kids having to go in through the passenger door, and they're pretty much old enough to let themselves in and out anyway. It would be more of a hassle if you have to go strapping a baby in though, but that would only be until they're big enough to do it themselves.
If you go for the side seat variety, the issues I saw was having it as a daily driver as well is all the shopping would be on the floor, would have to tread over it to get to the kids to get them out, and legality issues with having child restraints in the back (compulsory now until age 7). If the kids are older it's not as big an issue but I still wonder about the safety aspect in an accident.

Sometimes I don't particularly like the fact that ours is such a "beast" of a vehicle, that's in regards to power, weight and size. But it's comfortable as a daily driver (make sure you get aftermarket suspension that's suited to the weight you will carry and do carry full time). I don't find it that hard to park ...honestly the JK Wrangler Unlimited was a lot harder to judge when parking...mostly due to it's different wheelbase I think, even Hubby couldn't always get it spot on the first time!

Reasons you might not want a troopy:
# safety (although the ones with the new dash have airbags these days)
# you don't need the load capacity (ie you have a camper trailer or van anyway)
# height.....with a roofrack and a suspension lift it's not going to fit in any underground carpaks in the city!

For us it's the perfect vehicle that will allow us to go travelling or camping without having to take a camping trailer while still being able to take the kids. In the long term when the kids are gone I like the idea of being able to sleep in a secure sheltered place potentially in the troopy as opposed to having some sort of camping unit on a ute.