Dear All,

I have been considering purchasing a Kimberley Karavan, I know they are expensive new.  Has anyone any experience with one?  I had a track trailer TVan in the past and the Kimberley Kamper appears to have many more creature comforts.

Any points of view will be helpful.

Regards
Tully

very capable unit by all accounts and as you say a lot more comforts than the Tvan, havent heard any bad reports

No bad reports here either. They certainly are robust and well-equipped for the job they were designed and built to do. There are a few versions, with all the gear and without some of the gear. I believe they are value for money. Good luck with that decision.

Last year when we were travelling the Tanami Road, there was a disabled Kimberley well off the road, 600 klms from Alice Springs. We had heard he was there when we were at Wolfe Creek Crater.

We stopped to see how he was faring and found out he had broken a swing arm on the suspension. He said it just snapped, he was there for about three days waiting for a tilt tray truck to come pick him up and take him back to Alice. Well he wanted to go to Halls Creek, but the tilt was sent from Alice so thats where he was going to be taken to.

I remember one of these came in home a couple of years ago with a lovely couple and I had a good old look over it (as you do)

I remember looking at the trailing arms of the independent suspension and thinking what a great setup, I am very surprised that you would find one snapped, factory delivered they come with a 3 year warranty and is the same as the Kamper (I think) very strong and dependable and should give many years of service

but I guess given enough stress then anything will snap

True Dave, and the Tanami is pretty treacherous as well. They call them King Off The Road but everything has its breaking point. He was pleased to be an NRMA gold member thats for sure. 

Bad place to break down, last time we did it was around '75, wasnt a walk in the park then, cant see it getting better with age, had a feller with a camper trailer that snapped a stub axle, wasnt carrying a spare so we shoved a long branch under that side wired it up and "limped" back to civilisation nrma gold, hell how times have changed, no help when we were out there, lucky to see another soul for days if not weeks

Yeah mate, they were out there a few days but eventually NRMA sent a truck out and picked them up. They pulled it right back off the road so they were unseen in the night to a degree, nothing to hide behind in the spot they were at.

I had two trips on the Tanami, my first and last. Torture on the vehicle for no gain, its just barren We did stay at Rabbit Flat and that was a top spot, lots of fun and very clean for what it is.

hey Dave, I got me one of them, great unit, when you coming back up north again, we all miss you, sell up and shift we got a house waiting here for you!

I forgot that you own one, hell you've done some rough miles with that, as for the house, i wouldnt mind being up there in the dry but oh boy the wet would get to me, I wont be travelling that road for a while, maybe next year or the year after or we may just take a flight up for a "quickie" just to see all you fellers again!