hello everyone, my wife and I are planning on selling our MDC camper trailer, for a Jayco camper trailer, but we saw some reviews, stating some flaws with this brand of camper trailer, should we be worried or not, we would love to hear from those of you that have or have had a Jayco camper trailer in the past, and what's more, what to look out for should we proceed with the purchase.
many thanks
-- Edited by Mully on Sunday 10th of May 2015 05:53:57 PM
We brought a 2002 Jayco Swan new. The load hitch fell off as we went out the sales gate, but that didn't worry them they were gone. The water tank developed a leak because the chassis sharp edge rubbed through it, the vent in the roof rattled apart, but we made it to WA from SA.
It towed very well, our car a Mitsubishi Magna didn't notice it, but I'm sure the vehicle was overloaded when all our stuff was in it. The hooked rod that keeps the hoop up at the end of the bed space didn't fit properly, on a real windy night it would un hook and fire down the van, the roof over the bed would collapse drowning the occupant, me!
If you are young then the putting up and putting down the van each time you moved is OK, after the years wear on it becomes a bit of a chore. These vans don't like wind, the wind can bend the lift struts, ours got bent, but in WA it can get windy, we were almost blown back to SA. I would strongly advise the purchase of an annex to go with the awning. By putting the annex and awning up, this helps brace the roof of the van in bad weather. There are many tricks to tying the guy ropes which I can tell you about if you go this way.
Flies over the bed areas are a must, something the Jayco salesmen won't tell you, is that on cold nights it will rain on the bed occupants, The cold air on the outside of the canvas roof of the bed will condense your breath (hot air rises) and the moisture drips down on the occupant. The fly stops this by trapping a layer of warmer air between the two. Helps keep the van cooler is hot weather, and pulled down tight in bad weather adds to weather protection.
Watch out when you pull the beds out, that the vinyl is clear of the bed corners, otherwise you get rips. Don't let persons with long fingernails tuck in the walls when the unit is being folded down, the flyscreen on the windows get cut by fingernails.
Generally we split our chores up when setting up or closing it up, she worked on the inside, I worked on the outside, then we paired up to roll up the flys and awning. Making the beds is no big deal, we made them from the outside by pulling away the enclosure walls and tucking in the sheets etc. from outside.
All in all it worked well for us and we did a few Km's with it. We lived in it for 18 months and it was fine.
The biggest issue I think is the lack of security, just pull away the Velcro and you are in. we used to joke about having a big hairy hand come up from around the mattress, dare I say I had to sleep at the danger end.
Many more things but this will do for now.
Hi Mully,
We have a Jayco Penguin for the past 4 years and we love it , ideal for 2 people , we did few big trips with it , twice around 5,000 km , it is the one that goes stray up without beds on the side so maybe it make it easier to use without much trouble-
Very easy to tow , it takes us about 15mn to have all set up, including side awnings ( great to keep cool if hot and dry if it's rain) - will take another 15/20mn to get the annexe up but only recommended for extended period of time , 1 week or more.
so no complain as long as you look after it - will have keep it for another 2 years but just bought a caravan ( for the big lap) so it's for sale :)
Thank you very much for your input, i think my wife and I are sold on the Jayco eagle, we made the mistake of reading some reviews, and they weren't that flash, so thought it best asking around our friends on this site, and very much appreciate everyone's input.
We hope your new caravan gets you to where you are planning to go safely.
