Please excuse the length of this post. For the past 6 months I have been in full research mode in preparation for buying, what will be, our full time, travelling home for the next ?? number of years. I have determined that for my family, wife and young son, we need something around the 35 38 foot mark. (Two separate bedroom/bathroom areas.) Current tow vehicle of choice will be an Iveco, dual cab, 6 wheel, with a De Angelo hitch. Looking at the Timbren Dakota Air, suspension on the van.
Something of this size, with all the bells and whistles, can be imported from the USA and there appears to be a number of dealers who have the experience to carry out the conversion and modification to meet Australian Design Rules and compliance requirements. Chassis strengthening, ABS air brake suspension upgrades, entry location, electrical and gas compliance etc. I have inspected a couple and was quite impressed.
However, every time I talked to someone about having the van built here in Australia the conversation quickly came down to cost and end of discussion. Australian manufacturers appear so burdened with, wages, taxes and regulatory charges that they just cannot compete with the imported product.
Still, until I had exhausted this option, I wanted to know for myself if my van could be built in Australia within my budget constraints. So, I went about contacting every manufacturer I could track down who had a current web site and e-mail address. I also put my search criteria on a number of caravan forums. From this I ended up with a list of 14 manufacturers either by internet search or recommendations. From these 5 replied saying they were capable of building a van of that length. The rest were either no longer in business or did not, or could not, build to that size. From the 5, two have submitted quotes, one has declined to quote, (happy to build it but not be tied down to a figure), one is working on a quote and one has not replied.
Of the two quotes I have received it would appear that the initial opinion that local manufacturers cannot compete on price is correct, around $70,000 more than imported. I am now waiting on the final quote to come in and still with some hope.
As, being very new to this game, and not wanting to overlook a manufacturer, I would be most appreciative of any, preferably first hand, recommendations that members may have. To avoid repeats here is a list of those who are unable, for whatever reason.
Pacific RV, Travelhome, True Lux, Crossroads, Winjana, Kool, Performax, Summerlife, Cut Loose.
And these are the ones who said they can:- X-treme, Mountaincraft, Roswal, Trailblazers, Venture Van.
I really would like to have our van built in Aussie for all the right reasons. Having a chassis and suspension built for Australian conditions is far more appealing than modifying one that wasnt. I would also like all composite construction with no timber/ply/MDF Use of Luan sheeting is still the norm for most imports. It is an interesting, challenging and exciting project with so much to learn. If it does eventuate that I can have the van built here I would be happy to share the progress with the group.
If any of you actually made it through to the end of this post, thanks for your attention.
Time spent in reconnaissance is never wasted.