Newbies buying first van

Barks51 · Member

Newbies buying first van

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Also interested to see not many new vans have pull outs.....is there a reason?

1. Because an 8-9m off road van with a slide-out will need a truck to tow.

2. Slide-outs in an off road environment are likely to be unreliable.

3. 8-9m vans do not go "off road".

Where do you actually want to go with this bemouth?

Cheers,

Peter

Barks51 · Member

Thanks for your reply Peter, I may have been a bit extravagant in my length eh!! Understand your comments re pullout and reliability, we want an off road configuration to enjoy getting into interesting tracks, but nothing too wild. Also at 1.98m tall I'm just looking for a bit more room inside Cheers David

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Going to out of the way places means you need to carry more water and fuel than most. That is not a proposition with any larger van (that will be around 3.5T or more) behind a tug that is under 4T GVM.
My bias of 25 years of exploring says get a 4WD truck and build a motorhome on the back. There will be no need to compromise on those things that make it pleasurable and comfortable in the bush, like plenty of solar, water, and toys. And your "lithium 300Ah" can be AGM, if you wish, at a fraction of the cost.
It will go places your so called "off road" caravan will never go and do so with comfort and reliability.
Cheers,
Peter

mark r · Member

I think you need to add $ to your criteria - combining need of a us hauler at front and a van - bank on a lot of coin to lay out! We have just gone through the pro/cons in purchasing a boutique builder van with a warranty promise bring back to campbellfield V a mass produced jayco... we decided jayco journey (17.53) - atm well under lc200 max and $ more reasonable. Sure not a turn key from a straight up off-road adventure... I know I need to strengthen its weekness internally and externally- but to its credit a more credible national support for warranty.... at the end of the day - how much room do you really need inside - I hope you explore the outsides more and just sleep in the thing! Im doing gibb, through Kimberleys and feel the jayco will be as good as anything if driven to conditions..... and agm is fine.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Welcome to the gang 'aka' David smile enjoy here and out in the playground.

The only thing I would add is, treat the dealer with respect and don't chuck a wobbly if something goes wrong, you will get much better service. I did that when I got my aluminium teepee after having heaps of problems. It worked that well, they came to me.

Keep Safe on the roads and out there.

Possum3 · Guru

I suggest you have a look at Caravan Council of Australia's website www.caravancouncil.com.au/ and download all the free technical articles regarding the purchase of an RV.

Barks51 · Member

Thanks Possum. Will look that up, in isolation at the moment so plenty of time on my hands. Cheers mate David

StewG · Senior Member

We did a lot of research in 2016 and finally decided on a JB Gator caravan. We were able to add a few niceties to customise our van, e.g. bigger water tanks, grey water tank, rear camera, gas heater and higher ATM. It may be a bit smaller than you are looking, but JB have larger off-roaders. From our experience of a 5 month lap and a shorter trip to Cameron Corner and the DIG tree, the JB stood up quite well to rough road punishment and although a few things failed, JB supported us with warranty replacements without questions. There are a few design and assembly aspects that could be better, but remember that caravans in general are made to a price and I believe that JB are good value for money and offer excellent warranty service. If I were to buy another van, I would certainly know what to look for in the "perfect" van and JB would be on my list of dealers to explore.