New forward fold Hard Floor

[Boxhead 71]

I have a 2 year old Australian made camper, with Australian Canvas, it has dropped 10k in value in 2 years.  Hindsight tells me If I'm going to write off 15% per year in deflation, then it would occur on the cheapest product to start with.

This is very surprising. I have heard of people selling their campers for more than they paid, but i seem to recall they were already 2nd or 3rd hand which may change the equation somewhat.

[speewa158]

We dont all know now what we will know in 2 or 3 years about our CT requirements . When l started l had been swagging & tenting for years  around the country . Then saw a soft floor  , looked for months , cost conpaired  , designed compaired , & thought .
The short story is went soft floor on my designed trailer wedded with a sutable tent top  , a very servicable unit . This forward opener is a very handy looking unit & is on the list to chgeck out on the weekend at Albury's Camping show . Where you start in the journey in CT's  & where that can lead as a natural progresion .  We are mostly not still driving our 1st car  . So if it floats your boat go for it 

[Mandrake]

Consider this - Don't know if you can get to see one in QLD but at the price even with a few essential welds and mods
will be well under your budget .... http://www.pinnaclecampers.com.au/product/555/OFF_ROAD_HARD_FLOOR_CAMPER_TRAILER
I have one and am very pleased with it even though it had several bad flaws I am still way in front of most hard floor camper trailer prices ... And the ripstop canvas has survived a couple of torrential thunderstorms and kept us dry ..
Mandrake

[KingBilly]

Hairymick, a lot is said about the advantages of Aust canvas when compared to imported canvas.  I have Aussie canvas and am pleased I made that choice but there are two small disadvantages.  The Aussie canvas is heavy.  We have a 15oz tent roof and walls and 15oz annex and annex walls.  The ripstop is lighter and easier to manage.  The other drawback is it takes up more space and doesn't pack down as tight.  Small things I know but you mentioned your concern with weight and ease of use.  I have a couple of mates with imported tents and they are very happy.  With the forward fold design you are considering these may not be real issues for you.

Just another thing to consider, the forward fold CTs (or at least the Modcons do) have a lot of weight on the towball.  Just check the towball weight of the CT and confirm your tow vehicle can handle it.

Good luck
KB

[Hefty]

I am a boily by trade so will have a fair idea of what i am looking at when i climb underneath it.

At arond 22k with quality canvas and 100 x 50 RHS with 4mm wall thickness chassis and crossmembers througjout, I think the basics could be there for a very robust camper. I will have a better idea when i crawl underneath it.

I think you're just the right guy to give many other people an opinion of them once you have a look around/under one!
FWIW, (and I'm not saying I necessarily agree with it) the salesman's pitch when I was looking at them (must have been just before they releawsed the forward folds) was "Just because it's Chinese made doesn't mean bad quality. If they manufacture a higher volume of them compared to Australian manufacturers per year, then they should be well practised and that should mean good quality"
Having said that, he also told me that their trailers are all Australian made and only the tents were imported? But I think they possibly try to pass off "assembed" as "manufactured".
In my opinion, they're definitely competitive at their price point but it's the important things that go unnoticed by some that will make the difference. Eg we were looking at their Gal extreme and the hot dipped gal coating looked thin enough to rub off with your fingers.

Cheers!
Jono.

[dazzler]

Looks pretty good.

If the bearings/hubs are chinese at the very least factor in a new set of Jap or Aus bearings/seals and dust cap as the chinese stuff is rubbish.

Have fun and good luck.

[Pauly]

Its been bugging me, I know ive seen then somewhere but not 20k, still looking.

Mick heres a bit of bargaining power for you, found another reseller

http://www.swagcampertrailers.com.au/camper-trailers/the-voyager-ii

Looking at the pictures on mdc I would be checking that copper pipe going into the gal, not sure gal and copper play well together.

[Boxhead 71]

Hairymick, a lot is said about the advantages of Aust canvas when compared to imported canvas.  I have Aussie canvas and am pleased I made that choice but there are two small disadvantages.  The Aussie canvas is heavy.  We have a 15oz tent roof and walls and 15oz annex and annex walls.  The ripstop is lighter and easier to manage.  The other drawback is it takes up more space and doesn't pack down as tight.  Small things I know but you mentioned your concern with weight and ease of use.  I have a couple of mates with imported tents and they are very happy.  With the forward fold design you are considering these may not be real issues for you.

Just another thing to consider, the forward fold CTs (or at least the Modcons do) have a lot of weight on the towball.  Just check the towball weight of the CT and confirm your tow vehicle can handle it.

Good luck
KB

I'm sure you can buy lighter weight Aus. made canvas. If you have the tent made I'd have thought you could spec up whatever weight canvas you'd like, 10 oz. walls with 12 oz. roof for example.

[KingBilly]

I'm sure you can buy lighter weight Aus. made canvas. If you have the tent made I'd have thought you could spec up whatever weight canvas you'd like, 10 oz. walls with 12 oz. roof fro example.

You are indeed correct boxhead.  I know a couple of manufacturers who use that combination.  And whilst it is lighter than my 15oz all over job, it is still heavier than the imported ripstop canvas.

KB

[Lori]

They seem to have a few trailers with a design that just seems a little too familiar. I did look at their campers when I was looking to buy but decided that while they were a good price for the product (that is without having seen the quality) I just couldn't bring myself to buy a product that 'borrowed' its design from another manufacturer.

[HEM19X]

Mate, Sorry for the tardy reply. I am at Hervey Bay.

Guys, I spoke to the bloke from MDC Brisbane today. He answered all of my questions. I can upgrad to wax converters canvas for an extra 2k and to an innerspring mattress for the workbench for an extra $200. This sounds pretty reasonable to me.

I had another look ad the modcon range and a modcon with all the fruit that the mdc has as standard is closer to 50k, i reckon.

I am a boily by trade so will have a fair idea of what i am looking at when i climb underneath it.

At arond 22k with quality canvas and 100 x 50 RHS with 4mm wall thickness chassis and crossmembers througjout, I think the basics could be there for a very robust camper. I will have a better idea when i crawl underneath it.

Thanks again for all the replies.

There's been a lot said but, in the end you only have to satisfy 1 person [plus SWMBO]. If you are happy with it and it suits your needs, go for it.

Yes I do have a Modcon & yes I am happy with it, but when I got mine, it was the only one around.

Good luck if you choose to buy it & I hope to see you out on the tracks sometime.

Regards

Hem

[Bill]

They seem to have a few trailers with a design that just seems a little too familiar. I did look at their campers when I was looking to buy but decided that while they were a good price for the product (that is without having seen the quality)I just couldn't bring myself to buy a product that 'borrowed' its design from another manufacturer.

But almost every manufacturer out there borrows something from other manufacturers, be it camper trailers, cars, motorcycles etc.
One manufacturer comes up with something unusual and then the next year a few others have a variance on the same idea.
Bill

[KingBilly]

You're spot on Bill.  Just have to look at mobile phone design and the patent wars going on with them.

KB

[Taz64]

My comment relates to Chinese steel.

Having experiance in metal fabrication and welding, beware of Chinese steel it that's what the CT is made from.  The reason - Chinese steel is not manufactured to the same standard as we're used to in Australia. 

When welding for instance, a nice seam of weld will turn into a blown hole without changing any welder settings because Chinese steel has inconsistent tolerance across it's section which you cannot see with the naked eye.  There's a reason it's cheaper.

As far as their campers go, I won't comment as I haven't looked at them 1st hand

[baz1]

They seem to have a few trailers with a design that just seems a little too familiar. I did look at their campers when I was looking to buy but decided that while they were a good price for the product (that is without having seen the quality) I just couldn't bring myself to buy a product that 'borrowed' its design from another manufacturer.

Lodi I think your right, I've noticed with this particular camper model, along with a number of other Chinese imports, there seem to be a number of different companies selling the same trailer, but each company just gives the trailer a different name, and maybe the trailer is a different colour. The post from Campingwithkids seems to confirm this, it sounds like he sells the same trailer.

Not that there is anything wrong with this, or it means your getting a bad trailer, it just makes me wonder what's going on with the imports from China when you have a number of different Ozzi companies selling the same trailer. You don't see that with Ozzi companies doing the same thing, for example there is only one company that sells the Aussie Swag Ultra D,  no one else makes the same Trackabout models, and so on. Maybe someone can enlighten me how it works?

[Marschy]

There is a company here in Adelaide shipping these hard floors in in large quantities and then on-selling them. He may not be the only one, there may be others that I'm not aware of.

They come into the country with no canvas or running gear, tool boxes, axle etc, then they are on-sold to others who add their own finishing touches.

[Mandrake]

The Chinese are very good at  "borrowing" designs and copying them - they don't seem to have the same copyright laws that we have here -
Sometimes they actually make a good quality copy !!

Its a bit like the advert for  "Genuine Imitation Rolex watches"

Mandrake

[Marschy]

There you go, I thought I'd seen it somewhere.

Camper Trailer Wholesales

Look at the 'Products' page

[Darren253]

For 20k I think i would be looking at better quality canvas. Im pretty sure MDC started out as an ebay seller selling chinese campers and are now brick and motor store selling the imports, I may be wrong. Is it similar to this. http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/675486035/High_quality_camper_trailer_with_Australia.html

$5200 per unit ex china seems like a pretty good deal... It's a long way from $22k though!

[hairymick]

G'day guys,
After much research and even more soul searching, we have decided to part with a few more dollars and look for a very good, second hand Kimberley or similar..

Thank you all for your well thought replies. You have probably saved us from making a costly mistake