Author Topic: Austrack Campers (Read 26530 times)

Craig.W · « **on:** May 06, 2013, 11:32:05 AM »

G'day All,

We're looking at an Austrack Camper, has anyone had any experience with these, good or bad. They seem to look alright on the web and are Australian made according to the site info.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Regards,

Craig.

Barrabart · « **Reply #1 on:** May 06, 2013, 01:43:05 PM »

G'day Craig,

Firstly welcome to Myswag......

Which model are you looking at buying? Are you buying new or secondhand?

It looks like they make there own trailers with Aus Made Steel, and their trailers look ok. You probably noticed when it comes to mentioning the tent however they don't state where the canvas comes from....... My guess (correct me if i'm wrong) is the Rip Stop Canvas is imported, which is I imagine helping them keep the price down.......... search a bit of info on Aus made Wax Converters Dyna Proofed Canvas...... this is the gear that most or a lot of the 100% Aus Made Campers use....

As for the Austrack, there are a few threads on here about them, and a few people on here that already own them........... search Austrack in the search box at top right of the home page. My first impression is they look like they are making a reasonable product........ I guess you need to talk to them, find out what their back up service is like, talk to some owners on here etc......... Do you live near an Austrack dealer?

Also, check out the classifieds on here, for under $10,000 there are some very good 100% Aussie Made CT's, that are close to new, and well cared for. I'd be looking for names like Trackabout or Customline etc...... that'll give you something to compare the Austrack to.

For me, if I was looking at paying $12,000 for an Extreme Offroad Austrack.......... I seriously be considering saving a few more $$ and looking at getting a Trackabout Kakadu..... Just my opinion.

Regards,

Barrabart.

Nay-DMAX · « **Reply #2 on:** May 06, 2013, 02:17:54 PM »

Barrabart makes some very good points, we have the Austrack tent but not trailer. Whilst we are happy with what we have and it does the job we need I wish I had known about myswag earlier on for all the tips and tricks. The other things to think about are what type of camping you are wanting to do and if you want on road or off. We found the tent poles for the awning on the Austrack were not good and the spigots bent on all of them just set up in yard at home not overly windy and on same set up one of the eyelets on awning started to pull away again not very windy and set up properly with guy ropes etc. On contacting where we purchased it were told as they don't do that tent anymore to contact Austrack they said we had to post the awning to them (from Vic) at our cost and didn't seem to care that there had been a screw scewed up through the bed base which ripped mattress cover as we went to swap for inner spring glad I didn't find it making the bed would of ripped a hand open. The set up of the tent is pretty easy we have the 9ft one but I liked our oztrail tent more. Good luck what ever you decide we might of just been unlucky with ours and I have read good things about them.

lilstookie · « **Reply #3 on:** May 06, 2013, 06:42:43 PM »

We have an Austrack 12ft Tent on our Camper trailer. The CT is NOT an Austrack just the tent.
We have used our CT ALOT and I have to say the Tent has let our whole purchase down.
The spigots on the top bent very easily and it was tough to stop the water leaking in where the awning attaches even with the storm cover. The storm cover is useless in fact and we now use a tarp when its wet. After 2 weeks camping the the Far north we got really bad mould whilst the camper was in constant use. We tried everything to get rid of it and we had to vacate the tent in the end as we had 2 young kids breathing on mould spouts.......the guys at Austrack didnt really care and took a while to get back to us.
They said it wasn't a problem with the tent and more the location we where in. (so dont buy an Austrack if you plan on going to a humid area)

In the end we blitzed the tent with "wet and Forget" and it killed the mould but there is some staining that wont go away over all of the roof.
We had only had the tent 6 months and where very disappointed with it and will be looking to replace it once the money is there.

I personally would not recommend the tent and I would also not rely on support from the company. Back up and support is a big thing for us and they didnt really care at all.

ehsc · « **Reply #4 on:** May 06, 2013, 07:58:52 PM »

Hi Craig.w

Welcome to myswag I cant speak about trailer but a mate has the tent top and seems happy with it but compared to what he had anything would be better, I believe the canvas is from India and the tent is sewn in Australia or that's what they told him when he purchased it.

Keeping in mind he doesn't use it much maybe with a lot of use he may have similar issues as others have had

ehsc

gypsymama · « **Reply #5 on:** May 06, 2013, 11:53:53 PM »

Eep! Some of you are frightening me! We've just ordered an extreme.

I thought the tent was made in China to the companies specs?

We chose to go with the Austrack after much research, many sleepless nights and an exhausting day of looking at second hand campers, including reputable brands such as customline. We're going through Flying Fish Campers in Innisfail. So far Peter has been fabulous, even coming out after hours to show us the camper for a second view as thats when we happened to be coming through town. We've asked for a few mods - changing to a treg hitch, 12 volt electric pump on the water tanks, extra 12 volt outlets, wheels to match our pajero etc and its all happening with no argument and no drama and (most impressively) at no extra cost. And he's throwing in a few things too.

The trailer itself appears extremely well made when comparing to the second hand trailers we looked at, it LOOKS solid, if you know what I mean, all wiring is encased in RHS, the shassi is strong and the welding was faultless (a lot of the ones we looked at looked as though the welds were bubbled, or they were just spot welded in places!). But what sealed the deal was the extras, such as the side cupboards, the drifta kitchen, the access through the bed to the storage, the checker plating on the mudflaps so you can stand on them while packing up if need be, the extra water tank, the real rubber (not foam) seals, the fact that it comes with a boat rack.

All in all, its a neat and tidy strong trailer that comes with everything we had on our wish list. And the 12 foot tent with kids will be great - comes with an annexe with all walls, and floor of the main tent is one piece with the walls - no velcro! And even though its a chinese tent, the little things about it impressed us when compared to the others - you can unzip/zip up the windows from the inside - no need to go out in the rain! There is a main bed privacy screen built in.

Anyway. We were impressed enough with the finished product to place an order. We'll see how it goes when we get it, hey?

cruisindub · « **Reply #6 on:** May 07, 2013, 02:29:41 AM »

When is it expected?

camlisa · « **Reply #7 on:** May 07, 2013, 05:29:54 AM »

Had our Austrack extreme off road for over 2 yrs been in some bad weather wind and rain camping on beach front. Couldn't be happier with it had one minor problem some plastic ends on spreader bar broke which austrack replaced no charge and they threw in some stubby holders for the inconvenience. Don't be put off by this not made in Australia garbage there is not one ct manufacturer that doesn't have something made oversees. Just because something is made in Australia doesn't always mean its better.

grafy82 · « **Reply #8 on:** May 07, 2013, 08:21:27 AM »

I'm a bit worried now too. We recently purchased the 1200mm drop off road tent but haven't had a chance to open it yet.

gypsymama · « **Reply #9 on:** May 07, 2013, 10:46:57 AM »

Quote from: cruisindub on May 07, 2013, 02:29:41 AM

When is it expected?

Mid June. They said 4-6 weeks, we said to take 6.

Nay-DMAX · « **Reply #10 on:** May 07, 2013, 12:56:38 PM »

My post is just our experience with them and like I said had to contact them as place we bought it said we dont have those tents now so had to contact Austrack i wasnt very happy with that part, maybe they didnt help out since we didnt buy it all through them I dont know. Other thing we did find foam mattress was very hard so we put innerspring on much comfier but heavier but we dont use the under bed access anyway. It does do the job we need it too but if we were getting another tent would look elsewhere. We have the 9ft one

Craig.W · « **Reply #11 on:** May 08, 2013, 08:28:12 AM »

Thanks for the info everyone I'm a bit shy of Chinese canvas but the actual trailer looks really good, I'll just have to wait and see how Gypsymama goes. I will still consider them though.

Keep us posted GM.

Thanks again everyone.

Craig.

gypsymama · « **Reply #12 on:** May 08, 2013, 10:25:13 PM »

Quote from: Craig.W on May 08, 2013, 08:28:12 AM

Thanks for the info everyone I'm a bit shy of Chinese canvas but the actual trailer looks really good, I'll just have to wait and see how Gypsymama goes. I will still consider them though.

Keep us posted GM.

Thanks again everyone.

Craig.

Will do. :-)

03hilux · « **Reply #13 on:** May 09, 2013, 09:00:28 AM »

Im in the process of building my own trailer and have researched tents for about a year. I looked a numerous chinese tents and the Austrack seemed at the better end of the chinse tent market. I rang one mob just for an enquiry and they told me about a 2nd hand one they know of. So i bought a second hand Austrack tent which is 4 years old. The guy i bought it off said they used it for a two wee block evry year, and went away camping a further 4-5 times a year. The tent is is good cond.
I set it up and used it on my dads 7x4 trailer for a test run. It is easy to open and seems like good quality for a "chinese tent".

Jon · « **Reply #14 on:** May 09, 2013, 08:39:22 PM »

http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=27904.msg434061#msg434061

Been a good set up but now with older kids, we have moved on.

Yellalux · « **Reply #15 on:** May 21, 2013, 10:52:19 PM »

Bit off topic (but still related to austrack tents so I guess the same topic

) but a question for the current owners of an austrack camper tent top: do you have much of an issue with moisture on the underside of the tent roof and awning?

We bought a new top about 3 weeks ago and every time it has been set up the underside of the tent roof and awning have become very wet with moisture- to the point where if you touch the canvas the moisture will pool then start to run down the roof slope before dripping off once it gets big enough. I have spoken to austrack who have said it is condensation problem however I have set the tent up in a number of scenarios to try and eliminate that chance of condensation (ie doors and windows open/ closed, storm cover on / off etc) and the only way to stop the excessive moisture so far has been with a tarp....

So my question is has anyone found their tent to have a lack of waterproofing? I don't expect their to be no moisture from condensation etc but the amount we currently get seems excessive (eg the other morning was freezing cold, and the ice was thicker under the tent roof and awning then on top where the dew had settled).

Nay-DMAX · « **Reply #16 on:** May 22, 2013, 07:39:43 PM »

Quote from: Yellalux on May 21, 2013, 10:52:19 PM

Bit off topic (but still related to austrack tents so I guess the same topic ) but a question for the current owners of an austrack camper tent top: do you have much of an issue with moisture on the underside of the tent roof and awning?

We bought a new top about 3 weeks ago and every time it has been set up the underside of the tent roof and awning have become very wet with moisture- to the point where if you touch the canvas the moisture will pool then start to run down the roof slope before dripping off once it gets big enough. I have spoken to austrack who have said it is condensation problem however I have set the tent up in a number of scenarios to try and eliminate that chance of condensation (ie doors and windows open/ closed, storm cover on / off etc) and the only way to stop the excessive moisture so far has been with a tarp....

So my question is has anyone found their tent to have a lack of waterproofing? I don't expect their to be no moisture from condensation etc but the amount we currently get seems excessive (eg the other morning was freezing cold, and the ice was thicker under the tent roof and awning then on top where the dew had settled).

A couple of things had you done much in the way of seasoning the canvas? We wet ours down quite a few times and allowed it to dry when we got it. In saying that we have had times when there has been moisture on the inside of the roof we had 2 days of rain with the storm cover on and there were small patches in tent area where there was moisture through. In the awning area we do find that if it is raining you need to drop the outside poles so there is run off and push the areas where the water pools a lot. This would not be ideal if you had to be away from the camper on a wet day. We have not had the camper out a lot in winter so it would probably have more issues in the colder weather. It certainly doesn't make it easy if it drips on you all the time or you have to pack up and the inside is still wet. Not sure on a solution sorry

lilstookie · « **Reply #17 on:** May 22, 2013, 08:17:48 PM »

Quote from: Yellalux on May 21, 2013, 10:52:19 PM

Bit off topic (but still related to austrack tents so I guess the same topic ) but a question for the current owners of an austrack camper tent top: do you have much of an issue with moisture on the underside of the tent roof and awning?

We bought a new top about 3 weeks ago and every time it has been set up the underside of the tent roof and awning have become very wet with moisture- to the point where if you touch the canvas the moisture will pool then start to run down the roof slope before dripping off once it gets big enough. I have spoken to austrack who have said it is condensation problem however I have set the tent up in a number of scenarios to try and eliminate that chance of condensation (ie doors and windows open/ closed, storm cover on / off etc) and the only way to stop the excessive moisture so far has been with a tarp....

So my question is has anyone found their tent to have a lack of waterproofing? I don't expect their to be no moisture from condensation etc but the amount we currently get seems excessive (eg the other morning was freezing cold, and the ice was thicker under the tent roof and awning then on top where the dew had settled).

If your getting moisture on the inside then it sounds like the same issue we had with ours. The condensation inside wont escape and if your in the tropics then it gets mouldy....REALLY mouldy. Our tent was less than 6 months old when it got really bad mould on the roof and on some of the sides. We had NO sides on the awning and all the windows open for airflow as its hot in Cairns.
Id be more inclined to believe its the canvas thats the issue as we are not the only people in Cairns with a camper tent......

In colder areas we had trouble with the side of the doona getting wet in the mornings as it was touching the sides of the canvas and the water was running down onto it.....and it wasn't raining outside either.
The trailer company whom we bought our tent from dont use them anymore as they had issues with Austrack trying to get any warranty issues for their customers.

This is just our feedback as we had been travelling Oz with ours for 3 months when it all went to sh*t, bad condensation in Vic with no rain, and mould in Cairns.
Good luck with yours all the same.

yorty · « **Reply #18 on:** May 22, 2013, 08:56:35 PM »

We've had our austrak for nearly 5 years. Everything is still in good order, never had an issue with mould or leaks.(we live in townsville though I don't think it's that humid here) I do believe the company has swapped hands the last couple of years, the previous owner was wonderful to deal with. One thing with the tent, the mattress was rock hard, we replaced it with one from clark rubber. For the price, we are still very happy with the austrak.

03hilux · « **Reply #19 on:** May 22, 2013, 09:45:36 PM »

We have only used our 2nd hand Austrack the once since we bought it in Feb this year. No probs on that trip.
However, last september we hired a jonnos camper to go to fraser island. We drove from newcastle to yamba and set up in yamba for 2 nights. The first morning in Yamba the wife woke up with the roof dripping condensation on her. ( No rain that night or the week leading up to it) I decided to throw a tarp over the top for the second night, and woke up dry the next morning.
The 4 night on fraser, the 1 night i had no tarp over the tent, the roof was moist in the morning.

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Author Topic: Austrack Campers (Read 26530 times)