Family Camper Trailer

[Fourboys]

We have four boys ranging from 6 months to 7 years. We have decided that it is now time to buy a camper trailer as holidays are getting expensive, and our tent is too small.
We are after a bit of advice on what size and style (side or rear fold) camper trailer we should be looking at. All the local camping expos are on later in the year, and we have been trawling through the internet looking at used camper trailers and reading up a lot, but ultimately we are just bombarded with information and I thought some of you with large families may be able to point us in the right direction.
We only have a low budget of about $7000. We are looking at a used good Aussie made brand (preferably on the AMCTG). Must be on off-roader - we like to go bush.
Does anyone have any suggestions for what a good sized tent would be? We are looking at putting 2 sets of bunks in the main tent area.
Basically our criteria are:
-Under $7K
-Aussie Made
-Quick set up (At least of main tent - we accept that annexes take longer)
-Large enough for 2 adults, 4 kids to sleep in main tent

Thanks very much for any help!

[evolution]

definitely one like this
http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=48344.0

Cheers
Nick

[tk421]

We have four boys ranging from 6 months to 7 years. We have decided that it is now time to buy a camper trailer as holidays are getting expensive, and our tent is too small.
We are after a bit of advice on what size and style (side or rear fold) camper trailer we should be looking at. All the local camping expos are on later in the year, and we have been trawling through the internet looking at used camper trailers and reading up a lot, but ultimately we are just bombarded with information and I thought some of you with large families may be able to point us in the right direction.
We only have a low budget of about $7000. We are looking at a used good Aussie made brand (preferably on the AMCTG). Must be on off-roader - we like to go bush.
Does anyone have any suggestions for what a good sized tent would be? We are looking at putting 2 sets of bunks in the main tent area.
Basically our criteria are:
-Under $7K
-Aussie Made
-Quick set up (At least of main tent - we accept that annexes take longer)
-Large enough for 2 adults, 4 kids to sleep in main tent

Thanks very much for any help!

Generally more tent area in a side fold than a rear fold unless you add awning walls. We have a rear fold and we can squeeze the 3 kids in. Two on the floor and one in the tub (true), but usually they are outside in Swags.

[KingBilly]

Welcome to myswag.  Side fold will fit two sets of bunks better than a rear fold.  A 10 foot side fold won't have a lot of spare room inside with the bunks.  May need to look at a 12 footer.  Anything larger would be an issue at caravan parks.

Happy camping
KB

[Fourboys]

Thanks very much for your help. We liked the Trackabout campers, so that one is definitely worth a look. 

[sol]

G'day and welcome guys.

     

[Shaun99]

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/rochedale-south/camper-trailers/trackabout-camper-trailer-off-road-deluxe-tourer-/1111878192

 

[slydar]

if you want lots dividable space, given the number of kids you have, we love ours:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/331732255844?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

if you look at the layout the main bed has two accessible sides which means among other advantages such as not waking the missus up climbing over her when you have to get up at night (or her waking you for that matter) you can use little space for storage or a littlies room they can be put down to sleep in safe inside from mozzies (and the noise of the others) etc and the huge annex means you can have yet another two rooms for whatever purposes you want. theyre a strong unit when you tie them down properly, we have been through some not too nice weather in ours and its still standing. all you need is a trailer but I have to say that building/fitting one to your own specs can be good fun - on the forum some people have set theirs up with kags, fridges and slide-out pizza ovens among other things

[slydar]

team it up with something like this http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-7x4-OFFROAD-BRAKED-OFF-ROAD-GALVANISED-BOX-TRAILER-CAMPER-4X4-HEAVY-DUTy-/290916014255?hash=item43bbf218af:g:RrcAAOxykmZTN3be and youre on yr way to a whole new lifestyle

[tryagain]

Hi, we have 4 girls so are in a similar situation to you, some things worth considering:

• Tent style, you can normally just squeeze two bunks side by side in a rear fold but there generally isn’t much space (30ish cm) in between the bunks so I think you are better off going for a side fold.
• Tent length, you really want a minimum of 10ft here and that’s if the end is near vertical, if it has much of a slope in the end canvas you will really need a 12ft tent. I personally have and would again be looking for a 12.
• I think for 7K used you can get a lot of camper for your $$$ I would consider looking for a walk up, I didn’t because our budget was about half yours was so none really fitted in that price range. The reason is not so much for the ease in getting in and out of bed but more so for the wider tent that they have meaning more space inside, although we don’t spend lots of time in that section having 4 kids and their gear as well as ours means it can get a bit squishy and I seem to often have to be moving and stepping over things. The other reason is for the extra space for your gear when travelling, as you would know with 4 you lose a lot of the storage in the car that most enjoy and it's surprising how quickly the trailer space fills up with camping related gear.
• Not a biggy but look for something that has spare room under the cover, you don't want to have to totally collapse the bunks every time as it can take longer to put them together than the rest of the camping set up combined, if you can just remove the bottom legs, fold them flat and put them on top of the mattress it will save your sanity, If you find one you like that hasn’t got room factor in a new cover or a thinner mattress as I don’t think I can over state how much of a PITA camping bunks can be.
• Let us know where in Aus you are as you can see people will happily point out what they think is a good deal but you probably don’t want to spend a decent chunk of your budget travelling to get one so if they know what part of Aus you are in they can recommend campers near to you.
• Not sure what your reasons for keeping it to purely Aus made are, I personally didn’t limit myself for the following reasons, The arguments for supporting Australian jobs aren’t really relevant to purchasing second hand and the issues I have read from some is that what when buying Chinese made was the one on the showroom floor was of decent quality but the product they received wasn’t of the same standard, buying second hand means you can see exactly what you are getting. In the end I were tossing up between an Australian and a Chinese made camper and made my decision on the quality, value and suitability of the camper I were looking at not their origin

 

[Fourboys]

Thank you all so much for your insights! That is exactly why I signed up to the forum, I knew there would be folks out there in the same situation as us.

We are located in Tocumwal, on the Murray River, so although some of those ads look great, we are really not prepared to travel to the other end of the country to find one (good point 'tryagain').

We are looking at Aussie-made predominantly because so many people have told us that Aussie made has a far better build quality than the cheaper Chinese imports. We know we could buy a new Chinese one with our budget, but we want to reliably tow it (with 4 kids on board) around the country on holidays with some degree of confidence. We have looked a few and you can always pick out the Aussie-made ones. They also seem to hold their value pretty well. 

[Bird]

We are located in Tocumwal, on the Murray River, so although some of those ads look great, we are really not prepared to travel to the other end of the country to find one (good point 'tryagain').

That one listed above is only in Sydney... Killing off 1/2 the country will nuke your chances of finding what you want... You can always ask another Swagger that's local to it to go and check it out, then head up there on a Saturday come home with new trailer Sunday testing it out on the Saturday night
Dozens of people buy them interstate this exact way...

We are looking at Aussie-made predominantly because so many people have told us that Aussie made has a far better build quality than the cheaper Chinese imports.

[evolution]

 I had a call from a myswagger the other day who has a trackabout coming up for sale. Fairly certain he was saying around the 5k mark. However again I believe he is in NSW.
I suggested that he put it up on the classifieds here, it would be one to watch out for.

Cheers
Nick

[tryagain]

We are looking at Aussie-made predominantly because so many people have told us that Aussie made has a far better build quality than the cheaper Chinese imports. We know we could buy a new Chinese one with our budget, but we want to reliably tow it (with 4 kids on board) around the country on holidays with some degree of confidence. We have looked a few and you can always pick out the Aussie-made ones. They also seem to hold their value pretty well.

Generally speaking, they are better but they would also want to be for the premium you have to pay for them, whether paying that premium is justified is subjective and depends on many variables including how you intend to use it. I am not going to say that Chinese made campers are better but I think in quite a few scenarios they do provide better value, I'm also not trying to convince you to buy a Chinese made camper but more so consider the suitability, quality and value before the origin, not vice-versa. I also think it's hard to draw a line in the sand, most trailers are at least somewhat assembled here and include components made in China with a whole lot of shades of grey in between.

Here are a few I would consider if I were you that are within 500km of you.
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/amaroo/camper-trailers/austrack-camper-with-double-awning-and-tropical-cover/1113156001
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/gordon/camper-trailers/trackabout-4x4-deluxe-camper-trailer/1110032801
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/belgrave-heights/camper-trailers/mdc-tbox-v4-camper-trailer-2014/1102205150
Or you were happy to travel up to Sydney there are these two
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/concord-west/camper-trailers/2012-lifestyle-explorer-off-road-camper-full-canvas/1111304567
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/oyster-bay/camper-trailers/mdc-step-through-off-road-deluxe-camper-trailer/1110936202

[markymark]

You'd fit yourselves & 4 boys in a Trak Shak easily enough but would have to look for an older one to get under 10G.

[Fourboys]

Thanks very much for your input everyone. There is so much good info here, and if we end up finding the right camper somewhere a fair distance away we may end up enlisting some help checking it out before making a trip to get it. We didn't realise there would be so many helpful people willing to help us out. It's so refreshing. Thanks!


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[tk421]

Thanks very much for your input everyone. There is so much good info here, and if we end up finding the right camper somewhere a fair distance away we may end up enlisting some help checking it out before making a trip to get it. We didn't realise there would be so many helpful people willing to help us out. It's so refreshing. Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just don't post a question in the electrical thread...

😀

[Fourboys]

I had a call from a myswagger the other day who has a trackabout coming up for sale. Fairly certain he was saying around the 5k mark. However again I believe he is in NSW.
I suggested that he put it up on the classifieds here, it would be one to watch out for.

Cheers
Nick

Did your mate put this one up on the classies Nick?