Camper trailers

[will gray Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close will gray]

Has anyone got an MDC trailer? Or even more specifically the aussie nomad v4? I'm basically sold on one from what I have seen but would love other people's thoughts coz it's a hell of a lot of money! Any advice at all would be good. Cheers boys.

[Jusso Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jusso]

We have been researching camper trailers for a while now. Just be aware of the fact that I don't think MDC use Australian canvas. They are a good camper but a lot of the canvas that comes from China (which is where I think MDC campers are manufactured) isn't at the same level as local canvas. I think they are getting better but just check it out before you invest your hard earned. The other side of the coin (literally) is that the CT's with local canvas cost more.

[will gray Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close will gray]

They reckon 6 grand more for aussie canvas... To me that's a rip off....at the Penrith camping show they were doing it the same cost as the Chinese stuff!

[Jusso Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jusso]

Wow, 6 grand is a big difference. They must be getting their canvas very cheap for it to be that big of a difference.

[Australian Member Find all posts View Profile Close Australian]

I have a friend who bought a new MDC camper. It was terrible the fit and finish. He returned it, had it relaced with a new one and the canvas had holes in it. He took it back and had to threaten fair trade action when he demanded a refund before they gave himhis money back.Not a good experience with MDC, make 100% sure you are happy with their delivered product before you hand over the money.

[Mattfunk 120 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mattfunk 120]

There is a huge difference between Chinese ripstop and Aussie canvas. The "dynaproofed" label is a top quality canvas that is impregnated with a wax solution to make it waterproofed. You only have to touch them both to feel the difference. You can see daylight thru the roof sometimes with the ripstop and on a morning with heavy dew is far more likely to drop condensation inside. I went for 15 oz canvas on the roof and walls and the quality of stitching and zips are heavy duty. There is a reason the army use this heavy duty canvas. I'm a big believer in buy once cause if you do buy a cheaper quality you may end up paying twice anyway.the age old saying"you get what you pay for". In saying that we didn't have unlimited cash supply so we worked out what we wanted in a trailer and narrowed it down to a couple of brands and bought a 2nd hand trailer that was 2 years old for almost half the price it was bought for with all the bells and whistles we wanted but could not afford brand new. Just be patient a be willing to travel. We saw one on gumtree on a Tuesday ,I organised Thursday and Friday off work and drove from Brisbane to Canberra round trip in 4 days with 2 kids and drove it home. With the quality of the canvas this applies to the trailer as well. I reckon shop around and buy a good quality Aussie made product that will last and you won't be disappointed.

Cheers Matt

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

They reckon 6 grand more for aussie canvas... To me that's a rip off....at the Penrith camping show they were doing it the same cost as the Chinese stuff!

6 grand difference doesn't sound right to me, although a few years ago now I have had several camper trailer tents custom made for my own trailers, all up including labour and all materials for 1 off custom jobs with top quality Australian made canvas was less than 6 grand!

Cheers Andrew

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Caveat Emptor, read as much as you can before spending $$$

[Jaymboze Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jaymboze]

I know a guy who just bought the top of the range MDC camper and took it straight up to the Kimberleys for a few weeks.
Said it was great and had no problems whatsoever.
Looks good but not sure about the longevity of the canvas. We just bought a new cub and the quality of the wax converters canvas looks hard to beat.
The MDC campers seem to have most of the bells and whistles at the right price, but no real track record as to how long they will last, or resale value down the track.
Something to consider I guess.

[retroenduro Member Find all posts View Profile Close retroenduro]

We got a MDC camper (offroad deluxe v4) a couple years ago and for the price paid we are really happy with it. We have been camping in QLD/Fraser and the high country numerous times and have had no problems at all. The trailer has taken a real beating and has stood up fine (especially out the back of mt buller once... It does have the cheaper canvas but i cant really see the advantage of the dynaproof unless you are camping longer term. We have had three + days of solid downpours with no leaks. We did get the optional storm tarp that fits snugly over the roof for a bit of extra insurance but have not used it yet. I suppose i could always wax it too but like i said its been fine so far?

Yeah its not as nice as some of the pop top/hard floor/x something or other with a million buttons for LED lights ones out there but for a young(ish) couple who a) didnt have a cool $30k laying around, b)don't need all the luxuries and c) are pretty resourceful when camping its never failed to impress me each time we camp in it. Its also a great base on which to improve. The criticisms i do have (which ill get around to fixing one day) are:-

The jockey wheel is way too tiny and digs in like crazy when you are trying to manouvre it on a sandy site. will be getting a 10 inch one as soon as possible
The rear door/kitchenette has no way of holding itself open, you need to make sure its on a total level surface or use a guy rope and peg to hold it open. Ill have to design and weld up and extendable leg thing to keep it open.
The extended annex (makes the tent super huge...)is about an hours worth of entertainment to put up so only worth it if staying for more than one night.

i seem to recall we paid about 5k for it and have many many great camping weekends with it. Resale? ill run it until we grow out of it and pass it down to my nephews for their camp trips so not worried there.

i also seem to recall that they are made in QLD (probably more like 'assembled' but it keeps 50+ people employed with cant be a bad thing)

[sunchaser Member Find all posts View Profile Close sunchaser]

Hey guys,
For Will, I have a Leisure Matters soft floor camper which is basically the same as MDC, I reckon they come out of the same factory in China, and are assembled here with little tweaks that each company puts on. It's been fine, been on a few trips with no probs one up to Cape Leveque where we had 220mm of rain in one day! (That was an all time record for Broome) And it didnt leak, we had a dry bed so we were happy. At about 5.5k you cant expect the best so just be prepared to fix things as needed and keep a vigilant eye on it.

For retro, the tail gate on mine has a latch on it that hooks onto the bodyof the camper to hold it in position. like the pull down latches on the poptop roof of a caravan, but mounted sideways on the swing out tailgate. If that makes sense?....

[retroenduro Member Find all posts View Profile Close retroenduro]

Hey guys,
For Will, I have a Leisure Matters soft floor camper which is basically the same as MDC, I reckon they come out of the same factory in China, and are assembled here with little tweaks that each company puts on. It's been fine, been on a few trips with no probs one up to Cape Leveque where we had 220mm of rain in one day! (That was an all time record for Broome) And it didnt leak, we had a dry bed so we were happy. At about 5.5k you cant expect the best so just be prepared to fix things as needed and keep a vigilant eye on it.

For retro, the tail gate on mine has a latch on it that hooks onto the bodyof the camper to hold it in position. like the pull down latches on the poptop roof of a caravan, but mounted sideways on the swing out tailgate. If that makes sense?....

Sunchaser, could you possibly take a photo and post it or send/PM it to me? Sounds a million times easier than the idea i had in mind!

[halfpastfour Member Find all posts View Profile Close halfpastfour]

I bought an MDC Voyager RF V3 hard floor camper earlier this year. Looked at changing from the Chinese canvas to the aussie stuff, but it was $4000 extra and I thought I'd see how the cheaper stuff goes first and if it's not good, change it later. So far the canvas has been fine, with trips up into the high country and the Murray, it's seen been in a fair bit of rain and no leaks at all.

They box, chasis, canvas are made in China, and the rest is assembled mostly in QLD and also some is done at the Melbourne depot where I picked it up from. The elctricals, plumbing, suspension is all done in Australia with King springs and Munroe shocks. Oned thing I would advise is to thouroughly check everything at delivery. Very disappointingly, the only issues I had were with the things done in Australia, including the plumbing and wheel tightening. Their warranty service for me was first class, I wish all companies were as good as they were.

The poles for the awning and annex are the only obvious thing that is poor quality and I don't think they will last long, but these are easy to replace with better quality ones.

Overall I would recommend them. At about half the price of a similar Cub camper that has much fewer bells and whistles, I can't see the Cub as being twice as good. My thoughts were that if I have to spend a few $ improving the quality of the MDC, I'd still be way better off. So far I can't see the need to spend anything. Time will tell of course.

Mark

[BlakMoth Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close BlakMoth]

We looked around a lot before deciding to spend a bit extra and get a second hand Aussie made one.
From what I could see the MDC campers were better than the other Chinese ones. Leisure Matters and PMX are the exact same trailer with different colour canvas. Got a mate with an MDC and she loves it. Had a couple of little issues but easy fixed after.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Playdoh96 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Playdoh96]

We've bought the v3 extreme explorer at the end of last year (its one of the soft floor models). We have been really happy with both the trailer and tent. We where extremely impressed at the high country gtg. It rained constantly for 6 of the 8 day's we where there and with out leaking. That was with our first wet pack up at Mansfield, and move to Talbotville and set up in soaking rain.

We chose the smallest tent they offer as its the easiest too set up. With 2 young kids wrestling with a heap of canvas was the last thing we need to do.

We also left the options to a minimum. As I wanted to set up all the wiring and batteries as we needed, not how it came from the factory. Which ended up being a wise move. A mate from out 4x4 club bought the galvanized version, with all the options, massive tent, and independent suspension. Unfortunately most of the wiring was poorly fitted out. And he's spent a weekend sorting it all out.

It doesn't really matter what you buy these's. There's always going to be something not quite right. And that's the best thing about buying new WARRANTY!!! The old man bought a Bushtracker caravan for over $100k and had issues with the auto awning, air con, and toilet all in the first week.

For the price MDC are not all that bad. We paid $7k for ours and sorted out the wiring over a couple of weekends. Suits us to a tea now.