New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

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

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

That is a great deal D4Dazz. You will probably be able to sell it later for near the price you paid. I have had a new Swan for nearly a year now. No real issues, if you don't count ants in the van. apparently this is common and some baits and surface spray got rid of them.

From my experience I suggest drop down jacks, these are just great. Get a 12 volt outlet on the outside (door side). I ordered wiring only for a future solar panel (couldn't afford it yet). But wiring and connection box is in ready to go. If you are getting a water pump, get a real pump, not the whale -2 l per min. You won't even notice the dove on the back. I was advised against the roll out awning due to the bagged awning being better in windy conditions. That said, unless you were going to spend time at (windy) beach spots, the roll out is just so much easier.

Hope you have lots of fun

One tongue in cheek comment to me by another Jayco owner was that " they rely on their customers for their quality control". This may be true, however I have had no trouble (touch wood) with the dealer accepting my concerns, and for the price, you can't beat it.

Cheers

[adam's prado Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close adam's prado]

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

Just adding another 2 cents worth, you can't go past Jayco or their autherised dealers for service and problems when we had troubles with ours they fixed it right away and they also thru in it's first service for free I must say it did make us feel better all on a public holiday in Alice Springs. Another thing that we done is wrote ourselves a note to disconnect the the power wire before we wind down the roof the first couple of times you pack up.

[embi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close embi]

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

We bought a 2008 ex demo Jayco Dove Outback about 3 months ago and it is awesome.

Setup and pack up is so quick and easy. We were in it recently in Apollo Bay and have 25mm of rain in one night and we didnt have any rain issues at all.

I've already done a few mods with battery and pump for the tap to save hand pumping.

It really is a top unit and we got it for $18,500.

[Daz Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Daz]

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

Hi Tileys,

Fridge can most deffinitly be run on 12 volt whilst underway. The warning stickers refer to operating the fridge on gas with th roof down. Similarly, if your friend still has incandecant globes in his overhead lights (I have switched to LED's) always double check these are off before dropping the roof. I have seen many burnt canvas sections from people who forget.
We run the fridge direct from the dual battery in the Prado via an Anderson plug, whilst underway, and switch to gas if we are stopping for more than a day. The AGM battery in our van is topped up from a 100w Solar panel on the roof, but I prefer to lighten the load by switching the fridge to gas for extended stays.

Agree all of the above is very good advice

Dont under estimate the current draw of the fridge. Assume is Electrolux? Need Anderson Plug. In fact I have modified to having 2 x plugs on Prado. 1 for the fridge alone, and another for the on board battery, although I can link the fridge & Jayco battery circuit together with a modified isolation switch when towing with my Hilux that only has 1 x Anderson plug.

They have a switch that is supposed to isolate the 12 volt power to the overhead lights when its folded down, so if this is working it should be ok, but yes, had that problem on our old 80s model Jayco. Burnt bed smell.

I still look at our 2002 model Jayco Flamingo and see some areas that were better in the old model Jayco we had. Bit flimsy in areas, and they arent dust proof. So need the Gaffer tape, plastic around door, fridge vent, etc etc if going dusty
On last years trip to Karijini, our Jayco sucked in as much dust as my mate old 70s Tardis type van

Anyways, happy camping and good luck

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

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

I used to have 2003 Outback Swan which I purchased new. Fitted dual batteries to run the fridge and other bits. First dirt road trip to Karijini and Millstream and a rock took out the little plastic elbow joint where the water pipe comes out of the water tank. Lost all our water. Turns out it's only your garden variety plastic irrigation piece worth 50 cents. The the shale and rocks absolutely pelted the stone guard surrounding the water tank. It was the thinnest steel that Jayco could find I reckon. Some rocks had gone straight through. Replaced it with a heavier guage steel plate. Current draw through the trailer plug as fitted and supplied by Jayco in Beckenham (WA) melted somewhere along the Gibb River Rd.I had to rewire the trailer connector and used a big round truck type unit with large pins. I ended up modifying the system to run off on-board batteries and used the anderson plug to trickle feed the batteries. The trailer plug only powered the electric brakes. There was a problem where everytime we opened the van we had to replace the fuse so the lights and fridge worked, it was tracked to the on-board inverter. After I fitted the dual batteries and bi-passed this sytem the electrics worked fine. On one trip a rock severed the electric brake wires attached to the axle so we went without brakes for a bit of the trip which caused me to slow down a bit.
Dust was always a problem, it gets in through the fridge vents and around the top seals and through the door. I used cardboard and tape to seal these during travel but that was not good for the fridge. Some water got in through the front seal at the top during heavy rain.
We took ours up the Gibb twice, up to Kalumburu and Mitchell Plateau, along the Great Central Road a few times, all around the south coast of WA. A trip to Cape Leveque ended up with 3/4 ton of sand on board but other than that no problems. In 2006 I took the camper to Cape York via the Great Central Rd, Ayers Rock, etc. We did all the tracks without a hitch. Had to use a cordless drill to screw all the screws back in after each days driving but no other worries. The clips for retaining the door against the roof when folded gave way - it's a flimsy system. The pop rivets holding the frame of the annexe vibrated loose and I probably shouldn't have taken the annex on some of the trips. The camper towed extremely well behind the old Prado and easily managed 120km/hr across NT. The 4 litres per 100 kilometres was a bit hard to swallow though. The Kalgoorlie - Cape York and then whole of east coast back to Kalgoorlie trip 16,000km at an average of 4.5 litres per 100km. That trip we had no issues with the van apart from the dust and freezing our whatsits of in the ACT.
We sold the van after we banned our teenage boys from ever going camping with us again and now have a camper trailer for two (Performance Campers).
Sold the Van for $17,500 in late 2006, paid $22,500 in 2003.
As has been mentioned, the term "Outback" and the fact that it has a higher and stronger chassis is not guaranteed by Jayco to survive the Simpson or Canning Stock route. When I complained about the stone damage and dust ingress I was told by Jayco that it was not meant to be taken off-road! I found that it would go just about everywhere although fully loaded it tended to be a bit heavy for the serious off-roader. Certainly by putting some armour on the water tank and fittings and getting some good electrics they are a good van. Nice and comfortable, reasonably easy to erect. Plenty of space for a family of four. Happy camping.

[adam's prado Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close adam's prado]

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

Hi d4dazz just wondering if you were at talbotville over easter if so we were camping next to you and your family.
Adam

[D4Dazz Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4Dazz]

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

G'day Adam

I was camped in at Talbotville at Easter, and yes I do remeber you. Hope your having a great trip! I'm as gealous as hell.

[D4Dazz Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4Dazz]

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

Quick update....

Satyraday morning deposit paid and to our great surprize they had a Dove on the yard.....no more 3 1/2 month wait. Pick up the new camper in 2 weeks once I get the brahe controller fitted.

[D4Dazz Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4Dazz]

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

PIcked up the new Jayco 2 weeks ago. Hope to get out on the weekend and snaps a few picks behind the Prad, weather permitting.

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

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

Congratulations D4Dazz on your new purchase.
Before you purchase a break controller I recommend you check this out.
http://www.redarc.com.au

Here is a picture of one on my sons Landcruser

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

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

Check out this stone guard, it just might solve your door opening problems.
It is on the web site for adventure off road campers. It looks a simple design to play with.

[D4Dazz Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4Dazz]

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered (now aquired)

Some picks of the new baby....



Can't wait to get away now!

[Prado BB Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Prado BB]

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

Congratulations D4Dazz, looks sexy.

[Prado BB Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Prado BB]

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

Check out this stone guard, it just might solve your door opening problems.
It is on the web site for adventure off road campers. It looks a simple design to play with.

How the hell do you manoeuvre and turn without the car fouling the bar? I'm sure there is a logical answer, but I can't see it.

[Signature035 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Signature035]

Re: New Jayco Outback About To Be Ordered

Welcome to the Jayco Family D4Dazz :mrgreen: You will love it.