New Jayco Swan 2011 photos

[rumy Member Find all posts View Profile Close rumy]

http://postimage.org/image/lexme9wk/

http://postimage.org/image/lfci8eck/

[rumy Member Find all posts View Profile Close rumy]

Re: New Jayco Swan 2011 photos

The gas bottle is now moun ted in the front boot and they have made changes to the door apparently.

[westy90 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close westy90]

Re: New Jayco Swan 2011 photos

from the outside i think you are right the front boot and door look different mine. I have a 2010 model. Front boot is a pain to get into when the thing is set up and with that change it looks even harder now.

The best thing about Jaycos is their after sales service. you will become best friends with your dealer as you will be back there getting things fixed under warranty everytime you use it. Nothing major though, just little teething problems. They are a very capable unit.

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

Re: New Jayco Swan 2011 photos

You'll be happy with your purchase and the service. Late last year we bought a 2010 Flamingo 'Outback' and love it. Very easy to tow and live with. Have to say though, make a list of all little things that go wrong and keep a copy when you take it for the first service. I told them of some problems and I have had a couple of phonecalls saying they can't find the problem.

Apart from that, you can not fault their after sales service. The hardest part of owning one is getting free time to use it and finding new places to go.

Enjoy!!!

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

Re: New Jayco Swan 2011 photos

When I had my 2003 "Outback" Swan and had a few things break I queried the factory only to be told that they did not intend nor design the things to be taken "Outback"!

I took mine up to Cape Leveque, up the Gibb, Tanami, Karijini, Gt Central, etc and up to Cape York, mostly minor problems including blowing the inverter everytime 12v was hooked up, losing all water, losing the awning, massive dust ingress.

It was good for the kids but now they are gone and so is the Jayco.

[bertram35 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bertram35]

Re: New Jayco Swan 2011 photos

Hi Bushbasher et al,

I'm interested to learn of your expeirence towing the Jayco through Gibb River Road, Cape Leveque etc etc

I visited Jayco in Sydney yesterday as we are thinking about doing the same trip - with our 4yo and 2yo children.
We have a 2009 Prado Kakadu - petrol.

I think these Jayco outback units are so much more convenient and comfortable than trailer campers - but as have no experience in that part of the world I'm concerned about whether a Jayco outback unit will limit where we can go - I don't want to go extreme off raod - but GRR, Cape Leveque, Mitchell falls etc etc What was your experience?

The guys at Jayco now say they specifically warrant the outback units for any formed road - specifically mentioned Gibb River Road, Cape York Developmental Road etc.
I wonder if the suspension is suitable?

Any shared experiences, or advice, from the group would be very much appreciated.
Keen to learn if I need any special mods on the Kakadu (sotck standard at present), and thoughts on Jaycos or alternatives.
Also anyone know good place to check out some second hand Jaycos??

Thanks in advance.
Rgds
ML

[snagler Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close snagler]

Re: New Jayco Swan 2011 photos

Gday bertram

I have had a Outback swan 06 since new and the family absolutely loves it. I have two children of 5 and 7. We have only just returned from a big 4 month trip into NT and QLD. The worst conditions imaginable in regards to corrugations, the swan handled it fine.
You really dont need to buy new or even near new as the basic design etc hasnt changed in over a decade. Many people buy new jaycos only to have them sit dorment in the shed after only a few weekend trips - These are good buys.

You will find lots of good info (as I did) on www.exploreoz.com in regards to trip preparation, driving tips, route maps, current road/track conditions, jayco/offroad upgrades etc etc

[bertram35 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bertram35]

Re: New Jayco Swan 2011 photos

Hi Snagler,
Thanks the reply - much appreciated, and good to hear you pushed the Jayco and all went well.
Did you have an issue with dust and dirt getting inside??.....on a few reports I saw elsewhere dust was a major issue.
I'll check out the exploroz site.
Thanks again
ML

[snagler Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close snagler]

Re: New Jayco Swan 2011 photos

Yes we did get some dust ingress but I was expecting this. On extended dusty roads we would tape up the door and fridge vents as well as running tape around the top roof seal and front boot door. Very minimal dust got in when we did this. Dont forget to put the sink plug in as lots of dust can come up the drain.
I found that the most dust got in under the rear roof seal (when not taped) because of the dust "eddys" that occur at the back of the van when travelling

Some of the mods I did to my camper before our big trip included -
- Second (shower) water tank under camper, with pump provision to suck from creek etc
- Gas hot water unit installed in front boot
- Hot/cold water shower
- Second 4kg gas bottle on A frame
- 100 Ah battery and cabling to cars second battery plus voltmeter in van
- 12 volt LED lighting in van (best investment you will make) The new jaycos may come with these Im not sure
- Wire mesh under towing A frame to store hoses wood etc. I couldnt beleive how much extra storage it gave me. Freed up most of the front boot. I should have done this years ago
- Fold up jockey wheel
- 100mm poly conduits for pole storage, one on A frame and one on back bar
- Small jerry can holder on back bar (fuel for my 1000 watt honda)
- Pota loo storage bracket on A frame (next to 9kg gas bottle) best to keep the loo out of the van in a canvas bag !!!!
- Bought a canvas bag that straps to vans spare wheel on the back, great for storing wet flooring rubbish etc
- Reversing camera on back of van (came with my GPS so why not fit it there)

[ss--ss Member Find all posts View Profile Close ss--ss]

New Jayco Swan 2011 photos

- Wire mesh under towing A frame to store hoses wood etc.

Thanks snagler I've done some of the mods you've done but never thought or heard of the mesh on the a-frame. That's next on my list!

[dazarooney Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close dazarooney]

Re: New Jayco Swan 2011 photos

http://postimage.org/image/lexme9wk/

http://postimage.org/image/lfci8eck/

Looking good

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

Re: New Jayco Swan 2011 photos

The front fly billowed up in the middle and worked as a great big air dam. I removed it during travel. We hardly used the awning and, in hindsight, I should have removed that to save on weight. When I went to clean the camper prior to selling it I discovered that the awning had busted several rivets and needed repair. All this from just hanging in the bag and bouncing over those corrogations. The shield on the water was, and still is, pathetically thin. It won't stop jack. I re-inforced mine with a heavy guage sheet of galvanised steel. I also shielded the stupid plastic garden retic grade elbow where the fill hose goes into the tank. I lost several tanks of water before working out a solution. Rocks also took out the wires for the electric brakes. So get yourself some form of good stone protection. Lots of stones also bounced back off the plastic front on the traiker and peppered the back of the Prado. One rock came all the way forward and bounced off the wing mirror. Dust got in everywhere from the fridge vents, front roof seal, door and drain pipe. It really needs a positive pressure system. We just had a good rechargeable dust buster and spent the first ten minutes cleaning up all the dust. Also carried a cordless drill-driver for screwing all the loose scres back in that seem to work loose throughout the inside of the camper during travel over the bumpy roads. The door hinging and attaching clips on the ceiling failed several times. There was no real fix for this. I fitted deep cycle battery and anderson plug and this worked well up until I fried the trailer plug. Had to install heavier plug fittings. The inverter crapped itself and blew the fuse everytime we closed the van up. Hence we spent a lot of time driving with the fridge running on gas - contrary to instructions. The inverter was replaced but the fault continued intermittently.

The van was really good to tow and ate up the GRR and Cape York with no problems other than dust. The suspension and ride was perfect. The Cape York trip was 16,000km for us. A couple of times I got caught out going a bit too fast simply because it was such a breeze to tow behind the Prado. It was comfy for the kids and the missus. A bit cold in the ACT in June/July though.

Sold it after 4 years and got $17,500 for it. Bloke said he would have paid $19K

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

Re: New Jayco Swan 2011 photos

Hey i have a goldstream stormk RL same principal as the Jayco couple of things i learnt
1 As others have said dust will get in taping up the vents helps a lot but make sure when you pack it away you get the roof down flush with the seal or she billows in
2 The major limiting factor i found with off roading with the camper is width and weight. SHe is wider than the prado so it becomes a problem when the tracks get tight and fully loaded you are up around 1.3 tonne so we struggled a bit in soft sand (mind you i have the old diesel so she is a bit of a slug to start with)
3 Get bag flys it makes it so much cooler in the heat and your canvas will be less wet if it rains.
4 I got made up a canvas bed swag cause if it rains you will be putting we canvas on the bed which is not good
5 The seem to go for overkill with the gas bottles mine origionally came with 2 9kg bottle igot rid of 1 as i was getting 6 weeks use out of a single bottle (you could almost go to a 4.5 if you were only doing weekenders
6 On the other side 60l water tanks is never enough i am currently looking for either a single 90 or even putting a second 60 behind the first 1
7 Goldstream do not reccomend putting a bike rack on the back bar (im not sure of Jayco view on this 1) as the only other place avaliable is the roof as you do not get enough turning range if they are mounted on the draw bar or on a towball mount, you can put them inside but unless you wrap them good in a blanket or something they will scratch everything

Just a cvouple of observations from 4 months on the road with our camper but overall we love it