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  • #1

    Caravan horror

    I don't normally look in to vans very much, but I was working at a site the other day and got talking to my site contact. I walked into his office when he had this link open.

    http://www.caravanningnews.com/shoddy.htm

    I thought I would throw it up here and get your thought. I chatted to this bloke for a while and he told me of the 126 manufacturers (in aust.) he would only ever consider about 6 of these makes (small time operators that live on the quality of their products). I would be royally pissed off finding this quality of work, when we fork out our hard earned you would expect to get a quality product. Can they get away with short cuts cause its an un-regulated industry, and they can hire any 17y.o. that can use a staple gun, opposed to qualified tradesmen who take pride in there work??..


    Thoughts/comments?....
    2000 Toyota Prado GXL- Gone, but not forgotten...
    '92 Landcruiser HDJ80 4"lift 33's
    '91 Surf LN130 coil sas, 4.8s, 35s
    '12 Jayco Eagle Outback
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Caravan horror

    Very poor worksmanship (if you can call it that!) more telling though is the fact that as it is an unregulated industry and the manufacturer is not a member of the "governing"body then little recourse is available.

    Yes one can go through the courts but no doubt that would be a costly exercise with no guarantee of sucess or even compensation if sucessful.

    That product intended for use on our roads can be built with no proper standards is a sad indictment of the relevant authorities.

    In QLD increase your tyre diameter by 20 mm and its illegal, build something like that and its okay??

    Note to self....... increase distance when near a caravan lol
    '18 VX, Billies with Dobinson springs, Summit bar with Narva Enhanced Optics to help my old eyes

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    • #3
      Re: Caravan horror

      I am curious as to who the six companies (they would use) are.

      A good mate is in the market at the moment - and the caravan and camping show is on in Adelaide over the weekend.

      Bev
      Bevan
      Former - 04 TD GXL, Now 2010 LC200 TD
      Tassie

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      • #4
        Re: Caravan horror

        Oh my freaking God.....!

        That's just a whole heap of insulation offcuts jammed haphazardly into the steel frame and wooden panelling. I struggle to even call it "workmanship" at all. Someone's basically bought the insulation trash heap with that one. I'd really love to drive up outside the dealership yard with it in that state and cause a scene. You've been completely had so the manufacturer can feel the consequences. Just how many other caravans from the same manufacturer are getting around in that state I wonder? Hope they give the manufacturer a right bollocking for that........ :evil:
        [b]#[/b] 2007 D4D GX [b]#[/b] Full Privacy Tint [b]#[/b] [color=#FF0000][b] Flinders Red [/b][/color] [b]#[/b] 2 x HID LightForce 240 Blitz [b]#[/b] ARB Winch Bar [b]#[/b] Alloy Rims [b]#[/b] Hilux Washer Jets [b]#[/b] Stebel Nautilus Compact Truck Horn [b]#[/b] ARB Alloy Roof Rack [b]#[/b] ARB Dual Battery System [b]#[/b] Charcoal Rough Country Canvas Seat Covers [b]#[/b] [color=#0000FF]Suspension:[/color]Autocraft Bilstein Shocks/Struts & Ridepro Coils [b]#[/b] [color=#0000FF]L.E.D[/color] Side Marker Lights [b]#[/b] ARB Onboard Air [b]#[/b] Pirelli Scorpion LT ATR 265/70's [b]#[/b][color=#0080FF]--Custom 3"exhaust---[/color]

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        • #5
          Re: Caravan horror

          Originally posted by jcas24
          ... they can hire any 17y.o. that can use a staple gun, opposed to qualified tradesmen ...
          I fear the camper trailer industry is even worse !!

          I know of a number of well known manufacturer's that use high school kids on work experience as fill-ins for tradesmen.

          My tip-off was to inspect the quality of welding and the final assembled edges. "If it doesn't look good then it probably aint !!!"

          What gets up my skirt is they still charge big dollars for the final product but have inexperienced and unqualified people doing the work :x :x
          "Ooops I just deleted the internet, lucky I was able to recover 99.7% of it out of the bin" :lol:

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          • #6
            Re: Caravan horror

            would love to know who built that one.......

            will be trading in my camper trailer in the near future for a pop top, would hate to get something like that.

            worse part is, you would not know until something went wrong, and the side walls need to be removed to get at the job.
            LC 120 03 GX V6, Bonnet/Head light Protectors, Home Made Draws.Toyota Tow Bar.Cooper ATR 235/70/R17 RE+. Toyota Bullbar with fog light. Navra 150 Spot Lights.
            [url="http://tikarn669.googlepages.com/home"]http://tikarn669.googlepages.com/home[/url]

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            • #7
              Re: Caravan horror

              Hi all

              Geez! What can you say?
              I have been caravanning for nearly 40 years. I have had about a dozen different caravans and camper trailers in that time. Apart from my current caravan, I have had to glue, screw and re-engineer ALL of them! IMHO, most caravans are crap!

              When it came time to purchase our current caravan, I wanted it built right first time around.
              I fully anticipate that Kedron Caravans are in the top six on the list. If not, it may be that they are so bespoke that they have been overlooked.
              They are located at Brendale (a suburb of Brisbane) and they welcomed my wife and I to visit EVERY DAY during the construction process. All of the workers were cheerful and happy. At one stage, they had forgotten to wire up the powerpoint for the inverter that I was retro fitting after delivery. When my wife and I arrived for our daily visit, I saw that that side had been sheeted up and it was therefore impossible to fit the powerpoint. "No problem!" they said as they immediately ripped off the aluminium sheets and got the sparky to jump to attention. On another occasion, my wife decided that she didn't like the carpet colour on the wheel arches. Again "no problem luv - what colour do you want?" as they pointed to the rack of carpets.
              I guess it helps that many of the workers are from the Gall family and headed by patriarch Barry Gall, who has been caravanning even longer than I have.

              The Gall brothers have about 6 videos of their family annual holidays where they show how they do the most incredible things testing their caravans. At one stage they stripped the front diff in their LC100 doing crazy 4WD stuff with a big van. Sure, they ripped off the step and the awning but otherwise the van survived unscathed.

              Their after sales service is also excellent as you become a friend of the family during the purchase and building phase.

              I took mine around Oz in 2007 including back roads (like Marble Bar to Newman via Nullagine and Cobbold Gorge in FNQ) and absolutely NOTHING went wrong!

              Anyway, enough of this rambling - if you want a proper caravan, consider a Kedron!

              I am in no way affiliated with Kedron Caravans or the Gall family. I just love what they do.

              Cheers - John
              Dune D4D GXL, ARB bar & racks, Kings/Bilsteins, diff & g'box breathers, underbody protection, air comp, brake controller, Garmin Nuvi, Scangauge II, AGM aux battery & RanOx.

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              • #8
                Re: Caravan horror

                Kedron do sound pretty good. The six manufacturers that this bloke reccommended ( I can't remember any names) are mostly smaller company, that punch out alot lower number of vans that the bigger companies. They take the time to build the product well. He said some of these vans would start at 90-100k :shock: but the quality would b ten times better.

                The name of the van pictured is unknown, probably not mentioned due to fear of being sued.
                2000 Toyota Prado GXL- Gone, but not forgotten...
                '92 Landcruiser HDJ80 4"lift 33's
                '91 Surf LN130 coil sas, 4.8s, 35s
                '12 Jayco Eagle Outback

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