My husband and I have 4 girls age 3 thru to 10 years and are looking at buying
an Expanda 17.56-2 Outback to replace our Hawk outback. Looking at buying new
to get the options etc we want and selling our 2006 Hawk privately. Most
current camping we do is 90% outside of established caravan parks, ie free
camps, bush camps or national park camps (mostly camps with pit or no toilets
and no or cold showers). We have 160watts of solar we would transfer to the new
van. Options we are looking at include 150litre fridge upgrade, external fold
table, 2 X100Amp battery external gas bayonet (for the Weber) inner spring
mattresses, control panel, extra 12 volt point internally, roll out awning, CD
am/fm stereo with external speakers. Other extras which we may use down the
track and are good for resale is the roof air and wind up TV aerial - so we will
get these as well.
Other extras we want to see others opinions on are the swivel coupling and
simplicity suspension plus extended A frame. Are these worth while?. We are
getting varied opinions from the couple of Jayco dealerships we have contacted.
I would have thought the coupling and suspension would be useful - but are they
overkill. We do like to go to interesting and off main road locations. Has
anyone got an extended A frame - are they useful and why.
One other option we thought of is an external shower for use eg at the beach
where you can wash sand off and shower in swimmers instead of inside - what do
people think - has anyone had and used both? or is it overkill
The main purpose in upgrading is for our big 2013/14 Australia 12 month trip. I
refused to go for 12 months in a Hawk with 4 girls. I thought the shower toilet
option would also be useful for o/night stops especially as girls go into early
teen years etc. We thought getting the van 6- 12 months out from the trip would
be good to get all the bugs out of the system - ie warranty issues covered.
Also concerned that if we go treg style hitch we cannot use weight distribution system - is this system necessary - we have a 150 series Prado.
an Expanda 17.56-2 Outback to replace our Hawk outback. Looking at buying new
to get the options etc we want and selling our 2006 Hawk privately. Most
current camping we do is 90% outside of established caravan parks, ie free
camps, bush camps or national park camps (mostly camps with pit or no toilets
and no or cold showers). We have 160watts of solar we would transfer to the new
van. Options we are looking at include 150litre fridge upgrade, external fold
table, 2 X100Amp battery external gas bayonet (for the Weber) inner spring
mattresses, control panel, extra 12 volt point internally, roll out awning, CD
am/fm stereo with external speakers. Other extras which we may use down the
track and are good for resale is the roof air and wind up TV aerial - so we will
get these as well.
Other extras we want to see others opinions on are the swivel coupling and
simplicity suspension plus extended A frame. Are these worth while?. We are
getting varied opinions from the couple of Jayco dealerships we have contacted.
I would have thought the coupling and suspension would be useful - but are they
overkill. We do like to go to interesting and off main road locations. Has
anyone got an extended A frame - are they useful and why.
One other option we thought of is an external shower for use eg at the beach
where you can wash sand off and shower in swimmers instead of inside - what do
people think - has anyone had and used both? or is it overkill
The main purpose in upgrading is for our big 2013/14 Australia 12 month trip. I
refused to go for 12 months in a Hawk with 4 girls. I thought the shower toilet
option would also be useful for o/night stops especially as girls go into early
teen years etc. We thought getting the van 6- 12 months out from the trip would
be good to get all the bugs out of the system - ie warranty issues covered.
Also concerned that if we go treg style hitch we cannot use weight distribution system - is this system necessary - we have a 150 series Prado.
