17' Series New owner, 17.56-2, Central Coast.

Tim 650

New Member
Oct 17, 2018
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11
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Mangrove Mountain
Hi all, in a few days I will be picking up our first caravan, a 2013 Expanda 17.56-2.
We have owned an offroad forward fold for a few years, dragged it all over the place, even Fraser Island, but the kids have outgrown it and it had to go.
Tow vehicle is an MQ Triton with lots of add ons.
Looking forward to getting the van and making some minor changes. Will no doubt be posting some questions soon.
 

chartrock

Forum Patriarch
Staff member
Sep 26, 2010
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Gold Coast Hinterland
Welcome to the friendly forum @Tim 650, you will find a wealth of info and help here and anything you can contribute is welcome. Post some pics when you pick up your rig and let us know your planned mods and trips.
 

Tim 650

New Member
Oct 17, 2018
3
11
3
Mangrove Mountain
20181017_190425.jpg20181017_190443.jpg20181017_190454.jpg20181018_085005.jpg
 

Tim 650

New Member
Oct 17, 2018
3
11
3
Mangrove Mountain
Thanks for the friendly welcome.
So we have had a few things done since purchase, and we also had our first (short) trip away in it. Happy to say that we all loved it! I have done plenty of towing, but never something this big. I drive a truck, so no big deal.
The Triton could use a bit more power/torque, but does ok. Getting moving on an incline can be testing, mainly on the clutch.
Mods so far: 2nd 120ah battery fitted. Direct solar input via external anderson plug, 120w solar blanket.
AlKo hitch fitted.
Retained the 12 pin flat plug, but added anderson plug for fridge power. Car already had ignition isolated anderson plug but changed from 7 to 12 pin plug, adding breakaway battery monitor.

Things we like:
Set up and pack up is a breeze.
Van is quite steady on the road, rough roads and highway.
More storage than we had in the camper, meaning we didn't have the car loaded so much.
Comfy beds. I didn't really notice the mattress join under me. We did get new sleeping bags which were AWESOME! so probably helped cover the mattress.
First trip was a powered site, so mains water and air con was pretty 'glamp-ey'. Loved having the shower in the van, no more waiting in line for a shower that sprays everywhere but down. (Even though when we were looking, I didn't really want the ensuite model)

Things we didn't like:
Need a different tool box on the draw bar, current one needs bed lifted up to access.
AlKo hitch is a bit 'weird'. Had a poly-blok hitch on the camper. AlKo seems to be bulky and hard to hook up.
Antenna seems to only have booster to one outlet inside, external outlet is almost useless.
Fridge is a bit 'sluggish' on 12v and 240v. We had it on and cold on 240v before we left, seemed to have raised temperature on the way on 12v, then struggled to cool again on 240v. Run for a couple hours on gas to point of icing up, then run fine on 240v from then on.

Really happy with the 'new' van, can't wait for the next getaway, probably a little less glamp-ey, more off-grid.
 
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DRW

Well-Known Member
May 29, 2013
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Beautiful Burrum Heads QLD
Sounds like it’s a keeper, the fridge needs to be dead level and on 240 bolts for a couple of days, the 12bolt is only for travelling as it uses loads of power, once you get used to it you will be fine, in both of our recent caravans ( an identical one to yours and a 17 Sterling )we ran the fridge on 3 and never had a problem