Hi all,
My wife and I are planning to join the grey nomad army early next year 2010. We are currently researching suitable rigs for our budget. We would like to access as many low cost sites as possible to keep costs down and therefore would especially like to visit National Park sites. I notice from the literature that many such sites have dirt road access. My question is is it imperative to have a designated off road van to access these sites or will standard vans cope? We are not discussing real 4 wheel drive territory here but soft off road as in access roads of short duration only. Obviously because of budget we would prefer not to go to full off road capability because of increased purchase cost. Thanks Keith & Chris

Hi Keith and Chris, welcome to the forum. most, if not all 'black top' caravans are more than capable of accessing the sites you refer to. just remember to the old adage "common sense to prevail" There is an excellent article on the home page named "choosing a rig' that may help you in selecting what type of unit you need. Johnw

Welcome from us too Keith and Chris.

We have the standard type van, 18.5ft Jayco Discovery.  Haven't had any problems with any of the dirt roads we have been on.  Like John says common sense is the operative couple of words in our Grey Nomad vocabulary.

Hope to see you out and about there sometime next year.

Ma

Welcome Keith and Chris!
Its a dilemma, when you want to go bush without wrecking your "home on wheels" but the tough off-road outfits are expensive and heavy. Derek bought an "Aussie Swag" campertrailer which was capable of going pretty much anywhere and  we towed it halfway round Australia, into and out of some very scenic spots and over some awful roads, and nothing broke, shook loose, or leaked.
But as time went by we found we were travelling more on good roads, staying mostly in caravan parks, or National Parks camping areas that are all nice and civilised. And we came to realise that we'd like a bit more comfort. So we sold it!
Now we are casting around for ideas for a new rig, some vans that claim to be "strongly built" entice Derek to look more closely, but the decision has yet to be made.
I have another year to work before retirement (Oh that glorious thought!) so in the meantime we bought a tent for short(ish) trips. Hmmm!
Good luck with your decision-making, is it going to be a mobile home or a van?

Hi and welcome Keith and Chris. You'll find heaps of info here based on experience. Cheers Chris

Thanks guys really useful comments. Keith & Chris

thanks John, Your advice was as I and hoped.

On another tack is using a "black top" van on a dirt road likely to affect any manufacturers warranty? Keith & Chris

Hi and welcome to the forum, you'd be fine on "made roads", manufacturers warranty will cover you on any "recognised" road surface apart from "tracks", although a hell of a lot of "on road" vans were at the birdsville races last time we were there the differences between "on road" and "off road" is mainly the clearance, suspension and chassis, a lot of manufacturers "claim" theirs is off road but is in fact woefully inadequate a good "off roader" will have double swing arm independant suspension with individual shockers and walking beam chassis, thats just a couple of things to check out before you pay an extra $10,000 for that "off road" sticker, tyres dont usually sygnify much, there are other differences of course internally they are much the same with cabinets stapled together and very thin moisture resitant chipboard, they will both shake apart if you take it to the extremes when we went up to arkaroola and leigh creek last time we came across may "on road" vans touring along the blinman to broken hill road quite happily, this would be one of the roughest roads i have EVER encountered, with road stones around the 6" round mark and very little fine fill they were toodling along at 35 - 40 kph and doing it quite happily and taking their time it's a matter of care, look after your van, treat it with respect and dont be in a hurry and an "on road" van will serve you very well getting in to many free camps if not most of them the "camps australia" range of books (commonly known as "the bible") will tell you if the camp is "caravan" accesible or not and what size, we are quite often in very good company in many free camps with mum and dad and a couple of kids, falcon in the background towing an old franklin and a grin on their face that a wire brush would not remove great times await you, grab a van and get out amongst it, you are missing out!!!

Welcome from me too!

I believe that before you can make an informed decision on the kind of rig that would best suit your needs, you first need to determine what those needs actually are.
Without a modicum of actual experience of the lifestyle you intend to adopt, that is simply not possible.
You first need to get out there and amongst it.

Being of a parsimonious nature, and very much aware that once you no longer have a dependable income, my take on the topic is that, for every dollar that you don't spend un-neccessarily, you have a dollar to spend on something that is genuinely of value to you.

I would suggest giving the great outdoors a try by begging, borrowing or stealing any kind of rig that you can you can lay your hands on, and spending as much time as you can as far away from home as is possible, as often as possible.
Alternatives to the B, B or S method is to either hire different rigs (fairly expensive) or to buy an older, cheaper, outfit and suffer little or no loss if or when you decide on something more to your taste.

That way you will have gained direct knowledge of the environments into which you will ultimately be launching yourselves into, and the ways in which you, as individuals, will enjoy it most.

Mixing with the folk already enjoying the "Grey Nomad" way of life, and trawling the various fora on the www, will inform you of a great deal that you didn't even know that you didn't know.

Sorting out the wheat from the chaff in these sources can, in itself, be an interesting exercise in the study of human behaviour.

The main thing, of course, is to go easy on yourselves in the garnering of the mass of knowledge that is needed for a successful life beyond the confines of suburbia.
It will take a lot of time and effort, which can in itself be most enjoyable.

Too many wannabe's come to grief in the great unknown having bought every piece of expensive gear that they can lay their hands on, thinking that it will, in some mysterious way, substitute for their lack of knowledge and understanding.

Driving/ Towing/ Bushcraft/ Bush First Aid courses are invaluable if you wish to get the maximum from your times beyond the city limits.
The greater your psychological and practical self-sufficiency, the greater your freedoms.

Go for it.
Deferring action until tomorrow is another day lost in an all-too-short lifetime.

Happy adventuring

Well said Rolly, that campervan we bought and sold ended up very expensive....but we learned a lot and that makes it well worth it! Its not so much the short dirt roads into some National Park campgrounds that will shake a van to bits, as those"development" roads up North, on which we meet huge scary road trains. We have a UHF radio, and they usually call ahead, giving us a chance to get right off the road and let them pass. Trouble is the shoulders of those roads are really rough. Was wondering if anybody has towed a "black-top" type of van over those roads and if any damage was done?

Only the Barkly Highway before it was widened. That isn't even a development road. Some of the edges to the shoulder were huge, sharp drop offs, and I really had to plan getting off the road in plenty of time, before the road train got to me. The radio is a huge help in these situations. Most of Qld roads don't have any shoulder to pull of the road safely. Corrugations are the enemy of most recreational vehicles and vans. Just use commonsense. Don't try and cover too much country too quickly. Taking your time will save you any stress, and it will save you putting your vehicles under unnecessary stress. The rest is up to you. Relax and enjoy. Kick back and watch the country slide by.

Coakley wrote:

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On another tack is using a "black top" van on a dirt road likely to affect any manufacturers warranty? Keith & Chris

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Depends entirely how the warranty is worded a few state very clearly "For use on sealed roads" others state "made roads" and others stay "for use on gravel roads do not exceed 80km/h".....
So it's a case of reading the warranty documentation through and DO NOT believe a salesman's spiel unless he can back it up with Warranty and you can bet your bippy if his warranty allows dirt road use he will use it in his sales pitch.

 

rosey wrote:

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 Was wondering if anybody has towed a "black-top" type of van over those roads and if any damage was done?

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Yep, and forced off the road onto the shoulder by a cowboy driving a road train....

 It had rained and the shoulder was mud, vehicle and van down to the suspension in mud... We were rescued by another Road train nthat dropped off 2 trailers and pulled us free with a chain......

I;m all ready to take to the rosad as well,now ,Awaiting on a plumber to check my work for a certificate for registering the Daydreamer, I wouldnt worry too much about about the "off road" as against the "on-road" capabilities of the van unless you are a free camper and intend to wander freely OFF the BEATEN track,buy a proven Aussie van and it will usually take you to most places you want to go, The tow vehicle has more bearing on the off road side of it, if your car will make it then usually the van will also I am an off roader from way back, and I drag an on road van

I recently came across the owners of a Jayco Sterling in Cairns who had just returned from a trip to the top of Cape York and had no problems with it. They did get some dust in it but no more than one expect on a trip like this.

Despite this it is my view that independent suspension with shock absorbers and perhaps coils would give the contents of the van a kinder ride on corrugated roads. I have also noticed some vans have very poor ground clearance and in fact a neighbour of mine had to get his van raised just to stop it "grounding" getting in and out of "servo" driveways and across speed humps.

Yes Jim, I'm still wondering if ignorance is really bliss, or a good excuse for foolishness. When I see the condition some of the Capers return in, I still wonder about that Jayco. It's a good reflection on Jayco. It would make a good story. Cheers Chris

Especially when you see the number of 4X4 wrecks at the trackside, frankly I don't believe it.....I recon they towed ther van to Laura and then shot of up the cape in the 4x4 and returned to recover their van
( sposed to be egg on my face)

-- Edited by Basil Faulty on Tuesday 29th of September 2009 07:16:29 PM

I can support Jim's observations. We both watched the guy wash that mud right out of the van. Unless he parked it under a front end loader full of sand, he'd been to the top and survived to tell the tale. No damage done. I might add, he was Victorian. Don't shoot me! I'm a Sth Aussie and we're born to bag the Vics. But maybe it had something to do with the act of dragging his van up to the Cape. He didn't do the telegraph track though, so maybe that was his salvation. Jim and I just shook our heads at the escapades of this nomad.

Welcome Keith and Chris. We also had a Aussie Swag camper-------towed it everywhere, any time, and it just followed along behind. Never once caused us a problem. Just like you we {I} decided we just needed a little more comfort, so , we were at the same place you appear to be, that is , undecided. Eventually, after much research, we settled on a Coromal, 17ft6 off road, tandam wheel, inderpendant suspension pop top. It's great for us. We took it across the Plenty highway last year and not one thing out of place. We did as most are advising...... used common sense, took our time, smelt the wattle and the camels for the 3 days it took us. We are "mad fossickers" so some places have been pretty hairy, but theres nothing we can complain about with it. Good luck with your search. Cheers, Dellie

Cruising Granny wrote:

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No damage done. I might add, he was Victorian.
Don't shoot me! I'm a Sth Aussie and we're born to bag the Vics.

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Vics, you mean Mexicans don't you Chris.  Well that's what we ****roaches call them..... ........might add that I'm married to one and he ain't half bad for a Mexican

Ma

 

Thanks to everyone, really amazed at the response and they make fascinating reading. One thing we have learnt is that everyone out there seems to enjoy life as much as we expect to. Can't wait to join you all next year. Keith & Chris