No doubt someone who owns one can answer your question about strength and integrity, but since they are closed when towing I think that shouldnt be a problem. We had one briefly many years ago and found it uncomfortable sleeping in the push-outs. Felt like a little tent, and as cold at night as a tent too. I suggest you try getting onto the bed of one, at dealers or caravan show, lie there for a few minutes and think about it. Some people have no problem with it, maybe we were a bit claustrophobic, and maybe the modern ones are better.

A park neighbour started out with his family in an expanda-van, and when they were down south of WA they upgraded to a solid van. He told me it was too fragile to live in full time. The weather, especially strong winds, belted it around too much, and it tended to leak. Then there was the cold. He told me they couldn't keep warm when they were in the colder parts of Oz. The man is travelling with his wife and 2 young children, full time, working as they go. They may be ok for holidays, but as I feel about pop-tops, they're not resilient enough for full time habitation. Too many fragile, bendy parts exposed to hot sun, gusty winds, rain, dust, bending up, folding down, up, down, up, down, up, down. And then there's the gas struts. Epanda's are fold in, stretch out, fold in, stretch out. You also miss out on the storage you get under the bed. Personal choice, but if this is to be your lifestyle, solid and strong is the way to go.

Hi Guru,

A good mate of mine and his wife are in Cairns too, they are there until November at COOL WATERS CARAVAN PARK, don't know where that is but it sounds good.

Yes it's a nice park in a nice spot, but a little further out of the main part of town. In Cairns you're never very far from shops and services. I was stuck here for medical stuff so I parked up in a very convenient park on Mulgrave Road. It's been a very busy but short tourist season. The humidity averaged 70% and the temps hovered between 28-31, with rain 3 days out of 7 most weeks. And it's still raining, but not as much here as further south. Just soggy underfoot, and a nuisance when I want to crawl around under the van on a poly tarp. Tomorrow is another day.

hi im just back from 9 weeks warrnambool vic to cairns  and back in our expanda .9 months old .we were very happy with van re towing behind ve commodore good milage ,road handling  etc .as far as your queries re standing up to the task we had no problem whatsoever and extra space was great .setting up everything took only 10 minutes between us. we found bedends very good to sleep in.we had rain on quite a few days and nights and had no leaks whatsoever i would recomend expanda to anyone                          pophog and misspiggy

There seems to be a lot on the road lately........and quite a few in used van sales.....reminds me of ppl saying the AU Falcon was a piece of sh..t.....till I owned one........all I can say is ...get what you like and what you can afford $$$$$

For sure SD. As they say, One mans trash is another man's treasure.  Same would go for vans and cars as well, what suits one of us doesn't necessarily suit the next bloke.   It's what suits your needs at the time I think.