My first post so please excuse me if I am not politically correct.
My husbands family were big vanners in their days and we are about to buy our own full size van as I do not particularly like pop tops due to being petrified of spiders and creepy crawlies.
Hence this I have fallen in love with the Olympic Z8 226 at around $65K and hubby wants to try and get a local manufacturer eg: Sundowner to build the same or similar van for a cheaper price.
Can anyone please give us some feedback on their experiences with either the Z8 or Sundowner built vans as I think its going to get ugly around here but he will listen to advice from the GN brigade.
-- Edited by SuzieQ52 on Sunday 17th of May 2015 12:35:22 PM
the rocket said
03:35 PM May 17, 2015
Hi SuzieQ, Firstly a very warm welcome to the playground. We do not have one of the vans you mention but hopefully someone does. cheers.
Meredith said
05:51 PM May 17, 2015
We have an Olympic Seaview 640 dirt road van made in 2010 which is similar to the Pursuit Z6 they now make. We have been happy with the van, its travelled close to 50,000km in those 5 years, including a lot of gravel roads, and hasn't had any major problems. For the money we paid we found it good value.
I would be surprised if you had one custom made cheaper if it would be the same quality, as the Olympic Pursuit is partly cheaper by producing relatively large numbers of the same van, though if you only intend to use it on bitumen that may not be an issue. You will find a similar layout and internal style in lots of vans, from the expensive real off road vans (which the Olympic isn't) through the mid range dirt roads vans and some quite cheaply made vans which are definitely only intended to stay in caravan parks and on good sealed roads. Its the chassis, frame and how things are fitted together that you need to consider more than just the bits you can easily see. Think about how you will use the van and where you will use it. Do you need lots of capacity for free camping or not? Not much use paying for extras that you will never need if you intend to stay only in caravan parks, but also not much use buying a van intended only for caravan park use if you really want to free camp for long periods as adding lots of stuff to those types of vans can be costly and may not be feasible while staying within its weight limits.
They Olympic Pursuit is quite a heavy van, so make sure you have the capacity to tow it when fully laden, and also check how much load allowance you get, for it or any van. What are you intending to tow it with? Not much use having a van which if the water tanks are full you can't carry more than 2 pairs of undies or go over the weight limit, and I've seen vans that fall into that category.
-- Edited by Meredith on Sunday 17th of May 2015 06:59:38 PM
TheHeaths said
06:05 PM May 17, 2015
Suzie,
the only problem your husband will face with his idea is that the Sundowner vans are imported from China, built to a plan. They are almost exactly the same as the Goldstar brand available in SA, at a similar price, and with almost exactly the same range of options. Check out the Goldstar website to compare them.
To keep costs down they have a series of set plans, and build to those. The panels will come into Australia with preset furniture mounts etc., and I would not be customisable.
He can ask, but don't get your hopes up.
Custom building comes at a price, and it is generally well above the price that mass produced vans are available at.
Liltacker said
09:28 PM May 17, 2015
Meredith well written and absolutely 100% to many vans mass produced.
-- Edited by Liltacker on Sunday 17th of May 2015 09:35:43 PM
SuzieQ52 said
09:38 PM May 17, 2015
Thanks Meredith for the time effort and good responses, hubby not against Olympic but came out of the Automotive industry and struggles to justify the cost of any caravan as about 60% of all caravan shells these days come out of China as that's the only way the costs are kept down in any form of manufacturing in Australia. More than likely I believe he will go with Olympic Z8 226 as he likes the length and the layout. Plus our tug is a Landcruiser GXL which can handle towing anything even the Queen Mary the way hubby has it setup. We are also looking at a lot free camping, fishing and golfing our way on our lap of the map.
We also have a neighbour around the corner that has a Seaview 640 ss and that was part of the reason we looked at the Olympic originally and wth the agent 10 minutes away made it easy for wheeling and dealing.
So upon closing hope to catch on the road some day,somewhere!
SuzieQ
Bill B said
10:45 PM May 17, 2015
SuzieQ52 wrote: as about 60% of all caravan shells these days come out of China
Where did you get that figure from ?
I'd be surprised if 5% of vans sold in Australia have any input from China.
brickies said
07:54 AM May 18, 2015
The story going around is that Jayco come from China has a flat pack , But I don't know it is true or false
Meredith said
08:28 AM May 18, 2015
brickies wrote:
The story going around is that Jayco come from China has a flat pack , But I don't know it is true or false
Its false. Jayco's are fully made in Australia, in their Dandenong factory.
PeterD said
12:00 PM May 18, 2015
SuzieQ52 wrote:My husbands family were big vanners in their days and we are about to buy our own full size van as I do not particularly like pop tops due to being petrified of spiders and creepy crawlies.
Suzie, I think you will be sorely disappointed if you think a full size van keeps the creepy crawlies out better than a pop-top. We have no more problems with them than friends with full size vans. May be you should be considering using park cabins.
You also said "My husbands family were big vanners in their days." Did he have the experience as a tow driver or a passenger. Has he towed large trailers. If not then I suggest that this is a very large van for a first time tower. Here are a few things to watch:
Ball weight - for the best stability an Australian style van ieeds 10% or more ball weight. See these articles - Caravan and Tow Vehicle Dynamics - Making caravans stable - Caravan Dynamics - There is some duplication of info across the articles but they are still worth a read. They are written by a bloke with experience in the General Motors Vauxhall engineering section.
Load allowance - The important figure on a van is the ATM on the compliance plate. The ATM is the maximum weight your van can be when loaded, The load you can carry in your van is the difference between the unloaded weight and the ATM. The unloaded weight is the tare weight of the van plus all the items have been added to it after delivery. Sometimes the agent adds things like the awning, air conditioners and solar systems after he has taken delivery and before he passes it over to you. Many manufacturers only give you a load allowance of 400 kg above the tare weight. When making the negotiations for orderings make sure you have sufficient load allowance. Most travellers who go for more than a couple of weeks carry over 400 kg plus the weight of the water in the tanks. I would suggest you ask doe an ATM that is 450 to 500 kg plus the weight of water in your full tanks. After all this is what you will be carrying if you are going to do free and bush camping.
Weight Distribution Hitch (WDH.) - Toyota suggest you should use a WDH or load levelling device. This device will transfer the ball weight between the axles. If you don't use WDH then the weight on your rear axle will be about 1.5 times the ball weight you impose on the tug. As Cruisers are not great in the load carrying department you are liable to be overloading your rear axle if you carry much load when you have the van hitched. The diagram below explains the situation
Hi All,
My first post so please excuse me if I am not politically correct.
My husbands family were big vanners in their days and we are about to buy our own full size van as I do not particularly like pop tops due to being petrified of spiders and creepy crawlies.
Hence this I have fallen in love with the Olympic Z8 226 at around $65K and hubby wants to try and get a local manufacturer eg: Sundowner to build the same or similar van for a cheaper price.
Can anyone please give us some feedback on their experiences with either the Z8 or Sundowner built vans as I think its going to get ugly around here but he will listen to advice from the GN brigade.
-- Edited by SuzieQ52 on Sunday 17th of May 2015 12:35:22 PM
Hi SuzieQ, Firstly a very warm welcome to the playground. We do not have one of the vans you mention but hopefully someone does. cheers.
We have an Olympic Seaview 640 dirt road van made in 2010 which is similar to the Pursuit Z6 they now make. We have been happy with the van, its travelled close to 50,000km in those 5 years, including a lot of gravel roads, and hasn't had any major problems. For the money we paid we found it good value.
I would be surprised if you had one custom made cheaper if it would be the same quality, as the Olympic Pursuit is partly cheaper by producing relatively large numbers of the same van, though if you only intend to use it on bitumen that may not be an issue. You will find a similar layout and internal style in lots of vans, from the expensive real off road vans (which the Olympic isn't) through the mid range dirt roads vans and some quite cheaply made vans which are definitely only intended to stay in caravan parks and on good sealed roads. Its the chassis, frame and how things are fitted together that you need to consider more than just the bits you can easily see. Think about how you will use the van and where you will use it. Do you need lots of capacity for free camping or not? Not much use paying for extras that you will never need if you intend to stay only in caravan parks, but also not much use buying a van intended only for caravan park use if you really want to free camp for long periods as adding lots of stuff to those types of vans can be costly and may not be feasible while staying within its weight limits.
They Olympic Pursuit is quite a heavy van, so make sure you have the capacity to tow it when fully laden, and also check how much load allowance you get, for it or any van. What are you intending to tow it with? Not much use having a van which if the water tanks are full you can't carry more than 2 pairs of undies or go over the weight limit, and I've seen vans that fall into that category.
-- Edited by Meredith on Sunday 17th of May 2015 06:59:38 PM
Suzie,
the only problem your husband will face with his idea is that the Sundowner vans are imported from China, built to a plan. They are almost exactly the same as the Goldstar brand available in SA, at a similar price, and with almost exactly the same range of options. Check out the Goldstar website to compare them.
To keep costs down they have a series of set plans, and build to those. The panels will come into Australia with preset furniture mounts etc., and I would not be customisable.
He can ask, but don't get your hopes up.
Custom building comes at a price, and it is generally well above the price that mass produced vans are available at.
Meredith well written and absolutely 100% to many vans mass produced.
-- Edited by Liltacker on Sunday 17th of May 2015 09:35:43 PM
Thanks Meredith for the time effort and good responses, hubby not against Olympic but came out of the Automotive industry and struggles to justify the cost of any caravan as about 60% of all caravan shells these days come out of China as that's the only way the costs are kept down in any form of manufacturing in Australia. More than likely I believe he will go with Olympic Z8 226 as he likes the length and the layout. Plus our tug is a Landcruiser GXL
which can handle towing anything even the Queen Mary the way hubby has it setup. We are also looking at a lot free camping, fishing and golfing our way on our lap of the map.
We also have a neighbour around the corner that has a Seaview 640 ss and that was part of the reason we looked at the Olympic originally and wth the agent 10 minutes away made it easy for wheeling and dealing.
So upon closing hope to catch on the road some day,somewhere!
SuzieQ
Where did you get that figure from ?
I'd be surprised if 5% of vans sold in Australia have any input from China.
Its false. Jayco's are fully made in Australia, in their Dandenong factory.
Suzie, I think you will be sorely disappointed if you think a full size van keeps the creepy crawlies out better than a pop-top. We have no more problems with them than friends with full size vans. May be you should be considering using park cabins.
You also said "My husbands family were big vanners in their days." Did he have the experience as a tow driver or a passenger. Has he towed large trailers. If not then I suggest that this is a very large van for a first time tower. Here are a few things to watch:
Ball weight - for the best stability an Australian style van ieeds 10% or more ball weight. See these articles - Caravan and Tow Vehicle Dynamics - Making caravans stable - Caravan Dynamics - There is some duplication of info across the articles but they are still worth a read. They are written by a bloke with experience in the General Motors Vauxhall engineering section.
Load allowance - The important figure on a van is the ATM on the compliance plate. The ATM is the maximum weight your van can be when loaded, The load you can carry in your van is the difference between the unloaded weight and the ATM. The unloaded weight is the tare weight of the van plus all the items have been added to it after delivery. Sometimes the agent adds things like the awning, air conditioners and solar systems after he has taken delivery and before he passes it over to you. Many manufacturers only give you a load allowance of 400 kg above the tare weight. When making the negotiations for orderings make sure you have sufficient load allowance. Most travellers who go for more than a couple of weeks carry over 400 kg plus the weight of the water in the tanks. I would suggest you ask doe an ATM that is 450 to 500 kg plus the weight of water in your full tanks. After all this is what you will be carrying if you are going to do free and bush camping.
Weight Distribution Hitch (WDH.) - Toyota suggest you should use a WDH or load levelling device. This device will transfer the ball weight between the axles. If you don't use WDH then the weight on your rear axle will be about 1.5 times the ball weight you impose on the tug. As Cruisers are not great in the load carrying department you are liable to be overloading your rear axle if you carry much load when you have the van hitched. The diagram below explains the situation