HI from melbourne! I'm a newbie!

Espylyn · Member

HI from melbourne! I'm a newbie!

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Prepare for thy doom Lyn biggrin biggrin biggrin

D and D · Guru

Hi Lyn, welcome to the forum. Pop-top vs caravan see www.caravanworld.com.au/features/1412/caravan-vs-pop-top-fuel-test/ for some interesting results. Regarding length, is the 25 feet the inside length of the van or the towing length (from towball to rear). Our van has a 28 foot towing length and we've only had problems at two caravan parks because of the tight turns. Free camps are no problem - they always appear to have plenty of room.

Regards

Dave

Espylyn · Member

Hi there,
thanks for that. I will check out the link now. Hubby was told by a friend who is a caravan enthusiast that driving in and out of free camping spots with a 25ft can be hard with the hills? I'm not sure if the 25ft is inside or out...i shall find out and get back to you.....Its advertising as 25ft at the dealership.

Espylyn · Member

smile biggrin

Bruce and Bev · Guru

We have a hardtop van that measures 19'6" inside but total length is 24'6" (funny how the manufacturers are not into metric - is it because they think us oldies cant handle anything other than imperial??).

We have spoken to people with hardtops and poptops and read what the experts say as well as 'van salesmen.

The up-side of poptops are they have less wind resistance when towing, so other than towing weights, you can use a lighter vehicle and use less fuel.

The downside of poptops is they apparently are very cold or very hot depending on the outside temps, you have to make sure to dry them out before storage or the soft covers may go mouldy and you hear every outside noise when trying to sleep. You also have less storage space and for you two, being tall, you may need to both wear a crash helmet so you don't bash your heads into the pop up part as you move about.

If you have the right tow vehicle (we have an Isuzu D-Max), the fuel consumption is not great having a hardtop and being 6'3" tall, pop tops will leave me looking uglier than usual around the head area.

Depending on where you live, you can often hire 'vans - both pop-tops and hardtops. If you can find a company not too far from you, why don't you spend a couple of weekends in both - this will help you make a decision.

Good Luck!!!!!

aussietraveller · Guru

Welcome to the forum Lyn we have traveled in both pop top and full van our current van is classified as a 21 foot van and we have only once experienced a park where we could not fit on the site.
For us it's definitely a full van much more practical and for the two of us an ideal size it has more storage and we don't have to push up the roof with an air conditioner and solar panels on it.
The difference in fuel consumption between the two is minimal and definitely not an issue to consider when selecting a van, good luck in choosing your van and remember the only people that can make the decision on the most appropriate van is you.

Plendo · Guru

Welcome to the forum Lyn.

We tow a 23ft van (21ft 6 inside) with a long drawbar, and the rear bar set back to accommodate an aircon on the back, this makes us almost exactly 10mt long ball to bumper, and while we have not had any problem finding sites, we are pretty well on the limit for standard long sites in caravan parks.

The other thing to consider would be weight, what you plan to tow with, and how much payload you will have to accommodate the things you want/need to pack.

Good luck with your van hunt.