Gaz n Shell wrote:

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G/day Nomads,

We've recently bought our first van,a 2003 jayco outback penguin and was wondering how people who own or have owned one found them offroad,we've driven most of the true offroad tracks like the cape etc so probably won't be doing anything too serious in the van,just the odd dirt track or road.

cheers

Gaz n Shell

 

 

 

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 Hi Gaz & Shell,

Showing your age, eh. been there, done that. Next will here you have moved up a notch, yet again to a off road Pop Top.

Welcome to the old farts club. Just keep free camping IMO.

JIm & Lambie

PS: We still have our RV3 tent.

-- Edited by Hey Jim on Monday 15th of January 2018 09:39:29 PM

-- Edited by Hey Jim on Monday 15th of January 2018 09:42:06 PM

Hello Gaz n Shell,
Our graduations were tent Large & small, tent (or camper) trailer, 2005 model Jayco Eagle Outback, 2011 model Jayco Discovery Outback.

Each stage where we went was reduced somewhat because of width, roughness of the road{?}. DRIVEN WITH CARE YOUR PENUIN WILL GO TO MOST PLACES.
Run LT tyres & adequate pressures for the terrain you're travelling in. Our last trip on part of the Oodnadatta & the whole of the Birdsville Tracks three years ago were done with about 36-38psi in new tyres. We had no troubles what-so-ever but we saw plenty who did!

Sure some small screws may fall out of the furniture (often it's hard to find where they came from0 but the van held together ok. Our worst trip was through Lakefield National Park a number of years ago. We were with friends towing a tent trailer. We went through in early December & cutting a long story short, I said to Pat at one stage "When I look in the rear view mirrors, all I'm going to see is the chassis & wheels!" Well somehow the Eagle survived - our friends had some parking lamps fall out of their bull bar.

Key points -
1. Keep an eye on the shocker mounts - sometimes the bolts fall out.
2. Check the tightness of the bolts securing the wind-up cables where they attach to the winch. The ply panel you need to remove to check this is under your bed.
3. Do NOT wind up the lid with the catches on.
4. Do not wind up the lid above the guide rope on the font LHS pole.
5. Make up four safety poles - one for each corner of the roof.
6. Bear in mind that on a bush track, the Penguin is wider than your vehicle.
7. Service your wheel bearings each 10 to 15,000Kms & use NEW SEALS

In nine years, I had two majors - the cables as in Key point #2 - one nut came undone causing one corner of the roof to drop (it was very heavy).
- I blew a grease seal at 100 kph on the Hume Highway & welded the bearing to the axle (was minutes from a total disaster)!

Yes there are better vans but they cost a lot more, weigh more & who knows whether they will perform better in the same conditions.

Happy Jayco-ing,
Warren

When you want expert advice the best place to go is to an expert. Visit the Jayco site, it will have all you need to know. Here is the 'Outback Terms and condition' straight from the horses mouth:

OUTBACK POLICY

Jaycos Outback range of RVs have been designed and constructed to give added strength and ground clearance, for limited unsealed road usage. Gas venting regulations and other construction restraints limit the effectiveness of these RVs against dust and water penetration. Under no circumstances should these RVs be exposed to water crossings at, or above, body floor level.

We strongly recommend towing at safe speed according to travel conditions with extra care and attention required on uneven surfaces. Our Outback RVs are not designed for hard impact, heavy landings, severely rutted roads, or tracks.

Jaycos Outback RVs are not designed for use on 4WD-only tracks.

The following items for Outback RVs are not covered under Jaycos warranty:

Impact or stone damage to body, chassis or running gear.
Soiling of fabrics and internal fitments from dust and other airborne substances.
Water damage due to water crossings.
Movement or damage caused by dislodgement of appliances and fittings resulting from hard impact, heavy landings, severely rutted roads, or tracks.
General damage arising from misuse.

Want more advice, tips, pros, cons, mods? here are the best ports of call to do your research:

www.facebook.com/groups/906578649410358/ ***

www.facebook.com/groups/1025080940908337/ **

www.facebook.com/groups/192333257925320/ *

www.facebook.com/groups/273102439539042/ ****

The last one is most definitely the best with some 25,000+ members!

Yeah I gotta agree with you there,we're on our second one the first was the old ranger I think that was good for 10 years and ended up with the kids,the second one is an RV5 ,this is the best touring tent we've owned and we've been camping for 40 years,we got the side panel and awning for longer stays .can't see us ditchin this one for a long time mate.