To boldy go where no camper has gone before...

What I noticed about the Australian Caravans is that most of them use a trailing arm coil spring suspension that would be great for off road use. They have good ground clearance and seem to handle well off road. I checked out a small trailer at the 2013 Overland Expo that had a similar suspension, but it had an air bag setup instead of coil springs. The trailer was nowhere near that large.
The difference that I see between the Aussie trailers and many of ours is that they don't seem to carry much water and very little propane. They like heating water with a diesel heater instead of LP.

When I built my trailer for my Avion C-11 camper, I split the difference for my needs. In the desert, we can't just go out and put the suction side of a pump in the nearby stream to get water. We have to take our water with us. My trailer won't go as far back as some of those but it will carry a quad that will go back much further than any of those. It also carries 80 gallons of water, 20 gallons of gasoline, 100# of LP (upgradable to 120#) space for 7 batteries, 15" of ground clearance, short overhang, and uses the same tires and rims as my F-350 truck. My trailer is 5,500# fully wet and will carry more than 7,000# gross which gives me over a 1,500# payload.

It all comes down to your needs. Personally, I like the Australian Caravans, but many of you are correct in realizing that they probably wouldn't sell a lot of them in the states.

Several of my overlanding friends use the offroad trailers with roof top tents attached to the lids, like you'll see a lot of at the Overland Expo. A couple AT Chasers, one Tentrax, one homemade from an FJ40 tub. Those things really don't appeal to me. But, I can see where the right one, combined with a 4 door JK or 100 Series Cruiser, could get a family of four just about anywhere it's legal to go with some conveniences in shelter/sleep system and galley over my traditional tent and camp kitchen.

Importing an Aussie caravan... I wish. The world may be open to me, but my wallet ain't quite that open to the world .

Do also agree, the market might be small here, but one does exist. I think a lot of the same people that buy those offroad trailers just mentioned above, would be prime candidates. I've seen several guys spend $15-$20K to try one of those, with hopes of getting his wife or kids more interested in his remote explorations. But, at the end of the day, those things are still just tents, not very big or weatherproof ones at that. Nearly every instance I've seen of a guy getting into one for those reasons, has not really worked out. One of these caravans though, you give the ladies a little indoor plumbing, some counter space and a "real" bed with a hard roof, they warm right up to that! My own wife is a good example. She only tolerated camping about once a year before we got the TT. Now she loves to go. Granted, what we now call "camping" is fairly far removed from what we used to call "camping", but, regardless, she didn't like the old kind, she really enjoys it now and the amenities I just mentioned are the reasons why.

So, yes, I think you are right, there would be a few folks in this country quite interested in one of these.

Like I said, I'd be extremely interested myself, just not in a position to buy one new at this time. Maybe after the youngest is done with college...

- Coyote

Next May Flagstaff Arizona will be the place to see lots of over the road vehicles.
Sadly this year I did not see any Travel Trailers. Smaller over the road tent trailers were abundant.

Overland Expo 2014


You could import one. Aussies buy American truck campers.
If it will fit in one of these the world is open for you.

Container dimensions

I see these videos and think about how awesome it would be to have one of these to explorer Southern Utah. The Uintas, too.

I currently have a tent trailer that works well for mild offroading, but I wouldn't mind moving into a travel trailer that offered as much or more off-road capability. It's frustrating to see what's being offered overseas and know there's no way to get anything like that in the states.

I think you're right about the market being small for something like this in the US, but that doesn't mean it's non-existent. Overland adventurers and backcountry explorers eventually get older, acquire families and start looking for something larger and more comfortable, but that doesn't compromise their ability to get into the backcountry. Right now there's next to nothing in the way of options for them.

The larger US manufacturers seem to be uninterested in filling this niche, but given the quality of their current products that's probably a good thing. I think there's room for a small manufacturer - something on the level of Sportsmobile, maybe - to move in and fill the need. I would sure like to see somebody try.

Agree.

My TT has a spring over and tall tires, pretty decent ground clearance - I call The Sheep Wagon because it sits so high it looks like one. I haven't had it very long, pretty new to TT's, but we have been taking it boondocking on long dirt roads in the Uintas and in the mountains of southern Utah. But I'm sure a steady diet of the kind of rough stuff, frame dragging, deep water crossings etc. featured in that video would have my TT in pieces quickly.

I'm not aware of a U.S. maker of similar. I think the market for such would be microscopic here. Just from the people I know who gravitate towards the two activities, it seems like RV'ers and back country overland adventurers are two very different breeds.

I'd probably be one who would really, really want one, and would actually really use it as intended, but who would NOT be able to afford it. As it is, I have a TT that I take my family camping in (and camping for us means generally avoiding anything that resembles a campground, but with a TT also avoiding anything truly remote...). And I also have a well kitted out Jeep that I take into the most remote vehicle accessible locations available in the contiguous 48 - without the family.

If I had one of these TT's, I might be able to do both at the same time. How cool would it be to setup in one of these at The Dollhouse in The Maze district of Canyonlands, for example? I think my family would LOVE it! I really don't think I could afford one though...

- Coyote

It doesn't look like just a regular trailer with a spring-over-axle swap to me. It seems a whole lot more rugged than anything I've seen around here. Kedron Caravan

Is anybody in the U.S. making a similar travel trailer?

RoyB wrote:
I will most likely retrofit some of these down under tactics to my Starcraft 14RT Off-Road Trailer. My trailer with the 12-foot box including the 5-foot front deck will do just fine. I would love to retrofit the deck area much like this Aussie unit shown here.

Certainly makes for a nice well equipped WAR WAGON...

My 14RT setup will go anywhere my 4X4 truck will go today up in the mtns along the forest trails here on the East side of the US. One of my favorite spots in along the VA/WVA wooded state line outside of Harrisonburg VA near a place called FLAGPOLE KNOB.



Roy Ken

That's a nice rig.

Trailer is nothing special other than the tires and a axel under spring swap. Looks like they made the tow vehicle and trailer tires the same size so they can share spares, Good idea. Any vehicle can do that trip, just need to set it up right. That Toyota had lockers in it so that makes a huge difference. No lockers and it would not have done most of that rough stuff.

Look at the tow vehicle, and we all talk about Chevy, Ford and Dodge. Toyota deserves a bit of credit here.

What's insane is TOWING a TT into those kind of places.

What's with this towing stuff, anyway?

IMHO, this is a far superior way to get there - way more weight on the drive axles for vastly improved traction - among the many other advantages :C :

http://www.sportsmobile.com/ultimate.html