Before I get into the detail, let me state in honest, and concise terms - I have no affiliations with any RV manufacturer, importer or seller. I am a retiree who owns a Chinese camper trailer. Brand? Not saying. Just
check these issues with your selected model before buying.
So you are buying a Chinese camper. Let me give you some food for thought:
1. How many Chinese go camping in a camper trailer in China? I doubt any. I worked in China (albeit close to 20 years ago) and I don't think they are into the outdoor activities, even now.
2. If they have no experience with off road camping, what makes them qualified to design a camper that suits Australian conditions? Seriously ..... nothing!
3. Why are you looking at and considering a Chinese camper? They are cheap compared to a real camper. Right? They are attractive prices!
OK. You are still going ahead so look at these issues.
Dust proofing.
You are going off road, that is why you are buying an off road camper.
Do the doors and roof seals have adequate compression to prevent dust and water ingress? I am cleaning up at each
camp stop after travelling on dirt/gravel roads.
Are the hinges robust enough to maintain seal compression?
Mine had plastic hinges on the doors that rattled off/stripped threads in no time.
Are the door latches dust proof?
Mine aren't and the kitchen fills with dust all the time. Have very nice pinch weld seals around the doors but a bloody great hole through the door latch! WTF?
Are the over-centre catches that hold the roof down man enough and attached with fasteners strong enough for off-road conditions?
Mine weren't and I had to tie the roof down to stop it opening whilst moving on the last trip.
Water tank.
Does your
water tank have a breather?
Mine had a hole in the top of the tank. That was it!! First gravel road and we were drinking mud. Had to remove the tank and weld a flanged fitting in so that a hose with strainer (to prevent bugs getting in) could be installed.
Does the tank have a stone guard?
Mine didn't and was peppered with dents and sand blasted after first trip.
Does the tank water outlet have any protection from rocks? You guessed it - not on
mine.
Electric pump? Great innovation, eh!.
Mine lasted half a trip and crapped it. Lucky, I always carry a
hand pump that I can insert into the filler point so don't go thirsty.
Last trip (the
Gibb River road), got 200kms from
Derby and the tank split. When I finally removed it again (after completing the 11000km trip) found that the tank body was folded from one piece of stainless (about 1 mm thick) and the join between the 2 ends of the folded section were butt welded (tig welded) to form a seam. Could not fault the quality of the workmanship in this area but the tank was arranged so that the butt weld was at the bottom of the tank. Any competent and experienced designer would have arranged the tank with the welded joint at the top. It is just common sense that you wouldn't arrange the weakest and most vulnerable part of the structure so that if (or when) it failed, you compromised the campers safety in the outback. I lost all my tank water. But, I always carry a 20L reserve jerry can in the 4WD plus Woolies
drinking water. When the tank was opened up, it had 2 internal baffles that had broken away. They were tack welded (4 tiny tacks per baffle) to the sides of the tank. Absolutely pathetic. Enough about the water.
Brakes.
First trip and melted the QC connectors at each electric brake. The wiring to the brakes and the connectors were completely inadequate for the duty (I am an electrician by trade). Rewired the brakes with appropriate cross sectioned cable and made hard connections (no plug and socket) at the brakes.
Suspension and axles. God, you will love this.
Bent both stub axles on my first serious off-road trip (the
Holland track). Was I overloaded? Definitely not. The track was rough but took it ever so easy - average speed was 11km/hr over 3 days. The stub axles were HD spec parallel style with inner and outer bearings identical, typical of what you expect on any off road trailer.
The
suspension arms are fabricated from very heavy SHS tube and are of substantial mass. Part of this mass is suspended by the trailer body (suspended mass) whilst the remainder is additive to the wheel and tyre mass and is known as unsuspended mass.
The chassis of the trailer has some significant fabricated structure underneath to suspend all this mechanism and this of course adds to the overall mass of the trailer.
The unsuspended mass pendulates with varying road conditions and the kinetic energy generated has to be dampened by the shock absorbers. More importantly, as the road conditions deteriorate, the pendulating mass acts like a hammer blow on the wheel in contact with the road and connecting this all together is the axle. The axle is the smallest steel section in the
suspension. Were the original axles machined from Chinese steel? Of course, but what spec steel?
Well I guess I will never really know but I replaced both axles with stub axles manufactured in
Perth by Martin's. This required the trailing arms (independent
suspension [painted red] as used on all Chinese off-road campers) to be completely removed and reinstalled after axles were changed. The
suspension then needed to be re-aligned.
Each trailing arm attaches to the chassis via 2 x 16mm bolts which also act as the arm pivots. The bolts pass through clearance slotted holes in heavy steel tabs welded to the chassis. Each trailing arm pivot point (2 per arm) have hefty nylon bushes and thrust washers fitted and each has a grease nipple. Sounds good so far.
Simple adjustment for camber and toe in-toe out is provided via eccentric cams fitted at one side of each pivot bush set - total of 4 eccentrics. The chassis welded tabs have slotted holes in them (camber adjustment - the slots are in the vertical plane; toe in-toe out adjustment - the slots are horizontal). The eccentrics are simply locked in place once adjusted by tightening a 16mm nyloc nut on the pivot bolts. The problem with this simplistic arrangement is twofold - a) the pivot bolt is only mechanically constrained and located at the eccentric cam end whilst the other end is free to move in the slotted hole; and, b) there is greater friction (even with greased bushes) applied to the pivot bolts by the nylon bushes than by the eccentric cams and slotted holes. The end result is that the trailing arms swing by rotating the pivot bolts in the chassis tabs, rather than the bushes. The bolts and clearance holes are subjected to extreme wear rates. The danger here is that, if you are unaware of this, there is a real danger that the bolts could break.
After completing the
Gibb River road, both tyres were knackered from wear on the inside edge. All adjustments (camber and toe in-toe out) had worn out because the bolts were turning and wearing. The bolts needed replacing. They are now permanently welded in place at both ends to stop bolt movement.
What about the double set of shockies on each trailing arm ..... really makes the
suspension look so beefy eh!
Well that is a crock too. They are angled back that far that when you are driving on gravel and dirt, the dirt just piles up inside the stone guard and deposits around the chrome rod and before you know it, the rods are worn and the shock absorbers are leaking oil.
And the grease nipples? Manufactured from brass and are fitted to the forward side of the
suspension bushes facing into the maelstrom of rocks coming of the vehicle wheels. Dumb, dumb, dumb. The dopiest
suspension system ever fitted to a camper!
There have been a multitude of other problems with this camper that have required remedial or modification work. I regard it as my 'work-in-progress' project. Every trip generates another hit list of things to do. I certainly would not want to take this camper trailer on a trip to Mars!! The Martians don't have any clues either.
OldJoe.
Perth.