Starcraft Set Up Time?

[Chrisv]

We take delivery of our 17-58-3 in late May and I'm curious on what other Starcraft owners find how long it takes to setup etc?

We have upgraded from the outback eagle to our Outback Starcraft. We are doing a trip to Uluru in June and curious to see how long it takes to setup for overnight stays etc whilst travelling for consecutive days?

I look forward to all replies and hints etc as I'm still having nightmares from our former proudly owned and much loved Eagle ha ha ha

 

[davemc]

Hi Chris,

Normally for us with a 17.58-1.. 5-10 mins setup.
For overnights we normally go drive through.. So leave hitched..
For un even sites you need ramps although if hitched less to do in the morning.
remove 12 pin plug.
Put handbrake on just in case
Drop rear jacks only.. I use a drill so pretty quick.
pop the roof
connect power. then flip fridge to 240v
Connect waste pipe if needed.
We only have sink so normally overnights I just leave tank water and pump.

Outside if we unpack chairs and table it adds heaps of time? Overnights we normally check out pub grub or eat inside.:
Chairs and table if we eat outside 6 chairs for us
Awning takes a few seconds to pull out.. If you manually put away after use.
I would not leave it out without at least tie downs if your off to the pub.

Then reverse in the morning although seems to take longer

With 4 kids I find problems. You end up putting crap on bunks. Like TV, kids toys etc.
Which you move to above cupboards when pop tops up.
Then you need to move down again afterwards make sure they don't roll around.
Put away Toaster and Expresso machine etc.
Check cupboard.
check cupboards again
We normally stop 10 mins up the road to check cupboards again Yes they seem to open by themselves

I want to work out a way to leave the TV on the arm always. Even if we do not use it currently it lives on the lower bunk for travel.

I gather other people will be more organised

 

[gwadir]

Hi @Chrisv and welcome to the forum, firstly do you have any kids because if so do as we did and assign them duties for when you pull up, and pack up duties before you hit the road each day. That's what we did and it worked a charm, kids got to experience some responsibility, set ups/ pack ups went a lot more smoothly, even to the point where our youngest was responsible last thing for getting the chairs out, then getting the 4 of us drinks. Both were responsible for rolling out the awning, winding down the legs and so forth. It does depend on their age but there's always something even the youngest can do. Generally set ups we had down to less than 10mins and pack ups depended on what we had got out the night before i.e. Baby Q for dinner, camp oven for a roast, whether we had an open fire or used the ozpig or used gas etc but generally speaking I suppose we were gone within 1/2Hr of starting to pack. I'm sure some of the others on the forum will have other ideas.

Dave

 

[davemc]

@gwadir yeah I like the kids to help.. Normally our two older ones make sure the twins do not run to far while we setup
Chairs and BBQ are killer for over nights.. I really need a box on the front for the Q200.. under the bed is a pain to get in and out

 

[DRW]

Open ended question this one, as @davemc says table, chairs, water hose etc takes a bit, the bloody weber is a pain (I love my Weber) as we carry it in the car so it all ads up. However even on the road we tend to use the lot, no sense in being uncomfortable and its nice to sit outside and have a beer while cooking a steak (we don't have kids travelling with us either)

 

[Crusty181]

I want to work out a way to leave the TV on the arm always. Even if we do not use it currently it lives on the lower bunk for travel.

Appropriate sized length of PVC plumbing pipe with a neat notch checked out of one end for the TV to nestle into, and prop TV up from the bench with it left on the bracket .... 30000km for us without a casualty

 

[davemc]

Appropriate sized length of PVC plumbing pipe with a neat notch checked out of one end for the TV to nestle into, and prop TV up from the bench with it left on the bracket .... 30000km for us without a casualty

thanks mate I looked at strap idea did not like the fact it moves around..We are using a PC Arm so will have to have a look.

 

[Chrisv]

Hi everyone.....wow, thanks for all of the detailed responses with plenty of thought given in your replies and some great solutions. We have a 10 y/ son and 7y/o daughter and we have the baby q we use constantly too.
We are planning on at least 2 or 3 overnight trips before our trip to give us some idea on how we will go.
We have a 200 series cruiser with standard suspension, so I'm also curious on how the tow rig sits

Thanks again everyone

 

[davemc]

Chris the other thing we normally do is freeze a few meals.. If you pre-freeze at home in large glad bags flat you can get a few meals in the big fridge.
So then all we have to do is microwave up if a long day and get some bread at a fuel stop.
We also have a microwave pasta cooker in the van which seems to work good for pasta and hotdogs.

Although normally if I have been in car 10-12 hour days I rather go for a walk find a nice counter meal

 

[lee]

Hi Chris we know the nightmares you are talking from our last van Jayco dove , we up graded to a Starcraft 13.42-2 after a trip to qld , the starcraft is a dream to setup and pack up we usually take 10 min to setup and we usually do a pre pack up before we go to bed so we can get away nice and early in the morning eg pre pack up is things awning , out door chairs and any item that won't be used in the morning and can be put away, love the starcraft

 

[twscoot]

Great series of replies everyone.
I work on the principle that every second counts....
The only thing I'd add (and this worked really well on our recent 4300km trip) was to travel with full tanks and use tank water for stays 2 nights or less and then fill up when there was no rush to get away. This meant no hooking up water and no pack up of hoses.
The sullage pipe only needs to be as long as you need and this system worked a treat. Never needed all four hoses to make it to the pit and the pack up is fast.
That just leaves the big comfy chairs which I now put inside the van against the wardrobe with an octopus strap to hold them in place. We also have two folding tables which just fit in the external hatches. These are very good value and came from Officeworks. Pack up at night.
As for the TV - never taken it off in either van and it has travelled fine.
We constantly found ourselves in the car and on our way in no time with everyone having had breakfast, kids dressed (they wake at 6) and packed up to go by 7.15. Constantly surprised ourselves and never felt rushed. Because the overnight stays worked so well we are looking at Broken Hill next!
Good luck!

 

[Drover]

Appropriate sized length of PVC plumbing pipe with a neat notch checked out of one end for the TV to nestle into, and prop TV up from the bench with it left on the bracket .... 30000km for us without a casualty

Are you sure ??????/....We haven't seen any pics yet so you may be telling porkies ?????????/...........post pic today as I hit the road tomorrow ( with floaties and Epirb) and like the sound of it so can knock one up tonight.

 

[Crusty181]

Are you sure ??????/....We haven't seen any pics yet so you may be telling porkies ?????????/...........post pic today as I hit the road tomorrow ( with floaties and Epirb) and like the sound of it so can knock one up tonight.

I drop the van off for its service yesterday (yeah, likely story .... )

I can't find any photos and Im like a Japanese tourist, I take photos of everything. I not sure, and Im now a little confused if I ever did the PVC pipe at all, or it was part of a dream sequence. Anyway, it seems like it would be a terrific idea.

(PS I used a bit a 50mm but I only had the 16in TV on it. PVC pipe sits better on a little square of that rubber shelf matting .... stops it sliding)

Your heading to Airlie Beach? Im very envious

 

[Drover]

This from the bloke who could build a Space Shuttle from a photograph???.......I fully understand and know where your coming from.
I have extra time to make one, due to 4" of rain will delay departure for a day. Any more damn rain and I'll go inland to Airlie, will post pics to make you drool.

 

[Crusty181]

This from the bloke who could build a Space Shuttle from a photograph???

Parts list, not photo ... I can't find my photos. I could build it .... but I would forget where I put it (probably with that damn photo)

 

[chartrock]

This from the bloke who could build a Space Shuttle from a photograph???.......I fully understand and know where your coming from.
I have extra time to make one, due to 4" of rain will delay departure for a day. Any more damn rain and I'll go inland to Airlie, will post pics to make you drool.

Also thinking of delaying a day as it is still bucketing down here and a lot of roads are flooded. Easing tomorrow afternoon according to forecasts.