Starcraft Doing a lap in a 17.58-3

matty_turbo

Member
Jul 21, 2015
14
30
13
45
Sunshine Coast
Hi everyone,

I’ve been reading with great interest some of the setups on the forums and thought I’d sign up. My wife and I have decided to take a break from life for 12 months and go and do a lap of Australia. I’m not working at present and about 3 months ago my wife was unhappy at her work and we decided to take a holiday. Well we decided to take a 12 month holiday from life and explore Australia. Put our belongings in storage and rent out our house and hit the road.

We have a 3 year old and wanted a bunk style van. Nothing else matched what Jayco could offer and my wife’s cousin bought a Jayco Starcraft Outback 17.58-3 in January 2015 and we were very impressed with it. So we followed suite and ordered ours in May 2015. It rolls of the production like on 18/8/15 and we should take delivery in September 2015.

We optioned it as follows:- Fusion Stereo, Wind up antenna, 18.5” TV, External Shower, N504 Fridge, Truma Adventa Air Con, Drifter control panel, Picnic table, 2 x 150w solar panels, 2 x 100ah batteries, Bike rack, increased A-Frame 300mm, Shelves to robes, Full Annex, Alko ESC, Reversing camera.

All up it was around $48,500 which is a little bit more than last year’s but it’s still a hell of van for the money. The only thing I’m adding to it after I take delivery is a Red Arc BCDC 1225 charger to charge the batteries whilst driving and maybe a stone deflector.

We bought the van first and then bought a car to suit the van. We wanted to get the caravan right and then find the right car for the job. So we settled on a 14 Mazda BT50 GT manual. Its 12 months old with 20,000kms and about $10k worth of extras for about $20k less than new. Excellent car and will be no problems towing the van.

We are very excited and can’t wait to hit the road. He are going to Tassie for xmas and go on the boat on the 29/11.

It’s wonderful to read all the information and handy hints and tips. Great site, keep it up.

Cheers

Matt
 

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ACTraveller

Member
Apr 23, 2010
65
64
18
ACT
Have a great trip - our Jayco Expanda did many thousands of miles with no problems so we are a real fan. We now have a StarCraft 18.55 - had a few teething problems at delivery due to the auto elec guy not getting the 12 pin plug wired correctly and jockey wheel fouled the weight distribution but once that was sorted we have also had many kms of trouble free travel.
 

Kenshi123

Well-Known Member
Jun 24, 2012
745
990
93
Ballarat
My wife and I were just discussing how we could take 12 months off! Good on you for investing in yourselves! What a rich experience for the little one. No doubt you will have many great adventures for all of us to envy. I look forward to reading about your travels. All the best.
 

matty_turbo

Member
Jul 21, 2015
14
30
13
45
Sunshine Coast
Cheers. Its certainly been worthwhile chucking alot of stuff out. I think I have done 5 trips to dump with the ute and 4 trips to Salvos and Lifeline. Its amazing the amount of stuff you accumulate. Then when compacting the rest of the stuff down into a storage shed you realise how much stuff you don't use.

I had a look at WDH's and don't think I'll need one. It's got a fairly low ball weight of around 190kgs and being off road and it sits up nice and high. I've looked closely at my wife's counsins van and he tows his with a 150 series prado with no WDH and both car and van are about 200kgs overloaded each and the Prado doesn't even flinch.

I haven't had a good look through all the post's but I haven't seen anybody installing fans? Like the Sirocco 12v fans. I was thinking one each for the bunks and one for the double bed. Maybe everybody gets them installed at the dealers?
 

chartrock

Forum Patriarch
Staff member
Sep 26, 2010
6,148
7,428
113
Gold Coast Hinterland
Welcome aboard @matty_turbo, looks like a great rig you have set yourself up with. You will enjoy Tassie, it's a terrific place for touring, so many interesting sites to visit, views to wow you etc. I look forward to hearing of your travels and seeing lots of photos.
 

JBTZ14

Member
Sep 24, 2014
37
35
18
45
Ballarat
Enjoy the trip. We are at the end of a half lap with our 14:44-4 and a 3year old. Wish we could start all over again. Happy traveling.
 

Bluey

Well-Known Member
Mar 31, 2014
2,651
3,817
113
Australia
get a stone stomper there very good there's pics of them on forum and the bloke who makes them is a member too highly recommend
 

matty_turbo

Member
Jul 21, 2015
14
30
13
45
Sunshine Coast
Cheers. Thanks everyone. Has anybody mounted jerry cans on the rear bumper. I don't have sufficient space on the A-Frame and was thinking about 2 x jerry cans in the middle of the rear bar. They will only be carrying diesel as I am aware of problems with unleaded on the back. It's just piece of mind as the Mazda BT-50 only has an 85L tank.
 

timbo2002

New Member
Jan 15, 2014
23
14
3
Sydney
Good luck on the trip! We also have that van - and are currently just over 1 month into our 3 month travels around central and western Australia. I have only seen 1 other 17.58 so far and that was whizzing past me on the sturt highway. Thought i'd see more tbh. Off to El Questro tomorrow. Can't wait! Loving kununurra though.
 

Spider73

Member
Oct 30, 2014
20
50
13
51
Hi Matt, We are 7 weeks in to a 4 month 1/2 lap in a 17.58-3 as I speak. The van has been great, your going to love it. Easy to tow, Easy to setup and pack up and very practical. We upgraded from a 16.49-3 expanda and haven't looked back. The BT will be a great tow vehicle. I'm towing with a triton and ended up buying a WDH in Kununurra. It has helped to make the whole thing feel a bit better on the road, but mind you I had done 10,000 km by the time I bought it, and it was a deal too good to refuse. See how you go before you spend your hard earned. Sounds like you've done your research on the options. Looking forward to hearing about your trip.
 

greynt

Active Member
Dec 15, 2012
245
171
43
Yarra Valley
G'day Matty, we are currently sitting in Broome 10 weeks into our 16 week holiday and enjoying our 17.58-3OB.
Really happy with the van, and had no real issues. You will love travelling, as you meet some awesome people.
Lots of families travelling that have done the same thing, had enough of work etc. Depending on your camping style, maybe look at a diesel or gas heater for the van if you plan to free camp a bit. We have a diesel heater and it's great. Good choice of truck, lots of happy owners here as well.
Cheers
greynt