16' Series 3 more sleeps = 16.49.1 Outback!

[steve67]

Hi all,

Steve & Leanne (and two boys) from Melbourne here and are about to join the Expanda family!
Selling our faithful 2005 Hawk and upgraded (like everyone else) to the Expanda. - Although we have had our Hawk for 9 years!
Thank you in advance for some of the mods that I've learnt already from this site!
Cheers,
Steve

 

[chartrock]

Welcome aboard @steve67, I'm sure you and Leanne and the boys will enjoy your new van. Picking up in a few days will get the adrenalin running. Don't forget one of our main themes is "if there are no pictures it didn't happen".

 

[relgate]

Congrats Steve. I bet the family cant wait!

 

[5ofus]

Awesome, we just changed from a Hawk and we loovvveee the Expanda. You will love all the extra storage and easy set up.

 

[Pace]

Congrats and welcome to the forum. As you have all ready seen on here - Mods and Pics are proof of your Expanda. Cheers Pace.

 

[Crusty181]

Hi Steve. We just sold our 2009 16.49.1OB to upgrade again. The 16.49 was a fantastic van. We loved it, and still miss it. We upgraded to our 16.49 from a 1989 Jayco Lark (what's that you might ask). You'll find your choice of transition a fantastic step up from the camper to the 16.49.1 ..... a little bit of caravan with some added luxury; but still a little bit of the camper.

 

[steve67]

Thanks everyone! Definitely will love the more storage space.
Here she is still at Jayco...
More pics will come after her maiden voyage to her new home!
PS - The 2005 Hawk is still for sale on trading post if anyone might be interested

 

[dagree]

Congrats and welcome to the expanda world @steve67
Plenty of advice here to help you spend your dollars

 

[The Goodwins]

Welcome guys enjoy!

 

[Crusty181]

Thanks everyone! Definitely will love the more storage space.
Here she is still at Jayco...
More pics will come after her maiden voyage to her new home!
PS - The 2005 Hawk is still for sale on trading post if anyone might be interested

Outdoor table, stereo ...... and ???

It has what appears to a real rear bumper too ... thats a bonus. What happened to the useless round pipe that use to hang off the back

 

[steve67]

Outdoor table, stereo ...... and ???

It has what appears to a real rear bumper too ... thats a bonus. What happened to the useless round pipe that use to hang off the back

Well spotted! Also comes with...
150Lt fridge, 90 Watt Solar, 100aH Aux Batt, Control Panel, Windup TV Ant.
Jayco are going to throw in privacy screens and a van cover.
The van is brand new and optioned by Jayco for display. I just negotiated the privacy screens and cover to crunch the deal. Not sure about the rear bumper? I'm new to this Expanda thing! By what you are telling me, this rear bar is better??

Cheers

 

[Crusty181]

Well spotted! Also comes with...
150Lt fridge, 90 Watt Solar, 100aH Aux Batt, Control Panel, Windup TV Ant.
Jayco are going to throw in privacy screens and a van cover.
The van is brand new and optioned by Jayco for display. I just negotiated the privacy screens and cover to crunch the deal. Not sure about the rear bumper? I'm new to this Expanda thing! By what you are telling me, this rear bar is better??

Cheers

The short answer, yes. The usual rear bar is not like yours. Yours looks like unusually sturdy bumper capable of attaching stuff to, which is not really what the, i assuming old, tube bumper was.

This is what you used to get

 

[steve67]

The short answer, yes. The usual rear bar is not like yours. Yours looks like unusually sturdy bumper capable of attaching stuff to, which is not really what the, i assuming old, tube bumper was.

This is what you used to get

View attachment 27324

Looks like I lucked it in then! I would like to carry a couple of bikes...might be a good spot? I have heard you need to be carful with bikes on the back of vans though...bounce, bounce, snap!
I'm sure I'll find a thread on this site about where/how to carry bikes.

 

[Crusty181]

Looks like I lucked it in then! I would like to carry a couple of bikes...might be a good spot? I have heard you need to be carful with bikes on the back of vans though...bounce, bounce, snap!
I'm sure I'll find a thread on this site about where/how to carry bikes.

I have a couple of work colleagues that have had major issues using that advertised thing (others will know whats its called) that attaches to the old tube bumper ..... but yours seems to be from the pic quite heavy duty, which could be good for bikes.

Youve done well ..

 

[steve67]

I have a couple of work colleagues that have had major issues using that advertised thing (others will know whats its called) that attaches to the old tube bumper ..... but yours seems to be from the pic quite heavy duty, which could be good for bikes.

Youve done well ..

Thankyou.
Bikes and caravans suck!
This is what I did with the bikes on the Hawk...
A bit hard to do this on the Expanda!

 

[Crusty181]

Thankyou.
Bikes and caravans suck!
This is what I did with the bikes on the Hawk...
A bit hard to do this on the Expanda!

Ha, yes but nothing is impossible. Before we put a large alum tool box on the draw bar of our 16.49.1OB, I used the usual goose neck tow ball bike rack on the car without any issues. The larger bike tyres would occasionally touch the van draw bar in a tight turn, other wise it worked just fine. But the rear van bike rack is a better option, so long as you don't mount 5 or so adult bikes on it. The lurching of the car and van combo, like a roller-a-coster amplifies and whips harder at the arse end.

One of the forum guys @Burnsy makes a very neat robust bracket that attaches to your rear bumper for a bike rack to attached
Check it out
http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/a-frame-solutions.3582/page-2

(PS. How the hell do you do this type of name link ........... "@steve67". You can see above I have no idea)

 

[mooks]

Welcome and congratulations Steve, nice to get one 'off the shelf' so to speak, without the extended wait for one from the factory. First thing I noticed was the rear bumper also, as I am currently having my round tube bar replaced. You got lucky with that one in yours.

 

[Bmhdg76]

All the Outbacks have the galvanized rear bar that you are getting. They are stronger but still aren't allowed to hang anything off it. We have the same on ours and was told by Jayco to put absolutely nothing on it. Warranty would be void if we did and I don't think the welds would hold up to a lot without reinforcing.

BJ.

 

[steve67]

Cheers, thanks for the heads up everyone. On hand over today, I forgot to ask about putting bikes on the rear bar. (I suspect as stated by BJ that Warranty would be void). I have heard that having the bikes on the tow ball with the van can cause the ball to break? (Harding's Caravans mention it once to me) Not sure if anyone has heard of this??

Anyway.....My Expanda had its maiden voyage home today...exciting times ahead!!
I am now an official Epanda Owner !!!

 

[Crusty181]

Wow. Not heard of a towball snapping. Hardings would have better knowledge than me ... but i find it extraordinary that the same ball that holds a 3.5t van would snap with a 1.5t van and a couple of bikes on a bike rack.

Some of the WDH mounted under the towball would be add as much force as a bike rack. Your probably sensing im not convinced. Ha