Discovery Discovery 17.55-5sh

[ckcklopic]

To all you owners of the above van,
we are looking into getting one of these but I have some questions that hopefully existing owners can answer. we are looking at an onroad version with underslung and extended drawbar, roof top air and many other smaller additions like extra power points, wiring for battery, wind up aerial etc. My questions are:
are the bunks long enough for teenagers (mine are 12 and 14, 12 year old growing quickly), and especially on the top bunk is there enough room with the slant of the roof?
Is there enough room between double bed and shower/toilet for reasonable access, dealer mentioned that this is why it is not a popular van? Tow vehicle will either be a Territory 2300Kg capacity or a C'dore wagon 2100kg towing (hubby's work car yet to be finalised).
Thanks in advance
Kim

 

[expanda]

To all you owners of the above van,
we are looking into getting one of these but I have some questions that hopefully existing owners can answer. we are looking at an onroad version with underslung and extended drawbar, roof top air and many other smaller additions like extra power points, wiring for battery, wind up aerial etc. My questions are:
are the bunks long enough for teenagers (mine are 12 and 14, 12 year old growing quickly), and especially on the top bunk is there enough room with the slant of the roof?
Is there enough room between double bed and shower/toilet for reasonable access, dealer mentioned that this is why it is not a popular van? Tow vehicle will either be a Territory 2300Kg capacity or a C'dore wagon 2100kg towing (hubby's work car yet to be finalised).
Thanks in advance
Kim

Hi Kim,

We have the van you are looking at and have two kids pretty much the same ages !

Firstly, bunk sizes are fine with our two and the eldest has long legs with a bit of room left over.

The only gripe I have is the top bunk doesn't come with a ladder and i believe this is because of the position of the bit of metal in the middle that stops them falling out and that you use to pull the bunk out they couldn't fit in a spot to mount a ladder if you get what I mean.

So its a bit of a clamber onto the top bunk but our eldest manages it just fine and loves it when up there and loves the window they get all to themselves so they can spy on the world and take photos of the stars. They have on occassion bumped her head on the slant bit of the roof that slants out but this is purely because there is no ladder and if you don't have a little step or similiar its more like a hop into the top bunk and sometimes they give it a bit more push than they should hence the ensuing head bumps.

Anyway enough of that, the bed and the toilet debate ohh dear what a thorny piece of information lol it seems every person I have spoken to about the van knows this comment must be the dealers spreading rumors !

Firstly I am fairly tall and I have no trouble -

a) either fitting on the bed lengthwise on the outside closest to the bathroom door
b) As I am right now as I type this watching my kids go into the bathroom to brush there teeth without them bumping into me

Is it a tight fit? Its not like I could do the hoky poky in the space between the bed and the bathroom door but I am lying on the bed typing away on the laptop and the kids are able to get freely into the bathroom no hassles.

One thing to note and what helps is that the door opens inwards not outwards.

In terms of weight you should be fine the weights are pretty small on this van.

We love our van with 4 people we spend about 3 months a year in it and wouldn't change anything in the 17.55.5SH !

Let us know what you decide either way and good luck.

 

[fishinglizard]

I wouldnt get rid of mine either, I am 182 cm tall and fit on the bottom bunk. I sleep on the bathroom side. Plenty of room in the shower, I dont use CP amenities when I stay in them. If you put the bed up and pull the curtian theres heaps of room to get dried and dressed ect. I have the touring model without the extended draw bar, only extra was radio/dvd outdoor speakers, a battery. No solar. No aircon. Its max weight is 2020. So if you put solar and extra towbar aircon bigger fridge it might go over the commodore weight. I would have got the bigger fridge, but I ordered the van over the phone and looked at one elsewhere which had the bigger fridge so I didnt ask for it, I assumed it had it. And I would have got the pillow top mattress which again I thought was standard which it wasnt but the standard one still pretty comfortable.

It suits my family of 4, it was the perfect fit for the car I had and the budget I had at the time. I love it, for me to change vans I would have to be able to upgrade to a van with separate shower and toilet.

The only negative about it was where jayco installed the radio speakers inside the van. They put them under the main bed. So if your sitting at the table wathcing a movie and using the cd/dvd player you have to turn the volume up to loud to here it. I solved that problem by buying a tv with built in dvd which defeated the purpose of getting the dvd player fitted (^%$%^ happens.)

Nick

 

[Rod.F]

I don't have any complaints about this model van it is great has loads of storage area which is great cant comment on the the bunks sizes yet as my boys are only 6 & 8 so they fit nicely but there is still plenty of room for when they grow & we don't find any problems getting into the toilet we also have a bed converter which helps for when you bring somebody else the double bed is large enough we both fit fine on it Great van love it just wish we used it more .

 

[BigSkiddy]

Gday Kim, the bunks are 183cm long. I have similar aged kids and the they fit with nil complaints. I agree with the previous comments about space beside bed, unless your a big unit you may find it tight.
We got the privacy curtain across the back which is great for getting changed and putting the kids to bed early whilst my wife and I eat chocolate.
I'm really happy with the van. Only one thing I would change is the external shower, this is an extra which I really haven't used, and its position takes up space inthe wardrobe.

 

[ckcklopic]

Thanks for the replies guys, at this stage we have decided to stick with the expanda. We did like the discovery but believe the expanda suits our needs a little better.
Kim