G'day! My new 20.63-1

[Adam G]

Hi All, just a quick post to say G'day (and a little bit of bragging I have a wife and three young kids (eldest is 6), we have been camping in tents and a camper trailer for a while but last Friday upgraded to a brand new Expanda 20.63-1. The camper trailer is OK with it's light weight and low buy-in price but I've had enough of spending 1 to 1.5 hours setting up!

We just bought a brand new 20.63-1, deposit paid last Friday and pickup in two weeks. Yep, I bought the display model!

I'm not 100% sure what is standard but here is what I just bought-

brand new (build date June 2013) 20.63-1 Outback
Triple bunks
Ext. Shower (with a light above it)
Alko ESC
150W solar panels
Slide out club lounge
MP3 stereo with outside speakers
Wind up antenna and 21" TV
150L 3 way fridge
Canvas awning walls & skirt

A coupe of points- I have no idea about 3 ways fridges, I've always used Waeco 12/240V portables, I assume the 3 way takes longer to get proper cold but don't really know anything about them, I assume gas operation would be the most efficent.

I've read heaps about bed end flys and plan to make up a fly out of white vinyl and intend to glue 20mm foam to the back of the fly for extra insualtion.

It's got the standard 12/240v controller, not the drifta, any thoughts on these? I've got a C-tek 12V to 12V battery charger that I'll probably put in along with an Ultimate 130AH battery.

The tow vehcile is a 105 series Landcruiser, 4.5l petrol. It's a great truck but I expect it'll cost a fortune in fuel to run, I have plans to trade it in for something a bit more economical - any suggestions?

 

[Billrw136]

Hi Adam G - welcome - lots of different tow vehicles owned by forum members - we are moving from an 8 year old LR Discovery 3 TDV6 to a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo CRD - good value for money - will post a review when we have it......

Bill

 

[Tayla]

Ooh, van sounds nice and only a couple of weeks wait is brilliant! Enjoy the quick set up!

 

[crackacoldie]

Welcome Adam and family, nice choice of van. Suggestions for a tow vehicle, mmm, keep the Tojo, they are a great bus and invest the change over in fuel!eace:

 

[brotys]

Cong,s hope you and your family enjoy we have a 20/63-1 and tow it with a 2013 awd territory diesel and love it just depends if you want a 4wd or not .

 

[chartrock]

Welcome to the forum Adam. The van sounds great and you will soon have your hand in your pocket for all sorts of mods. As to vehicle, I would not try to suggest anything for you apart from going diesel and a tug that can handle up to 3 tonne. Good luck with the search.

 

[Brad]

Welcome to the form Adam.
Nice van. That's the best way of purchasing if you don't like the wait.
Good luck with tug shopping. I'm with @chartrock's comments. Diesel with a good tow rating.

 

[Xpandafan]

That's better @Adam G...I can sense a bit of excitement in this post.
I always run my fridge on gas apart from the 240v pre-chill at home. Don't often CP. Haven't needed to run it on the road, but don't do huge hours each day at my age. If very hot weather I put the gas on for coffee and fridge when we take a lunch break.
Might try on 12v from dual battery and roof top solar panel at some stage to see if that's practical.
Agree you need to go the diesel path at some stage. Take your time and check out the variety of tugs members are using.
Going to love that slide-out lounge.:love:

 

[Burnsy]

Welcome and congrats @Adam G. You won't know yourself going from camper trailer to a 20 foota! The 3 way fridges do take alot longer to chill compared to compressor fridges, as Xpandafan said run on mains at home before you leave (I put ours on overnight before we pack it) after that there pretty good. The gas is great for free camping and very economical to run.....enjoy mate!

Cheers.

 

[Adam G]

Taking the display model was not something I set out to do! I was prepared to wait but glad that I do not have to. Originally I was looking at one of the 18 foot models with the beds at each end and when I went looking they had this 20 foot model just sitting there, there was only $2k price difference so I jumped at it!

 

[17triton]

Welcome @Adam G great van! Make sure you show us some pics when you get it.

 

[Brad]

Taking the display model was not something I set out to do! I was prepared to wait but glad that I do not have to. Originally I was looking at one of the 18 foot models with the beds at each end and when I went looking they had this 20 foot model just sitting there, there was only $2k price difference so I jumped at it!

Wow!! 2k difference is nothing.

 

[cruza driver]

:welcome: @Adam G let the fun times begin mate the 20 you have chosen sounds very impressive mate

 

[4wdphil]

Hi Adam, and welcome.
Regards your 105 cruiser I would keep it. I have the exact same model and we are currently towing a 18.57-5OB but will be getting a 20.63-1. All you need to do is put it on injected gas with an exede chip. There is an awesome 4wd mechanic in Geelong called autocraft and he does fantastic things with these 4wd. I love mine and would not sell it for anything. The power is great and the fuel economy is not too bad on gas but it is the cheapest way to travel. I did my sums against my mates D Max (diesel) and it cost him more to run his towing the same vans. Just my 2 cents

Enjoy
Phil

 

[Adam G]

G'day Phil,

I've **almost** decided to keep the 105. What sort of mileage do you get on the gas?

 

[BUSH PALACE]

G'day Phil,

I've **almost** decided to keep the 105. What sort of mileage do you get on the gas?

Hi Adam and family and welcome .. you gotta keep the 105 and fit up a supercharger trust me youll never look back !!!

 

[4wdphil]

The worst economy towing the van whilst on gas has been 3.3km/L of gas.
And like Bush Palace stated get a supercharger.
I have been researching this for a while now and have just finished discussing fitting a supercharger to my 105 with my mechanic.
He has fitted a supercharger with gas before with great results.

Any way doesn't matter which way you go just enjoy getting out there.

Phil

 

[Adam G]

So that's about 30 liters per hundred and gas is about 2.2 times cheaper than unleaded, for comparisons sakes that is equivalent to around 13.6 litres per hundred with petrol. I have no idea what mileage I'll get on petrol with the new Expanda but with the camper I get about 18 litres per hundred.

Time to do some more math this weekend once I hitch up the new toy!

 

[4wdphil]

With Petrol the worst economy I have had is 30L / 100km when towing the van. It can be better depends on the terrain.

 

[Adam G]

Thankyou! Bottom line, gas consumption is only marginally higher than petrol but costs significantly less to buy.