Hi from Rob

[Prydey]

Hello all. This site was brought to my attention as not being exclusive to Expanda's, so I decided to join.
Bought this 2009 Swan about a year ago. At the time I had a FG XR6 which towed it nicely. I put it over the weighbridge and discovered that the mighty Falcon had very little headroom for payload. With 2 adults and 2 kids, fuel and ballweight, there was very little room left within the GVM.


So we bit the bullet and bought a new tow vehicle


We camp fairly basic, and only travel within about 4 hours of home (Adelaide), to campgrounds that have a flush toilet, minimum. Most national parks cater well for our requirements. So far we've been to mambray creek twice (Mt remarkable national park), Naracoorte caves national park, Onkaparinga River National park and Wirrina cove holiday park, which isn't a national park, but they do offer some more 'bush style' sites, with power.

Van is pretty much stock, apart from a 12v water pump and mixer tap. I've put shelving in the tall cupboard and that's about the extent of the modding, and we love it.

 

[chartrock]

Welcome to the friendly forum @Prydey, Yes we cater to all vans now as most (definitely not all) original members have upgrade to newer vans and for whatever reasons some have even crossed over to the dark side and left Jayco. But vans are vans and we all like to read about different types and models and mods can be copied whatever the model. Enjoy the forum, excuse (or join) the banter between some members and keep us posted with pics and trip reports.

 

[mikerezny]

Hi @Prydey,
welcome to the forum. Nice to have another member with a Jayco camper trailer. And I am sure @Boots in Action will agree.

cheers
Mike

 

[Vere]

Welcome

 

[Drover]

Yep, yep ditto to all the above, join in on the banter makes for a more interesting place and we do have some good ideas at times.................................a lot of us after rebuilding our Expandas got bored with nothing else to do so went and got something else to pull apart and found to our amazement they are all shoddy builds.....off topic again, oh well welcome to the crew and don't forget the pics.......

 

[Boots in Action]

Hi @Prydey,
welcome to the forum. Nice to have another member with a Jayco camper trailer. And I am sure @Boots in Action will agree.

cheers
Mike

Hi @Prydey , welcome to the forum. Most members have the larger more luxurious Expandas of various sizes, it is great to have another member with a camper trailer like @mikerezny and myself. Notwithstanding the fact that other members have larger and more complex vans, the knowledge, information and experience from this group is outstanding. There is always someone who has "been there and done that" to help you on any problem. All you have to do is put up the question. Sometimes we may not all agree entirely, but the emphasis is on providing assistance in a helpful and friendly way to all new members. Attached is a photo of my tug and van in a State Forest park near Brisbane. Cheers

 

[Prydey]

Thanks guys.

Lots of similar systems between jayco vans so should be able to get most questions I have answered.

Specific brand knowledge is nearly always better than generic advice so nice to find a more jayco centric forum.

 

[1DayIll]

I started with a Swan and moved to an Expanda because of travelling for three months. Welcome and lots of stories and pics please.

 

[Marv_mart]

Welcome! We started with a Penguin and moved up to an Expanda 14.44-5 OB. Enjoy your camping!
We are also based in Adelaide and have now ventured far and wide!
There are so many great ideas to make your travels more comfortable on the forum.

 

[DRW]

Hi @Prydey I bet you still miss the XR6, fabulous colour as well, I guess the Terri looks the same from the inside, welcome have fun!!

 

[Prydey]

Hi @Prydey I bet you still miss the XR6, fabulous colour as well, I guess the Terri looks the same from the inside, welcome have fun!!

Actually I thought I would miss my falcon (had it for 7 years) as it was such a good family car, but I never even looked back. By the time I drove the territory home I was wondering why I didn't do it years ago. Sure it's not as quick, but I guess we all get older (grow up??) but it is a better family car than falcon could ever hope to be. Really happy with it, and the diesel goes ok for what it is. Towing is chalk and cheese, even with a light van like the swan.

 

[Boots in Action]

Actually I thought I would miss my falcon (had it for 7 years) as it was such a good family car, but I never even looked back. By the time I drove the territory home I was wondering why I didn't do it years ago. Sure it's not as quick, but I guess we all get older (grow up??) but it is a better family car than falcon could ever hope to be. Really happy with it, and the diesel goes ok for what it is. Towing is chalk and cheese, even with a light van like the swan.

Yes @Prydey , there is nothing like the low speed torque of a diesel when towing any load, large or small!!

 

[DRW]

Glad you're happy with the Terri, we almost bought one after the XR but almost 400,000K on her (all trouble free) it was mainly used to drive to work and back 100K each way and I just couldn't bring myself to look at the same dash for another 400,000K, time will tell if I made the right decision

 

[Prydey]

Glad you're happy with the Terri, we almost bought one after the XR but almost 400,000K on her (all trouble free) it was mainly used to drive to work and back 100K each way and I just couldn't bring myself to look at the same dash for another 400,000K, time will tell if I made the right decision

I wasn't bothered by the familiarity. in fact, I saw it as a plus. the ford trip computer functions, and cruise control operation are among the best in the automotive world. ok, I may be a little biased

I am very ford biased and will never have a different brand in my carport (my wife has a focus), and if I could afford an Everest I would have bought one of them instead. Maybe in a few years...

 

[DRW]

I'm a Ford man also, unfortunatley the Evers wasn't around when we bought the Jeep, I have no regrets as it is one of the better meduim SUV's for towing, I still treat it like I stole it

 

[Drover]

I'm sitting in Ford Ranger and the ding bluddy dong is driving me nuts when door is open......has to be the most annoying one around.

 

[DRW]

Take the bloody key out, Carmel's Nissan does the same damn thing grrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[Drover]

I'm sitting in the pax seat, driver would get annoyed if I chucked the key across the car park......might leave me there.....(.shut up you lot, I know what your thinking.)

 

[Prydey]

and keep us posted with pics and trip reports.

I put a quick run down of our adventures so far in the trip report section