New Member, New Van On Order

[Joves]

Well, it happened. Handover went well (as well as it could have, I guess, considering how much stuff there is to go through). I’m guessing the real learning is when you finally get out and actually use the thing. If I’m to be completely honest, my mind was more than just a little preoccupied with the prospect of towing it. It was presented nicely with a blue ribbon and rope in the hand-over bay and, I swear, the closer I got to the thing, the bigger it got! I couldn’t help but spend the entire handover with a serious pressing in mind of “mannnn, I’ve gotta get this thing home to central Sydney in peak hour!!” I’m glad to say, all went without any issue whatsoever and it is currently parked up in its new home.

Disappointingly, we are actually off to Hamilton Island tomorrow morning for a few nights (I know, only a new van owner having just taken delivery could be disappointed about that), so we won’t be able to take it for a mini-shakedown until next weekend. By hook or by crook, we are sleeping in the thing on a camp site next weekend, mark my words!

In short, we absolutely love it so far. Aside from a couple of items being omitted from delivery (the cover and the annexe tub floor), all appears to be in tip-top shape. We’ve tested everything we can practically test in our driveway and all appears to be working well.

Here are a couple of happy snaps. Apologies for the quality of the shots, they were taken on the fly in fits of excitement last night.

Thanks again to all for your interest, advice, support, encouragement, expertise, etc. etc. It has made the whole process a lot less daunting and a lot more exciting for us, and for that we cannot say thank you enough. Now we all need to get together at a campground and celebrate with a few fizzy waters!!

 

[Joves]

Nothing quite like collecting a new caravan. You have the entire weekend to crawl all over it, and I'm guessing you'll be driveway camping over the weekend. With so much time over the next few days, we'll be expecting a full report and lots of photos.

Nothing quite like it is right, @Crusty181. Equal measures of excitement and “towing dread”!

 

[Joves]

I've already spotted the first Mod, missed it right at the beginning ....................................... So where's the pics ???????..................... Did the wheels fall off ???? ......................... Actually I don't want to see any pics gets me going looking at the Caravans For Sale pages.

Uh oh, here we go... what mod do I need to do first, @Drover? I know they’re coming, and likely thick and fast!

The pics I posted are pretty poor... hopefully they don’t whet your buying appetite too much!!

 

[Joves]

Hi Joves,
If you noticed my introduction thread you'll note that I'm a newby to both this forum and caravanning and it just so happens my wife and I have our (eventual) eyes on a Jayco Expander - so this thread is liquid gold and I'll be following avidly. Especially your choice of options and why (when I get a chance). Great thread and welcome from one newby to another.

Hi @ColinM,

Thanks for your post and thanks for liking this thread!

I did see your introduction and have been meaning to say hello, but was a little preoccupied with delivery... sorry!

Welcome to the forum. I’m only very new myself, so have EVERYTHING to learn!! It’s all very exciting though. To be honest, I thought maybe I was a nutter a few months ago when the idea of buying a caravan entered our minds. So much so, that I didn’t really tell anyone about it. After the order was placed and the excitement began to grow, I couldn’t help but mention it and, low and behold, it seems as though everyone I speak to is either already doing it or wish they were!! Despite this, we are thrilled to have taken the plunge... there is no doubt in our minds that we are going to spend the best quality time together as a family, courtesy of this van. And that’s something we could never put a price on!

We love the Expanda concept. After having hired an 18ft a couple of months ago (after having already placed the order on ours), we were certain we had made the right choice. Fantastic internal space and accommodation for the whole family. Plus, with the fold our canvas beds, it KIND OF feels like “real” camping!! I’m sure, when the kids no longer want to travel with us (many years away, thankfully), we will look for a van with typical island bed, but we are more than confident this is going to be a van that we love and use for many years.

As for options, we ticked quite a few boxes. Predominantly because I’m the kind of person that would rather have something I don’t use/need than not have something that we wish we did. We’re not 100% sure what type of camping we will do most (caravan parks or freecamping) so we tried to spec the van in a way that it will be comfortable for both. Time will tell which way we gravitate to and which items were actually necessary.

I look forward to keeping up with yours and your wife’s search and decision and will let you know how we are going with ours when we get some experience under our belt. All the best in the meantime!

 

[Drover]

Looks fantastic and your used to waiting so another week before you can play will be a doddle.....lol....... More pics and we will come up with some great ways for you to spend your money, its something we seem to excell at......

If the stone guard isn't 900mm or more back from the tow hitch ball you may hit it with the back of your tug if you turn sharp by the looks of the pic you haven't as yet so might be good, I will save the mod for later, surprised someone else hasn't spotted it...............

 

[ColinM]

Hi @ColinM,

Thanks for your post and thanks for liking this thread!

I did see your introduction and have been meaning to say hello, but was a little preoccupied with delivery... sorry!

Welcome to the forum. I’m only very new myself, so have EVERYTHING to learn!! It’s all very exciting though. To be honest, I thought maybe I was a nutter a few months ago when the idea of buying a caravan entered our minds. So much so, that I didn’t really tell anyone about it. After the order was placed and the excitement began to grow, I couldn’t help but mention it and, low and behold, it seems as though everyone I speak to is either already doing it or wish they were!! Despite this, we are thrilled to have taken the plunge... there is no doubt in our minds that we are going to spend the best quality time together as a family, courtesy of this van. And that’s something we could never put a price on!

We love the Expanda concept. After having hired an 18ft a couple of months ago (after having already placed the order on ours), we were certain we had made the right choice. Fantastic internal space and accommodation for the whole family. Plus, with the fold our canvas beds, it KIND OF feels like “real” camping!! I’m sure, when the kids no longer want to travel with us (many years away, thankfully), we will look for a van with typical island bed, but we are more than confident this is going to be a van that we love and use for many years.

As for options, we ticked quite a few boxes. Predominantly because I’m the kind of person that would rather have something I don’t use/need than not have something that we wish we did. We’re not 100% sure what type of camping we will do most (caravan parks or freecamping) so we tried to spec the van in a way that it will be comfortable for both. Time will tell which way we gravitate to and which items were actually necessary.

I look forward to keeping up with yours and your wife’s search and decision and will let you know how we are going with ours when we get some experience under our belt. All the best in the meantime!

@Joves - You're most welcome

Absolutely no apology needed - I'm amazed and grateful you posted given you're taking/have taken delivery -

Thank you for your welcome. So agree on all of your comments and great to hear good things about the Jayco Expander. Yup, with you totally on quality time together, one of the main drivers at our end. Makes a lot of sense with the specs and versatility - is that why you went for the Outback?

I'll be watching your thread avidly and it's great that you are 3 years ahead, your thread has already proven invaluable.

 

[Crusty181]

Well, it happened. Handover went well (as well as it could have, I guess, considering how much stuff there is to go through). I’m guessing the real learning is when you finally get out and actually use the thing. If I’m to be completely honest, my mind was more than just a little preoccupied with the prospect of towing it. It was presented nicely with a blue ribbon and rope in the hand-over bay and, I swear, the closer I got to the thing, the bigger it got! I couldn’t help but spend the entire handover with a serious pressing in mind of “mannnn, I’ve gotta get this thing home to central Sydney in peak hour!!” I’m glad to say, all went without any issue whatsoever and it is currently parked up in its new home.

Disappointingly, we are actually off to Hamilton Island tomorrow morning for a few nights (I know, only a new van owner having just taken delivery could be disappointed about that), so we won’t be able to take it for a mini-shakedown until next weekend. By hook or by crook, we are sleeping in the thing on a camp site next weekend, mark my words!

In short, we absolutely love it so far. Aside from a couple of items being omitted from delivery (the cover and the annexe tub floor), all appears to be in tip-top shape. We’ve tested everything we can practically test in our driveway and all appears to be working well.

Here are a couple of happy snaps. Apologies for the quality of the shots, they were taken on the fly in fits of excitement last night.

Thanks again to all for your interest, advice, support, encouragement, expertise, etc. etc. It has made the whole process a lot less daunting and a lot more exciting for us, and for that we cannot say thank you enough. Now we all need to get together at a campground and celebrate with a few fizzy waters!!

View attachment 63711View attachment 63712View attachment 63713View attachment 63714View attachment 63715

Guys, that is an awesome looking van. Very nice. Twin water tank fillers ???, so where does the mains connect???

 

[Crusty181]

is that why you went for the Outback?

@ColinM The touring Jaycos are very very low, an issue that doesn't seem to infect other caravan brand tourers. It's not unusual to scrap the ar$e of a Jayco tourer entering a petrol station (or home driveway, but you won't have that problem ). The issue with the Jayco Outback is they are the opposite, very very high; in my opinion too high. The Outback also adds substantial weight to the ATM partly because the suspension is a fully self-contained module, both adding the extra weight and the extra height. Jayco's Outback independent Jtech suspension does have some camber issues in that it has no adjustment and can be (read probably will be) delivered randomly out of whack (ours is wonky to varying degrees on 3 of the 4 axles). Since Jtechs inception in 2014 the Jtech suspension has proven to be very robust with no significant no-fault failures I'm aware of. In regards to the caster issue, it's not caused me any issues including scrubbing or premature tyre wear and it has done 60k km; so doesn't seem to matter

 

[Drover]

@ColinM The touring Jaycos are very very low, an issue that doesn't seem to infect other caravan brand tourers. It's not unusual to scrap the ar$e of a Jayco tourer entering a petrol station (or home driveway, but you won't have that problem ). The issue with the Jayco Outback is they are the opposite, very very high; in my opinion too high. The Outback also adds substantial weight to the ATM partly because the suspension is a fully self-contained module, both adding the extra weight and the extra height. Jayco's Outback independent Jtech suspension does have some camber issues in that it has no adjustment and can be (read probably will be) delivered randomly out of whack (ours is wonky to varying degrees on 3 of the 4 axles). Since Jtechs inception in 2014 the Jtech suspension has proven to be very robust with no significant no-fault failures I'm aware of. In regards to the caster issue, it's not caused me any issues including scrubbing or premature tyre wear and it has done 60k km; so doesn't seem to matter

Ditto's from me on that.......

 

[Joves]

Guys, that is an awesome looking van. Very nice. Twin water tank fillers ???, so where does the mains connect???

Thanks @Crusty181, we think it looks pretty awesome too!

The mains water connection is in one of the tank filler boxes, I believe?! Will have to check when we get back home, but I definitely recall seeing it somewhere during the handover.

 

[Joves]

Looks fantastic and your used to waiting so another week before you can play will be a doddle.....lol....... More pics and we will come up with some great ways for you to spend your money, its something we seem to excell at......

If the stone guard isn't 900mm or more back from the tow hitch ball you may hit it with the back of your tug if you turn sharp by the looks of the pic you haven't as yet so might be good, I will save the mod for later, surprised someone else hasn't spotted it...............

Cheers @Drover. The back of the tug JUST clears the Stone guard, thankfully. Definitely glad we opted for the extended A-frame.

I’m very curious about the first mod. An ExpandasDownunder sticker perhaps?!

 

[Joves]

@Joves - You're most welcome

Absolutely no apology needed - I'm amazed and grateful you posted given you're taking/have taken delivery -

Thank you for your welcome. So agree on all of your comments and great to hear good things about the Jayco Expander. Yup, with you totally on quality time together, one of the main drivers at our end. Makes a lot of sense with the specs and versatility - is that why you went for the Outback?

I'll be watching your thread avidly and it's great that you are 3 years ahead, your thread has already proven invaluable.

@ColinM, we went the Outback version purely because that is all that the 20ft Expanda’s are available in. This said, we would have opted for the Outback, even if it were also available in the Tourer model. Again, moreso just from a future-proofing point of view, should we decide to venture off the beaten track. I can’t really see us going anywhere too rough and rugged, if I’m to be completely honest. Even as an Outback model, I have no doubt that there are limits as to where this van would want to be taken.

 

[Joves]

@ColinM The touring Jaycos are very very low, an issue that doesn't seem to infect other caravan brand tourers. It's not unusual to scrap the ar$e of a Jayco tourer entering a petrol station (or home driveway, but you won't have that problem ). The issue with the Jayco Outback is they are the opposite, very very high; in my opinion too high. The Outback also adds substantial weight to the ATM partly because the suspension is a fully self-contained module, both adding the extra weight and the extra height. Jayco's Outback independent Jtech suspension does have some camber issues in that it has no adjustment and can be (read probably will be) delivered randomly out of whack (ours is wonky to varying degrees on 3 of the 4 axles). Since Jtechs inception in 2014 the Jtech suspension has proven to be very robust with no significant no-fault failures I'm aware of. In regards to the caster issue, it's not caused me any issues including scrubbing or premature tyre wear and it has done 60k km; so doesn't seem to matter

You’re not wrong, @Crusty181, this van does sit VERY high! I don’t mind it really, but it’s a serious step up into the thing without the retractable step out. We’ve purchased a double portable step, which should sit about perfect without using the retractable one. Even the retractable sits very high when on level ground for the little tackers to step up onto.

 

[Drover]

Expanda Stickers ????? Lotto win for sure, I have download somewhere that I print and laminate, put on the back of Big Mal, only one person has commented on a Big CoroMAL having an Expanda Sticker on it !!!!!!!!

The Outback is ably set up so you can get in and out of the Shell Roadhouse at Moree without dragging your arsend on the driveway, the cupboards will fall off just as well as the tour models on dirt roads or the Western Highway, Victoria......plus you can miss the road kill hanging on your axle, so win, win in all respects.
highways rougher than a lot of dirt.

 

[Crusty181]

@ColinM, I have no doubt that there are limits as to where this van would want to be taken.

Dont underestimate it. From experience, you may well be surprised where you'd find an 20ft Expanda has gone.

 

[Crusty181]

You’re not wrong, @Crusty181, this van does sit VERY high! I don’t mind it really, but it’s a serious step up into the thing without the retractable step out. We’ve purchased a double portable step, which should sit about perfect without using the retractable one. Even the retractable sits very high when on level ground for the little tackers to step up onto.

Worn out knees ... i have the nanna step

 

[ColinM]

@ColinM, we went the Outback version purely because that is all that the 20ft Expanda’s are available in. This said, we would have opted for the Outback, even if it were also available in the Tourer model. Again, moreso just from a future-proofing point of view, should we decide to venture off the beaten track. I can’t really see us going anywhere too rough and rugged, if I’m to be completely honest. Even as an Outback model, I have no doubt that there are limits as to where this van would want to be taken.

@Joves - Thanks for the reply and thought that might be the case. I tried looking for that caravan on the Jayco site - couldn't find it - any chance of providing a link please?

 

[Joves]

@Joves - Thanks for the reply and thought that might be the case. I tried looking for that caravan on the Jayco site - couldn't find it - any chance of providing a link please?

Sure thing, @ColinM, here is the link:

https://www.jayco.com.au/promo/expanda-caravan

 

[ColinM]

Sure thing, @ColinM, here is the link:

https://www.jayco.com.au/promo/expanda-caravan

Thanks Joves - silly me I was looking in the extenders not the expanders.

 

[ColinM]

Hi Joves,

Glad all went well with the handover and delivery (notwithstanding the two missing items) and you got home safely across Sydney (thank goodness I won't have to do that when we eventually get our van). Just saw you post and it looks awesome - especially with the brand new TD6 up front - LOTS of tech there. Must have been bl**dy hard leaving the brand new van behind - talk about painful/exciting timing. LOL

Hope you enjoyed your HI trip - I don't need to be a mind reader to suspect what you were thinking about LOL!

One thing I've been meaning to do is ask you about some of your options - the reason/rational behind them if you don't mind:

* 200mm A frame extension?
* Nautilus HWS system - was that a replacement of the std one supplied?
* 3.3Kg Sphere Washing Machine - is that because it's not supplied as std?
* 2 larger 4Seasons Hatches?
* Satellite - Sphere System - not supplied as std?
* Entertainment unit extension - does that refer to AV leads?
* Water filtration to sink - benefits/needs?
* Furrion CD/DVD DV 5700 +int/Ext Speakers - not supplied as std or an upgrade on what was?
* Side view cameras - and dual rear cameras "cont" ?
* Rol Panel - J-Hub Mk II ?
* Oven - Smev Oven plus griller plus cooktop - not supplied or upgrade to std supplied?
* Slide out kitchen with sink/cooker/bench - that's an external one right?
*Sphere wi-fi Router - not supplied or upgrade?
* Upgraded D)35 hitch?

My apologies - that's a lot of questions and will take some response on your part but will be invaluable to me.