Starcraft Outback 18.55-3 Yabbietol = Terry and Ellie

yabbietol

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Sep 2, 2014
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Queanbeyan NSW
Just got phone call from Jayco, my new van has arrived in Sydney, but has some minor fibreglass damage. The damage is at the rear behind the spare wheel. Some screws have been over tighten and cracked the surrounding fibreglass.

Jayco Sydney are getting it repaired before pick up, but unfortunately slips our pick up back to Saturday the 20th of December. So the gods of delivery were onside, but the gods of detailing and quality control are not happy with us.

At least we should get it before Xmas.
 
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yabbietol

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Sep 2, 2014
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Unfortunately, we did not pick up the caravan. We travelled to Sydney on the 20th and were very pleased with what we saw, the repair to the fibreglass was very well done and almost undetectable. We had a serious problem with the caravan so went silent and deep until we had tried to resolve it with the dealer. We had ordered the Caravan with only two non standard options that would effect the weight, an extra battery (about 30Kg) in front of axels and a washing machine (about 40Kg) at the rear. These options should have balanced each other out with tow ball mass and only added 70Kg to the ATM.
The show stopper was the Empty Ball Mass of 263Kg on the trailer compliance plate; this was way in excess of the 175Kg we were advised in July. We own a Pajero and the caravan could not be legally towed in NSW. The dealer was really good they tried relocating the two batteries to under a seat (over the axels) and reweighed the Caravan on the Monday. It then gave an Empty Ball Mass of 243Kg which is still too high as the ATM (about 120Kg higher than in spec) of the caravan was well over 2.5t (the Pajero needs an Empty ball mass of 180Kg over 2.5t). We also visited a local engineering firm about getting the Pajero towing weights upgraded, but this is expensive and still 240Kg is a lot of weight on the tows rear axel.
Since then we have had to do a lot of thinking as the Caravan was really nice and what we wanted, but the heavy weight on the tow ball worried us. We checked with a few Jayco dealers and found that a typical Empty Tow Ball mass for the Outback version was around 230Kg to 257Kg nowhere near 175Kg. It looks like the Outback version has a serious design flaw.
We also got some good help from @ACTraveller who has the touring version of the same van built around the same time. Their Empty Ball Mass was 166Kg which is much more realistic. It appears the weights of the touring version are fine and the Outback version has the problem. This Outback problem may be due to the extra 300mm length and heavier chassis plus the JTEC suspension shifting the Caravan centre of gravity further back than the touring suspension.
We are very pleased with the dealers efforts to resolve the problem and they are giving us a full refund of our deposit. So we have no complaint about dealer service, but we have an issue with the engineers in the Jayco factory who got the weight distribution so wrong. We are now starting with a clean slate. Most likely we buy off the lot to ensure the empty tow ball mass and ATM is reasonable.

Our options are:
1. wait and see if the 2015 Outback version resolves the problem (it is getting a layout redesign)
2. Buy a Pop top 17.88 (need to do more research)
3. Buy the 16ft single axel version (note its Ball weight 187kg and we prefer dual axel)
4. Buy another brand of van (least desirable)

Also we now have a nice new garage completed on Monday in which to store our non existent caravan.

Always look on the bright side.
 

bigcol

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Nov 22, 2012
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tis such a shame that they cannot get almost ANYTHING right

ball weights
plumbing
wiring
I think Jayco need to have a serious look at WTF they are doing.........

not good @yabbietol , I dont think I could have or would have been strong enough to walk away like you have done................
and being so close to your Christmas, that is a real let down, and I feel for you guys

Always look on the bright side.

good move.,,,,,,,,, some thing better will attract your eye, and you will be very happy.

cheers
 

ACTraveller

Member
Apr 23, 2010
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That is so disappointing - but pleased the dealer did the right thing by you - we found Jayco Sydney very good in that regard. I don't know what Jayco are doing - it's like they are trying to get rid of anything in stock before a big paradigm shift in design - let's hope so. We are not 100% happy with our van, it just does not feel right when towing, despite WDS and ESC - so we are going to Melbourne in Febraury to look at what's new in 2015 - rather lose a few bucks than be worried all the time. Our van has Jayco factory fitted under slung axles - suspect that may be the issue - has anyone reversed underslung to overslung ?
 

Griffo

Active Member
Apr 15, 2014
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Not Good Terry but hopefully the final outcome will be what you hoped for.

Hopefully the rain will keep up and we will both have a quiet xmas. See you on the fire ground in the new year.
 
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Drover

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Nov 7, 2013
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Oh Bugga @yabbietol , I agree with all the above comments also and I was hoping since I'm cruising by your place I would get to check out this new rig, give Jayco a serve anyway..............I have noticed that what they have on the plate is never very accurate.

@ACTraveller check your rim size to tyre size, I have been looking at whats been fitted and it always seems that the tyres fitted are the max width or bigger for that size rim and the tyre load rating while just in the van weight zone doesn't comply as the tyre must be equal or more than the rated axle loadingon the compliance plate......anyway back to point, if the tyre is max width or more for the rim then you will get sideway flex in the wall which does give the arse end an extra flick , wider rims or narrower tyres helps. www.carbible.com is handy.
Merry Xmas folks.
 

achjimmy

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Jan 24, 2011
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Yabbietool rotten luck mate, I know what it's like to walk away from your (expected) van :( Not an easy choice but sounds like the right one.

The issue with any of the dual axle outbacks is the suspension isn't "load sharing". Got a friend with a Goldstream with dual criusemaster independent similar to JTech, in his garage he has a tiled floor to the rear. When the rear wheels step up just an inch on to the tiles the ball rating jumps up 65kg!

So the ball loading on the outbacks needs to be very conservative to start with IMO.

Good luck with it.
 

achjimmy

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Jan 24, 2011
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That is so disappointing - but pleased the dealer did the right thing by you - we found Jayco Sydney very good in that regard. I don't know what Jayco are doing - it's like they are trying to get rid of anything in stock before a big paradigm shift in design - let's hope so. We are not 100% happy with our van, it just does not feel right when towing, despite WDS and ESC - so we are going to Melbourne in Febraury to look at what's new in 2015 - rather lose a few bucks than be worried all the time. Our van has Jayco factory fitted under slung axles - suspect that may be the issue - has anyone reversed underslung to overslung ?


Yep we found Jayco Sydney nothing but accommodating when our van was stuffed up. Great service.
 
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