To OB or not OB

[funstopper]

Hi guys,

We currently have an Expanda 14.44-4 and a Flamingo that I share with my brother. The 14ft is great although recently we had a third child and now it's time to upgraded the Flamingo.

I was tossing up the idea of a 17.56-2, 17.56-1, 16.49-4 OB or a 18.57 triple bunk, towing with a 2011 hilux rated to 2250kg.

I was thinking that the OB's in the 18ft and 17ft would be to heavy for the car. So the question remains why would I need an OB. We have travelled a bit and was thinking about doing a ularu trip in the next couple of years.

Also any opinions between the models that I mentioned would be great. I have been told the the the triple bunks in the 18.57 are tight. My kids are 6, 2 years and one month old.

Thanks Scott

 

[Coastrunner]

Hi Scott.

My thoughts are that the Outback is the way to go. As I said in another thread "It's better to have and not want thean to want and not have." An Outback can go everywhere a standard can go but a standard cant go everywhere an outback can go.

The biggest plus for me is the extra clearance. I've actually seen even standard vans struggle getting into sites with raised slabs let alone driving out bush.

You may not intend on ever taking the outback of the road, but down the track an out of the way spot may take your interest and you may regret not having one.

The bigger chassis, wheels, clearance, are all great features to have. They also seem to hold their value quite well.

Go the Outback.

Get yourself a deep cycle battery or two, throw in a solar panel and have the option to free camp and national park camp too.

 

[Holden_man]

Hi Scott,
We have an outback model and highly recommend it. As @Coastrunner says The extra clearance the van has is extremely useful on uneven ground, this can be driveways, not real off road stuff. There have been plenty of situations we would have dragged its backside without the clearance.
As for which model, I like the full height of the 18's, though the 18 will be too heavy for the hilux, ours is only just legal for the Prado, which has 2500kg towing capacity. Check out the weights on the Jayco site, that will narrow down your selection of model. Though the site states Tare Weights, you need to add the specified load, which for a Tandem axel with shower is an extra 475kg.
So looking at the new models weights even I can't pull a new 18.

HM

 

[Chooky]

We have the 16.49-4 with 4 kids and we all fit in fine, we don't do a lot of off road but like the extra clearance for getting in and out of some parks and driveways and for off-road clearance when we want it.

 

[Glen Bundesen]

I don't have an OB, but if I did then I couldn't get it under the existing Carport. So think about how you are going to store or protect the van when not in use! I agree with Chooky, the OB does give you better rear end clearance when towing up driveways etc.

 

[davemc]

We decided on the outback as a few friends said they underslung their vans just to get on some sites as mentioned above.
Where we want to store the van is on a slight hill to get there, hence we thought we bottom it out.
Yes we could of just underslung it, although I wanted solar, battery, gas bayonet and couple more things standard in the pack.. $3500 extra so I would spec out first
If your close to your capability it adds extra weight as well think 100kg more for ours.

 

[S&k]

I have a 2012 swan outback and now ordered the 17.56-2 also in the outback just incase.

 

[pomtony]

mate, if you have the choice, OB for sure. we have 17.56-2 OB and even on the black stuff OB comes into its own.
cheers
tony

 

[Bushman]

Go the OB, though the Hilux rules out the 18 as the others said, and going on the current specs for the 17's you're border line if not over the tow limit of the Hilux, depending on model/layout

 

[pomtony]

our 17.56-2 ATM is 2383 which is over the Hilux limit
cheers
tony

 

[Bonners]

go the OB, much better on driveways and looks better

 

[Still_dreamin]

Outback model all the way, just for clearance. We have a 17-56.1 and have no trouble storing it in our shed. We like the option of having people stay with us, due to the bedding options.

 

[mfexpanda]

Outback for us

 

[twscoot]

Also consider whole of life cost - higher residual price % and easier to sell.
Outback I think if you can.
Cheers
Andrew.

 

[Capt. Gadget]

OB for us

 

[hamish22]

Personal opinion I guess!

I have an Outback but wouldn't be disappointed if it was a Tourer!
As long as I could have all the same goodies in the Tourer.

But I would tick the OB box!

 

[Roadkill]

I was looking for an outback in 18.57-6, but found a touring that fitted the bill so bought it. Can't say I've had any clearance issues on any trips so far, even exiting the driveway has been a breeze. Maybe later on I may find I miss the outside shower or gas point, but so far haven't.

 

[Antman]

OB for us as well. We wanted the extra clearance and the larger chassis rails.
When you are looking at your weights, make sure you take your Gross Combined into consideration also. I think a great deal of people forget this one.
Cheers
Ants

 

[Simon]

It's interesting re height. I'm not convinced I would get an OB on this aspect alone.

If you undersling the axels on a standard which is about $200, then the rest of the 100mm height difference in the OB is in the tire/rims combo.

The extra thickness in the chassis members is nice, but if you are stressing a 4x2 member on a standard then I'd hate to see what the inside of the van looks like! Jayco interiors are made to a budget and not for bush bashing.

Perhaps the game changer here is the new independent coil suspension which is standard on all OBs now. I saw one the other day and was impressed.

Unfortunately, height is an issue for me, so I have to stick with a standard and underslung axels, which leaves me with 30mm clearance under the carport and more cash in my pocket!

Having said all of that, in a perfect world, you would always get the Porsche over the Ford any day! eace:

 

[cruza driver]

It's interesting re height. I'm not convinced I would get an OB on this aspect alone.

The extra thickness in the chassis members is nice, but if you are stressing a 4x2 member on a standard then I'd hate to see what the inside of the van looks like! Jayco interiors are made to a budget and not for bush bashing.

My interior has withstood our trips no problem as long as you drive to the conditions. The only thing that has happened was a couple of pop rivets come adrift from the shower door, no biggy and no damage.

The ob's also have different brakes and the leaf spring models run shockers.

:tea: