Hi all I need to draw upon your wealth of knowledge as I'm in unknown territory and need your help!
I'm new to this forum and new to the world of 4WD's and camper trailers. After much research, we have ordered our Tambo Camper (Omeo) ready for the epic trip around Australia, we are hoping to do approx 12 months of travelling. Don't take delivery until April '12 so we have lots of preparation time to ensure the perfect set-up. The big headache at the moment is "which horse to tow the cart"! The more reading we do, the more confused we get! Everything seems to have some sort of issue!! We hope to have the vehicle sorted by December, so the axle for the camper can be built to match the axle to the vehicle. Some may say this isn't essential, but we like the idea of one set of tracks when travelling through sand and boggy terrain. We're hoping to get the vehicle for maximum spend $50k (including bull-bar, tow-bar, roof racks, etc - happy to pay extra for slide trays etc to be fitted to the back). Definitely want diesel, open to opinions on auto versus manual. Don't know how much serious off-road terrain we will cover, however, would like the vehicle to be capable of performing in the event it has to. Places like Gibb River track are on our list. Have been looking at the Nissan Navara ST and ST-X. Happy with tow capacity, torque etc, but are being scared off by bad reviews about diff and clutch problems and, more specifically, on the auto, problems with ABS cutting in when wheels slip in sand or mud and also transmission periodically sticking in low. Unable to ascertain if the issues are isolated to particular models and vintage? Ideally we would like to buy '09 or newer to avoid possible issues?. Not opposed to second-hand (something with less than 50,000 km and still some dealer warranty would be nice), but knowing our luck we are bound to buy the lemon! Have also looked at the Toyota Hilux the BT50 / Colorado and Ford Ranger XLT.
Have Nissan sorted out the many mentioned concerns over the last few years? Are there any issues with the 2009 or onwards Nivara's? Our estimated loaded camper weight will be less than 1500kg, additional vehicle loading estimated at approximately 300kg.
Any information and opinions are much appreciated - as we are total novices in the 4WD arena.
Cheers
I'm new to this forum and new to the world of 4WD's and camper trailers. After much research, we have ordered our Tambo Camper (Omeo) ready for the epic trip around Australia, we are hoping to do approx 12 months of travelling. Don't take delivery until April '12 so we have lots of preparation time to ensure the perfect set-up. The big headache at the moment is "which horse to tow the cart"! The more reading we do, the more confused we get! Everything seems to have some sort of issue!! We hope to have the vehicle sorted by December, so the axle for the camper can be built to match the axle to the vehicle. Some may say this isn't essential, but we like the idea of one set of tracks when travelling through sand and boggy terrain. We're hoping to get the vehicle for maximum spend $50k (including bull-bar, tow-bar, roof racks, etc - happy to pay extra for slide trays etc to be fitted to the back). Definitely want diesel, open to opinions on auto versus manual. Don't know how much serious off-road terrain we will cover, however, would like the vehicle to be capable of performing in the event it has to. Places like Gibb River track are on our list. Have been looking at the Nissan Navara ST and ST-X. Happy with tow capacity, torque etc, but are being scared off by bad reviews about diff and clutch problems and, more specifically, on the auto, problems with ABS cutting in when wheels slip in sand or mud and also transmission periodically sticking in low. Unable to ascertain if the issues are isolated to particular models and vintage? Ideally we would like to buy '09 or newer to avoid possible issues?. Not opposed to second-hand (something with less than 50,000 km and still some dealer warranty would be nice), but knowing our luck we are bound to buy the lemon! Have also looked at the Toyota Hilux the BT50 / Colorado and Ford Ranger XLT.
Have Nissan sorted out the many mentioned concerns over the last few years? Are there any issues with the 2009 or onwards Nivara's? Our estimated loaded camper weight will be less than 1500kg, additional vehicle loading estimated at approximately 300kg.
Any information and opinions are much appreciated - as we are total novices in the 4WD arena.
Cheers
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