What to look for in a truly Off-Road Teardrop Camper
When it comes to Off-Road Teardrop Camper’s the word Off-Road gets thrown around very loosely in the camping industry and unfortunately can lead to some products being described or sold, as fit for a purpose when they really aren’t. In the case of Our CANNING Camper this isn’t the case.
Our CANNING’s are designed (and warranted) to be completely off road and to go anywhere your vehicle will take you. Whether that be across the Simpson Desert sand dunes, over the rugged corrugations up in the Kimberleys, or onto and up the beach at Bribie Island.
There are three main benefits of an Off-Road Teardrop style like the CANNING that will allow you to take them almost anywhere, these are;
1. Size
The benefit of a smaller camper is that it will tuck in behind the tow vehicle and allow you to get into places that a larger caravan just simply wouldn’t fit. In general, and especially so with the CANNING. If your vehicle can fit through a track, so will your Camper. This is due to our design, keeping maximum height to just over two meters and body width of 1.6m, meaning its mass is located in behind the tow vehicle rather than above and outside it. This greatly reduces the chance of catching a protruding tree branch or rock while travelling and minimises the risk of damage to the camper. It also creates a lower central point of gravity which greatly reduces the chance of a rollover in off-road situations.
2. Weight
Weight is crucial in an Off-Road Teardrop Camper, as some vans may have the ability to get through some tight spots but due to potential hazards on the path your tow vehicle simply may not be up to the task of pulling a 3 tonne van through a water crossing or through soft sand. Our CANNING has a tare weight starting from 840kg making it much easier on the vehicle in front when towing.
3. Capability
A properly built Off-Road Teardrop Camper will be built with off-road in mind throughout every step of the production, from the initial thought process to the design, engineering, R&D and end product. It is not just about a set of Mud tyres and some nice wheels.
This is much the case with our CANNING, it has been designed and engineered to handle the off-road in every aspect from the large items like the 6 Inch drawbar on the chassis right through to the small items like the dust caps on the toolbox locks. The CANNING is built using top quality parts from main names in the industry. Our Chassis is over engineered wherever possible and was tested up to 4 times the ATM to ensure you can be confident in towing it into even the harshest of environments around the country.
Having a strong chassis doesn’t immediately make your camper off-road suitable however, there are many other things that when looking for an Off-Road capable Teardrop camper you should put on your list. Some of these are listed below.
1. Dust proofing
With any Off-Road Camper, every effort to minimize dust ingress is a must. While you will never make a 100% Completely dust free camper (And anyone who says they have is lying.) We have taken every step possible at Hitch Campers to ensure we get that percentage as close as possible to 100%. As standard on the CANNING, we fit a DRS (Dust reduction system) which is motion activated and pressurises the cabin when the camper is in motion to reduce dust ingress. All of our locks are compression locks with a dust cap to further prevent dust ingress through the locking mechanism itself. We also use triple locking cabin doors to ensure a leak proof seal is created. Many hours of CAD design were put into designing the camper, ensuring particular attention was paid to potential dust and water ingress points.
2. Serviceability while travelling
When looking for your Off-Road Camper you need to pay particular attention to the serviceability while you are away on your trips. Are parts obtainable when in remote areas? If I need to access something while out on the road to make a repair, can I access it with normal tools? Our Cannings are designed with simple maintenance in mind, everything that you should need access to as an owner while on the road is accessible. The brands we work with including Cruisemaster and REDARC are known to have some of the best warranty and service networks in the country with spare parts being available in all major centres (and even a lot of smaller rural areas as well) to ensure your trip is as smooth and as hassle free as possible
3. Construction Methods
How (and where) a camper is constructed plays a huge part of where you can take your Off-Road Teardrop Camper. We build our CANNING’s on the Gold Coast to Australian standards and have performed years of rigorous testing to ensure they are fit for the many Australian conditions you may encounter, this includes FEA (Finite Element Analysis) testing to ensure even the toughest of tracks are no match for the CANNING, Thermal testing of our composite panels to ensure a pleasant camping experience no matter what the weather outside and pre delivery testing to ensure every camper is completed to our Quality Control standards.
In Summary, when looking for an Off-Road capable Teardrop, make sure you do your research, speak to people in the industry and current owners of products you are looking at, as well as reviews to ensure you find something fit for yourself and your family. Make sure you ask about the Warranties when travelling off-road to alleviate any hiccups or problems down the track.