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Caravan Overlanding - Has anybody done it?
I'm not talking about those fancy expedition trailers, but standard off-the-shelf caravans. We're considering getting e.g. one of the old East German made QEK caravans (fiberglass body on a metal frame) for our Central Asia/Iran trip. Just wondering whether anybody has any experiences to share?
Regards, Johannes |
if your going off road, most people reckon even an off road trailer is a bit of a pain (well, a lot of a pain actually). A caravan simply isn't strong enough to go off road. It also lacks ground clearance, has piss poor approach and departure angles, acts as an anchor in soft going and massively increases the stresses on your tow vehicle. On road, not too much of a problem of course, but then why bother with the added expense of a 4x4?
I would probably uprate the cooling, and deffo sort out a cooler for an autobox even for on road use if your going to a hot country |
Friends of mine took a supposedly off road caravan behind a defender 110 to Australia , they ended up leaving it in eastern Europe as it was getting harder and harder to try and keep it together . I used a tandem axle caravan with raised suspension in Australia , but I minimised the bush track usage , using it as a base to go solo with 110 and RTT , in various areas .
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Iran, and going there trough Turkey is all good roads if you want. I'm not up to date with the major roads in Kazakhstan. 10 years ago those where rough most of the time. I recall decent roads in Uzbekistan, poor roads in Turkmenistan.
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Thanks, guys. I wouldn't get an usual caravan using a wood structure and aluminium panels, but one with a fiberglass body. I'd swap the interior for something more durable. And the caravan would be a very small one ( <4.5m), and I'd load it as lightly as possible. For towing vehicle, I'm thinking Subaru Forester or similar. I wouldn't plan on heavy off roading (or just leave the trailer somewhere for those occasions).
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There was an article in Citropolis magazine ,many years ago about some people who towed a caravan behind their Citroen DS back in the 70s. May be of some interest?
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You can put these Qek on a proper axle and big wheels. Seen one on a extended Sankey WT-Chassis years ago and found it quite tempting.
Now there is one offered for 5000€ on a german Land Rover Forum. Not sure, if it´s on a Sankey chassis and axle, too, as the seller only mentions the LR- wheel hubs/nuts pattern. But I don´t think so. It just weighs 400kg empty. http://iloapp.kiteboardingconnection...00_resized.jpg http://iloapp.kiteboardingconnection...00_resized.jpg http://iloapp.kiteboardingconnection...00_resized.jpg http://iloapp.kiteboardingconnection...00_resized.jpg http://iloapp.kiteboardingconnection...00_resized.jpg Edit: Just noticed, you´re from Berlin. It´s located near Weimar, so have a look yourself. I could get in touch for you, as it´s offered in a closed section of the blacklandy-forum. |
I think there's more to it than chucking a caravan body on a sturdy chassis. It will take a hell of a pounding and I suspect the body will simply fall to bits in any kind of sustained/serious off roading
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We are a family of 4, traveling with an off road caravan, after many years of roof tent we jump on something bigger with more comfort.
There is a lot of pro, we often do offroad regarding the capacities of our vehicle - 2006 Ford F150 5.4 V8. There is nothing comparable for a small familly. All pick up cabin were too small. When we stop, everything is ready to use, nothing to set and we just enjoy the moment. I'm going the same kind of tracks that I use to go with the roof tent, no risk with kids. All depends what you are looking for, there is no universal perfect set up. You can check it on Caravanlander – Caravane off road familiale |
Just my experience from doing this in Australia.
I would only really consider two types. The first is a square version of the old fashioned teardrop camper. I built two of these a few years back. The first was "expedition" off road style which was strong as all hell but weighed a fair bit. Queen size mattress inside, kitchen at the rear. I pulled it with a land cruiser prado. The second version was super light weight. It didn't have a kitchen but it did have a storage area at the front and two 45l water tanks underneath. I could push this around by hand. We used this for sleeping and it also had a roof top tent on top so you could also sleep upstairs on hot nights. I pulled this with our VW Multivan 4motion which had a small kitchen area inside with the standard multivan rear seat and swivel fronts so we had a huge chill out area to cook, eat and relax. This last setup was great. The second option is a Jayco Penguin off road model. They are lightish, have a bed and kitchen, and fast to setup. But here my take on "off road caravans". They are built too heavy and that negates the "off road" ability of the combination. My brother has a dual axle off road caravan and a dual cab Ford Ranger 4wd. When he drives off its like a bullock wagon, or for other countries like a horse drawn carriage. It lumbars its way off, creaking and growning under the weight. In the end, he actually doesn't take it "off road" as the caravan stops it dead in its tracks once 4wd is really needed. Have fun! https://www.adventuremanteardropcampers.com.au https://www.jayco.com.au/range/campe...camper-trailer |
A couple of years ago I came across a Korean family in Armenia that drove their Jeep towing a bog standard caravan across Siberia, Mongolia, Russia, the Balkans and Turkey.
So yes, it is possible. But of course there's limits to how extreme you can go... https://destinationworld.smugmug.com...-cnHXVbL-L.jpg |
https://blogger.googleusercontent.co...-weltreise.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.co...ise-non4x4.jpg They did a real around the world with that setup: https://www.4x4tripping.com/2020/08/...weltreise.html Surfy |
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