Cub Campers

By Malcolm Street

Cub Campers has been around in the camper trailer landscape for a lengthy 37 years, which probably makes it one of the older Australian RV manufacturers. Cub Campers, however, is not only known locally – Cub has been making a contribution to Australian overseas trade by exporting camper trailers to the USA, Canada and Britain.

The Cub camper range is certainly very impressive, with about 21 models in all. Smallest of the pack is the tiny Kamparoo Sprint motorcycle camper and the largest and most rugged is the Spacematic Drover. There’s a choice of either inside or outside kitchens, and camper lengths ranging in size from 12ft 6in (3.8m) to 19ft 6in (6m) fully opened.

Cub offers three designs of camper. All are available with a variety of options. The Kamparoo weighs about 385kg and is designed for small and medium-sized sedan tow vehicles. When fitted with an Off Road Pack, it can be towed by small 4WDs as well.

As with other Cub campers, the Kamparoo features Cub’s Ezy Wind system which means the camper can be opened up simply by winding a handle.

Other features of the Kamparoo include a slideout kitchen with cooktop and sink, water tank, 240V power, awning and front wall, luggage/boat rack and the usual lift-up bed with storage underneath.

Next in the Cub range is the Supamatic model, which actually comes in three variants. The Regal has an internal kitchen, the Escape has an outside kitchen and the Drover is the offroad version.

Like the Kamparoo, all Supamatics are set up using the Ezy Wind system – no lifting and minimal effort. Features consist of a deluxe cooktop and griller, 60 litre three-way fridge, both 240V and 12V power system, double or single beds with a choice of innerspring mattress and Sunraysia wheels.

Largest in the Cub line-up is the aptly name Spacematic which comes with all the features of the Supamatic, except that it is pitched at the family, with 20ft of folded-out living space. It comes with three layouts: two single beds, double bed and dinette, or queen bed. Its low folded-up height makes it ideal for both towing and storage.

All campers can be fitted with awnings or a complete Add-A-Room (annexe), which effectively doubles the size of the camper.

Cub’s offroad range is designed to withstand the tough conditions encountered in hard outback travel while still offering a good level of comfort and amenity inside the camper.

Full offroad suspension is used, heavy-duty springs with the second leaf wrapped around the eye (army wrap) and rebound leaves to lessen bounce and ensure a smooth ride. Shock absorbers, solid beam axle and heavy duty bearings complete the package.

Although Cub believes the leaf spring setup will cope with any offroad situation, it has had many requests for an independent coil spring arrangement and so has developed the option of trailing arm independent suspension.

The new setup is an integrated system incorporating mini-twin pigtail coils with damper controlled by twin shock absorbers; it was designed and tested in conjunction with offroad suspension specialist, the Ultimate Suspension Company. 

Cub has designed a Trans Continental Pack to fit in between the keen offroad enthusiast and someone who just wishes to travel long distances on secondary roads. This offers an enhanced touring capability without the extra weight of the full offroad camper.

The package is available on all onroad models, except the Sprint, and includes a longer and stronger drawbar, stronger springs, a reinforced chassis, heavy-duty, high tensile axle, 14in Sunraysia wheels, locking water filler and steel water tank protector, but adds only 40kg to the weight of the trailer – something of interest to small-4WD owners.

If you are in the market for a camper trailer, whether it be a tough offroad unit or something large enough for the family, which can be quickly set up, the Cub Camper range is worth a look.

Look out for the new high sided Space Van released in Feb 2005.

Cub Campers, 361 Wentworth Avenue, Pendle Hill, NSW 2145, (02) 9896 3550, www.cubcampers.com.au