Cub Campers Frontier 2018 Review

You don’t survive a long period in the Australian RV manufacturing industry by not moving with the times, and 50-year-old Cub Campers is no exception.

Faced with increasing pressure from the flood of cheap imported campers, Cub recently revised and updated its popular range of affordable, hard-floor tent trailers built at its large Sydney factory.

The decision to introduce its first forward-fold camper around two years ago was another smart move, with the Frontier now Cub’s biggest selling model.

Since our first look at a Frontier prototype in mid-2017, Cub has made a number of changes and improvements to the four-berth camper, to make it even more appealing.

But with pricing for the Frontier now starting around the mid-$30K mark, or at least a few thousand dollars more than similar-spec Chinese rivals, it begs the question: is it worth paying extra for “the only 100 per cent Australian-made forward fold camper trailer”, as it claims on the sales brochure.

To find out, we borrowed a 2018-build Frontier from Cub’s new Melbourne dealer Outback HQ, and took it away on a family camping trip for a few days to Victoria’s High Country region.

Classy construction

The first thing you notice about the latest Frontier is the glossy exterior paintjob applied to the steel body panels, courtesy of Cub’s new in-house spray booth.

It lends a more upmarket contemporary feel to the off-road camper, and should prove as durable as the old matte finish as long as it’s not dragged down too many overgrown bush tracks.

Riding on Cub’s own independent coil suspension with single shocks, 17in black alloy wheels and all-terrain tyres, plus an off-road hitch and 12in brakes, there’s enough clearance and capability to tow it confidently across all but the gnarliest terrain.

There’s no aluminium checker plate on the sides or underneath (only on top), but large mud flaps and the new wrap-around front mesh guard provide good protection from stone chips. Also reassuring is the coated underbody and galvanized chassis, along with a tough polycarbonate 100L water tank located aft of the axle.

A single spare wheel is mounted to a fixed holder at the rear, above two recovery hooks to help get you out of trouble if needed.

Forward-fold campers are usually heavier than rear-folds, but the Frontier is a bit lighter than most with the review camper delivering a plated Tare of 1269kg and a 1750kg ATM (for a decent payload of 481kg).

It certainly towed like a dream behind our 3100kg tow-rated Ford Everest, with no issues cruising at 110km/h on the highway.

Super easy set-up

The Frontier’s other trump card is the ease and simplicity of its set up and close down, as well as its ability to squeeze into smaller campsites. With the lid flipping over the front box section, it takes up no more room than the 5.55m x 1.95m travelling dimensions when camping (apart from any real-estate required for the pull-out kitchen and standard awning if erected).

The AL-KO off-road ball hitch also makes light work of hitching and unhitching to the Everest’s 50mm ball. And the gas struts on both sides of the camper make winding the winch to pull the tent into place, child's play.

Altogether, including unlatching the lid, dropping down the stabilisers and pushing out the rear tent section, shouldn’t take more than five, sweat-free minutes.

The only thing that might make it a bit quicker is a permanently attached, flip-up jockey wheel instead of the standard removable unit, but you’d probably also need to get the extended drawbar option to allow enough room with the stone guard fitted.

Setting up the awning using the supplied alloy poles and guy ropes takes a bit longer (up to 20 minutes), but isn't a tough job, although an extra pair of hands helps. Once zipped on to the side of the main tent the awning can stay on and pack away without having to remove it every time.

Top tent

In addition to the awning, the Frontier comes standard with a rear wall canvas section with window and a roll-up side wall (which we didn’t use). For longer stays you can also purchase other optional walls and floors to turn the awning into a fully-protected additional outdoor room, if desired.

With Wax Converters Dynaproof canvas, midge-proof screens and quality zippers, the Frontier’s main tent delivers a classy canvas set-up, including large openings on all sides that can be opened up from either inside or out for extra ventilation and natural light, with mesh on all windows and door flaps to keep out the bities.

As shown in the photos, the nearside canvas wall (and separate mesh flap underneath) from the door back can be rolled open, as can the upper canvas door section -- all held in place by grippy Velcro straps.

During our trip the main tent and awning provided good protection from the elements, with no evidence of water leakage during a couple of heavy rainstorms, and despite a lack of any canvas ‘seasoning’.

Cracker kitchen

The Frontier’s slide-out stainless kitchen also works a treat. The main unit including sink with flick-mixer tap and three gas burner cooktop, and some storage compartments slides out easily, with the hinged benchtop flipping over to provide a large food prep area alongside.

Glass lids on the stove and sink lids provide additional benchspace, while four, adjustable pull-out legs provide sturdy support for the unit.

It’s then a case of plugging in the gas and water hoses at the handy connection points in the locker at the rear of the camper, while the lead for the cooker ignition and removable kitchen stalk light plugs into one of the 12V sockets nearby.

There's also some stainless steel shields provided that slot into the benchtop, to keep the cooker going in windy weather.

While there’s an option to fit another gas bayonet, we found it just as easy to use the single gas bayonet for the cooker as well as our Weber Baby Q, which we placed on a table behind the kitchen, also sheltered under the awning.

A portable gas hot water unit could also be easily hooked up here for showers, while Cub also offers the convenience of an integrated Truma hot water unit as an option.

Also on the onside is a locker with fridge slide-out and Anderson plug socket for the optional Evakool 85 litre fridge (our smaller Dometic 35L fridge easily fitted into the space). Next to that is another locker with a stainless slide-out pantry, which was long and deep enough to hold enough non-perishable groceries for a few days of family camping.

Room to move

Entering via the pull-out entry steps and solid side-hinged and lockable half-door, the Frontier delivers decent interior living space for a couple or family. There’s a step to get up to the comfy 1960mm x 1500mm coil spring mattress, with good space around the bed for storing items like books and pyjamas.

There are also two USB points and an LED stalk light on each side of the bed, while two 12V sockets near the foot of the bed can be used to plug in one or both of the LED strip lights supplied. There’s also a dome light near the floor as you enter, and two 240V points under the dining table.

Converting the U-shaped lounge/dinette to a second double bed (or vice versa) is another easy job, with a foot button used to raise or lower the table top, and another lever to move it from side to side. Four scatter cushions are also included, covered in soft ‘macrosuede’ material like that used on the bed/seat foam panels.

The dinette easily seats four, and there’s enough standing and head room in the middle of the camper to get dressed.

Better storage outside than in

With most of the storage options accessed externally, storage options inside include six, good-sized cubby holes under the bed, which are ideal for storing folded clothes or other smaller items.

Instead of the more traditional cabinet doors on the prototype, soft black mesh is now used to contain the contents, held in place by bungee cords and hooks; similar to that used on the front stone guard. It’s a good solution, given the space and style of camper.

There’s also good storage space in lockers under the seat cushions on each side, while you can also utilize the space under and in front of the dining table for items like storage boxes and portable BBQs.

However, you won’t be able to access them until the camper is set up as you can’t open the door when the camper is closed – the floor support strut sits across the door.

Other external storage options include a front luggage rack towards the front of the camper, with tie-down points, which we used to strap down a fold-up dog kennel and blow-up boat. We also slotted some boogie boards into the space behind the stone shield and between the two 4kg gas bottles, hand water pump and two jerry can holders.

However, both of these areas will need to be emptied before opening the camper.

Meanwhile, the electrics panel and 105Ah battery are neatly housed in a rear offside locker, which also incorporates the 25amp charger, DC/solar charger, water level gauge, fuses and breaker switches.

Tick a few options

Unlike most of its cheaper Chinese rivals, Cub hasn’t skimped on quality components for the Frontier, with brand names including Full River (battery), Projecta (chargers), ROX shocks (suspension), and Goodyear Wrangler (tyres).

The only issue we had was with the underbody mounted Flojet water pump, which was particularly noisy when operating (it could have been some trapped air in the system so presumably a simple fix).

Build quality is another Frontier strongpoint, from the machine cut and bent steel, alloy and timber panels to the solid, locking latches on exterior lockers. We detected only a couple of rough edges in an otherwise excellent finish.

However, we did manage to bend the door-side gas strut while zipping on the awning, which could have been due to either ‘operator error’ or a faulty strut. We ended up having to unscrew the easily-replaceable broken strut and close the camper with the aid of only one strut and an extra pair of hands to man-handle the lid into position.

Other than that, if it was our camper we’d probably opt for a second battery, hot water system and external shower, and pack a porta-loo in one of the external lockers or on the luggage rack.

We'd also like a tad more clearance between the winch winder handle and the top of the jockey wheel, when positioned at its highest setting on the drawbar (although it's possible to wind the camper up or down without the jockey wheel in place).

Summing up

We’ve struggled with a few fiddly and poorly designed campers over the years, but the Frontier isn’t one of them. While there’s nothing really fancy about the Cub, it’s hard to fault its design or functionality.

2019-model Frontiers now rolling off the Cub production line get a few minor changes like an updated kitchen and new wheel spats, with prices expected to rise by around $1500.

But even with a price rise the Frontier remains good value, factoring in the stronger expected resale value compared to its imported rivals, and Cub’s five-year conditional warranty on the suspension, chassis and canvas.

If you’re an adventurous couple or young family looking for a solidly-built and user-friendly bush camping outfit, the Frontier is a good starting point.

Specs: Cub Campers Frontier 2018

Travel length: 5550mm
Body length: 3680mm
External body width: 1950mm
Travel height: 1550mm
Interior height (maximum): 2410mm
Tare weight: 1269kg
ATM: 1750kg
Ball weight (Tare): 145kg (approx.)
Body: Steel frame and panels
Chassis: Galvanised 100x50x4mm
Suspension: Independent, coil spring/shocks
Brakes: 12in electric
Wheels: 17in steel with 255/65R17 Goodyear Wrangler AT tyres
Fresh water: 100L
Battery: 1 x 100Ah
Solar: Fitted with Anderson plug solar input
Air-conditioner: NA
Gas: 2 x 4kg
Hot water: Optional
Cooking: Dometic three-burner gas
Fridge: Optional Evakool 85L
Toilet: NA
Shower: NA
Lighting: 12V LED
TV: NA
Price: From $35,990 drive-away
Options fitted: Slide-out utility tray, driver’s side ($390), stainless steel pantry, driver’s side ($490)
Supplied by: Outback HQ, Bayswater, Victoria
More info: Cub Campers