Michael Browning•18 Apr 2017

REVIEW

Golf Bush Challenger

Slide-out camper trailer concept remains a winner for families, four decades on

‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

That axiom could be applied to the slide-out bed camper trailer concept popularised by Jayco from the late 1970s and still propagated in Australia by four major manufacturers.

Why? Because the basic idea of accommodating a travelling couple or family off the ground in a relatively inexpensive, lightweight box not much bigger than a large rubbish trailer still works, despite the best attempts by the RV industry to offer more sophisticated alternatives.

It’s here that I can declare some bias, as over the years my wife and I have owned and enjoyed three Jayco camper trailers at different stages of our life.

The first, a second-hand Swan, accommodated our pre-teenage children on family holidays; the second, a featherweight Jayco Flite, was the camper we bought for travel as a couple after the kids lost interest; the final, a new Dove Outback, replaced the Flite when we wanted to explore further-flung places.

All worked very well for us and we got our money back every time after many kms of travel. We still miss their simple charm.

Playing around with Golf

Those memories came flooding back recently when I wheeled the latest Golf Bush Challenger 3 out of the new Avan Supercentre in Campbellfield, Victoria, for review.

Priced in between its key Victorian-built camper trailer rivals by Jayco and Goldstream, the Challenger series comes in four models, all sharing similar dimensions, but with different interior configurations and weights.

Each comes in regular ‘Challenger’ and more rugged ‘Bush Challenger’ spec, with retail prices ranging from $24,990 for the Jayco Penguin-equivalent Challenger 2 to $38,490 for the top-spec Bush Challenger 4 with its interior shower and toilet.

The Bush Challenger 3 we reviewed had a base price of $30,990 – $515 more than the equivalent but higher-specced Jayco Swan Outback – that swelled to $33,180 when all its options were added in.

This is still reasonable value for a quality hard-floor, quickly-deployed camper trailer with the ability to accommodate a family and gives it a different market profile to its hard-walled, A-frame folding wall Avan siblings that are strictly couples’ campers.

Probably the greatest testament to the 40-year-old camper trailer concept is that apart from obvious refinements in materials and fittings, the basic idea remains intact with the Golf.

Like learning to ride a bike, or programming a remote control, everything still works along traditional lines. However, Golf has added some worthwhile refinements to its Challenger series to take some – but not all – the physicality out of the experience.

Being the off-road version of the Golf camper trailer, the Bush Challenger rides pretty tall in the saddle, with its packed-away travel height of 2010mm (6ft 6in) – a full 350mm more than the ‘on road’ version – making it slightly taller than most large 4WDs

This means that some operations, like loading things onto the roof bars, pulling out the twin double beds, attaching their supporting poles, pushing out their covering canvas and even unclipping the upper section of the solid entry door, require a small step (or a tall friend) if you’re ‘vertically challenged’ (read 170cm – around 5ft 8in – or less).

If you’re familiar with the Jayco range, think of a Swan Outback and you have the Bush Challenger 3’s package size.

It’s also significantly wider-- at a caravan-rivalling 2240mm (7ft 4in) including its wind-out awning -- than most of the latest hard-floor campers, which are designed to follow a 4WD down tight bush tracks, so legally you will need to fit towing mirrors and take care where you take it.

Accept these limitations and the Golf Bush Challenger works very well for a travelling family.

Fine-tuning the camper concept

Golf’s take on the camper trailer concept isn’t radical, but it’s refined. It starts with a 50mm x 100mm hot-dipped galvanised chassis, which is adequate for the Bush Challenger 3 with its modest tare weight of 1250kg.

Like the latest Jayco camper trailers, the Golf employs a one-piece floor, aluminium framed walls with inner and outer fibreglass walls filled with structural foam, while the front and rear panels are fibreglass mouldings and the roof is an insulated fibreglass construction.

This provides an interesting contrast with the Golf’s sister Avan’s folding roof campers, pop-tops and caravans, also built in Pakenham, Victoria, which trumpet the advantages of aluminium clad sandwich panels walls.

Underneath the basic Bush Challenger, you’ll find conventional leaf-springs, although ‘Adventure’ (Al-Ko Enduro) independent trailing arm suspension is a $1920 option.

The Golf’s all-fibreglass outer covering means excellent resistance to scratches, dents and family rough and tumble, with further protection provided on the lower sides by some token checker plate.

However, the Bush Challenger’s gelcoat front, including its boot lid and the A-frame mounted single 9kg gas bottle, remain completely unprotected from stone strike unless you order the optional mesh stone guard and checker plate tool box for a combined $1080.

It’s interesting that these body protecting items that most would consider essential on a camper with off-bitumen use in mind, are options on the Bush Challenger, whereas Jayco (for example), bundles its JTech independent suspension, a jerry can holder and some token front stone protection as part of its Outback Package.

In other respects, the Golf Bush Challenger is quite well prepared for venturing off the bitumen. Its single 80-litre water tank is a good size and it and the camper’s other plumbing and wiring, are tucked away high enough under the flooring to keep them safe from staking or snagging, while quality Goodyear ¬¬¬¬Wrangler all terrain tyres are fitted to 15-in alloy wheels.

Some stand-out features

However, it’s in other areas, common to both regular and Bush models, where the Challenger stands out.

The canvas, for example is attached to the fibreglass body sides by sail tracks, not Velcro, so it can’t come unstuck and let in drafts.

Raising the roof is also very easy if you specify the optional electric roof lifter, which can be operated via a switch in the otherwise spacious and unencumbered front boot, or more conveniently via the provided remote control. Just unclip the four over-centre corner latches and press ‘Open’.

This saves a lot of arm-twisting, which is good news for more mature owners and raises the roof to its correct height both to engage the door and also pull out the double beds from each end without snagging the folding walls.

The standard Prostor wind-out awning fitted to the review camper could be left furled while the roof was raised and deployed later, if required.

The entry door is an elegant design that has a bonded aluminium construction and – uniquely for a camper trailer – a sliding Perspex window.

As is usual with camper trailer doors, it starts in two pieces, with the upper section slotting into two holders in the Challenger’s roof for packing down and into channels in the lower section for erection. Once assembled, its full-length hinging system results in excellent sealing and a reassuringly solid feel.

Like most of its ilk, its attachment to the camper’s lower door is still a potential fingernail breaker if you don’t get it right, but practice makes the job much easier.

Assembling the double beds that slide out from each end on metal tracks is still very much a manual job that in the Bush Challenger is made harder because of their shoulder-height location (for a smaller person).

Then, once they’re extended fully, you need to get your shoulder under the bed base (also challenging for shorter people) to raise the sagging bed extremity sufficiently to slot the two retaining steel poles into their chassis and bed slots.

Hockey stick remains

Inside, it’s almost comforting to see that the traditional ‘hockey stick’ used to raise and tension the canvas above the beds is still being used after nearly 40 years. It’s not ideal when the canvas is new or cold and is then reluctant to stretch and there are better systems around – for example on expander-style pop-tops, which do the same thing easier.

But once these assembly chores are completed – something possible in 5-10 minutes by one person – and all the clear plastic windows are zipped down to reveal the fly mesh and the word beyond, the real joys of camper trailer life are very obvious.

For a start, you have a 360-degree view of your surroundings, so you feel part of it, rather than remote as is the case in a caravan or even many tents. Then there’s the reassurance of a solid, weather-proof roof, an enclosed and organised space with all the essential furniture and appliances in place and with the beds out of the way at either end.

In theory, the Challenger 3 can sleep from two to eight people, which would translate into two people in each double bed, another two on the skinny double bed created by dropping the dining table and re-arranging cushions and a further two children on the lounge. However in reality, this is a camper for a travelling couple with two or three children of varying sizes.

The other thing that will impress you if you’re used to caravans, is the huge bench space available relative to the Challenger’s travelling length, as for pack-up reasons everything is located below bench height.

The layout on the Challenger 3 and 4 (shower model) are the same, which means an L-shaped kitchen with a good-sized stainless steel sink and drainer, a caravan-size Swift 500 Series 3 + 1 gas/electric cooktop and grill, a 90-litre Thetford 3-way fridge and a Panasonic microwave.

A Truma hot water service also delivers caravan-like comfort, but for some odd reason the Bush Challenger doesn’t come with an outside shower – a strange omission from both the standard spec and option list.

On the positive side, the cabinetry in the Golf Challenger has a solid, ‘finished’ look and the entire camper appears well-made and looks reassuringly durable for family travel.

We liked:

>> Refined rendition of traditional camper-trailer concept

>> Quick set-up

>> Quality furniture and appliances

>> Light and easy to tow

Not so much:

>> More stone-proofing required for ‘Bush’ model

>> No exterior shower

>> Vulnerable folding step

Verdict

The Golf Bush Challenger 3 is a modern take on an old idea that still works well for travelling families today.

As part of the Avan group, the former Queensland camper brand Golf Challenger falls in between its key market rivals of Jayco and Goldstream in price and adheres to Avan’s core values of affordability, ease of towing and value for money.

Golf Bush Challenger 3

Travel length: 6010mm

External body length: 4165mm

External body width: 2240mm

Travel height: 2010mm

Interior height: 2070mm

Tare weight: 1355kg

ATM: 1685kg

Ball weight: 120kg

Body: Aluminium frame with composite fibreglass clad panels

Chassis: 100mm x 50mm galvanised steel

Suspension: Single axle leaf spring

Brakes: 10-inch electric drum

Wheels: 15in alloy

Fresh water: 1 x 80L

Battery: 1 x 95Ah deep cycle

Gas: 1 x 9kg

Cooking: Swift 500-series 4-burner gas/electric, cooktop and grill

Fridge: 90-litre Thetford three-way

Microwave: Panasonic

Toilet/Shower: No

Lighting: LED

Price: From $30,990. As reviewed $33,180

Options fitted: Electric roof lift, roof bars, gas bayonet

Supplied by: Avan Supercentre, Campbellfield, Victoria

More info:

Golf Caravans

Golf Bush Challenger

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