Harvok Suit of Armour 2022 Review

Chinese/Australian caravan brand Harvok has been creating headlines since launching down under less than six months months ago.

First there was Australia's cheapest all-electric 48-volt full-size caravan, followed by a hybrid compact caravan boasting industry-first, fully welded monocoque steel construction borrowed from the automotive industry.

Now the ambitious RV manufacturer has also given its full-height couple and family caravans the 'full metal jacket' treatment, with the recent arrival in Australia of the first 19ft 6in Harvok Suit of Armour models.

Being promoted as the "world's first robot built, monocoque caravan", the all-steel, one-piece 'vans are designed to shake up an industry that still largely relies on old-fashioned, hand-assembled 'stick 'n tin' construction.

Built to last

It's still early days for the new Harvok 19ft 6in monocoque caravans, with only two Suit of Armour vans in the country so far, joining the latest Playstation hybrid campers at Harvok's Dandenong South, Victoria facility.

More batches should arrive from China in coming weeks, with ongoing improvements expected before they're delivered for display at Harvok's five Australian dealers.

Harvok's Melbourne-based CEO Ben Liu said the plan is fully replace the current, more traditionally built but very similar Powerbank models with an all-steel monocoque range, which should be bolstered soon by a new 16ft full-height caravan model.

For our 'first look' review we spent a few hours with the Harvok Suit of Armour 1960 RD couple's caravan, which has an almost identical list of standard features to the Harvok 'van we reviewed in late-2021, with just a few differences.

Liu likens the new Harvok vans to the iconic American-built Airstream caravans, in that they're designed and built to last a lifetime. However, the largely automated manufacturing of the Harvok van's unitary body is a far cry from Airstream's laborious rivetted aluminum hand-built construction method, with industrial-size laser cutters and micrometre-precise robotic welders used to piece together the Harvok shells along a production line in a Chinese mini-bus factory.

Interior furniture fit-out also takes place in China at Harvok's new 30,000 square metre RV production facility with final fit-out of ancillary appliances and components including couplings and suspension taking place after shipping at Harvok's Victorian facility, not far from the Jayco mega-factory.

The spot-welded unitary body on the Harvok Suit of Armour vans combines 150mm x 50mm A-frame and chassis rails with cold-pressed 1.2mm thick steel sheets for the floor, walls and roof. Additional steel supports are also used for windows, etc, before a car-like electrophoresis anti-corrosion coating and tough chip-resistant matte grey paint are applied.

"There are a few manufacturers out there that claim to build monocoque caravans, but they're still body on frame... to me a monocoque caravan is a single unit and one with no panel-to-panel joins," Liu explained earlier this year at the launch of the similarly constructed Playstation hybrid camper.

"The body and chassis are all welded together before being dipped into anti-corrosion liquid baths... so rather than joins, screws and glues (as with traditional caravan construction), it's built complete as a whole unit.

"(The) one single piece structure by cold pressing and robotic welding is just like your car."

Ready for battle

With its race car-style front and rear roof 'spoilers', stealth fighter jet-look matte grey paint and Storm Trooper-style black gloss front 'visor' and matching dark tint side windows, the 19ft 6in Harvok Suit of Armour certainly looks ready for battle.

While we did spot some minor paint discolouration, a dent, and some poorly welded LED front lights, overall the fit and finish externally is smooth and car-like and a solid bang of the fist on a side panel delivers a reassuring 'thump'.

The multi-layered external body protection eliminates any need for chunky checkerplate cladding, while the thick coat of spray-on rubberised underbody coating is reassuring for those who like to play in the stones and mud.

Otherwise, the underbody fit-out is pretty standard Australian rough-road caravan fare, with gal protection for the twin 120 litre fresh and single 75 litre grey water tanks, and tandem independent trailing arm coil suspension with twin shocks per wheel.

Further automotive touches are found on the bespoke aluminium entry door, which gets a chunky car-like handle and locking mechanism together with oversized military-spec hinges that wouldn't look out of place on an armoured Hawkai.

The door has a fixed auto glass window and requires a very firm slam to shut (which might wake the caravan park neighbours if done early in the morning!). The separate flyscreen attached to the inside of the door could also be improved, as the magnetic strips that join the two vertical sections together to stop the bugs from entering don't always provide a good seal.

Like some other aspects of the new Harvok design, Liu says it's a work in progress and future production vans are likely to have a more user-friendly entry door system.

Other points of difference

Helping protect the shiny black front highlights (permanent automotive black paint has been used rather than the usual stick-ons) is a big truck mesh stone guard, ahead of twin jerry and gas bottle holders (twin 9kg gas bottles are an option). There's also a large A-frame mounted black checkerplate toolbox, with a slide-out on both sides for carrying a BBQ, generator, portable fridge or other gear.

Moving to the back, there's a four arm rear bar supporting a single spare tyre (the van runs 16in alloys with mud tyres), and what looks like a large repaired section in the rear wall. This where a hole was cut to allow the furniture to be installed inside and while spoiling the smooth, one-piece look, the replaced cut-out appears well sealed and water tight.

Otherwise, the Suit of Armour has most of the external features you expect on any 'big box' Aussie luxury caravan measuring 8.1m long (overall) and 3.2m high, including a fold-up jockey wheel and wind-down corner stabilisers, twin entry steps, a powered roll-out awning and a large tunnel boot for storage, an awning light (on both sides), drop-down picnic table, reversing camera and an entertainment locker for watching the standard 24in TV under the stars.

The offside wall also contains lockers for the Swift gas/electric hot water unit, toilet cassette and hot/cold outside shower, along with water tank fillers and a 240V socket.

And that anti-static rubber strip hanging off the back of the 'van? That's a requirement for the American RV market where the Harvok monocoque vans will also be sold, according to Liu.

Power shift

After an initial rush of 'gas free' RVs with massive lithium battery systems and solar panel arrays, we're starting to see more examples of off-grid vans also fitted with petrol and gas fuelled appliances as back up for when the sun isn't shining.

The Harvok Suit of Armour has gone partly down this hybrid energy route, with standard fitment of a 9.6kWh 48V lithium battery system (the equivalent of a 12V 800Ah lithium system), in lieu of the larger 14.4kWh battery-bank fitted in the current Harvok 48V models (it's available as an option though).

The twin 100Ah 48V lithium batteries located under the bed, together with a 40AH multi-stage 48v battery charger, 3000W inverter and 1000W flexible roof-mounted solar panels, should still be enough to run many of the onboard 240V appliances simultaneously, including the air-conditioner, microwave and induction cooktop. When fitted, the optional twin 9kg bottles can help run more gas-friendly appliances like the hot water unit or an outside BBQ.

Also new is Harvok’s latest ‘Intuitive Control’ management system, which includes separate dials and digital displays to keep an eye on power and water usage. According to Liu, some buyers of the first Powerbank models struggled to get their heads around Harvok's more sophisticated all-in-one 'Smart Power Management System' touchscreen, hence the change to a larger, less confusing layout.

Located on a wall near the cafe dinette, the new system certainly looks 'idiot proof' with its separate displays for water tanks, battery charge, solar controller and inverter. Four extra-large switches control the interior and exterior lights, water pump and heater, with each connecting wirelessly to a central control unit under the bed.

Luxury layout

Both couple and family layouts on the 19ft 6in Suit of Armour are very similar to those offered on the current Harvok Powerbank, with our review van's two-berth floorplan finished with appealing grey leather and stone-look surfaces. Brighter, caramel-coloured leather is also available as a no-cost option.

Internal storage options are above average for a 19ft 6in full-height van, with countless overhead and under-bench cabinets spread throughout the 'van, including decent storage spaces within arm's length of each corner of the north-south queen bed.

These include handy bedside nooks with 12V outlets for charging a phone overnight. There's also good storage under the dinette seats, but most of the space under the lift-up coil spring mattress is taken up by battery system components.

The leather-covered dinette is very comfortably cushioned for two people, although you'll struggle to pass through the kitchen area with both the tri-fold tabletop and any of the pop-up footrests opened up, partly due to the below-average 2.3m body width.

The kitchen comes well-equipped with a rangehood, overhead light and a deep sink with drainer and black mixer tap, and decent benchspace on both sides of the two-burner induction cooktop. Opposite, the microwave is mounted high above the 166 litre upright compressor fridge/freezer. There's no filtered water tap like the Powerbank model, but Harvok's latest model has gained a pull-out pantry.

There'll be few complaints about the full width rear ensuite, which boasts plenty of storage cabinets, a ceramic basin, large mirror, 3.5kg top load washing machine, separate cassette toilet and an extra-large shower cubicle among other things. While an opening window above the toilet and two 12V hatches should keep the ensuite well ventilated.

There were a couple of discoveries that took the shine off our interior inspection, including when the twist-knob handle for the shower door fell apart in our hands, and opening the overhead kitchen locker where the Fusion stereo was mounted revealed a bundle of messing wiring in the cavity behind. However, these are relatively minor and easily rectified flaws.

The 24in TV also slots into an adjustable arm mounted on a partition separating the kitchen from the bed, with a nearby locker containing all the necessary electrical sockets. There are a number of 240V electrical sockets inside (although none we could spot in the bathroom), and a good array of LED ceiling lights to go with bed and dinette reading lamps.

The Harvok is well insulated, with 40mm thick polyurethane expansion foam used between the external steel panels and the 5mm thick bamboo-based interior wall ply. It wasn't hot or sunny enough on the day to measure how effective it is, but we did notice an unusual echo when talking inside the van with all the windows closed, which could have been exacerbated by a lack of soft furnishings.

Teething issues

Harvok boss Ben Liu says a major benefit of using less labour intensive, car-like manufacturing methods is it will make the Harvok Suit of Armour caravans cheaper to produce in the long run, as well as help eliminate common warranty-related issues like leaky body joins.

While it certainly appears very solid, the 'vans are yet to be tested in either real world or simulated conditions, although there are plans for an experienced caravanner to put one through its paces. However, Harvok says they will comply with the latest RVSA regulations, and be backed by a five year structural warranty.

Another potential issue for buyers is the weight, with the first batch of vans hitting the scales heavier than expected with a Tare of 3300kg, or 360kg more than the Harvok Powerbank. As a result the initial Suit of Armour vans will have an ATM of 4500kg, providing a massive 1200kg payload but limiting the buyers' pool to owners of expensive American pick-ups and the like.

In case you were wondering, our unloaded review van towed by an Isuzu D-MAX ute was fitted with a 3500kg-rated Cruisemaster DO-35 coupling but that will have to be replaced with a 4500kg-rated DO-45 coupling before it's sold.

Another potential issue for the 4500kg ATM versions is pricing, with a recommended retail price of $115,000, or around $20,000 more than the similar-specced, 3500kg ATM Powerbank models. To address this, Harvok is offering sharp 'introductory' pricing of $89,950 plus any interstate freight costs, for the first 20 vans sold, as the company attempts to get the new model out in public and increase its market presence.

Harvok's Ben Liu said he hopes to have a circa 3000kg Tare/3500kg ATM version of the 19ft 6in Suit of Armour available later this year, achieved by a combination of stripping weight out of the monocoque construction process and 'de-speccing' the model by removing the rear bar and front toolbox, for example.

Summing up

It's hard not to be impressed, nor excited by the innovative and potentially game-changing Harvok Suit of Armour caravans.

While Harvok still has some production and interface issues to resolve, its biggest hurdle will be trying to keep the weight down and the pricing sharp, so as to justify the auto-like high-volume production runs required and an ambitious target to sell up to 1000 'vans annually in Australia.

If it can tick those important boxes, the opportunity to own a cutting-edge, luxury off-grid caravan that's not only tough looking but genuinely built to last, could prove irresistible to many buyers.

How much does the Harvok Suit of Armour 1960 RD couples off-road caravan cost?

Price: $115,000 RRP (limited $89,950 introductory offer)
Travel length: 8100mm
External body length: 6000mm
External body width: 2300mm
Travel height: 3100mm
Internal height: 2000mm
Tare: 3300kg
ATM: 4500kg
Ball weight (Tare): 140kg
Body: Welded one-piece steel chassis/body, 2mm steel sheeting for floor, walls and roof, with anti-corrosive coatings and non-chip paint
Suspension: 4450kg rated, tandem independent trailing arm suspension with coil springs and twin gas-filled shock absorbers per wheel
Brakes: 12in electric drum
Wheels: XD Series alloy with Goodride Radial 265/75-16 M/T tyres                                         
Water: 2 x 120L fresh, 1 x 75L grey
Battery: 2 x 100AH 48V lithium-ion
Solar: Roof-mounted 1000W marine-grade flexible panels
Gas: Optional 2 x 9kg bottles
Hot water: Swift gas/electric HWS
Cooking: Robam twin burner induction cooktop, plus Camec microwave and Ranger rangehood
Fridge: Frosty 166L upright compressor fridge-freezer
Shower: Internal and external hot/cold
Toilet: Freucamp cassette
Air-conditioner: Telair rooftop reverse-cycle
Lighting: LED
Audio: Fusion Bluetooth with internal/external speakers
TV: 24in HD
Washing machine: 3.5kg top load
Supplied by: Harvok RV, Dandenong South, Victoria