Jurgens Xpedition

Many Australians may not have heard of the South African-made Jurgens Xpedition offroad van, but there is no doubt they are going to.

Hundreds of this particular model have been sold in South Africa, and the bonus for Aussies is nearly any camping or caravan product designed for that part of the world will work just as well here, particularly offroad products.

The Jurgens Xpedition is designed to cope with long distances on the blacktop and arduous, dusty and corrugated tracks, so it was good to test one in the Aussie bush.

The Xpedition is a 14ft pop-top van with a dry weight of just 1080kg (max GVM 1650kg). Construction is a fibreglass vacuum-bonded sandwich panel body, built on a heavy-duty 100 x 50mm full-length, fully galvanised chassis.

The insulated floor has a rubberised coated aluminium bottom, while the pop-top roof is an ultra-light vacuum-bonded unit with an insect screen surround.

The front window is a double-glazed acrylic model while the others are tinted safety glass sliding units with insect screens.

Up front is an aluminium checkerplate stone guard with scrub rails. The rear is upswept to improve offroad ability while another scrub rail protects the back.

Heavy duty Al-Ko stub axles and 10 inch drum brakes, 30 per cent wider than most Aussie products, and an 1800kg Al-Ko axle carry the load and provide the van with independent suspension.

Six-stud 16 x 7 steel wheels are topped with 245 75R16 BFG all-terrain tyres.

The Trailco tow coupling is a beauty, with mechanical override brakes that lock the brake automatically when in reverse. The coupling also provides an in-built two-way shocker to take the ‘crack’ out of sudden changes in direction – ideal on bumpy 4WD tracks. A Treg offroad connector is standard but can be replaced with a normal 50mm ball.

A skid plate on the front of the A-frame, just under the tow coupling, comes in handy for towing the van out from a sandy or muddy bog.

A pair of 4.5kg gas bottles sit on the A-frame and there’s a storage locker at the front. A 55 litre water tank is fitted inside under one of the beds. Mounted high at the end of the van are two jerry cans and a tyre. All require a bit of effort to position, but future modifications will make loading easier.

EVERYDAY LIVING

This is not a large van, but what they pack into it is pretty exceptional. The Xpedition is meant for daily outside living with easy-to-erect annexes, a slideout kitchen and a swing-away bathroom and shower.

An easily-stowed 1.8m double bed at window level is at the very front of the van with hanging and storage cupboards to the right. Towards the back is a bed setup that easily converts from two singles to a large double.

There is storage under each single bed, but much of this is taken up by a 12V deep-cycle battery and a 240V AC to 12V DC converter and the water tank. While there is a 240V outlet inside and out, all lighting, general power and the water pump are 12V.

The hot water system is an Atwood RV unit and both the gas and hot water systems meet Australian requirements.

The slideout kitchen has a sink with hot/cold water, a two-burner stove and space for a 50 litre chest-type fridge/freezer. A durable six-piece plastic dinner service comes standard in its own wall container. The kitchen is positioned in its low-mounted travelling storage mode across the front of the van with the kids’ bed folded out above it. You can access the kitchen, but probably only for a drink from the fridge or to make a cuppa on the stove.

All worktops are high-pressure laminate while wall coverings are washable Renolit fabrics with Bavarian beechwood grain furniture finishes. Unsurprisingly, the fabrics carry African motifs, and all timber furniture frames are glued and screwed.

Now, I don’t know about you but I’m always throwing last-minute things onto the floor of the van for any big trip. Jurgens has the solution, with floor-level tie-down points scattered along the interior walkways.

A second door, directly opposite the main entry, carries a sink with hot/cold water and shower nozzle. Opening the door takes the sink outside the van where it can be shifted to its normal bathroom position.

There are three optional annexes – a kitchen awning ($650), a bathroom tent ($850) and a fully enclosed annexe and awning ($2950). The quality of these annexes is first-class, and the colours are inspiring.

All annexes use rope tracks to position and hold the annexe or tent in place, while the smaller annexes, in their own storage bag, can be left in place on the side of the van – fine for most trips, but would need disassembling if travelling on tight, scrubby 4WD tracks.

The kitchen awning unrolls quickly and the telescopic alloy legs unfold from the attached alloy extrusion, which supports the front. This setup takes very little time although the bathroom tent has an extra canvas to erect.

SUMMING UP

We took the rig for a short but fairly extreme offroad test. In steep creek exits, the van took it all in its stride, while the suspension soaked up any anomalies on higher speed dirt roads. On the blacktop the rig towed very well, showing no tendency to wander even at quite high speeds over very second-class bitumen.

The lightweight Xpedition packs a lot into a small space, although you really need at least the kitchen awning to make the most of it. Many people will love its size, ease of towing and the opportunity to take a little luxury to out-of-the-way places.

For more information, call Open Sky, (03) 9538 7011, www.opensky.com.au.

JURGENS XPEDITION SPECIFICATIONS

GOOD POINTS

Impressive use of space

Floor level tie-down points

Exotic African-themed fabrics in inspiring colours

NOT SO GOOD

Fast access to kitchen only good for a cuppa or refrigerated drink