Rick Huckstepp•22 Sept 2016

REVIEW

Kimberley Family Classic

It's easy to see why many camper trailer enthusiasts hanker for a premium-priced Kimberley

The variety of camper trailers rolling off production lines around the country is seemingly endless, with some manufacturers falling by the wayside for various reasons including the fierce competition in pricing caused by this glut.

Some discount themselves out of business struggling to survive, often against cheaper imported models, but one that doesn’t need to run that race is Queensland’s Kimberley Kampers, a true stalwart of the industry.

Their latest family orientated, hard-floor Family Classic model takes on a weird profile in its forward section and for good reason. While this company’s logo is “King of the Off-Road” the Family Classic could also be badged ‘the Storage King’!

FAMILY-SIZED STORAGE

Heading off into the elements with kids in tow is all well and good, but the young ones need to occupy themselves and the best way to see that happen is to take a few of their favourite play things along.

And that’s where KK have nailed it; plenty of storage for toys and a hard-floor roof rack that could handle canoes, kayaks, bikes and more. Now mum and dad, kick back and relax.

Built on a base chassis of 120 x 50mm REC box section, the towing machinations of the KK camper have been kept simple. The hitch is Treg-type using a rubber block and pin over-riding an hydraulic brake master cylinder attached to disc brake callipers.

This system is nestled into a drawbar fabricated from pressed steel with brackets for appendages such as the jockey wheel, which is bolted on rather than welded for strength as well as ease of cleaning to maintain rust prevention. Not that the latter is going to be an issue in the long term due to the heavy, hot dip steel galvanising.

The safety chains are also attached to brackets and they are adjustable via a slotted gate system under the front end to get their length correct for different tow vehicles.

The two 4kg gas bottles sit on a cross member wide of the front boot, behind their own stone deflector. A set of mudflaps hanging below should also catch any escapees before they get to the paintwork of the main body.

The front boot has an angular profile with the bottom half deflecting stones down, while its rounded upside sports a 25W solar panel that trickle charges the internal battery bank.

Behind the front boot and opening upwards is another storage box in which the awning, awning walls and spare room are stored.

This lid can only be opened and closed when the kitchen cover is closed. But with the kitchen opened it quickly becomes apparent the engineering feats that have gone into this trailer; very intricate but with every bit of available space put to good use.

CRACKER KITCHEN

On the front section of the kitchen compartment is the control panel for operating the lighting, pumps and hot water system, which is mounted in an opposite side compartment. The water content gauge is also here, along with the battery level indicator.

Stored next to the ‘nerve centre’ is the kitchen cooking system, on a heavy-duty steel drawer slide. Pulled out, it reveals a single burner cooker ideal for a wok or kettle along with a twin burner unit with griller underneath. The gas line is hooked up manually, and then disconnected and removed to store the kitchen for travel.

Next to the pull-out galley is another slide-out tray for a 90 litre portable fridge. For this camper we’d recommend any brand that has the lid hinging back toward the offside.

The front kitchen superstructure is separated from the camper body by a long, high and narrow box holding awning tent poles.

The pull-out galley when fully extended is supported by a removable leg. It’s not surprising it needs support, being constructed of stainless steel and protruding so far out!

In the front section, there are also two large crockery or pan drawers, a cutlery drawer and another drawer for larger utensils.

There’s also a food preparation bench in which a fire extinguisher and inline water filter are stowed, in separate compartments. The single bowl sink and draining board are designed to be worked at from the drawer end while the rear side of the pull-out has a slide-out table with rebated LED strip lighting for dining in the dark. Full marks for quality!

Fillers for the two underslung water tanks totalling 190 litres are located on the nearside rear wall, while the

front box holds the Webasto hot water unit with enough leftover storage space to store a portable toilet.

Showering privacy is by way of some sort of pop-up screen that you erect nearby.

At the rear of the camper is a large drop-down tailgate that accesses the foot of the bed, along with the huge lockable pull out drawer underneath. We imagine those out bush hunting and fishing could safely secure their tools of trade here.

Close the tailgate and unclip four corners of the topside and with no luggage on top, the hard floor support easily swings up and over on gas assisted struts. The floor proper follows suit, pulling the canvas tent with it.

There’s no fancy remote-control (http://www.caravancampingsales.com.au/editorial/reviews/2016/mountain-trail/mountain-trail-edx-57463), but pretty easy nonetheless…

FREE FLOWING CANVAS

One thing we like about the main tent end is it has a wall sloping in towards the bottom, which allows water to run off over the edge and not down the fly screen.

A large zip open window also provides ventilation and the insect screen can be unzipped to allow passage into a zip-on spare room for storage or a kids’ bedroom.

The quick-erect awning over the kitchen requires no poles; just struts attached to and protruding from the body. But if you want to get more permanent, a full awning with walls and poles can be utilised.

It’s an easy step up onto the hard floor which has a vinyl woodgrain finish over aluminium plate.

The queen size bed is on gas struts and lifts up to reveal the top of the large pull-out drawer mentioned earlier. A sectioned off compartment at the back of the drawer holds the battery bank with flat alloy straps replacing the normal round copper cabling for linking terminals. It’s a neat set up that no doubt reduces overall weight to some extent.

There’s also room in the compartment for spares or things like extra long-range supplies.

Next to the mattress, on each side is a long flat top that acts as a bedside table with recesses for items like spectacles and drink bottles.

The diesel heater outlet is in the usual place on these types of campers, near the foot of the bed, close to a control panel and 12V power supply.

VERDICT

It’s easy to see why Kimberly Kampers leads the pack when it comes to serious and well-equipped off-road camper trailering.

With a price tag of $50K the Family Classic sits about middle of the Kimberley camper range – you can pay another $25,000 for the top-spec ‘Platinum Satellite Series’ with split-system air-con!

All things considered though, in this specification it appears to be built as tough as it is practicable without going overboard, and gets top marks for innovation, engineering and quality.

KIMBERLEY KAMPER FAMILY CLASSIC

Overall length: 5180mm

Internal body length: 4500mm without spare room

External body width: 1950mm

Internal height: 1500mm

Travel height: 1500mm (approx.)

Tare: 1000kg

ATM: 1600kg

Ball weight: 130-180kg (depending on options)

Body/frame: Zinc alloy with 12 coats of paint and urethane tub inside

Chassis: 150mm hot dip galvanized

Wheels: 15in alloys

Brakes: Over-ride hydraulic discs

Suspension: Trailing arm independent coil/shocks

Stability control: No

Cooking: Two-burner cooker with grill and separate single burner

Fridge/freezer: Slide-out for 90L portable

Toilet: Option of chemical or self-composting portable

Shower: Yes

Water: 2 x 95L

Hot Water/central heating: Diesel

Gas: 2 x 4kg

Lighting: LED

Batteries: 140Ah AGM

Solar: 25W

Price: $49,990

Supplied by: SEQ Campers, Caboolture Qld
More info: Kimberley Kampers

Kimberley Family Classic

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