New ARB Earth Camper breaks cover

ARB has released online the first photos, videos and details of the first, in-house designed, engineered and manufactured, camper trailer in the 4x4 accessories giant's 48-year history.

Available to order now and priced from $74,500, the all-new ARB Earth Camper hard-shell trailer (shown as a pre-production model) is a high-quality, compact pod-style off-road camper trailer, very much in the shape and style of the legendary Track Trailer Tvan, right down to the rear-entry, twin berth, low-roof interior with rear, drop-down canvas living room, pull-out side kitchen, batwing flip-out awning and tough off-road underpinnings.

The new Earth camper also shares more than a few design elements with the Victorian-built Pioneer Mitchell, another Tvan lookalike that's no longer in production.

Unlike the vacuum-pressed aluminium composite hard shell of the Tvan, the new ARB Earth Camper boasts a one-piece welded, steel-tube exoskeleton chassis along with 'timber free' FRP moulded body panels.

The ARB camper's roll cage like, mandrel bent and welded 90mm chassis tubing also gets an automotive-like E-coat and stone-resistant polypaint for durability and rust protection.

"Whilst significantly more challenging to manufacture, a round tube chassis is inherently stronger than a traditional rectangular chassis as there are no weak points from corners. This provides consistent strength along interior and exterior surfaces and offers superior resistance to flexing under load," ARB said.

The new Earth Camper also rides on a bespoke ARB off-road suspension, featuring a vertically oriented coil over strut shock absorber design incorporating extra-long 900mm trailing arms and Old Man Emu Nitrocharger Sport shocks.

"The vertically mounted and specifically tuned Nitrocharger shock absorbers allow movement at the axle, providing maximum articulation and ride quality, meaning the shock can always operate at 100% efficiency," ARB said.

"Normally, space constraints prohibit shocks from being mounted vertically; however, the chassis and suspension on the Earth camper were designed first, with the rest built around it – making it truly built for purpose."

The new hard-shell bush camper also comes standard with custom ARB 16in alloys in a LandCruiser or HiLux stud pattern with 32in Maxxis Razr all-terrain tyres, 12in electric drum brakes, a Cruisemaster DO-35 coupling, and ARK XO 500 heavy-duty jockey wheel.

While helping protect the camper over the rough stuff is a front mesh stone guard, mud flaps, underbody bash plates and paint protection film panels for the gel coated front panels.

The camo-coloured fibreglass body features a number of clever compartments and storage areas on all sides, including the roof which gets an ARB Base Rack, single 120W solar panel and an ARB-designed dust suppression system.

A front boot with gas strut assisted cover is big enough to store camp chairs, tables and a canvas storage bag for the optional awning room, shower tent and other canvas add-ons, as well as an optional 'Earth Camper' essentials kit.

A strut-assisted gull-wing door on the onside lifts up to reveal a pantry shelf, a slide-out pantry storage compartment with cutlery and eating utensils, and a slide-out for the standard ARB Aero 96 litre dual zone portable fridge.

There's also a self-supporting, pull-out stainless kitchen with sink, tap, cutlery drawer and Thetford three-gas burner cooktop, with another storage locker on the front offside wall that houses the optional Joolca portable hot water system.

Other standard kit includes two 4kg gas bottles, two underbody mounted 70 litre fresh water tanks, two 20L jerry cans, an integrated batwing-style awning, twin rear stabilizers, a rear wet storage locker, and an external Anderson plug for running a portable solar panel.

Other options include an on-board air compressor, Webasto diesel heater, and the Redarc Redvision system and 2000W inverter. The ARB Earth camper comes standard with a single 100Ah lithium battery and Redarc Battery 30 management system, with a second lithium battery optional.

ARB says it takes less than a minute to get into bed after pulling into camp, with a push button, automatic drop down rear clamshell door, that also forms a hard floor base with adjustable feet, together with a hard rear 'security' wall with lockable entry door.

For longer stays there's a canvas rear living room which takes another two minutes to set up, according to ARB, as well as an optional shower tent and ensuite walls.

There are some internal storage options including an under-bed slide-out drawer, bedside storage nooks, wall storage 'nets' and a bedhead organiser, along with a queen bed with 150mm thick high density foam mattress, twin 12V Sirocco fans, a wind-out side opening window, and various electrical sockets and lighting. Bespoke interlor touches include a world map print on the ceiling above the bed.

As far as weights and dimensions go, ARB says the base camper weighs 1475kg (Tare) and 1900kg (ATM) with a 180kg ball weight. Length (overall) is 4667mm, overall height is 2324mm and width is 1990mm overall. The roof load rating is 125kg.

An optioned-up ARB Earth camper is expected to retail for around $90,000, or similar money to some of Australia's most desirable bush campers, including the Melbourne-built Track Trailer Tvan, Queensland-built Patriot X3 and AOR Odyssey, NSW-built Ultimate Xscape and BRS Sherpa, and Queensland-built Bruder EXP-4.

Designed and developed at ARB's Kilsyth, Victoria headquarters and built in ARB's Thailand factory, the all-new Earth Camper also comes with RVMAP approval as well as RVSA compliance.