Rise of the four tonne van

Four tonne on- and off-road vans are becoming the new normal

Australian off-road caravans are stacking on kilograms as fast as their owners, testing legal towing limits and leading to a boom in sales of heavy duty couplings and suspension upgrades.

The clear evidence at recent caravan shows is the number of chassis manufacturers fitting Vehicle Components’ top-spec 4.5 tonne-rated DO-45 coupling in preference to its smaller 3.5-tonne DO-35 that accounts for the lion’s share of the local off-road hitch market.

Mainstream caravan manufacturer New Age currently fits the DO-45 coupling as standard equipment to six tandem axle, all-road or off-road models in its range: the Oz Classic 24ft CL that has a tare weight (depending on options) of 2940-3040kg; the Blue Diamond 24ft (3050-3100kg); the Jewel 24ft (2950-3050kg); the Jewel 22ft (2800-2950kg); the 18ft Desert Rose (2850-2950kg) and the 20ft Desert Rose (2950-3050kg).

Vehicle Components’ Business Development Manager Tim Elcock confirmed that there has been increasing demand from chassis manufacturers for its heavy duty DO-45 coupling over the past 18 months.

“It’s been rising steadily,” he said, identifying a number of possible reasons.

“More people are selling their houses and living in, or touring longer in their caravans. They are looking for all the comforts of their previous home and caravan manufacturers are delivering this,” he said.

Bigger appliances, like the monster 7kg washing machine fitted to New Age’s latest Oz Classic 24 footer, are also adding bulk.

“All large vans have washing machines these days; some have dishwashers and I even heard at the recent Victorian Caravan Show of a van with a ducted vacuum system. Many off-road caravans also carry generators to power large air conditioning systems that weren’t even optional until relatively recently.

“Moreover, travellers want to take these comforts to remote areas and when you factor in the larger, heavier chassis and suspension systems needed to withstand these conditions, many caravans now have tare weights around three tonnes or more and ATMs when laden for touring that exceed the 3.5 tonne of our DO-35 coupling,”

As an ATM of 3500kg or more also exceeds the legal braked towing capacity of even heavy-hitter production 4WDs like the LandCruiser 200 Series and certainly all the 4x4 crew cab utes on the market, a parallel demand has grown for larger-capability tow vehicles.

Growth in US pick ups

The simple, albeit relatively expensive option for cashed-up ‘grey nomads’, is to purchase an imported American pick-up, like a Ford F150, Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, Nissan Titan, Toyota Tundra, or a Dodge Ram.

These vehicles have become so popular there is now a three-month waiting list for the $140,000-plus Ram. With its towing capacity of 6170kg, the Ram is one of the biggest and most expensive American pick-ups to hit Australian roads and the only vehicle of its type so far to pass an Australian Design Rules crash test.

The other alternative is to purchase a towing capacity upgrade for an existing large 4X4, like the 4000 BTC Upgrade that Lovell’s Springs offers for the current Land-Cruiser 200 Series.

“The LC200 upgrade has delivered massive growth for us,” said Lovell’s Springs Sales & Marketing Manager, Mike Davison, who expects similar demand when the company releases its 3000kg BTC Upgrade (from 2500kg for the production model) for the 150 Series Toyota Prado mid-year.

“There is a continuing trend for caravans and boats to weigh well over 3500kg and we are working closely with some of the larger manufacturers,” he said.

“Our BTC Upgrade kits negate the need to purchase a full size American pick-up to gain the legal towing capacity. Sales growth for us in this sector is exponential and it complements our GVM Upgrade range perfectly”.

Lovell’s success is mirrored by the increased demand for the Melbourne designed and manufactured Hitch-Ezy coupling, which is packaged and painted blue for Lovell’s as part of their Toyota LCX 200 upgrade kit.

Melbourne doctor turned designer John Alsop said there had been a steady increase in demand for his 5-tonne rated Hitch-Ezy self-locking pillar coupling over and above the units he and manufacturing partner Yann Engineering supply to Lovell’s.

Alsop said many owners of heavy off-road caravans like Bushtrackers and Kedrons, which push the 3500kg ATM boundary when fully laden, want a coupling with a reserve of strength for off-road travel, he said.

However, not everyone is embracing the ‘bigger is better’ trend and to cater for the majority of off-road caravans with an ATM of less than 3500kg Hitch-Ezy will shortly release a 3.5 tonnes rated version of their 5-tonne coupling.

Bucking the heavyweight trend

Not all caravan manufacturers are heading down the same heavyweight road as New Age though.

For example, Queensland’s ZoneRV and new kid AusRV are both using new technology such as integrated composite floors and composite body panels to keep the tare weight on even their largest caravans below 2500kg, leaving them able to offer a potential one tonne payload before they need more than a 3.5 tonne-rated coupling.

Melbourne’s Supreme, which is understood to be among Australia’s top-5 selling caravan brands, is also bucking the heavyweight trend so far.

National Sales Manager Matt McKinnon said Supreme’s Territory and Spirit ranges are the company’s only Supremes on which the DO-45 is an option.

“Going over 3.5 tonne presents a number of challenges, so we don't like to do to many caravans over this weight,” he explained.

“It’s not just a matter of beefing up the chassis and adding a different coupling. We also have to take into account uprated chains, brakes, wheels and tyres, so the cost involved in doing all this properly adds cost and means that the market is small.

“The type of customer who wants this is looking at the $100k-plus bracket and that’s still only a relatively small proportion of the market.

“I'm my opinion it's over-kill and the size of the unit restricts its off-road capability, but if people want a caravan like this, we will build it.”

Rise of the four tonne van

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