Tough Aussie campers to debut in Brisbane

Australian designed and built camper trailers have been driven upmarket in both specs and price by the influx of Chinese-made soft and hardfloor imports, but Scott Bruce knew how to reach potential buyers for his new, Sunshine Coast-built Exceed Campers: he appealed to their wallets, their partners and their stomachs when designing his tough, compact all-Australian camper trailers.

The first area that Bruce and his family-operated company concentrated on was strength, because unlike some of the cheaper campers he had experienced, he wanted his campers to come home in one piece.

This meant basing it on an in-house designed, hot-dipped galvanised, Australian steel Brisbane-built chassis, and fitting proven local Cruisemaster XT independent trailing arm suspension with the buyer’s choice of coil springs or air bags.

“We wanted a camper that was not only lightweight, but as tough as nails and a lot of our equipment has been chosen for its ease of use as much as for its locally-made quality," he said.

The next hurdle was ease of set up and pack down.

“My wife is a lightly-built teacher and it had to be easy for someone like her to handle,” he explained. ”We previously owned an imported soft-floor camper trailer and were put off going away sometimes because of the hassle involved in setting it up and packing it down for overnight stops."

Clever design

As a result, a lot of thought went into the Exceed’s design, which included incorporating a total of 2200 litres of storage in six separate compartments.

“The trailer had to have masses of storage, so you don’t have to completely un-pack everything when you come home,” he said.

“But honestly for us, when you have finally arrived at your destination, it was all about being able to produce fantastic food."

To achieve this, Bruce designed what he calls "the chef’s zone" – an L-shaped, rear kitchen design with enough room for cutlery, pots and pans, a cold water mixer, a removable plastic sink and an optional two-burner stove.

The rear camper space also houses either an upright 65 litre fridge or traditional chest style fridge/freezer which reduces weight on the drawbar for easier towing.

The core of this cooking area is an Australian-made Drifta short kitchen that has been made easier to use by mounting it on 225kg-rated slides, so it glides in and out so easily that Bruce says even the kids can do it without a risk of it coming out further than it's supposed to. 

“The slides have been a game changer for us as a family,” he explained. “When this kitchen opens up under the camper’s 270-degreee Bushwakka awning you create a space that your friends and family gravitate to, much like being at home."

Power for the Exceed camper comes from a standard 200aH AGM battery, hidden away behind the fridge, in conjunction with a Victron Energy battery management system, with the rest of the camper’s electrics housed in the kitchen area.

A single lithium battery is optional, as is a second, all fed by a single rooftop-mounted solar panel on up-spec RT Tourer models.

The water supply for the standard hot/cold system comes from twin 60-litre moulded underslung tanks.

Budget and deluxe options

Two versions of the Queensland-built Exceed camper are available; both starting with the same camper base and featuring roof racks.

The basic, 920kg Tare weight Equip model costs from $20,000 and includes a single 65 litre water tank, 140AH AGM battery and no tent as standard; however with basic options most leave the factory costing about $29,000.

Priced from $47,000, the top-spec RT Tourer comes equipped with a Crazy Dog rooftop tent fitted with Wax Converters canvas, and comes standard with a 190W rooftop solar panel, 200aH lithium battery and two 65 litre fresh water tanks.

Both models are 3.5m long, with the Equip having a Tare of 920kg and an ATM of 1450kg, while the RT Tourer has a Tare of 1040kg and an ATM of 1600kg.

Scott Bruce is a qualified boilermaker, turned steel fabricator and both he and his wife Michelle are keen campers. Building campers is still a part-time business for him and he also works another daytime job as a steel fabrication manager.

Although Exceed Campers have been operating from their Everton Hills (Sunshine Coast) factory for nearly 12 months, both campers will make their Brisbane show debuts at the 2021 Let’s Go Brisbane Caravan & Outdoor Sale from October 28-31 at the Brisbane Showgrounds.

For full specs and details, see Exceed Campers.