Ute Cabin King Class 2025 Review

We don’t get to review slide-on campers that often, so I was keen to have a good look at the Ute Cabin when I got the chance.

If you're not familiar with this style of camper, legs are used to raise and lower the little home to get it on and off the back of a ute. You can camp in it mounted on the ute or demounted, free-standing on its legs.

Compared to a caravan, a slide-on set-up enables you to venture down unknown roads with the freedom to turn around more easily if you need to. On the other hand, mounting/dismounting slide-ons requires a bit more effort than hitching/unhitching a caravan.

Leaving the slide-on demounted at base camp also frees you up to venture off on tighter tracks for day trips. When returning from holidays, you can also put the camper into storage and use your ute for other things.

There is a caveat that suspension modifications required to carry the weight of the camper compromise the handling when the ute is unladen – more on that later...

How did the Ute Cabin come about?

Melbourne-based Ute Cabin founder Paul Englisch observed the prevalence of slide-ons in the US and Europe and saw the opportunity to bring a refined product to the Australian market.

After a number of years of investigation, Paul landed on a collaboration with a Thai company to develop the Ute Cabin. Thailand is not a country top of mind for the Australian RV industry (unless you count this Caria toy hauler from a few years back), but it's worth noting that all of the traditional big-name utes are made in Thailand – namely, Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux and Isuzu D-MAX.

The result is a slide-on range that's designed to sit inside the ute tub. Many other designs available locally require a cab chassis ute, or the tub to be removed and replaced with a flat tray to accommodate the slide-on. So the Ute Cabin is essentially aimed at many buyers who would like to keep their ute as original as possible.

The construction method is like many other RVs, with fibreglass-skinned composite panels with an aluminium frame and a foam core. The roof panel is 40mm thick, and the walls are 35mm.

The Ute Cabin range includes shorter model campers designed for twin-cab utes with shorter tubs, and longer model campers for single cabs with longer tubs. There are also designs to accommodate larger American-style pick-ups. Paul works closely with customers to select or customise the right match of ute and camper.

Our review camper is Ute Cabin's premium King Class. It's designed for twin-cab utes, weighing in at 1080kg and priced at $115,000. The base model Ute Cabin in this style starts at $89,000 and weighs in at 900kg, while there are alternate pop-top style Ute Cabin campers starting at $43,000 and weighing just 580kg.

What’s the Ute Cabin King Class interior like?

Of course, it's compact, but I really like it. At the press of a button, the dinette area slides out, making a very usable space. The seating and table will comfortably fit two people and wouldn’t be too squishy with four people seated.

Compact campers can often feel cramped, but the nicely sized window in the dining area helps brings the outside in and reduce any feelings of claustrophobia. A ceiling height of approximately 1900mm means most people can stand comfortably inside, which is not the case for all compact campers.

The combination shower and toilet has pretty much everything you need, including a hand-held shower rose, basin, cabinet and cassette toilet, and the kitchen is cute and functional.

The internal kitchen gets a glass-topped stainless steel sink and a 20L Electrolux combination microwave/convection/grill. The modest bench space is not tied up with a permanent cooker; instead, a Simplus portable induction cooker is supplied so you can take it off the bench when it's not required or use it outside.

A 65 litre compressor fridge is in keeping with the compact nature of the camper and will keep the essentials cool. Speaking of cool, the Cold King 12V air-conditioner means you won’t need to rely on the inverter to manage the cabin on warmer days.

A generous king-sized bed gives you plenty of room to move, and there's enough height for a six-footer to sit up in bed. There’s also a functional step to get up to the foot of the bed, while running along both sides of the bed are more nicely positioned windows and some useful overhead storage compartments.

How do the Ute Cabin's outside features stack up?

The outdoor living area on the Ute Cabin King Class slide-on is on the right side of the camper because the slide-out is situated on the left side.

External highlights include a simple and effective wind-out awning and an external shower.

One little storage hatch sits on the right side towards the rear, and the left side has two storage hatches in the slide-out that can also be accessed from the inside under the seats. There’s a further little hatch in the lower section at the rear.

The end result is that three of the hatches sit at the very rear of the camper. It would be advisable to pack carefully - more on that later...

How do I set up and pack up the Ute Cabin King Class?

The Ute Cabin King Class camper has four legs, each with an electric motor powering the up and down action through a worm drive. Using a remote control, the legs can be raised altogether for macro movements, or independently for fine-tuning when levelling.

When camping demounted, the legs must be retracted to lower the centre of gravity. Being lowered to the ground means you won’t need the portable steps. However, the steps are stored in the stairwell, so you will have to stash them somewhere else to get in and out.

Even in the lowered position, the camper looks odd because the front section juts out a long way forward of the front legs. It makes you feel like the camper could tip over with two adults in the bed. However, Paul tells me that because there's so much weight in the mid-section, it’s not a problem.

The steps for removing the camper are simple.

First there are two electrical connections to unplug. The 12-pin plug powers all the rear lights just like a caravan/trailer, and the Anderson plug runs power from the car to charge the house battery.

Then there are four 'tie down' points to unlatch. The tie downs are Torklift FastGuns, specifically engineered for campers. They connect to an anchor point on the camper and a bracket bolted onto the ute chassis.

Finally, it’s just a matter of raising the camper and driving the ute out.

Mounting the camper is more or less the reverse process. It just takes a bit of care to reverse in straight and not bump the ute into the camper.

Fortunately it’s not a millimetre-perfect exercise, as there is plenty of clearance between the base of the camper and the sides of the ute tub. And the tie downs have a fair bit of tolerance to hook in before they are latched down.

What's the rig like to drive?

Sitting in the car, you kind of forget the camper is on the back. The rig is a little wider due mainly to the electric legs and a lot taller.

Most of the time, it doesn’t make any difference, but if you're driving around tight spots or low-hanging branches, it pays to remember what's out back! You also have the option to leave the legs at home if you have no plan to remove the camper.

Most utes will require a GVM upgrade to accommodate a reasonably weighty slide-out like the Ute Cabin. In a nutshell, more weight requires stiffer springs, upgraded shock absorbers and engineering certification to legally re-rate the vehicle's carrying capacity. Fortunately, there are a number of pre-engineered kits to meet these requirements.

Ute Cabin recommends a Pedders GVM upgrade as it provides a generous tolerance in the upgrade, including re-rating both the front and rear axles. Pedders also has a national network providing access to spare parts.

The stiffer springs make the ute more capable to carry heavy weight, but you can expect a bumpy ride driving the ute without the camper on the back. Some GVM upgrades specify that the ute should not be driven empty and a nominated minimum rear load is required at all times.

How long can you camp off-grid with the Ute Cabin?

The Ute Cabin King Class we looked at for this review had been optioned up to help its occupants stay off-grid for longer.

Using the premium Ecoflow 48V power system, it has a 5kWh lithium battery equivalent to 425Ah. Integrated into the system is a DC to DC charger for topping up with the car and 700W solar panels to harness the sun.

There's also a 3800W inverter for delivering 240V power, which will be more than adequate for this style of camper. All this electrical power means there is no gas on board.

Fresh water capacity is a decent 120 litres (fresh), and the 80L grey water tank means you can store two-thirds of your wastewater which is more than most.

Are there any weight issues with the Ute Cabin?

Paul used a 2022 Toyota Hilux WorkMate to carry the Ute Cab King Class for the photo shoot. The combination was legal because the rerated Hilux can carry around 1350kg, and the Ute Cabin King Class weighed around 1080kg nett.

However, in the real world, this would not be a suitable combination as this only leaves a payload of 270kg for occupants, vehicle accessories and all the other stuff you need to carry in the ute/camper, which is nowhere near enough.

This won't be a problem however, if you choose a lighter Ute Cabin model (they start at 580kg), which would also be a better match for the HiLux. There are more suitable vehicles on the market to carry this 1080kg beauty; we don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea from the photos.

As previously mentioned, a total length of 4355mm fitting in a tub roughly 1600mm long results in significant overhang at the front and rear of the tub.

Utes have a reputation for chassis damage caused by weight hanging too far off the rear. Again, Paul tells me that the bulk of the weight of the unit sits over or forward of the rear axle, and therefore, the overhang shouldn't cause a problem.

Given that some of the storage compartments are at the very rear, it’s a good idea to keep heavy stuff out of these.

Should I buy a Ute Cabin King Class?

After spending some time with Ute Cabin's premium model, it's easy to understand why the slide-on concept really appeals to minimalists who appreciate that the cosy internal living space provides them the freedom of not hauling a trailer wherever they go.

The Ute Cabin presents as a well-executed slide-out in both layout and construction. However the King Class model, as optioned up here with a premium 48V power system, pushes both the price and weight up.

It will suit some buyers perfectly, but others may find more affordable and less weighty options further down the Ute Cabin range, that better meet their needs.

Price: From $115,000
External body length: 4355mm
Travel width: 2230mm
Travel height: 3100mm approx. – depends on the vehicle
Weight: 1080kg (unloaded)
Body: Fibreglass skin composite panel
Water: 120L fresh and 80L grey
Battery: 5kW 48V lithium, equivalent to 425Ah
Solar panels: 700W
Gas: Nil – totally electric
Hot water: Electric
Cooking: Simplus portable induction
Fridge/freezer: 65L compressor
Oven: 20L Electrolux combination microwave/convection/grille
Toilet: 20L cassette
Shower: Internal combination shower/toilet plus external shower
Lighting: LED
Air-conditioner: Cold King 12V DC
Washing machine: Not fitted
TV: 20in Smart
Audio: Bluetooth stereo with two speakers
Supplied by: Ute Cabin, Melbourne, Victoria