Van Cruiser Graceland

Airbag suspension is nothing new on caravans, but Dexter Axle’s new hybrid system combining air and rubber torsion springing is.

The idea is simple and for touring vans that venture onto unmade major roads at times, it offers an ideal compromise of ride comfort versus space required for the system.

Australian Dexter distributors Melbourne Trailer & Caravan Supplies recently supplied the first Dexter Airflex Air Ride Suspension to Victorian custom builder Van Cruiser, who bolted it underneath one of their flagship 23ft Graceland luxury caravans and offered it to Caravancampingsales to evaluate.

The Graceland was an ideal ‘donor’ van, as with its 2900kg tare weight with useful 600kg payload and full luxury specs including a large rear club lounge, top-of-the-range appliances and a new FinScan digital switching system for its DC appliances, it was the sort of long-distance touring van that would benefit most from the new airbag system.

Van Cruiser markets the 23ft Graceland as a ‘Dirt Road’ tourer and that can mean coping with everything from freeways to choppy bitumen by-roads and severe corrugations when shortcutting Australia via unsealed highways like the Tanami Track, or perhaps the Great Central Road.

But as the caravan is a comparatively low-rider, not a high-stepping ‘off-roader’, space both under the van and in the wheelboxes is limited to fit a conventional independent trailing arm airbag suspension, making it perfectly suited to the compact Dexter AirFlex.

Although liker-for-like comparative figures are not available, given that it’s based on Dexter’s compact Torflex rubber torsion suspension rather than off-road air solutions that use beefy trailing arms, it should also be considerably lighter.

The two major reasons for having tandem air suspension are the softer ride it gives the caravan through the independent wheel reaction to bumps and its axle-to-axle load stabilisation that makes it ideal for tandem and triple axle systems.

For this latter reason the Dexter has been used for the past eight years in the United States on large fifth wheelers and triple axle ‘trailers’ of the sort that are hauled to movie sets for five-star celebrities to get dressed in.

Other locally developed and used off-road airbag systems such as Trakmaster’s Trakair and the Airbag Man suspension fitted by other caravan builders like Bushtracker and Goldstream, also incorporate a self-leveling ride height function that can be deployed selectively to level the caravan when set up on uneven ground and this is an option for the Dexter system.

The self-leveling function of these systems when travelling could also obviate the need for a weight distribution hitch on a heavy off-road caravan – a potential asset when travelling off-road where hitch articulation is important.

There’s no question that a correctly installed air bag suspension gives your caravan an easier time than even a top coil spring and shock absorber trailing arm ‘steel’ suspension, which means everything inside it, from cupboard hinges to appliances and gas connections receive less travelling shock and should last longer.

At this stage we should add that this is not a substitute for lowering your van’s tyre pressures to around 25-30psi (depending on weight) when travelling for long distances on corrugated roads, but once you do it will give it an even easier time.

The other indefinable thing about air suspension is that it could ‘future proof’ an expensive luxury van, as once these systems become more popular they will become a resale asset.

Another unique thing about the Dexter system is its compact, pre-assembled design, which employs Dexter’s existing Torflex rubber torsion bar suspension system as its core inside a square forged steel tube.

And to answer the question everyone asks – “What if there’s an air leak in a remote area?”  The answer is that that the rubber torsion bar still cushions the ride.

Certainly the air bag-fitted 2900kg empty weight Graceland towed very smoothly behind our air suspension-specced Land-Rover Discovery 3 and despite being unladen during our review, tracked impressively and was unaffected by strong sideways winds at freeway speeds up to 110km/h. We could easily have kept going for a very comfortable lap of Australia!

Van Cruiser usually builds very inviting caravans and the review Graceland finished in rich cream and grey aluminium Alucobond cladding looked very classy.

Typical of most Van Cruisers, its chiseled lines and the absence of front and rear windows meant a lot of interior space and the huge side windows, white walls and unusual but attractive ‘distressed-timber look’ bench tops of the review van gave it a light, airy feel, adding to its spacious feeling.

The ‘hero’ feature of the Graceland is its large rear U-shaped lounge that could seat eight at a pinch, so you’re guaranteed to be the host when friends meet in a caravan park or free camp!

The single pedestal table has a cutaway corner and rotates to make access to the corners of the lounge easier.

The split kitchen, with its four-burner Dometic cooktop, gas oven and grill on the right side and stainless steel sink, more bench space and more drawers on the left, should be ample to prepare something tasty for all your new friends who stay for dinner.

The adjacent Waeco 175 litre compressor fridge and separate 30 litre drawer fridge should be adequate to hold all the required food for a decent road trip, while 300 Watts of roof-mounted solar power feeding three 110A/h AGM batteries, 180 litres of fresh water and a further 95 litre tank for grey water, should cope with most people’s extended free-camping needs.

A Truma E2400 gas space heater, a separate reverse cycle air conditioner and a Camec top-loading washing machine in the kitchen area complete the list of quality appliances.

A lithium battery system coupled to a large inverter/charger to run some of these 240v appliances when free-camping is about all else I could imagine fitting.

Further forward, the modular ensuite with its large shower cubicle on one side and the combined toilet and large rear-facing vanity on the other, can be curtained off to form an extension to the living area, or bedroom, as required.

Meanwhile, the island queen bed up front, surrounded by a nest of cupboards on the front wall, should cater for most travelling wardrobes. If not, there’s unencumbered storage room under the bed.

The Graceland’s final tilt at the future is its FinScan touchscreen console that digitally controls and monitors all the caravan’s major DC functions, from the level of its three water tanks, to the health of its three batteries and their charging system and allows you to programme which to activate via dedicated ‘hot’ buttons.

But its real party trick is that all its functions can be operated via a smartphone app, so you can check out whether the beer is still cold, if the batteries are charging, or water is leaking, on the fly.

The base price of a 23ft Van Cruiser Graceland is a pretty reasonable $78,9909, but with the Dexter Airflex, FinScan, the Truma air heater and A-frame toolbox fitted, the review van topped out at $106,990.

The Airflex accounted for around $10,000 of this, but Melbourne Trailer & Caravan Supplies is currently negotiating for a much keener price for subsequent units, which are now available optionally on all Van Cruiser caravans.

WE LIKED:
>> Great style and luxury fittings
>> Smooth and compact airbag suspension
>> FinScan technology

NOT SO MUCH:
>> Expensive airbag option
>> No lithium battery/large inverter option
>> Otherwise hard to fault for its intended touring purpose

VERDICT

The Van Cruiser Graceland is a stylish, long distance touring caravan that gains extra versatility thanks to its compact, optional, but pricey Dexter airbag suspension.

It’s stable to tow and has all the comfort features necessary for plenty of free camping in remote places, where its huge club lounge is destined to become the activity hub at sundowner time.

We feel Elvis would have given the Graceland a ‘Whole Hunka Love’.

VAN CRUISER GRACELAND 23FT

Travel length: 9500mm
External body length: 7000mm (23ft)
External body width: 2440mm
Travel height: 3100mm (inc AC, but with airbags not inflated)
Interior height: 2040mm
Tare weight: 2900kg
ATM: 3500kg
Ball weight: 260kg
Body: Meranti timber frame with aluminium flat composite panels
Chassis: 150mm x 50mm G&S Supagal chassis and A-frame
Suspension: Independent tandem axle Dexter Torqueflex airbag
Brakes: 12-inch electric
Stability Control: Dexter ESC
Wheels: 16in alloy with  LT245/75 tyres
Water tanks: 2 x 95l fresh and 1 x 95l grey
Battery: 3 x 105Ah deep cycle AGM
Solar: 3 x 100W roof-mounted
Air-conditioner: Truma Aventa reverse-cycle
Gas: 2 x 9.0kg
Hot water: 23l Suburban gas/electric
Cooking: Four-burner gas/electric Smev cooktop, plus grill and oven
Fridge:  175l Waeco compressor plus Waeco 30l drawer fridge
Microwave: NCE
Toilet: Dometic cassette
Shower: Separate fibreglass cubicle
Washing machine: Camec 2.5kg top-loader
Lighting: LED
Price: $78,990 (As reviewed, ex-Melbourne: $106,990)
Options fitted: Truma gas heater, FinScan system, Satking Pro Satellite,  A-frame toolbox, 12V fantastic hatch, Inverter dedicated power points
Supplied by:

Van Cruiser Custom Built Caravans, Carrum Downs, Vic.