By Malcolm Street
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One of the more interesting features of the recreational vehicle (RV) industry over the last couple of years has been the relatively rapid increase in the number of manufacturers and importers of fifth wheel units. 
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This style of RV is very popular in the USA, mainly because of the prolific pick-up style trucks that US citizens seem to favour. 
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However, that is not quite the case here in Australia and companies with their eyes on the volume market are manufacturing/importing fifth wheelers that are suited to the ubiquitous Aussie ute. One such company is Venture Fifth Wheelers.
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Venture is based in Toowoomba, Qld, and for a number of years has been importing fifth wheeler units from Canada which are built to Australian specifications. 
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In order to meet local compliance requirements, Venture has items like electrical cables and fittings sent over to Canada so that there is no need to change them once the units arrive in Australia. 
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Venture has also made sure that the entry door is on the nearside (closest to the kerb) - not all importers do anything about that. 
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This year, the Venture team has taken a step closer to local manufacture by importing the fifth wheeler units as completely knocked down (CKD) packages and then assembling them at its factory in Toowoomba. 
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Venture made its 600 model available for CW’s inspection. The 600 designation refers to the fact that it is nearly 600cm (19ft 6in) long. This fifth wheeler is an ideal unit to be towed by something like a Ford Falcon ute, which we happened to have available. 
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It’s important to understand that, like any vehicle being prepared for towing a conventional caravan, a fifth wheeler tow vehicle has to be set up properly. 
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The major item is the towing hitch and Venture uses a smaller version of a semitrailer-style turntable which automatically couples to a 50mm pin on the fifth wheeler. 
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There are several advantages with this setup. The first is that that the towing hitch is at eye level, so hitching up is very easy. The second is that the entire hitch framework can easily be removed from the ute tray when it is not required, so the ute can be used for conventional purposes. 
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Finally, a specially made tonneau cover can be fitted over the tray with the rig still hitched.
As any fifth wheel convert will tell you, towing a fifth wheeler is easier than a conventional caravan, mainly because the pin/ball weight is over the rear axle, not behind it. 
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The Venture 600 is no exception to this, being a very comfortable towing proposition both when driving and when manoeuvring the unit around. 
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Reversing is a little different from backing a caravan but once you get a handle on it, there is no problem at all. In fact, a fifth wheeler can be squeezed into much tighter spots. 
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Like a caravan, the Venture 600 is built on a rectangular hollow section (RHS) steel chassis. It rides on tandem axles with load-sharing leaf spring suspension. 
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Unlike the more traditional meranti timber used for frames in Australia, the 600’s frame is made using 25x40mm Canadian kiln-dried spruce. Any RV that is insulated for a Canadian winter using 25mm fibreglass in the walls, roof and floor is going to work equally as well in an Australian summer. 
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Aluminium cladding is neatly used to cover all the underpinnings and it looks quite good too. It’s worth commenting on the shape of the front of the 600: it has a very raked appearance, but it’s not only looks that matter here. 
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Because it is at roughly the same angle as the tow vehicle windscreen and there is little gap between, it gives quite smooth airflow, as opposed to the more box-like front of a conventional caravan. 
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Like on a caravan, there’s a steel bumper bar across the rear complete with spare wheel.
All the windows are the sliding variety. Their advantage is there is nothing to bump your head on when they are open - an especially considerate feature for motorhomers. 
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The standard door is not a full security item but does have a separate flyscreen. An option here is the Crim Safe security door. The almost obligatory awning keeps shade on and rain off the door. 
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There is just one external storage locker at the rear nearside, which gives access to the area underneath the dinette seat. 
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There are two other storage lockers: the one under the overhang is the gas cylinder compartment and houses the two 9kg cylinders and the other is located at the front offside containing two 100 amp hour deep-cycle batteries. 
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Venture inside
In fifth wheel layouts, you can bet on one thing: the main bed is always in the overhang at the front. It is certainly a convenient place to have it - it’s out of the way and the lower roofline does not cause much inconvenience. 
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Venture has followed design tradition in this matter, and the bathroom is right next to the bed, in this case on the offside. Most of the kitchen occupies the nearside with the fridge opposite, thus leaving an open area at the rear for the dinette/lounge.
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Internal decor is quite simple, with a light stain wood finish that matches well with the mottled brown upholstery and lighter walls. All the windows have venetian blinds, curtains and pelmets, except the kitchen window which just has a venetian blind. 
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Internal natural lighting is quite good, especially with the large hatch above the bed and a smaller ones above the kitchen and dinette areas. 
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Along the benchtop, the stainless steel sink and drainer sit next to the Spinflo four-burner cooktop and grill. Although there isn’t a great deal of benchtop area, there are hinged flaps at both ends of the bench, thus substantially increasing the working space. 
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There’s a rangehood for the cooktop and above that, a Sharp microwave oven which leaves room for one overhead locker above the sink. Underbench storage is quite good with four drawers, a cupboard and one floor locker. 
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Completing the kitchen setup is the Dometic 150 litre fridge on the opposite side. It is actually mounted quite high, which means no bending over to get things out.
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&nbsp;Here’s an interesting little dilemma for layout designers: the fridge door is right-hinged which is good if you are standing at the kitchen but not so good if you are sitting at the dinette and want to get things in and out of the fridge without getting up! 
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Under the fridge is a small drawer and cupboard. The latter contains the 240/12V transformer, circuit breaker for the 240V cabling and 12V fuses.
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In the rear of the 600, the dinette/lounge offers a good view of the surrounding countryside. With windows on three sides, you are not going to miss much. Two will sit very comfortably around the table; although it will be a little squeezy if a couple of visitors come through. 
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If those same visitors decide to stay overnight, the dinette can fold down into a second bed.
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Above the dinette on each side are two overhead lockers and there is the usual underseat area, accessed by lifting the ply timber hatch. The nearside has, as previously mentioned, an external door. CW did like the large clock on the rear wall – it can be read without the glasses on!
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Two decent sized steps lead in to the bedroom area. The queen sized mattress sits on the floor of the overhang, so there are no problems about falling into bed! Ceiling height varies between 950mm and 1200mm. 
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On either side of the bed are small bedside cabinets and each side has a reading light. Relatively large windows on either side give good crossflow ventilation. 
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At the foot of the bed beside the door is a cupboard that doubles as a place to put the TV, since there is both a 240V powerpoint and TV antenna connection. With the TV 
on a swivel, it can be seen easily from the bed or dinette.
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The last time CW looked at a bathroom in a 600 it was quite small but this later model is larger – certainly room for the separate shower, vanity sink and Thetford toilet. Instead of the more usual cassette, the toilet empties into a 120 litre black tank. 
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The shower is the small bath variety with a concertina curtain door, so there is little risk of water spillage. 
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Hot water is supplied courtesy of Truma gas/240V water heater. In addition to the internal shower, there’s also an external shower mid-offside. Lighting throughout is mostly Fiamma incandescent fittings in all the appropriate places. 
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The bottom line
Venture has two standard layouts, this and the slightly longer 690 model, but that is not necessarily a bad thing – it does allow for a concentrated refinement and quality of product and there is certainly nothing major wrong with either of the design layouts. 
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Fit and finish appear to be quite good and all components fitted comply with the relevant Australian regulations. 
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This little fifth wheeler might only be 19.5 ft (6m) long - relatively small when compared to some of its contemporaries - but it is ideal for towing with an Aussie ute, something there’s plenty of in this country!
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Venture Fifth Wheelers, 2 Tradewinds Court, Toowoomba, Qld 4350, 1300 880 433, email: info@venturevan.com.au, website: www.venturevan.com.au
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We liked:
• Basic layout – bed in the overhang means dinette with panoramic windows can be situated in the rear and kitchen and bathroom fit in between
• Hinged flaps on either end of the kitchen bench, useful but not in the way when not needed
• Ease and speed of hitching up 
• Decent- sized bathroom
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We would have liked:
• More efficient lights, incandescents are the least efficient, especially if ‘free camping’
• Security door as a standard fitting
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Venture Fifth Wheelers 600

Frame: Timber

External length: 19ft 8in (5.9m)

External width: 7ft 4in (2.24m)

Internal height: 6ft 4in (1.93m)

Advised tare weight: 670kg

Advised pin weight: 334kg

Cooktop: Four-burner Spinflo and grill

Microwave oven: Sharp carousel

Fridge: Dometic RM2553 150 litre

Lighting: 12V

Water tank: 170 litres

Grey water tank: 102 litres

Black water tank: 123 litres

Price: $59,950 plus o/r 

Venture 600

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