Tony & Chris's EVO

    When we did our brief article on the Oryx we thought, that’s it. But Rob keeps looking for more articles, so with the emergence of more compact style campers like the Supra distributed by Track, we thought we'd review our first trailer which bears a functional resemblance to these "new" products. That is, when erected in its basic set-up mode, it provides an off the ground enclosed sleeping area without the tent area for living space.

    Most of you know about the tent bit and why you moved on to Campers, so we'll skip that, but what to get? We worked out our basics; the most comfortable bed we could find mounted on a trailer without the wet canvas on the bed design, super quick set-up and real off road capability. At that time we couldn't found anything on the market that fitted our dream, so we half made and half assembled our solution. Later we found that variations on the same theme were already in common use in South Africa and America.

    Firstly, the trailer. We took the easy way out and after some research approached Kanga to make an off road trailer to our design. It took a lot of the time and effort out of the equation and they had a reputation for solid functional products. We opted for Off Road AL-KO suspension, Land Rover wheels and mechanical disc brakes. We had a water tank fitted and specified the Hyland hitch and a longer drawer bar.

     Next, the bed. Other than a custom job, there was essentially a choice of roof top tents. We settled for a Maggiolina, an established and proven fibreglass/canvas design from Italy that is used all over the world. An option was an Annex designed for use with the tent mounted on a car roof. A quick check showed that it would work with the Maggiolina mounted on the trailer, so that went on to the list. It isn't the factory tent, but one made in Australia to an 'improved' factory pattern. Like all soft floor annexes it significantly defines where you can set-up, so the option not to use it provides considerable flexibility, and some later frustration.

     The starting package was the trailer and Maggiolina, the Annex if needed, 60 litre of water via a hand pump, a basic two-burner stove and lots of crates for all the food and other "essentials". Set-up was just a few minutes without the Annex but we just couldn't resist the need join with all the other CT folk who were on the endless modify / improve cycle. Every trip produced a list of must do's.

     Not withstanding the desire to improve our lot, the trailer has delivered much as expected. Various stowage options appeared on the drawer bar along with Mark 1 and 2 stone guards. Electrically, we were in basic mode with a Thumper Battery for lights. The basic two-burner stove didn't really want to perform in sub zero weather so a new stove and kitchen appeared after much sawdust and glue. The stove / kitchen unit is mounted on 100 Kg Fridge slides and works a treat.

     Over the next few years we fiddled with the Annex and we were never completely happy despite successfully camping in pouring rain and bitter cold conditions. It was the putting up and down that bugged us. It was only after attending the Group meetings and watching the time it takes to set up some other units that we realised it wasn't so bad after all. Our favourite solution is similar to one of the Supra options, with a huge silver tarp over the entire camper and cooking area.

     Have we had any problems? Yes, but only a few of any significance. Once when descending a very steep section we felt that we were being pushed by the trailer. Quite a bit of investigation yielded nothing until we hit upon the dimensions for the mechanical disc actuating arms. They were only half the design length so were not applying the required amount of pressure on the brake pads. It transpires that Kanga cut the arms down for a reason that completely escapes explanation. In a rush of mechanical brilliance we decided to replace the mechanical discs with hydraulic calipers. A saga in itself but an enormous amount of "Googling" and phone calls revealed that the mechanical calipers were designed around an old Torana caliper. Much later a pair of these and reconditioning kits were obtained and shiny new looking hydraulic calipers were fitted to the original mounts.

     The Hyland hitch is everything it is said to be for ease of use. The coupling casting is a bit rough internally and in our case has gouged the ball in a few places. The over-ride action is very primitive compared with the Trailco unit fitted to the Oryx.

     The water tank is a cheapie. Can't be effectively emptied or flushed. The Camel unit is immensely superior and one may yet find its way under the camper.

     All in all, many of the changes were incremental and don't appear above. The end result is in our minds, functionally equivalent to trailers such as the Supra. So why isn't it our only C/T? It does what it does very well. There are two downsides that are only an issue under certain circumstances and both relate to the Annex.

     In the basic set-up without the annex, the only privacy is inside the bed unit. This is only an issue when in Van parks or in the more crowded sites like Lake Mungo, but can prove frustrating for a series of quick overnight stops. The other no-Annex situation is nowhere to sit out of the winter weather when it's dark at 5 PM. Needless to say, the solution is always at hand.

     The general concept is still sound enough to attract commercial designs and our 'Evo' model has worked much as intended. It's about time for another airing so there is every chance that it will reappear at a group camp near you.

Thanks to Tony for this article.