New member and advice regarding purchase

Brian,

Thank you for your reply.

> 2. We have a 21ft BT that was built on May 2001. The van was built exactly as we had ordered it, but after using it for a while you think of ways to improve it for your circumstances. It is not that there was anything wrong with it, but a lot of us like to tinker and fit our own personal touches, rather than get the manufacturer to do everything.

I agree and I have no doubt I will be the same - I'd just like to the more difficult things - the things that require cabinet work or that are best done at the manufacturing stage right upfront so there are no nigling annoyances (with myself) that I should have had this or that done.

> 3. Since having our van we have added, corner support legs, an extra battery and solar panel, 2 extra water tanks, water filter, mirror, external speakers, rear view camera, webasto heater and changed the fridge venting from external to internal. We have also added numerous little personal gadgets that suit us, but may not suit others.

Could I ask who many water tanks you now have and how much solar and battery capacity? Why did you add, were you running out of power?
The better hafl is keen to find out about the Webasto heater as she can't stand the cold. Do you mind saying how much this cost and did you install it yourself?

> 5. We have a 190 litre Coolmatic fridge and WAECO have changed the hinging of the main door to prevent the problems that the earlier ones had. They seem to work well, and are probably on a par with the Vitrofridge as I think they both use the same compressor unit.

Good to hear. Would you go the Coolmatic again, or do you think you would go Vitro?

> 6. Our van has done over 100,000 km and last month we had a leak develop in one window and they pulled it out and re-sealed it for us last week without any problems. I think that you will find that they are probably the BEST caravan manufacturer to deal with when it comes to warranty claims.

You van was built in May 2001 and they sare still fixing things under warranty. That is excellent. How much warranty do they provide? I don't remember reading that anywhere.

> 8. We were involved in an accident with our van, and the insurance company did the repairs in Melbourne near where the accident happened. The repairs were not done properly and BTi had to fix up their mistakes. They have since fixed up other minor faults that were probably the fault of the Melbourne Repairer, but BTi have fixed them under warranty.

Again, well done to Bushtracker. I have a the feeling that they would be the only ones to do a proper repair as the other repairers are likely to use standard caravan parts of a lesser quality.

> 9. The van was built as ordered and there were NO BUGS that had to be sorted out after delivery. The changes that we have made were done so, so we could personalise our van with gadgets that we wanted, that could not be expected to be put in by a caravan manufacturer. Things like battery fitment anw wiring etc were all done to a high standard, and you won't require any modifications to be done like a lot of mass produced vans do.

Exactly where are the batteries installed? I have been unable to determine this from pics on their website.

> 10. If you have a front bed, that uses the space above the spare wheels, then you can have large door side hatches on both sides at the front that will give you far more, and more accessable storage space than a front boot will. Several people have had after market boxes put on the rear, but you should be very careful about doing so as it can reduce the ball weight and make the van unstable, and weight put in a box so far behind the axel will cause a harmonic affect when travelling on bouncy roads. These Boxes are NOT recommended by BTi and I doubt that they would fit one for you. Most BT owners choose not to go down that path also.

Yes, the front bed is the way I'd go, and the lockers both sides look the part. Could you tell me what size the opening is please?
I saw a pic of a rear hinge down box by one of the other members which I thought was a great idea. Seems it was shallow and was just used for lighter gear like hoses etc and this is the way I was thinking would be a good use without overloading.
Seems like it must have been a home made/organised job. I know a great sheetie who could whip that up for me in nice checker plate for a good price.

> 11. We live in Noosa, so cannot help there, but we have had a number of people come to our home to discuss there plans prior or after ordering a van. I think that you will find that most BT owners will discuss their van with you and show you through their van.

Never mind. I'd love to come up and have a look at your van. Noosa is a great place and no doubt a great place to live. I'm envious!

David

DAVID,
In answer to your querries.

WATER TANKS
We now have 5 water tanks but only usually fill them all when going into remote areas without a reliable water supply. It is great to be able to stay in the bush for longer period and know that you have plenty of water.

BATTERIES & SOLAR We had 3 batteries and 3 solar but upgraded to 4 and 4 mainly so that we can run both the Van fridge and Engel Fridge off the van batteries and solar for extended periods. I found the 3 and 3 worked fine for the main fridge but the Engel added on as well just caused us to drop power.
I haven't had much to do with the Vitro fridges, those that have them seem happy with them, and we are happy with the Waeco, so if we have to replace we will make some enquiries then.
The location of batteries is usually under the seats, but we had ours fitted under the bed, so as to give a better ball weight. Too much is better than too little when it comes to ball weight.

WARRANTY Period
I think the official warranty period is 2 years. BTi will fill you in if you ask.

REAR HINGED BOX
The van you saw with the rear hinged box, is probably the one on Conrads van and his van is a triaxel 27ft van. It is all perfectly balanced and extremely well manufactured. The box was manufactured by a friend of his on the Gold Coast, but the down side of it was the cost. I believe it was several thousand dollars, well out of the reach of most of us.

Brian

Forgot about the WEBASTO

They were around the $2000 mark when we had ours installed by Bushtracker a couple of years ago. Sorry, you will have to ask BTi what the current price is.

Brian

Hi Peter,

Thank you for yoiur response. I've added my comments.

>If you want the best, then there is no other choice.

I suspected I'd get an unbiased opinion! LOL

>We have a BT20ft new Aug 2005, what a beauty!
>Everything that Brian has said is correct, about BTs & BTi. I can't fault them, a couple of little things to fix at new, took them half a hr. to rectify as we were leaving the area one week later. Have had no need to go back since (We are in Tassie for the summers) anything that we want they do by email or phone.

What have you needed done by email/phone? Any warranty issues? How were they handled - you fixed, they sent parts? they reimbursed your costs for parts purchased?

>There are only two things that we would change (Both my fault)
>1 We wouldn't bother putting in tank guages, as we never use them.

Picked this one up and agree - if there is 4 or 5 tanks, if one is empty you have 75 or 80% left the resolution is as good as the gauges provide anyway.

>2 We have a L shaped dinette, but the bottom of the L (the bit that sticks out into the van) would be much better if it were 1100mm out from the wall, instead of the 1mtr that it is, as we could then sit (Cosy/Cosy) side by side, comfortably.

Only 100mm in it?

>We will be going back through NSW in May or June, or will be at Thornton near Newcastle from about 10 or 11 May if you would like a look.

I just might take you up on that offer, if you have the time and you really don't mind. I'm near Gosford, so a trip to Thornton is only about 45 mins.

>There is a waiting list, so if you are fair dinkum, order a 20Fft ASAP as you have a reasonable time to change it up or down a foot later.

I need to make sure this is the way to go before I place an order. Provided they are flexible after the order is made, that would be acceptable to me. I'm told the current schedule is August/September.
The finer points can be sorted out over the long months of waiting....

Thanks

David

Hi cvtripper.
Well Mr David - you did say that you had a lot of questions, & I guess that if you don't ask you don't know, so.

We had a window that had a small leak on the side near the stove area, found it the night before Copeton 2005 so spoke with Tracy who was there for a couple of days, he came & had a look, gave me instructions to rectify it. Cost to me about half a matchbox full (size) of sillicon. result - no leak now.

Had a yellow flame in gas oven, not much experience with gas so sent email to Steve, next day someone rang me from BTi (not sure but I think it was Peter) who after a short conversation decided yes we had a problem, & he would get the gasman to ring me. Gasman rang that arvo on my mobile, as we were at the local School Show I asked him to ring back in 1 hr, which he did (exactly) he talked me through the adjustment - result oven fixed. cost to me 1 email.

Sorry if I confused you about the size of our dinette, ours is L shaped 2150mm long x 1000mm wide (But I would make it 1100mm wide next time)

Note in your diary to email me about 1st or 2nd May, & we can set up a looksee at Thornton, if you are still interested then.

Hi AL,

That's what I love to hear - proud and happy owners!
Caravans seem to be in that area where there is a lot of interest from other vanners - you show me yours, I'll show you mine - and I think a lot of competitiveness!
I've seen the price of some of the onroad vans and I know the build standards are not good and they are pushing the price of the BT, so I can see the value - but not having had a good look over one, I can't tell, except from the advertising, what the build quality and finish is really like.

Where abouts on the Northern beaches are you? I might pay you a visit if you're happy with that (seems you'd love to show it off).
Are you in a park or waiting in your driveway for the house handover? ;-)

David

Hi David,
the van is at Newport in our (sloping)driveway, so it's not too level, but to get a level van was an optional extra.! Email me for more details if reqired.

AL

Hi JOhn and Jean,

>I have a 19' bti collected in June 2005 and we live in it on the road full time. Spent about a year doing detailed research and talking to owners of various makes of vans. I won't go into the ins and outs of that research other that to say that a bt's were a clear winner.

I've done the circles of the standard vans over the past 18 months, so I know what you mean. There is some terrible builds, specifically a model starting with J who claim to have 45% of the market, but somehow everyone that has one loves them. Not sure if this is ignorance or they just don't want to admit their mistake...

>2 My rig is 19' with 3 x batts, 3 x 125 watt solars, 2x showers, full ensuite, 1200 watt pure sinewave inverter, 50 amp two stage auto battery charger, 4 x 80L water tanks - one is dedicated potable. Remote hot water switching, flat screen tv - locks to the wall for travelling, extra long A' frame extension. Extended 'foot lockers on either side of the bed. This provides a step up to the bed and a huge amount of storage space. No washing machine, we use the 2x20L twin-tub bucket system. As we only wear shorts, shirts or most of the time 'swimmers' - this is not too tenious. Also have aircon but no Webasto heater. We arrange our travel to mostly stay in the 28 - 35 deg C temp range. We have no negative comments --- other than the fact that I don't get a 'commission' from the factory LOL

Yes, I'm interested in all that. The solar, batteries etc are a given and I was a sparky in a past life, so I'm comfortable with all that gear.
I noticed the step at the bedsides. Are all the beds mounted high? I guess this is to line up with the front spare tyre recess? It's good though as it would provide more space under the bed.
I love your comment about the shorts and this is where I'd like to be, but I'm a little young for that just yet :-(
And I agree with your comment about commission! I don't think the factory is going to sell the van - it's more likely to be the people on here!

>3. I would have had the super-fine midgee screens on all the windows instead of half of them.
Thank you for the reminder on that! Present van has standard screen (they don't know what sandflies are in Melbourne) but annexe has midgee screen.

>We compromised with one hanging and one shelved and I have since converted the remaining hanging unit to shelves.
Do you have any other hanging space? SWMBO loves her hanging space for her coats, and a shoe locker is a must! (I think she has a fetish but that's a story for another day!)

>5. I am happy with the operation of the Coolmatic 190 litre fridge.
>Occassionaly makes a clunking/gurgling sound but operates very well.
>The light packed up but that is a wiring problem (covered by a previous post) that will be fixed under warranty.

Does it wait you at night? My current is a dometic - silent but a pain when you want to jknow if it's actually working!

>7. Excellent, - A factory visit is virtually compulsory before construction starts. If it is within the realms of sound engineering it will be OK - if there is as issue they will tell you why its an issue.

That's the feeling I was getting on the phone.

>8. I haven't had any warranty issues after 25,000 k most of it on backroads and tracks and along the coast - other than a broken cupboard hinge - two replacements were promply dispatched. I buggered a roof hatch - Bti organised a replacement at my cost - about $30. Any querries are promply attended too and they get back to you. A virtue less and less organisations posses unless you owe them money. Sound in Motion, who supply and fit all the sound gear and TV etc have discovered a minor problems with a voltage stabiliser in the tv circuit which caused the screen to flicker below a certain voltage. Thay are currently researching a suitable service provider in WA who can fit a replacement unit to their standards.
>Otherwise she's sweet :-)

Thanks for that. Quite often people don't like admitting even those small problems. As long as they are fixable and fixed amicably and expediently they aren't really problems in, my opinion.

>10. I will go with the under-bed storage any day - with the high bed (any space above a bed not required for comfortable sleeping is wasted space) you get extra advantages not usually listed.
> can you lie in bed in the Olympic and have the breeze from all the windows, which are bed high in the BT flow straight over you and can you lie in bed and also look at the view without raising your head off the pillow?.

umm, actually we can - I had a raised bed base installed and the top of the bed is level with the bottom of the windows, although being a poptop the windows are probably a little smaller.

>The storage space is huge - we refer to it as the 'shed'
I like sheds!

>Get the large side opening water proof access doors. Also get a couple of lights put in there.
Thanks for the reminder about the lights - I've had to add them myself to the Olympic.
So there are different size access doors? Do you have the larger size, if so what size are they. I have a BBQ that I want to stow in there, as well as chairs and hopefully and outside table which current sits on the bed while travelling (the table not the BBQ)

>Talking about storage the extra waterproof cupboard in the ensuit provides a great extra space and is well worth the small additional cost.
From the pics, it looks like there are two waterproof cupboards - a vanity and one belong the sink. Is the one below the sink the one referred to as the waterproof linin closet?

>Don't stint on power sockets and get some outside the van - including a 12v one.
Nope, won't be holding back there - love my power!

>Other things for full idependence is a Honda 2 Kpa genny.
>They are well proven with BT owners and do the job - including running the aircon. Mine rarely gets used for providing power mainly for the aircon. Its a piece of mind thing and got me out of the sh#t recently when camping-out sans van on a gold hunting trip and ran out of battery power!!

I've so far been anti-generator as my solar setup is more than adequate, but this time I'm thinking a genny for the air con and the washing machine may not be a bad thing. SWMBO hates the air con (but loves the heat cycle) and of course will love it if needed for the washer, so I can justify it.
I'm intrigued as to how you could run out of battery power- 375AH of battery whould be enough to light up the goldfields - do tell! Should I go another battery or two?
My current setup has 300AH of battery and 240W of solar - never ever ran out - in fact never used more than 40-50AH, but I don't use it for the fridge but I do run a small inverter with 240V lights for the BBQ etc

Regards
David

Nope - no hanging space - SWMBO has a mini iron for pressing wrinkles used about once a year. Only seems to work on clothing 'wrinkles' LOL

Fridge won't keep you awake - at all

I think all, or at least 95% of the beds are set high. Why would you give up on that extra space.

The water tight locker sizes are on their website - think - there are three sizes. Std, Large (what we have ) and x-large. The latter requires the loss of the bedsize table and drawer.

The second - water proof locker in the ensuite, cost was about $250, open up a huge amount of storege adjacen to the water heater - definite recomend.

We have two folding tables and two large reclining Coleman chairs plus two smaller chairs, plus large annex flooring and one annex end panel - both made from shade cloth. Sewing machine, BBQ, fihing rods and tackle, metal detectors, genny, tools, additional 20L jerry can (I have a rack of three on the A frame) plus other assorted gear all in the shed.

Regards running out of power - did not have the van with me - just a high speed mobile trip to check out some gold country with a view of going back with the van.

Cheers John

Hi Rob and Liz,

Thank you for your feedback. Seems all I hear is praise!
I agree with you BT should be paying commissions!

>4. We have a Lemair 2.2 top load auto washing machine in an aluminium tread plate box on the A frame and it meets all our needs. When you order your BT you can have a 300mm or 600mm extended A frame. We have found the 300 quite adequate. We also have a dust proof box for our folding bikes, and three jerry cans, 2 x fuel and 1 for drinking water..

Didn't think of the option of installing the washer on the A frame, and would be keen to have a look. The extended drawbar also sounds like a good option.

>6. No other manufacturer of any vehicle or tow equipment that I have owned (including cars, 4WD, tractors, trailers, horsefloats or caravans can match Bushtracker for after sale service and warranty issues.

That's what I like to hear.

>10. You won't miss a front boot when you see and use the "hold" of a Bushtracker.

You haven't seen what I drag along, BBQs, chairs, tables etc etc. I like the sound of the 'hold' - sounds much better than a locker!

>11. We live at Nelson Bay and you'd be very welcome to come up for a look see. (providing we are not on the road). Only an hour and a half from Central Coast.

We'd love to come and have a look at your van. Being 3.5 years old should give an idea on how well they wear. I'll PM you with my email address.

Regards

David

Hi Stephen & Debra,

Thanks for the offer - seems I have a couple of offers a little closer to me, so I'll try to follow them up first and come back to you if no success. I hope this is ok.

Thanks for your reply.

David

Ranger (is that Steve?)

I've sent a email reply to an email sent to me from Steve yesterday but have had no response. I have also left a message via telephone this morning for either Paul or Steve to call me, but haven't heard yet.

I'm trying to keep the ball rolling as quickly as I can, before SWMBO changes her mind!

David

David,

I was out training horses this morning from 5 am, actually got hung up on a tractor most of the morning... Anyway did not get into the office until 11 and am not caught up yet... I don't know who you are, as you can imagine I get a lot of Email, todays batch ranges from Iraq, France, to all over Australia.. I will look for an email with a "David" and get back to you ASAP....

Kind Regards, and yes, the Ranger,

"Last," "Lone," .... or "Lost", depends on the day, but yes, the Ranger. Ha!

Hi John and Sue,

I sent you a private email earlier today. Would love to come a have a viewing this weekend if it suits you. What day are you back?

David

Just tried resending the earlier email to you and your email seems to be bouncing now. I'll leave you a PM in here.

Jan,

Great story - thank you.

So I need the extra large hatches now too....
Please don't tell my better half about the Websato - it's another $2500

David

Webasto not Websato!

I already estimated 4 panels/4 batteries as I was also a sparky in a past life and I love my power... some sort of macho thing, the better half tells me... I don't think she understands but she grins and bears it when I start talking electrics... and the 220 litre fridge is not an optional extra - I have a 150 litre now and if I'm upgrading vans, everything must get bigger!

I like the fixed washing machine option as it seems a lot tidier and easier than dragging a 4.5kg washing machine around - and they don't actually weight 4.5kg do they!