Advice on older Bushtrackers?

Our first bushy was a 99 steely we bought about 16 years ago. Was stored at a caravan park near the sea so had a few rust issues which was not much of a problem to fix myself. It had only 2 panels and 2 batteries, added another 2 batteries and another water tank to make 4.We had a lot of fun in it and lived in it for just over a year before we took delivery of our 2010 van with not too many issues. It had a 90 litre fridge which was the greatest draw back. Construction wise, the shower and toilet area which is not fibreglass but panelling. As long as the corner joints are good no probs. Also added a webasto heater and a couple of other things not so important.
Overall it was a great van and we loved it. We were planning a long time on the road so decided to update to some more niceties. We did nearly 10 years to start with. And now back doing it again.
One major consideration is weight. It will most likely have a 3 tonne suspension system. We changed ours out for a 3.5 as overweight. May need to upgrade the hitch too.
Do your inspection and hopefully see you with a van and at a muster in the future.
Regards Geoff & Peta.

Hi Gordon,

Geoff & Peta have given good info, all I can add is many older Bushtracker’s are purchased with the intention of doing major upgrades, certainly works out a good decision cost wise. The more work you can do yourself the less it costs. There is a Facebook group Bushtracker Caravan modifiers for owners that may help for ideas / info.

Totally agree with the comments made by Geoff.
We had a 1999 BT 18' with the steel sides which we renovated. We had the factory replace the suspension with the latest which gave us a an upgrade to 3.3T
They are basically the same structure as the new ones but just with older fittings and equipment.
Much of it you can do yourself if handy and upgrade a bit at a time as the funds allow.
Dave.

Have you bought yet, Gordon?

This has just been listed on the BT factory forum.

BT For Sale

Thank you all for the input. Due to the size and weight we have decided to go with the older 16ft van. We were getting excited about starting this new project when Covid put the brakes on the pick up temporarily. We will definitely get in touch with the Facebook group once we have the van. So if you see a Defender towing an old Bushy down the tracks somewhere in the future, feel free to give us a wave. We're already used to it from the Defender community. We will have 2 iconic vehicles built to withstand whatever we can throw at them.
Cheers all, Gordon