Are you planning a ‘once in a lifetime’ adventure across Australia or across the world? Have you found the ideal expedition vehicle yet? By ‘expedition vehicle’, we mean a full off road vehicle and camper combination. If you’re unsure about what to get and how to get it, then read on!
Expedition vehicles must be well equipped to handle the toughest off road conditions, while keeping fuel economy low. However, there’s so many 4×4 expedition vehicles for sale these days that finding the right one can be a complex, stressful and time consuming process.
To get around this hurdle, Trayon offer a turnkey service which handles the process for you. We can create your perfect expedition vehicle from the very start, when it’s just a dream, to the very finish, when you hop in and drive it out the workshop.
This article explains how Trayon’s unique turnkey service works, and why it’s such a great option for those seeking the perfect expedition vehicle that they can still use day to day.
We’ll start with a little background.
Why is Finding the Right Expedition Vehicle in Australia so Difficult?
The Australian continent contains some of the most remote parts of the world (like the Kimberley). To explore the huge variety of landscapes available you need complete confidence in your entire off road rig. That includes:
- The vehicle
- Vehicle upgrades and accessories
- Off road camper
- Off road camper upgrades and accessories.
Expedition vehicles in Australia have to be ready for anything.
To find that perfect rig, you need to explore the mountain of 4×4 expedition vehicles for sale. You might eventually find a vehicle which already comes with everything you desire, or maybe you will need to make your own vehicle/camper combination. Either way, it won’t happen overnight!
With so many choices, opinions, and different ways of doing things, it’s a difficult and time consuming process for anyone. Not to mention the many other tasks involved with preparing for an off road adventure.
It’s particularly difficult for international tourists who, ideally, need to organise expedition vehicles in Australia before they even step foot on Australian soil.
Why is Trayon a Good Option for Expedition Vehicles?
For starters, we’ve been creating high quality camping units to slide on the back of a ute for 25 years! We know the ins’ and outs’ of camping in the most remote parts of Australia (and the world for that matter), and we craft our campers to deal with all possibilities. The purpose of a Trayon slide on camper is to be the ‘home away from home’ component of your expedition vehicle.
For an idea about what exactly a slide on camper is, check out our recent article ‘Slide on Camper’.
Each Trayon slide on camper is 100% Australian made, and built with four primary objectives in mind, which are:
- Toughness – Trayon campers are built survive everything the Australian Outback can throw your way. Our campers often outlive the vehicles that carry them, and come with a 10 year structural warranty.
- Lightweight and aerodynamic design – By keeping the campers weight down, we limit the burden on your vehicle’s chassis and running gear, and therefore maximise its off road capability. An empty Trayon camper weighs roughly 390 kg, whereas the dry weight of most other slide on campers can be 500 kg, 600 kg even 800 kg +!
We also ensure campers have a low profile when travelling, keeping fuel costs down and making it easier to squeeze through tight overgrown tracks.
- Comfort and quality of living – We fit our campers with the gear and facilities needed to make your adventure as pleasant as possible in the often harsh conditions of the Outback. Check out the list of camping essentials you get with a Trayon in this product description.
- Convenience – We have designed our campers to ensure your trip is as smooth and stress free as possible, for example:
- No camper registration is required.
- Quick and easy setup and pack up (approx. 3 minutes).
- Fast and effortless to detach from the vehicle (approx. 6 minutes).
- Slide the camper off at camp, head off for day trips in your vehicle, and come back to camp as you left it.
As a result, our slide on campers are ideal setting up Australian adventure vehicles for that once in a lifetime adventure (or your weekend getaways!). They’re camping generalists ready for any situation, and off road specialists ready for all types of rough off road terrain!
What Exactly is the “TurnKey” Service?
The turnkey service delivers you the perfect expedition vehicles for Australia, without any of the time consuming and stressful organisation and administration tasks, because Trayon handle everything.
The TurnKey Service is Available to Anyone
Initially, our ‘turnkey’ service was developed to help international customers prepare perfect expedition vehicles for Australia before they arrived in the country. For those who only had one or two years to travel, we saved them valuable time that could have been wasted organizing their rig (potentially months!).
We then realised that this is a convenience many Australians would love too!
How Does the TurnKey Process Start?
You simply talk to us, then dust your hands and focus on everything else involved with planning a big off road trip, while we handle the expedition vehicle creation. Once the perfect rig is ready, we call you up, you come to the shop, jump in the hot seat and turn the key; turn-key.
This turn key service is split into three broad stages, including:
- Consultation – You to tell us about your trip and what kind of rig you would like to drive off into the sunset.
- Rig creation – We create exactly what you need, while you tend to the more important aspects of trip planning and life in general.
- Pick up – You drive the perfect off road expedition vehicle off into that sunset.
Here’s a more detailed explanation of each stage.
Expedition Vehicle For Sale Australia – Initial Consultation
This is where you tell us everything about your situation, in terms of your future camping and off road requirements. We use this info to help you design perfect expedition vehicles for Australia.
The questions we will ask include:
- Where do you want to go?
- How big is your crew (i.e. family)?
- How long will you be going for?
- What other activities are you planning?
- What’s your budget?
- What’s your vehicle make and accessory brand preferences?
- Is it a private purchase or ABN job?
This all helps to identify what kinds of things you need to have included in the ultimate expedition vehicle. Our main goal is to make sure that what you get will see you reach your dream destinations, satisfy how you want to live, and get you back home in one safe and extremely satisfied piece!
We prefer to handle initial consultation through email to ensure there is a record of the outcome.
Expedition Vehicle Creation Process
This stage involves a series of categories, which are informed by our consultation process, including:
- Cat A – Base vehicle sourcing
- Cat B – Tray fitting
- Cat C – Suspension and upgrades
- Cat D – Extra aftermarket accessories
- Cat E – Electronic connections
- Cat F – Trayon fabrication and customization.
Category A – Base Vehicle Sourcing
The first thing we do is find and purchase a new vehicle to build the expedition vehicle around. This could be a dual cab, extra cab or single cab platform.
The best thing about that is…..
You Don’t Have to Muck Around With Car Dealers
This can save you a considerable amount of time and money. Time, because we handle all the ‘argy bargy’ with dealers. And money, because we approach several different dealers and find the most competitive price, which is often cheaper than your normal retail price (because we’re dealing with the fleetside of sales, which involves extra purchasing incentives for the dealer).
Negotiating with dealers yourself can be pretty stressful. Many metro salesmen don’t have a detailed understanding of the vehicle they’re selling. They just want to make as many sales as possible, as quickly as possible, without having to invest much time and thought into your situation.
Regional dealers can be a different story, and more often than not, know their wares very well and strive to help you get what you need. But regional dealers can also be more expensive.
Basically, regardless of which dealers you might approach, we can save you time and money.
A Quick Tip for Buying the Vehicle Yourself
Get everything in writing so when you get the vehicle in the driveway and something isn’t what you payed for, you can force the dealer to rectify the issue.
What Vehicle Make and Style Should You Pick?
Generally, this needs to be a four wheel drive ute. However, we do have an off road trailer option which could be paired with a wagon if that’s the way you wanted to go. You can check out the off road trailer option in our recent post ‘Off Road Trailer’. As far as expedition vehicles in Australia go, it’s right up there.
For the popular slide on camper option, the vehicle could be a single cab ute, dual cab, extra cab, twin axle extra long tray…..whatever you would like.
Expedition Vehicle Make
In terms of vehicle brand, it’s completely up to you. It could be Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Ford, Mercedes, Holden, Isuzu and the rest (although you can’t go past a 79 series Toyota Landcruiser single cab ute chassis, which are often thought of as the toughest expedition vehicles in Australia).
Manufacturer Accessories
We’ll also ask what manufacturer extras you would like, for example reverse cameras, snorkels, or other off road manufacturer accessories.
Registration
We can register it where ever you need. The easiest option is Queensland (Qld), Australia, as that’s where we are based.
Category B – Expedition Vehicle Tray Fitting
The ute’s tray size and style is very important. It has to be a flatbed tray, not a styleside tub model (to understand why, check out our article on ‘Slide on vs Slide in?’).
Dealer vehicles don’t always come with trays that are well suited for Trayon Campers. That doesn’t mean a Trayon won’t fit (as a Trayon will fit most flatbed trays), it just won’t be a snug as it could.
For example, with ‘extra cab’ utes, dealers will often have them fitted with a shorter stubby tray. That’s generally 1950 mm in length instead of a full size 2250 mm tray. A Trayon Camper will still slide onto a stubby tray no worries, but it will overhang slightly, which isn’t ideal.
So What’s the Options?
- We can ask the dealer to organise a custom tray fitted – But, most dealers have arrangements with local tray manufacturers who make their own style of trays, and aren’t always best suited to Trayon Campers either; or
- We can supply a perfect size tray for the Dealer to fit – These 2250 mm long, high quality aluminium flat bed trays are perfectly suited to Trayon Campers, and a great add on for extra cab vehicles in general. We simply have the tray fabricated and shipped out to the vehicle dealer for them to fit. That’s our recommended option for Trayon expedition vehicles in Australia.
Category C – Expedition Vehicle Suspension and Upgrades
For expedition vehicles in Australia, 4WD suspension is perhaps the most crucial piece of running gear to get right to make the vehicle off road ready.
We have an entire article dedicated to the best suspension options when exploring the Outback with a slide on camper. Check out the article here, called ‘4WD Suspension Upgrade?’.
For safety reasons and the best off road results, we recommend the following upgrades:
- 600 kg constant load suspension and better quality shock absorbers – this will ensure your expedition vehicle will handle the roughest off road terrain in Australia for extended periods, and give you the versatility to carry extra weight in unforseen or emergency situations.
It also gives the vehicle a two inch lift, and means you can add any 4×4 accessories under the sun like bullbars and undercarriage armour (either as part of the turn-key service, or down the track). Our reasoning is fully explained in our suspension article.
- A Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) upgrade – In addition to the running gear upgrade above, you need certification from a qualified person that your upgrade has increased your vehicles carrying capacity to a certain level. This protects you from issues with vehicle insurance, warranty and the law! Again, it is further explained in the suspension article.
For more information on GVM and payload considerations check out our article ‘Slide on Camper’.
We always recommend that you get these upgrades done at the same time and before the vehicles first registration. By rolling it all up in one upgrade process we will save you both time and money.
We make sure the dealer has the vehicle upgraded before its first registration, and completely off road ready by the time you drive it out the door.
Category D – Extra Aftermarket Accessories
Once we have your vehicle in our workshop, we can fit it out with any aftermarket accessories you want (which haven’t already been fitted by the vehicle manufacturer).
This means bullbars, winches, spotlights, roof racks, your favorite rims and tyres, extra spares, auxiliary batteries, snorkel, canvas seat covers, underbody protection, to name a few. Basically we can turn it into a full swing off road expedition vehicle to match your requirements.
If you’ve gone for a mid range four wheel drive (like a Nissan Navara, Toyota Hilux or Ford Ranger) a couple of extras we highly recommend include:
- A catch can – To prevent oil re-entering the intake and reduce carbon build up inside the engine.
- A rust preventer – To protect your vehicle from its arch enemy! We recommend the electronic rust preventer as the most straightforward option (as opposed to spray on). Just remember it’s not a ‘rust proofer’, and you must practise proper care after off road driving, particularly in salty areas. Use official wash down stations, and get in the habit of washing the car as often as you can, taking particular care to remove any dust, mud, or salt from underneath and inside the chassis rails.
Category E – Expedition Vehicle Electronic Connections
The next step is to prepare the expedition vehicle’s electronic connections for a Trayon Camper, ready to bring the Camper systems to life!
Different Trayon Campers require different electronic modifications (because they come with different accessories). For example the Diesel-Deluxe model comes with a 12V Battery Management System (BMS) while the Deluxe and the Standard models do not.
So this step will be driven by which Trayon Camper you want, which leads us to the next category.
Category F – Trayon Fabrication and Customization
This is where we design and assemble your choice of slide on camper. It’s an important decision because it will be your home away from home in the Outback! It will also determine the level of camping comfort your expedition vehicle provides.
Trayon Models
Trayon Campers come in three distinct models, including:
- The Standard model – This is Trayon’s most popular model, and provides the cheapest setup to explore the country, while carrying your home around on your vehicles back.
- The Deluxe model – the key features defining the Deluxe model from the standard include:
- External shower and portable toilet
- Gas hot water system
- Camper fly
- Extra storage space
- The Diesel Deluxe model – the Diesel Deluxe model is the premium version of Trayon’s Camper, and differs from the Deluxe in the following ways:
- Diesel powered hot water system instead of gas
- Lithium ready (i.e. the AGM deep cycle battery can be upgraded to a Lithium one if requested, allowing the use of more intensive appliances and providing quicker battery recharge times)
- Internal cabin heating (via the diesel powered hot water system)
- Town water inlet
- Redarc battery management system.
You can also compare features using our 2017 slide on camper brochure. The dimensions of each model will vary depending on whether your expedition vehicle is a single cab or dual cab, and the size of your vehicles tray.
What if You Selected a Four Wheel Drive Wagon?
For customers who want a four wheel drive wagon, or would like a trailer for additional storage space, there is the Trayon TMO off road trailer. This is a multifuncional off road trailer. Meaning it’s work trailer during the week, a workhorse or recreational trailer on weekends and a full off road camper trailer in the holidays (it can also be fitted with a fully enclosed shower and toilet ensuite)!
Trayon Expedition Vehicle Accessories
After you have chosen a camper model, you have the option to accessorize it even further, to create perfect expedition vehicles for Australia.
There’s a heap of different accessories you could choose to add, which are listed in this accessories price list.
The Final Stage – Expedition Vehicle Pick Up
At this stage of the process, your ultimate expedition vehicle is sitting in our head office factory in Maroochydore, Queensland (aka the sunshine State), and waiting for you to take the reigns!
How to Organise Expedition Vehicle Pick Up
You decide when to pick up your custom expedition vehicle. Whether you’re flying in from Cairns, Sydney, Perth or overseas (or even just walking around the corner), we will meet you whenever it’s convenient for you.
The best way to organise this meeting is a direct phone call on +61 75 47 65 355, plus an email to sales@trayon.com.
Expedition Vehicle Hand-Over
When you arrive, we’ll give you the necessary paperwork and an in depth run down of the entire expedition vehicle. We’ll explain vehicle and camper specs, upgrades, accessories, functionality and anything else you would like to know!.
Time to Turn the Expedition Vehicle Key!
Okay, now we’ve reached the really good bit, the actual turn-key part!
You’ve had the time to take care of every other aspect of travel planning and preparation while we’ve been creating your ultimate expedition truck camper for Australia, Russia, Europe and the rest of the globe (Like some of our customers do)! So now there’s only one thing left to do!
Jump in behind the wheel and turn the key! The engine will roar to life, and you can shoot straight off into the remote, beautiful and exciting Australian Outback (just don’t forget the wife and kids!).
If this sounds like a good option for you, give us a bell!
