RV REVIEW
Couple’s vans take all shapes and sizes. After all,
what one travelling couple needs another wouldn’t
touch with a barge pole. Heck, some would be
perfectly happy with a tent and stretcher bed.
But for those who have come a certain distance in
life, who nowadays want the luxury of living space
and the comfortable conveniences of a proper
caravan, there is no shortage of suitable rigs.
our Isuzu D-Max tow vehicle, the Serenity tracked
nicely along the Hume Highway as we headed out
of Campbellfield, Vic.
MASSIVE PAYLOAD
Our Serenity weighed 2568kg Tare, with an ATM of
3300kg and a generous payload capacity of 732kg.
This is where the Crusader Caravans’ Excalibur
range of tandem-axle vans comes in, from the
8.6m (overall) Duke to the biggest of the bunch,
the 9.5m Kingsman. It has a meranti timber frame clad with sides of
composite aluminium. The manufacturer adds
additional 40x21mm timber supports at 250mm
intervals for the length of the van, with the walls
themselves located into grooves on the top of the
floor, rather than being fixed to the sides.
Our review van, the Serenity, which we borrowed
from Melbourne Crusader Caravans, combines
form and function with ease of towing. Behind The floor and roof are one-piece fibreglass and ply
composite constructions. The floor is 42mm thick,
with a top skin of ply and bottom skin of fibreglass
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