20,000 Kilometres of Stress Testing of Innovan Campers
Written by Welby Davidson
Innovan has been looking for an opportunity to prove Innovan campers under extreme off-road conditions so we considered ourselves very fortunate to be invited by Brad McCarthy to tag along with him in November and December 2005 while he field tested his MAXTRAX retrieval devices. Brad volunteered to tow a trailed version of the Innovan camper behind his Toyota Landcruiser Wagon and we took a Slide On unit on the tray of our ST Patrol.
Brad compiles the Dirty Weekends Guides for 4 Wheel Drive enthusiasts as well as magazine articles and television segments. He used his extensive knowledge of Queensland to select the most demanding route possible through the length of Fraser Island, to the tip of Cape York and then through outback Queensland and through the Simpson Desert to the Northern Territory and South Australia. One aim of the trip was to subject the campers to extremes of stress in a deliberate attempt to identify any potential problems. For most of the trip we drove at a speed which was at the limit allowed by either the law or the terrain. In a period of less than five weeks, we covered a distance of more than 10,000 kilometres with each of the Innovan campers. The chances are, that in that time, the campers would have been subjected to more stress than would be expected in a lifetime of normal use. The performance of the Innovan campers was remarkable with no failures or shortcomings of any consequence being discovered.
Since our return, Brad has written an article published in the February edition of the Queensland Fishing Monthly magazine in which he describes the Innovan camper as "a fantastic new design unlike anything you have ever seen before and I reckon it will change the face of 4WD Touring forever". Photos of the trip can be seen in the "Fraser Island, Cape York and the Outback and the Simpson Desert" sections of the Gallery.
- Temperatures in the mid 40 degrees C.
- Thousands of kilometres of dirt and gravel roads
- Jackhammer-like corrugations traversed at 80 to100 k.p.h.
- Choking bulldust ( but not inside the vans)
- Torrential rain and muddy roads
- Creek and River crossings with water over the vehicles' bonnets
- Tracks so rough that four wheels could not always stay on the ground
- Tracks overgrown with trees
- Tracks blocked by fallen trees as the result of recent and still burning bushfires
- Sand too soft and hot to walk in wearing sandals
- Hundreds of kilometres using GPS navigation on station tracks not marked on our maps.
We even crossed the sand hills of the Simpson Desert going in the more difficult direction at speeds sufficient to jump over the crest of the dunes. Stopping on the crest resulted in the floor of the vehicle resting on the top of the dune with its four wheels hanging uselessly in the air. In spite of all this the Patrol with the Slide-On used an average of only 14 litres of diesel per 100km. This was just as well, with fuel costing as much as $1.62/litre.
Reverse cycle air conditioning was not fitted to either of the vans but was not really missed. On the days that we were not travelling, a shady spot and the insulation of the vans sufficed. No detectable amounts of dust entered the vans in spite of what they were put through. The metal storage box on the front of the prototype trailed version filled with water at river crossings, but there was no sign of water inside the GRP (Fibreglass) units. People have asked about the suitability of the Innovan camper for use on a long trip. All I can say is that during the five weeks we spent together, my travelling companion and I never once felt cramped for personal space.
With the constant hammering at speed, some minor parts came loose or failed on both motor vehicles and there were some flat tyres along the way. Some damage was inflicted by human error which caused impact with immovable objects. A side window on the prototype trailed version was broken by a tree branch while detouring around a tree blocking the track. The only “failings” in the campers were trivial and caused no inconvenience to us on the journey. They are things which are simple to remedy and will be addressed in future production so they will not reoccur.
- A fluoro light, being trialled in the towed version, disintegrated and so will not be used in production
- One of four pop rivets in the outdoor kitchen unit failed and so will be replaced with s/steel bolts
- Two nuts that were not Nylock nuts came undone so in future all nuts will be lock nuts
- Two hinge pins started to work loose and so these pins will be fixed in place with locktite in future