Air Opus camper on the Gibb River Road...

by Gavin
(Melbourne)

I have a question at a long stretch - you may have an answer.

I'm imminently looking at purchasing a Air Opus camper trailer for a planned trip on the Gibb River Road next year.
These campers are pretty new.

Wondering if you have had people come across the Gibb and comment on their success / failures with the Air Opus - chassis / suspension wise.

Is there a minimum kind of mandate on type of chassis / suspension you recommend for camper trailers?

Regards,
Gavin

Comments for Air Opus camper on the Gibb River Road...

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Nov 13, 2017
 Be Aware
by: Ian

First, I'd go down to Braeside and talk to the manufacturer - in some sections of the GRR you could be down to 15kmh as we were a few months ago, the corrugations being so far apart and so deep, too dangerous to float over at speed. Get them to put the same wheels and tyres as on your tow vehicle. If the camper is an ultra tough off roader, there should be no problem.
Nov 13, 2017
 Campers
by: Pam

If you're camper is tough and designed for off road, you'll be fine. Just remember - drive to the conditions, there is no hurry. Even good gear can fall apart on the corrugation so check your vehicle and camper when you pull up at night. Just did this trip in July and had to do some running repairs on the way so good to have a few spares. Unfortunately way too many idiots on the road driving way to fast with no concern apparently for themselves or their gear and certainly no concern for other travellers.
Nov 15, 2017
 Just be careful
by: Brian

The Gibb River Road is just a long, corrugated dirt road, similar, but longer, than many others in Australia (similar to the road down to Menindee Lakes). What you need is a proper Off-road suspension on your van. Some van manufacturers (Jayco, for example) provide an "off road suspension" that is not suitable for corrugated roads (go figure!). Preferably, you should have independent axles with decent shock absorbers. However, it's up to you how you travel. I found that you need to find a sweet spot where you are traveling at a speed that just bounces from the top of one corrugation to the next, but not too fast that you whizz off the road at every turn. There are some dry crossings on the Gibb where you have to slow down quickly to avoid launching into the stratosphere, so too much speed can be a problem. I found that around 80 kph was a good compromise, but that was not towing a van.
I looked at the Air Opus before buying my Goldstream, but decided it had too much canvas. I would have been quite happy taking it along the Gibb and similar roads.
Nov 15, 2017
 Camper
by: Rob

We did the GRR 2 years ago with a small on road camper - nothing special, and had no issues at all, not even a puncture. Mind you, we did not do the really rough areas. Best advice we got was drive to the conditions and watch tyre pressures - very important. Our average speed was around 60kmh.

The Air opus should be fine.

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