What Crusader Caravan Options Did We Choose And Why?

[@andrewrobinson9279]

Great video, and explanation of why you choose the options you did. I’ve got an electric awning, and wish it was a manual one. When extended, The arms do sit around head height especially close to the van. It is possible to support/tie down the awning with aftermarket poles and guys, but by doing that, it might as well be a manual awning due to the work involved. Cheers, 😊

[@ewkaus]

Thanks for commenting 🙏🏼 Good to know about the electric awning and the possibilities to still be able to secure. Hope it helps others when making that decision very good feedback for others. Much appreciated 👍🏽

[@Aphony66]

I have deleted the Dometic DRS as standard on our van and changed it to a Carafan C700. I have researched the Carafan and Dometibmc systwms and from everything Ive seen, the Carafan cones out tops. The Carafan is double the price mind you.

[@garrykruger4685]

Great info mate. Wish we had watched it before signing up for our (Musketeer Recliner) which is due for delivery in next or so( fingers crossed). We didn't go for the upgrade Bundles but did get some upgrade extra's. We are first time Caravanners and your video did help with justifying a few things we did extra or changed. Also has given us some things to think about once we do get it and to add later. Thanks again for the info.

[@ewkaus]

Thanks Garry. It’s much appreciated. I’m Glad it has helped. We are still are waiting for our caravan so hopefully we made the right decisions as well. 🤞🏼

[@zacbereznicki7577]

Thanks for the video. Curious if you looked at an Excalibur castle?

[@ewkaus]

Thanks Zac. Yes we did look at the Excalibur castle but was just that bit bigger and heavier with an additional costs. For us we couldn’t justify going that way.

[@barts1286]

Wouldn't be without our diesel heater! We use it all the time. Also just fitted Savvy Level to our van, can now level with ramps in seconds, a marriage saver I reckon.

[@ewkaus]

Thanks for commenting. We still waiting for our van 😩. Nice to hear about the diesel heater and leveler. Heard a few good things about that brand.

[@lyndoncarter1528]

Great video

[@ewkaus]

Thanks Lyndon glad it helped.

[@kennyfesting9255]

Excellent video mate - thanks for sharing. We have put a deposit down on a Musketeer Palace and should take delivery in August. At around 9:55 on your video you are talking about the Enerdrive inverter that you opted for and said Crusader were too expensive to do this in the first place - this is the one option that I really want on my van but haven't been able to get (the dealer is not accepting any further build changes). You implied you were doing this afterwards - is this just fitting off the inverter? Are you getting Crusader to make provision for the upsized cabling to all points? I'm not sure how difficult this is to retrofit afterwards but assume it will be challenging!

[@ewkaus]

Thanks Kenny. Yes that was with Crusader pre wiring the outlets. I feel it would be difficult afterwards. Crusader have changed their rules regarding this now. We were given the opportunity to upgrade to a full composite van and when going over our order they mentioned the provisional wiring for inverter was only to two points. This wasn’t what we are after and now had to pay extra to get the inverter running off all points, but need to purchase the inverter directly from them. In the past I heard you could provision all points but is no longer the case. We have now upgraded to a Redarc system and the wiring apparently has changed in the composite vans which makes a bit more reasonably priced.

[@nigelt3950]

Great clip, could you tell us the weights( ATM and towball in particular) and exactly what model.

[@ewkaus]

Thanks Nigel. Unfortunately we are still waiting for our van 😢. We chose the Musketeer Palace with a X-Country pack.

[@shameelali2549]

Best choice you made was scrapping the outdoor kitchen,I did the same and use my little table and ziegler BBQ.

[@ewkaus]

I hope so, just so used to cooking outside currently with our camper trailer.

[@CRDStudios]

Awesome video, thanks heaps, I really appreciate the cutaway images showing what you're talking about, I also really liked your other video on choosing the van. I currently have a Jayco All-Terrain but have put a deposit down on a Crusader Hurricane, although I have to wait until 2022 to get it. I really liked all your upgrades and tips. Each to their own when it comes to an external Kitchen. I've seen and read mixed reviews about external Kitchens. For example 'Trip In A Van' just have an external Weber BabyQ and swear thats all you need, and they'd know as they do it full time but for us an external Kitchen is a must. Currently we have the Jayco external slide-out Kitchen, it cost $2,000 with hot water added but its one of our favourite features. On the Crusader Hurricane we have ordered the Large Dometic slide-out Kitchen, a $3,500 upgrade but worth it for us. One of the main reasons my Wife likes the outside Kitchen so much is because of how hot it got cooking inside before we had the external Kitchen fitted. One of the main things I like about the external Kitchen is that I can do the washing up outside and not worry about getting soapy, dirty water all over the inside of the caravan. We also love the outdoors feel of chatting with friends and family as you cook or wash up. One other big positive is that it stops the smell of food and condensation inside the van. Anyway, as I said, you'll get mixed opinions, some say they hate it and never use it, others like us feel it enhances the camping experience. Just wanted to offer you another tip with the lithium batteries. I know you are thinking of upgrading the batteries yourself, which is all cool but just make sure your battery management system (bms) is lithium compatible. Many of them are not, so if you upgrade the batteries to lithium you would also need to upgrade the bms which becomes so expensive it's not worth it. I have 2x 120Ah of lithium batteries in the Jayco and am getting 2x 200Ah put in the Crusader. I also would recommend a compressor fridge in lieu of gas/3-way fridge as its one less thing to worry about switching from gas to battery when packing up and cheaper to run. A couple of other upgrades I got were; Anderson solar inputs to the front and rear of the van to make it easier to chase the sun, an external shower and a few extra 12v usb sockets next to the beds for charging phones and devices, Cheers.

[@ewkaus]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and letting us know that you enjoyed our videos, really appreciate it. We have never owned a caravan before so I guess we will find out about the kitchen soon enough. We are so used to cooking outside now with our camper trailer so I'm sure it will be partly missed. I believe the BMS is compatible with Lithium batteries but will look into this a bit more now. We actually did go with a compressor fridge which is part of the X-Country Pack and added an external solar anderson plug. We will continually do follow up videos once we get our van which is hopefully this year and let everyone know about our mistakes and what we wish we might have done differently. Lets hope we can get back on the road once we have our vans. Wait times are crazy at the moment. Once again really appreciate you taking the time out to share your experience with everyone as well.

[@mehdiaskari1993]

Great resources you have put all together which help a lot of people to understand what to look for when thinking to purchase a caravan. Your information has help me with search, thank you🙏. What is the ATM on your Caravan???. I was thinking to get either the jeyco expanda 20ft or All-terrain we’re family of six people. Since I’ve been watching videos I’m thinking to go with Musketeer place if I could afford it, my budget is around $80k; do you think with similar futures you have selected within my budget or it be higher??. Thank you for your impartial review?..

[@ewkaus]

Thanks Mahdi. Glad it has helped. Haven’t received our van yet still waiting so don’t know what the ATM will be. Depending on what you option you may go close. I know with all the part shortages prices have also gone up as well. Doesn’t hurt to get a price from them and then you can decide. Crusader are also building full composite caravans now which is a bonus.

[@mehdiaskari1993]

Thanks for your prompted response. Today I went to our local dealer in Redcliffe-didn’t have display model available but looked a similar to musketeer place. the sale person had told the musketeer palace up to 3tons ATM would come as semi off-road caravan. With a Single suspension with Independent coil on each side. Is your caravan is Off road or it’s semi off road??. This hesitated me I didn’t put a deposit-thought I would have go back watch your videos again. I would appreciate if you could clarify it please..

[@ewkaus]

@@mehdiaskari1993 That sounds about right for ATM we got the x country pack which supposedly gives it more protection and better suspension. Depends what you classify as off road. If it just dirt tracks with a few corrugations I’m sure it will be fine. When looking at what I call full off-road caravans you can tell the suspension is much better than Crusader and I guess you pay for that. Once I get the caravan will have good look at see what needs protecting and when doing rough roads will always drive to the conditions. We have done the Oodnadatta track and PDR up to Cape York with a camper trailer before and would happily take the Crusader on the Oodnadatta track but would think twice about the PDR as it would be slow going with all the corrugations. Hope that helps.

[@beyhankoc2910]

how much did the inverter setting cost thanks

[@ewkaus]

Hi Beyhan do you mean the provisional wiring for the inverter?

[@beyhankoc2910]

@@ewkaus yes buddy

[@mickw4360]

Thanks for the video mate, great info. Roughly what would the X Country pack costs?

[@ewkaus]

Cheers mate glad it helped. Roughly around the 11K.

[@vinhto8698]

We are currently in the process of researching a bunk van and have narrowed it down to the Crusader Palace with the X-Country pack same as yours. I'm still tossing up about the pullout kitchen as we had one on our camping trailer and love cooking in the outdoors. My wish list is slowly getting smaller though as I couldn't justify the cost of air bags and disk brakes. Have you towed the van with the Hilux yet? How does it tow with the additional mods to the car? Keen to hear your feedback as I, too have Hilux ute auto.

[@ewkaus]

Hi Vinh your story sounds very similar to ours. Unfortunately we have not received our van yet so can’t answer your question about how it tows. We have just recently made the decision to postpone ours further as we opted to go with the full composite builds so our delivery date will now be later on in the year.

[@shameelali2549]

Elect awning arms are adj in height,and can be manually winded in and out,also it can be tied down bro,one of the best things on my van imo.

[@ewkaus]

That is great to know. Thank you.

[@shameelali2549]

Very nice,how much did this end up costing?

[@grahamhastie896]

Interesting you say the manufacturer said was too difficult to organise Toyota drums to match your car.....Arent you the customer and them the seller ??? Those drums are available anywhere, assuming they are using reputable stubs..With the two vans we have had built, we told the manufacturer what we we wanted, and they were all conditional on the sale... And wise choice with ESC, should be compulsory on all braked vans, but we went from Dexta to ALKO with second van purely because it could be unplugged on serious rough road conditions. we found the Dexta caused a lot of pulling and tugging when we did the GCR, so bad that I disconnected it until we reached flat travelling again. Now simply a case of pulling an Anderson plug out. All good, just make sure you get the time to get out there and enjoy this great country before our friends across the water manufacture another virus...

[@ewkaus]

Thanks for commenting. Yeah I know it’s crazy they couldn’t place Toyota drums on. Thanks for the heads up on the ESC. It’s great country with so much to see and do. Looking forward to getting out there regardless of what happening.

[@monikas1097]

Great video. Currently researching bunk vans myself. I love the full off road vans...but like yourself realise that with one kid in high school we are only weekend warriors 😂 I do need to be mindful of weight. Did Crusader give you an idea of the tare after the upgrades please 🤔

[@ewkaus]

Thank You glad it helped. Would be nice to have more time travel more. No unfortunately they haven’t but know when fully loaded it will close to 2500-2800kg

[@grahamwhittaker8844]

😊👍🇦🇺

[@ewkaus]

Thanks Graham