Horses for Courses

For many travellers, slide-on campers provide adventure and comfort in abundance

Slide-on, ute-back or tray-back; the concept makes a lot of sense. You drive your vehicle to work most of the time, then on holiday weekends - or for longer - you clear out your work junk, plop the camper off its legs onto the ute, fill the fridge and tanks ... and go.

Of course, a small caravan or camper trailer gives you the same freedom - and doesn't require you buying a ute or pickup - but the 'plop-on' camper body keeps your tow bar free for towing a boat or a couple of dirt bikes. If you don't like towing - or are planning some off-road adventures where manoeuvrability might be tight - yet want to sleep above the ground, a slide-on might just be the best thing since sliced bread.

Like most other segments in the camper-tourer market, there is an almost bewildering array of designs to choose from. So here's AC+RV's quick guide to the different types of slide-ons.

The most basic are the units - and there are various brands - that are a tent-on-a-box, with lift-up sides revealing a basic kitchen. These units are derived from the trade bodies used by mechanics, technicians and others for in-field equipment service of bulldozers and power lines. Don't get me wrong, some of these units can be smart and useful - especially the ones with sides that swing high to provide shelter over the kitchen - but from a design perspective they are simple.

Next up the ladder are the units that set-up like entry-level camper trailers, complete with lots of canvas, guy ropes and an annexe to the side or rear. Above these on the evolutionary - and expense - scale are the walk-ins, either with hard sides and fixed roof, or a flip-up (hinged at the front edge) or wind-up (like some caravans) ceiling to provide more interior room. There are even one or two clever designs that are pop-tops with hard sides; the inner walls slide up the outer wall, like a fruit box, without the need for canvas's flexibility.

Just like caravans, construction techniques and materials vary, with the simplest being folded metal or dressed timber over a simple metal frame. More sophisticated units use foam-cored structural walls and some top-line bodies use a purpose-built, fibreglass tub and sections with benefits for stiffness and durability, and weather proofing.

Each design has its plusses and minuses. The simplest canvas-toppers are really only one step above camping - that 'step' means you sleep above the creepy-crawlies, but you might need a ladder. Pop-tops cut down on aerodynamic drag while you're on the freeway, but canvas requires more care when packing up, and isn't as cosy in colder conditions. The fixed-roof units don't have the extra complexity and components required for dust sealing, clamping down and splitting doors, but expose more body to the wind, costing more in fuel.

Yep, more and more people - as well as manufacturers - are cottoning on to slide-ons that combine most of the benefits of a camper trailer without having to tow anything. It's as sensible and economical for a young budget-conscious bloke and his gal as it is for retired couples who don't want to lug a big caravan around. Which brings us to AC+RV's first-ever slide-on evaluation - it's for the American-built Palomino Bronco 800.

Inside story

Setting up the pop-top Bronco is easy enough in theory: pull on the handbrake, flip four catches, wind up the lid (using the jack point at the ute's passenger door) and jump aboard. However, you'll need to be a bit of a monkey to reach the front catches. Pulling it all back down, too, is a little tricky because not only do you need to close the catches, you need to poke in the canvas around all four sides, requiring shuffling of your portable step or milk crate.

There's little wasted space in the Bronco - and there shouldn't be either. The layout is simple with seating and table on the right side, kitchen sink, stove and fridge on the left, and a bed up front. It's obvious from the Bronco's exterior silhouette that the bed lies over the cab of the 'tow' vehicle and, in this case, it's comfortable, large and with about 20cm clearance with the roof down, bedding can remain in place while the rig is on the road. The flexible section between the roof and sides has flyscreened vinyl windows on all four sides and a roof hatch and fan up above.

Lighting is taken care of with two modest overhead lights and there are three double power points - two in the kitchen; one adjacent to the somewhat wobbly table - for appliances. There are also telecoms and aerial sockets in the kitchen.

The glass-lidded two-burner Dometic stove increases available bench space when it's not in use and there's room for jam jars and the like on the surface above the three-way Dometic fridge. It's placarded 55L, but would be bulging at the seals with anything more than a few days' worth of tucker and beer.

Thanks to a split-door design, it's possible to have a quick road-side cuppa break, but the demo unit's door was a poor fit. With the top up, the door had a half-inch gap along its top edge, and ironically, its rubber seal was damaged to due to a lack of clearance to the body when opened with the top down.

Two small double-door overhead cupboards rise with the roof and there is plenty more storage in a half-dozen other cupboards, too. Lift 'n' slide drawers seem like they'd stay closed while bumping over rougher ground, but opening the second drawer in each stack interferes with the first drawer. It's a pesky and unnecessary problem.

Overall, the Bronco's fit-and-finish is hardly exciting - we found plenty of other blemishes such as mis-matched wiring holes and some torn timber, too.

In the end

The concept of a tray-back camper is a good one and we'll be looking at more in the future. It will have a lot of appeal to many true travellers but, in the case of the Palomino Bronco, I can't help feeling that it's not quite enough flash for a bit too much cash.

Australian Caravan & RV magazine, Winter 2008.