Rhinomax Scorpion - offroad hybrid caravan
It took us a long time to finally come to the decision to replace our much loved camper trailer with a hybrid offroad caravan. There is a lot to like about a forward fold camper trailer and ours was very well setup. But there was always a few things that annoyed us and that didn't really suit extended travel or trips with a lot of relatively short stays, particularly single nights. Ultimately canvas is not great in windy or rainy conditions and on any long trip you will face these conditions at some stage. So while the camper would have suited us for a few more years we decided to make the change sooner rather than later and be ready for a big lap well ahead of time.
Main specifications for our Scorpion:
Overall size: 5,300 x 1,970 wide x 2,200 towing height
Tare: 1,320kg with 90kg ball weight
We spec'd the second water tank so 110L + 85L (raising the tare slightly).
Shurflo pump runs water to the rear-mounted shower pod and kitchen.
Hot water available via Truma gas unit to both kitchen and shower.
Gas plumbed in to the 3-burner kitchen and we spec'd an extra bayonet gas outlet for the Weber Baby Q
Solar is 2 x 150W panels running to the batteries via an MPPT regulator mounted inside the van.
Charging is via 15A 240V external socket and 240V multi-step charger which can be used with a 10A extension lead if 15A not available.
Two batteries on board each 120ah plus a 600W inverter for the 240V sockets when mains power is not available
High capacity charge cable with Anderson plug run to the tow ball for vehicle charging. This is useful for charging all batteries when the vehicle is turned off including its dual batteries.
Fiama wind-out 3m awning F45S
We did specify a couple of other minor customizations that I'll cover later.
Some details of the van's internal setup.
The little door on the left is storage and also where the mppt solar controller lives. I've now put in a small touch control LED light that allows me to see the controller screen properly. Easy to take power from the cig plug that's already there for the shower pod.
The space inside when the bed is lifted up is pretty good and feels quite open and airy albeit relatively small compared to other hybrids. The windows are at a good height and easily adjustable, as well as having midge screens and full blockout blind.
The little reading lights are really good too. They rotate so no need to have it shining in your eyes or annoying the other person who's trying to sleep.
The living space is however a compromise compared to the camper trailer and really only works for two people. Rhinomax manufactures larger models that can accommodate extra people and don't require the bed to be lifted to access the seats but we don't tend to spend a lot of time inside so the small scale doesn't bother us.
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You can see the control switch for the Truma hot water below the seat to the left and the unit itself is accessed by removing the seat base.
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We added a few non-standard items to our build to be done in the Rhinomax factory. These were born out of our experiences with the camper trailer and we felt it was a distinct advantage to have that knowledge of what worked for us during the specification phase.
Vertical hinges on front box. For us this is far more practical than bottom hinging like the kitchen and main storage compartment. Bottom hinged would interfere with the Stone Stomper and just be a pain on uneven ground when it would not be able to hang vertically & potentially damage the door. Opposite door at the back of the fridge is the same.
Extraction ventilation fans. The front box will get very hot internally in summer, making life more difficult for the fridge by only having hot air running through it and no vent. These fans are solar powered with a rechargeable battery and Rhinomax actually already use them on their camper trailer model. Yet to see whether they change air over enough to keep temperature inside to a reasonable level, that will have to wait until summer. The stainless box is for firewood or other things that can be carried externally and is a standard option.
Electrical items. Not much required upgrading because the standard build is actually very well featured and set up. Upgraded the 240V power point to one with built-in usb ports. The power point is right by the doorway with the light switches and extra usb outlets are always useful, so we thought might as well have a couple more. Also changed one inside cig socket over to dual usb. These are beside the bed, one each side as standard. Also added a second Anderson plug outlet in the front box. There's one standard for the fridge and the second is really just a spare for plugging in whatever might come up in camp or on the road.
Reverse Camera. I gave Rhinomax a cable to run through the chassis when they ran other wiring. I have set up the D4 to be able to switch between reverse camera and van camera on the factory screen with a video switching arrangement I installed. I've now also installed the van camera after making up a little bracket for the rear bumper. Rhinomax will do a factory installation of camera but that is a complete system including monitor for in the vehicle and I didn't want or need all that.
We also had a second gas bayonet outlet added for the Weber Baby Q. it's on the front storage box where the gas bottle is stored.
After the first trip to the Flinders Ranges we think the van was everything we'd hoped it would be in terms of things that we wanted to be better or easier than the camper trailer.
The setup and pack up effort and time is greatly reduced, there's almost nothing to do once you've opened the pop-top other than put down the stabilser legs. The awning is so quick and easy, although we will be getting an anti-flap kit just to make it a more solid structure in windy conditions. The kitchen is ready in seconds with the longest task being to plug in the gas bayonet. The shower pod is very quick to setup too.
The 2 x 150W solar panels and mppt controller kept up with power demands very easily but we didn't experience any extended bad weather. However, going by our camper trailer experience, we should be able to go quite a few days before needing to get some sun or run the car. The water system worked very well but I was surprised at how noisy the Shurflo pump was considering that I put one on the camper trailer and it was really quiet. It may be the way it's mounted is resonating noise into the van so I might look at some vibration damping pads. It's not unacceptably loud but I don't really like disturbing the peace when out in the bush.
The kitchen arrangement is good and the flip over side bench provides a decent working space for food preparation. With the pantry you do need to plan what you want for the meal a little bit because once you're cooking it is awkward to get anything out of the drawer, not impossible but it is better if everything is out before the gas gets going.
We were worried about dust, wondering if it would get in through the door or through any of the storage compartment seals. The only dust entry was via the extraction fans on the fridge box roof. This was a very small amount that you could wipe off the top of the fridge. These vents are not required unless the weather is hot so even though it's not much dust I will just block them with a/c filter material in future. Just a disc of material lightly pressed into the inlet tube. The front box lets dust in because it has holes in the base as required for gas bottle storage. That's ok because it only stores gas bottles, jerry cans, levelling ramp, jockey wheel base, etc. The main door didn't let any dust into the van. A little bit gets in between the outer door and inner door at the frame corners but gets stopped there.
On the last day of the Flinders trip a rivet let go connecting one slider to the kitchen, which cause the kitchen to droop on one side and become difficult to pull in & out. Easily fixed by Rhinomax under warranty. Aluminium rivets were used instead of stainless steel and Rhinomax have taken this on board as something to check as part of its quality assurance process. They also added extra rivets at my request even though this should be unnecessary with steel rivets.
The room inside the van with the bed down is pretty cramped compared to the room inside an open forward-fold camper. It suits two people but was something to get used to. The room is quite good when the bed is in the raised position but don't tend to sit inside much so didn't bother all that often. It would be a different story in bad weather and in that case sitting inside with the bed raised would be good. You have two decent seats and a table plus the bench at the back and also heaps of room directly under the bed.