Crusader Caravans Chameleon Liberty SV
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Attention to detail – We purchased a Liberty SV in August 2019. It replaced a camper trailer with the wet canvas syndrome. We love it for its compact size, amenities and rapid access/setup. I’ve read comments about limited stowage but, we find it’s adequate for any length of time away. Because I’m handy, we’ve undertaken modifications and additions which I’ll mention. 1. Gas only seems to run out when you’re using it. I cut off the 9kg bottle holder and shifted it over to make room for an additional smaller bottle. The spare wheel would threaten the right rear tail light on a tight reverse so the gas bottles were shifted back along with the spare. 2. Who wants a jockey wheel that has to be bolted/unbolted and stowed! Gone plus allowed for mounting a home for the generator. 3. Side awning doesn’t cover pull out kitchen. Fabricated a sail track arrangement off the sloping side and Velcro ties to side awning arm plus 1 pole. 4. No cover over rear door. Crikey, can’t use outdoor kitchen as it’s raining and have to close door to cook inside in the summer in the tropics! Not happening. Mydeal had a 2m wide window awning (1500 extended) which covers the full width and just clears above door after shifting tail lights down. 5. No foldaway externally hung table for the coffee machine so added one above wheel arch and accessed 240 wiring for external GPO. 6. No fiddles (nautical term) to retain pantry items in overhead lockers so added some and found some plastic baskets to suit. 7. Under cabinet drawers were punching up against door and sometimes escaping. Tried a few things, including wire, but ultimately used the door to make drawer fronts and fixed magnets to cabinet side walls which grab the metal sides thereby securing the drawer. Cutting the door up covered each drawer plus effectively raised the bottom off the floor where it was previously too low for a floor mat. Took the bottom off the remaining door and the aggravation went too. 8. Ensuite door retainer is very Mickey Mouse and wouldn’t meet any specification for off-road. Gone and replaced with something you can rely on. 9. Every seal (bar windows with 4 point latching) leaks dust. Just back from a very dusty trip so am encouraged to ponder better sealing. The compartment with HW heater, pump, etc has several floor penetrations. Crusader opted for copious carelessly applied silicone rather than glands. Maybe, but only maybe, if there was better quality control. 10. Gas and water to outside kitchen were all underneath which is a little difficult to access. Moved them up to the side right in front of your face. We’ve always preferred the road less travelled and to date we’ve only lost an external tap handle (screw loose) and radio aerial (same). And, I just discovered, the fire extinguisher mount has broken away from the very thin plastic recess. Aah, another job. But, we’ll definitely keep this van.
Back again. With the front box gone it was getting tight on stowage. Brought it back onto the drawbar ahead of the bikes by moving the gas bottles further forward. All good except for the spare which has been a bother from day 1. Bought a windup spare wheel carrier from a wrecker, bolted it to an rhs that straddles the drawbar, another length further forward for that section of the wheel to which up against and it tucks up nicely between the A frame and clear of the front water tank. The shower was leaking out onto the floor. On close inspection there were big gaps in the sealant between the floor pan and the door frame. On closer inspection there were big gaps on all 4 sides and up the wall where the toilet cladding is. On even closer inspection when sanding and scraping off the peeling topcoat on the floor pan, I discovered that it is made of masonite and the very thin sealing coat was failing in places. Aah, it beggars belief that they would use such a material in a wet area and then do such a shoddy job of protecting it. I’ve read reviews stating the quality of finish in these vans but, maybe they’re not referring to the quality of workmanship. And masonite!? Anyway, I thought about getting rid of it but have opted to seal the perimeter with a paintable sealant prior to a coat of penetrol and 2 coats of wet area sealant with a bond breaker around the walls. As I’ve said before, I’ve only owned one van so I don’t represent any notion of being authoritative. I do ponder if there’s an honest job done on vans as there’re some fairly dishonest ones on this van.
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Chameleon Liberty SV – This Australian product is great and it is just amazing how much space and features you get in this 12 foot 3 inch van, therefore I really wanted to rate this product as a 5 star, but since I have only completed one trip I have been conservative and given it a 4 star rating. I hope to upgrade this rating as I complete more trips. (See below Chameleon Liberty SV conquers Savannah Way added Aug 2024.)
My wife and I recently completed our first fabulous trip in our Crusader Chameleon Liberty SV on 12 August, 2022. We travelled up the North Coast of WA for 22 days, including staying - on the beach at Quobba Station, 50 kms north of Carnarvon (first photo) -at Exmouth Caravan Park -on the beach at South Lefroy Bay on Ningaloo station, 100 kms south of Exmouth (photo 2) - at Karratha Caravan Park - at Barnhill Station caravan park on the beach, 100 kms south of Broome.
Quobba Station, South Lefroy Bay and Barnhill Station require driving on unsealed roads to get there. The Quobba and Barnhill drives are short approximately 10 kms and good quality dirt roads. The 50 kms from the highway to South Lefroy Bay is known to be more challenging, taking approximately 2 hours due to the many corrugations and then soft sand as you get close to the camping area. This drive requires you to reduce your tyre pressures to 28 psi to start with, then 20 psi for last few kms.
We had a terrific trip and are thoroughly delight with the way our Chameleon Liberty SV met all our requirements. Our Toyota Fortuner comfortably pulls the Chameleon Liberty SV, and the Chameleon Liberty SV handled all driving conditions very well, including the drive in and out of South Lefroy Bay. The van is roomy and very functional, way beyond what you would expect in a 12 foot van. Having and inside and outside kitchen is such a benefit, and a key reason we selected this van. One day we spent the whole day inside due to poor weather when the internal kitchen was put to full use. Being able to set the beds as two single beds or a queen bed gives great flexibility and on the wet day we set it up as two single beds, which meant we had plenty of sitting area and we felt we had plenty of space. The hot water system that operates on gas and electric is fantastic. The shower and toilet combination is big enough and is a great asset in such a small van. This van has a simple but highly effective design with considerable interior bench space for food prep and the upgraded Dometic external kitchen is sensational. The only issue was that after traveling on the corrugated road the Dometic awning did not want to open due to a bolt coming loose, which I fixed. Can not wait to take the Chameleon Liberty SV out on out next adventure.
Chameleon Liberty SV conquers Savannah Way. I have upgraded our rating from a 4 to a 5 based on the seven trips (31000 kms) we have completed in our Chameleon Liberty SV over the last 2 years and 2 months. Our most recent 9 week, 15 500 km adventure travelling from Perth to North Queensland and return illustrated the quality and diversity of this van and reinforced all the points mentioned above. During the trip we experienced a range of weather conditions with the A/C unit being used to both heat and cool the van, which it did very easily. The trip involved some camping out but mainly staying in caravan parks, which ranged from very basic outback to high grade facility coastal caravan parks. Given the range of camping/caravan parks and the varied weather conditions, we never once felt like we did not have enough space or lacked any facilities. The cooking, seating, hot water, toilet/shower, lighting, water capacity, solar capacity and storage all were more than sufficient for the trip. We travelled on a range of road surfaces including dual lane sealed highways, single strip bitumen roads and approximately 800 kms unsealed including the Savannah Way from Borroloola to Normanton/ Karumba. Once tyre pressures were adjusted to suit each of these road conditions, the van handled all road conditions very well, tracking truely and being very responsive to all driver demands. The high clearance made all flood way crossing easy. The low weight of the van meant it handled corrugations and undulating roads well. The low weight means that good fuel consumption can be achieved, we averaged just under 15.5 litres per 100 kms travelling at 100 km/h in our 2022 Toyota Prado (yes we replaced the Fortuner). Options we have that I would recommend are the extra solar panel, larger toolkit, upgraded Dometic kitchen and upgrade TV antenna. The larger toolbox allows us to carry a generator and a Weber Q. Warranty The van comes with 2 years warranty that I have accessed, including having the original A/C unit, which did not work from new, replaced with a new one very promptly within the first 6 months. A strap holding the rear water tank broke and the water tank fell off while travelling on a sealed road when heading to Esperance in Feb 2024. The rear water tank with upgraded heavy duty straps was replaced in May under warranty and I paid for the upgraded heavy duty straps to be installed on the front water tank. We had no water tank problems on our 9 week adventure. If you intend taking your Chameleon on rough sealed or unsealed roads I would recommend you pay for the standard water tank straps to be replaced with heavy duty straps. The only other very minor warranty claim I have had is better securing the internal stove into the cabinet. While all warranty claims took a little time to be actioned, they were all actioned without any attempt to avoid them and the outcome has been highly satisfactory. Photo 3 and 4 are of Savannah Way section.
Purchased in .
- Mileage: 31,000 km
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The wife wants the bicycles to come away on holidays. Not many stowage options so removed front box and laid down a couple of lengths of angle iron for the wheels. Decided to use the front of the van rather than the chassis to secure the bikes. All good so long as you lay pads down to spread the load. I removed one of the internal wall cushions and was gobsmacked by the amount of silicone on the back to pad out the gap to the wall. I cut it all off and came up with 4 litres! Crikey, I’d struggle to give it 1/10 for workmanship. And it wasn’t necessary.