Cub Spacevan

Love it, Love it, Love it – We bought our first camper trailer last September at Maitland 4x4 & Camping show. Have used it a few times & all we can say is LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT. Cub have been awesome

Cub Spacematic non-closing top/floor! – Bought secondhand Spacevan (Transcontinental) 2007. Canvas won't sit right, very difficult to zip up the door, but worst of all is trying to get it closed. It's nearly impossible. I have a feeling that it may be the gas struts at the rear. They are very strong struts and, when closing, they are pushing up with maximum force at the weakest point,… Read more

where there is no bracing, consequently the floor bends. It's a poor design.

Expected more from this "iconic" Aussie camper. Canvas quality is good, tows well, sets up quite quickly and has lots of space. Took it to Cub for advice, but the advice was not much use, and they had no suggestions on where to take it to get fixed.

Buying Aussie made doesn't mean its good. Poor build ,poor quality and poor service – After saving for years to upgrade we bought an alleged aussie icon camper....big mistake. perfect holes in canvas in random spots, locks didn't lock, electrics didn't work (after 3 attempts by cub to rectify they allowed me to fix it myself without voiding the worthless warranty) The suspension was welded in the wrong spot causing the wheels to… Read more

contact the chassis, the handbrake cable rubbed on the wheels, the welding was terrible the finish was terrible and we have had multiple failures. After contacting the company it all got rectified, new tent top and had the hanger ground off and rewelded. How this could have passed any quality control is beyond me. We love the layout (bunks) and the setup but after the crap quality and poor customer service even from the big chiefs I would not invest any more time , effort and money into this substandard brand. Buying Aussie was a big thing for us and we expected WAY better and it failed miserably. Its all fixed now but has still left a very bitter taste and no faith in any further problems. The design , finish and the electrics need serious overhaul as its a massive hurdle for them but since changing the name of the spacevan to the Longreach possibly because of the negative criticism might save get them some more sales but in the end its the poor customer who makes or breaks a company like this.

Good quality camper – We own the space van Regal, with the transcontinental pack, this is a great camper, the canvas is excellent, and the van is easy to tow, some others have complained about the leg height this is not an issue for us because we bought 3 different leg lengths. We have used this camper many times, not a drop of water has ever leaked through. We also… Read more

got the tropical roof option takes a couple of extra minutes to set up but provides an air layer between 2 layers of canvas. Storage is excellent although we put a small tool box on the front and wished we had gotten a bigger one. Every couple of years you need to rubber seals are in good order, I have replaced some of the high wearing rubber in some places. I also do the wheel bearings every 2 years.

Good concept BUT Cub don't appear willing to listen to people who use them – We have had ours for around a year and done WA and returned via Nullabor to the east coast. So here are some pros and cons. 1/ It is big! It folds out to be a 20' van effectively, with a queen size bed and plenty of living area inside so you don't have to set up the annex if you don't want to. The down side to this is that it needs, no, demands,… Read more

a level site. It has 4 feet on the folded out section, a further 2 stabilising feet on the rear of the trailer section and then you have the wheels and jockey wheel. The 4 legs on the rear don't have enough adjustment either way. They need to come up with a solution to allow the legs to be shorter and longer. This is a R and D issue and they should be listening to existing users in regard to this and other issues, but apparently they are not interested. We needed to dig holes on several occasions just to get the camper set up in some semblance of level.

2/ It has an inbuilt 3 way dometic fridge that is handy to access whilst the camper is still folded up. Unfortunately these fridges don't handle the extreme aussie heat that well. When we were up around Exmouth we had a week of temperatures over 40 degrees and the temps inside the camper were a lot higher and only exacerbated by the gas operating fridge. I have modified ours with 4 x 120 mm computer fans attached to the vents via cable ties and wired in through a digital thermostat that automatically turns them on and off at the temp that you set. This again is wired through a fuse and isolating switch so it can be turned off when the camper is not in use. The top 2 fans suck out and the bottom 2 suck in. Cub should listen to people and give this sort of thing as an option.

3/ It tows well. A bit too wide for the average sedan to see anything behind but a decent 4wd should be ok.

4/ Canvas. Good aussie stuff dynaproof and not that cheap Chinese rubbish that is about as useful as a flyscreen on a submarine. Again there are downsides here too. The main door on the older models such as ours, curves around. The practical upshot is that the zip has to go around a tight corner and it doesn't like it. After many years Cub has finally got the message on this one and put in straight up and down zips for entry. There is, however, no flyscreen on the door and after speaking with a few people there at Cub it appears that they are just not interested in putting one in either. They reckon the windows are enough. We have another soft floor camper, being a Johnnos, which coincidentally apparently get their canvas cut and stitched up by Cub at their factory. The Johnnos canvas design with their screen door and inside/outside opening windows, leave the Cub for dead. You would think that they would learn a thing or two from this but apparently not. The canvas had one small leak on ours (right over my head when I lay in bed .....of course lol) which didn't season out. I have fixed it now though.

5/ The frame. It is pretty easy to set up as campers go but the main hoop on ours is bent from where the haul strap has pulled down on it from pack ups. Ours has not set up straight since we have had it and we have had ongoing problems to get it set up correctly. I have followed all the instructions on resetting the tent meticulously. Cub just seem to want to play the blame game and blame the customer and not the product. They do not possess good skills in dealing with their customers who have shelled out large amounts of hard earned money on buying a camper. I really hope someone from Cub is reading this and actually gives a damn and wants to improve their image and customer service!!

6/Electricals. Good setup with inbuilt charger wired direct from 240v to battery. I did have occasion to try and chase down an electrical issue and had some panels off to do so. They use IMHO inappropriate colour wiring throughout the van. They use green/yellow earth wire as well as black for the negative on the 12v and white for positive as well as red. There is no wiring diagram to show you the lay of the land. I guess they think you are not smart enough to do wiring. Guess what? Most people who own campers are savvy smart people who understand things like this and are prepared to have a go. But Cub wont help you here either.

At the end of the day this camper has a lot to offer a family and should serve you well. But don't expect good nor cheap customer service from Cub. Please prove me wrong Cub. I want you to prove me wrong.

Tried and tested in tough conditions – Took our CUB Spacevan Drover over the Nullabor including many extremely rough off-road diversions in 2014. Googs track was best test and she handled with strength and comfort. About to head off for Arnham Land and remote NT with confidence in her sturdiness and good towing performance.  Show reply

Poor welding on inner frame – After owning for 3 years and only using 2times. We were adding some extras. When we removed the inner ply panel we found that most of the frame uprights where only welded on one side. These welds would not stand up on corrugated roads. After seeing this we wish we had brought else where. This spacevan was not cheap. But they build them cheaply then charge overrated price for them. Sad.

Bad – Have now looked at other campers that seem so much more robust and well made but will have to stick with this Cub for the time being - the design of this particular model is lacking and does not have sufficient clearance for canvas at the fold point or over the fridge and benches for convenient use and easy closing. Any mistake and you rip the… Read more

canvas and its a real pain in the butt getting the last part of the floor down and latched leaving a gap for rain and dust to enter. We have the Spacematic with Trans continental kit. Lots of good space when it is set up and that part of the package is attractive and practical. I am dissapointed with construction quality (considering the price) which is basically pop rivets, home made bits and pieces and self taper screws and flimsy foam seal strips. After our first trip I now have a list of items to fix. Biggest issue and gripe is the difficulty in folding down the hard floor after use - we get a thick wad of canvas on top of the inner cupboards ( and away from the closing steel bows) and the floor rides up on it - tried 20 different ways of closing and still left with floor 300mm up and has to be forced down - previous owners must have had same problem as latches were all distorted. Takes two people, grunt and frustration to kinda get it closed down - not at all like the simplicity promised in the advertising.

Excellent – Ive had my Cub Spacevan Offroad for nearly 2 years and it is fantastic. We had another brand camper trailer prior and it wasnt nearly as user friendly. With the high sides you can leave the annex attached, this means set up at camp (which is usually late at night for us) takes about 15min. Pick your site, level the camper left/right (easy to do… Read more

just dig a bit of ground & drop the wheel into it), flip the top with the easy winch, put up 3 poles for the annex and go to bed! If staying in the one site for a couple of days we usually put the annex ends on first thing in the morning - it zips & velcoes at the side/top & needs a couple of pegs - all up another 10-15min. If staying longer we put up the mesh wall - again just velcro and a few pegs. Seriously, if anyone finds this camper hard to erect or not comfortable, they shouldn't be camping - go get a full caravan!! Thanks Cub, we've done several long trips over Australia in our SoaceVan and are now planning a WA trip from Victoria - great product! Towes great, easy set-up, very comfortable inside and great design outside. Easy access to fridge & internal storage from rear access door. Slide out kitchen & pantry means you can stop on side of road for a cuppa & food without need to open up camper. Solid build & great backup service from Cub when you want some spare parts. The winch system is great, Ive seen other copies on expensive campers where the winch gets out of control when openning the camper & next minute the whole hard floor has openned with a crash because it wasnt a controlled openning - not on the Cub tho! I only have a 60ltr water tank, will upgrade to the 90ltr!. Recommend you tar seal the underneath of the camper. Should come with a big tool box on the front - I had one made & installed so things like generator & usual gear gets kept in there.