Adventure Kings / 4WD Supa Centre Products Quality Vs Price & General Tips?

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4WD Supa Centre

• 

  Euphemistic on 19/11/2018 - 06:18

  +1

  You get what you pay for. I think that real quality comes into its own for high use items. For occasional use cheaper stuff can work out well, but you may need to be a little more careful with it, especially when setting up or packing away.

  We have some cheaper camping gear, and some quality stuff for this reason.

• 

  David2017 on 19/11/2018 - 07:11

  +4

  Hi Teri,

  I've got pretty much everything they sell except for the roof top tents. Supacentre is my new Bunnings. Depending on your vehicle you need to work out whether your roof racks can take they weight of the roof top tent (57 kgs) then the extra weight of the people sleeping in it. It also creates extra drag, I'm not sure what car you have but this is something to factor in. The other thing to consider is once the roof tent is setup you can't drive anywhere. Depending on how long you're staying in one place this may be a problem. The Kwiky tent looks like it's faster to packup and would be more aerodynamic but it's smaller inside. They're not the sort of things you'd want to install and remove on a regular basis due to their weight and bulkiness

  Their swags are good and quick to setup but are quite bulky. You could fit two or three big daddy swags in the place of a roof top tent. I have three of their awnings on my car. Their awnings are great but you do need to pack them down if you want to go anywhere compared to a gazebo. The awnings can literally be setup or packed up in a minute so it's not a huge drama. Gazebo's can be a pain to setup and pack up by yourself. I don't have of one of their gazebos yet but I have looked at them in the store and Lilydale and Dandenong and I'm getting a 6x3 metre one in March before a trip in April. I have two Oztrail gazebos now and they're of no better quality than the Kings ones. They all seem to have plastic where the hinges meet and in my experience that's usually what fails.

  Their quality is pretty good most of the time. When you can buy three of their awnings for the price of one ARB awning you can justify tossing one if it breaks and the ARB awning doesn't appear to be made better. Sometimes people get a lemon but that's the same with almost all products. It's the same with everything, if you take care of it then it should last quite a while.

  Their batteries and battery boxes work well. Their fridges are mostly made by Evacool and work great. Their drawer systems are solid but some people have problems with the latch for the fridge slide breaking off but it's easily fixed. Their torches can be a little sensitive to the brand of batteries they take, in my experience they don't like Duracells but Aldi batteries work fine. Their portable gas barbecues are brilliant. I could go on forever. Hope this helps a little.

  • 

    team teri on 19/11/2018 - 11:02

    Hi David,

    great detailed reply, thank you so much!

    I probably should have added one detail, but the text was already getting so long: I plan to install the roof top tent on a trailer. I have a fairly solid (but not suitable for off-road) 7 x 4.5. I will need to swap the existing cage for a new support frame that will hold the tent. I have to decide how high that frame will be.

    If I wanted it high enough to support awnings that I can stand under it would become quite unstable and create lots of drag. That's why the current plan is to make it low enough that even loaded with the tent it will be a fair bit lower than the car.

    I have yet to work out how high exactly, based on how much space I need for the other things I want to carry on the trailer. Carrying a folded up gazebo should not be a problem though.

    There will be a few spots along the route where I go off-road. Most of them will only be day-excursions, so no problem at all leaving camp (with trailer tent and gazebo) behind. Some will be overnighters or a few nights, for those I could pack the gazebo onto the roof rack to take my shade along and sleep in my trusty old hiking tent.

    This will be my first long camping trip. If I happen to like it so much that I want to repeat it frequently I can upgrade equipment over time. I.e. swap the trailer for a off-road one, etc…

    For now I try to just get this one trip organised in a way that it doesn't break the bank. I am willing to sacrifice longevity of the stuff for up front savings, but I don't want to sacrifice too much comfort - I don't want to make it a trip from hell ;-)

    • 

      David2017 on 19/11/2018 - 12:12

      Hi Teri,

      There's several ways you could do what you describe in terms of day trips and short stops overnight, you just need to work out what works for you. I've seen roof top tents mounted on frames on the trailer like you described. I'm sure a trailer place could fab something up for you that would take the weight if you can't do it yourself. There's a few Facebook groups you might find interesting. You could start here https://www.facebook.com/AUCampers/ It's mainly ute people but anything that can be done on a ute will usually work on a trailer. People are discussing similar setups and ideas that might interest you.

      If I don't speak to you before I hope you have a great trip.

      David

      • 

        team teri on 19/11/2018 - 13:05

        Yep, that's the plan. Build a frame exactly to my specs. I've always wanted to learn welding, this might be a good first project. ;-)

        If I can't make it work myself there's a backup option: I saw an ad on gumtree by a local boiler maker who is just starting a side business specialised in building exactly that kind of custom ute/trailer frames.

• 

  fantacular on 19/11/2018 - 10:10

  +1

  i've owned a bit of adventure kings gear and now sold most of it to upgrade to better quality gear. it's ok quality to start with and there is nothing so wrong with it that you shouldn't buy it, it's just poorer quality and "less nice" than the better brands. it feels like a bargain when you buy it, but after owning it for 6mo it starts to feel like you paid what it's worth……

  on your gazebo v awning issue, get an awning - maybe even two (one for the rear) and an awning wall or two. a gazebo really needs to be stored on the roof and your roof will be full with the tent. you will always be camping beside your vehicle with a setup that prevents you from using the vehicle while you're camping, so the extra flexibility doesn't add much…

• 

  Marty-69 on 19/11/2018 - 11:02

  +1

  What kind of camping are you going to do? Pack-up every day or set up a base-camp?
  If you set up a base-camp and explore from there, a rooftop tent with annex and the awnings attached to your car is a big hassle. You have to pack up every time you need the car and rooftops are not quick.

  I've got a Blackwolf Turbo tent and setting up and packing is always a lot quicker than the rooftop tents in our group. Bonus is, I can still use my car and have a tent to sit, sleep, cook, get changed etc. A rooftopper is only for sleeping. I also have decent beds in my tent, most rooftoppers have a very thin mattress otherwise you can't close them.

  I removed my awning, as I hardly used it. I had a Batwing with integrated poles, folded open around the car in under a minute and no need for guy ropes and pegs. For an overnighter, I couldn't be bothered opening it and if we stay more nights, I attach a big piece of canvas to my roof rack with two tent poles. It's more flexible, bigger and I don't drive around with stuff on my roof I hardly use.

  Regarding 4WD Supa Centre gear, I wonder how they go with local support and services. Especially if you travel and need to get something fixed. I know they've had some bad batches of roof racks, they rusted from day 2 so Supa Centre sent out new ones but that doesn't really work if you're on the tracks somewhere.

  • 

    team teri on 19/11/2018 - 11:14

    Hi Marty, have a look at the reply I just wrote to David. I really should have mentioned the trailer in the main post. It sure makes for a different style of camping.

    I will have one week camping about a month before the long trip. That's the time to road-test the equipment and to sort out any initial issues with 4WD Supa Centre or other suppliers of gear.

    If something breaks along the way it comes down to duct tape and/or the ingenuity of the local people who live in those remote areas. I still fondly remember how surprised I was that they had a replacement fuel pump for my XF Falcon in stock locally in Broome, back in 2001…

    • 

      Marty-69 on 19/11/2018 - 21:44

      Hey Teri,

      I was too busy hammering away on my keyboard to see your reply before I posted :-)
      Take some of the most common spare parts and the exotic bits an pieces as well. I carry nuts, bolts, washers, fuses, tools etc. that are specific for my car. Also a set of spare hoses & belts (keep the old ones after replacing them), fluids for top up, filters, shock rubbers etc.

• 

  faded on 21/11/2018 - 13:03

  I've bought a few of their items, haven't really had any drama's with what I have you do get what you pay for though and their after sales service is hit and miss.

  For example I have a Rhino Racks awning, cousin bought a Kings, it was a windless day so we didn't worry about tying down (bad move, always tie them down) random gust of wind came and my awning picked up and went over the roof of my car, as did his, all i had to do was put in a rubber bung that came out of the end of one of the poles back in, did it on the spot in 10 seconds. (I have done this on a few occasions now due to being a lazy bastard and not tying down or the wind catching it while I'm trying to set it up on a windy beach) his had torn clean off the mount as it was metal and had no give at all, his awning was a write off within an hour of setting up, mine was sweet after going through exactly the same scenario.

  There is no doubt it wouldn't have failed had he had it tied down and they are going to do the job just fine if you're not using them often and take good care of them, but accidents can happen and when they do the cheaper items just aren't up to the standard of their more expensive counterparts

  I wouldn't buy any of their new releases for two reasons 1: Prices - spot lights that are now $119 were selling for $350 18 months ago when they were released, they were down to $200 within 6 months of that.

  Reason 2: Failures and faults - New release products have had faults, major faults ie the roof racks mentioned above, fridges catching on fire etc wait a good few months after a product is released and hopefully the bugs and issues will be sorted.

  Products i have used are : dirty gear bags - good for price but clips deteriorate and become brittle after 12months or so)
  Spotties - good bang for buck, can be had same price or cheaper on ebay without the screen printing on the lens cover)
  twin motor air compressor - only new so hard to say much about reliability but god damn that thing is quick!
  mesh floor for awning - just looks like 2 pieces of shade cloth stitched together, quite bulky but does the job and definitely has less sand on it that my old canvas tarp would at the end of the day.

  • 

    team teri on 21/11/2018 - 13:46

    +1

    Great tips about the new releases, thanks :-)

    Did you buy online or from one of the stores? I'd be tempted to go to a store (authorised seller), even though it's a 50km drive if I could be assured that their after sales service is good in case any issues come up.

    • 

      faded on 21/11/2018 - 18:37

      No problems, I bought online but if you have the time I would definitely go to a store, at least you have somewhere to take the item if it does fail.

• 

  team teri on 12/12/2018 - 21:40

  So here's an update after I spent plenty of time watching and comparing:

  For some items they appear to offer outstanding value for money, perhaps due to lack of competitors: Their roof top tent, their awnings. I haven't found anywhere else that comes close to the prices and the quality seems solid. Only long term use will show the true value though.

  With other items they are ok, especially if you don't have the time to shop around, but you can do better with a little bit of effort. Take the handheld 2W CB radios for example, a pair for $89 is good, but when SCA has the same base model but with 2 car chargers included for $96 that offers much better value, especially if bought with discounted gift cards or via their eBay store to bring down the price further. Similar for tyre inflators/compressors many eBay sellers have virtually identical models slightly cheaper with more inclusions (i.e. a tyre repair kit thrown in).

  Some items appear quite overpriced. Their AGM batteries for instance. You can get solid brand name batteries (i.e. Fusion) for less on eBay or well reviewed no name brands (4WD Extreme) for close to half the price when combined with discounted gift cards and 10% off site wide.

  All up: I totally agree with the votes in the survey. Depending on what product you look at they all are justified in my opinion.