jayco penguin

[scruffycol]

hi thinking of buying  jayco outback penguin 2013, any ideas what i should be looking for e.g pull out awning or bag we want a easy set up has we we have ct now that we going to sell and up grade and get out more, i got no idea what to lok for cheers

[Memem284]

Go a roll out awning! We have a Fiamma on our Eagle and love it. We used to have a bag awning on our old Eagle and hated the set up.

[prodigyrf]

x2 Fiamma but if you're a masochist there are plenty of as new Jayco annexes lying around in everyone's sheds. Strictly for long stays with munchkins but once they've flown the coup freedom is a Fiamma and 'Lebensraum'

[cyberhuey]

I have a 2008 Jayco Penguin Outback, love it, theres so many things you can add to it, its all depend on $$$$$ budgets, have a look at what some people are adding during the build phase in the My Camper Trailer section of this forum, eg 2nd water tank, upgraded suspension for heavier loads, batteries, solar panel etc.

I bought mine 2nd hand in jan for $16K, with 180W 36v solar panel, GSL MPPT, GSL DC-DC charger came with it. I've since added a 2nd battery as it only had 1 battery, added an interal and external tap connected to a pump to the water tank. Removed all the incandescent bulbs and replaced with T10 LED globes, they use heaps less power pity jayco dont do this as standard (or do they now?)

Just removed the Dometic RM-2350 3-way fridge and replaced it with an Engel ST90-F compressor fridge today. If you are thinking of a 12v compressor fridge get jayco to do it for a bit more. It took some work getting it in as i had to use different rubber feet to reduce the Engels height and plane down some side panel to widen the hole to fit it. (i'll be starting a thread about this install soon and upload photos)

[bushbandit]

Check your ball weight to see if your veh can handle it its high on the Penguin .When I went to buy one the salesman said that people add weight to the rear to offset it.Ball weight of the Outback is 155kg and they weigh I think 1080 kgs and the axle on them is further to the rear .

[cyberhuey]

Check your ball weight to see if your veh can handle it its high on the Penguin .When I went to buy one the salesman said that people add weight to the rear to offset it.

+1

i had to add airbags to my rear on my Pathfinder (even after upgrading to HD springs and 9-way adjustible ToughDog suspension)

[prodigyrf]

+1

i had to add airbags to my rear on my Pathfinder (even after upgrading to HD springs and 9-way adjustible ToughDog suspension)

That means you're seriously overloading the tug and asking for chassis stress problems long term. Air bags are simply for fine tuning a load which can vary with weight distribution, full or low fuel and water, etc.

As for-
"Just removed the Dometic RM-2350 3-way fridge and replaced it with an Engel ST90-F compressor fridge today."
losing 3 way fridge capability means you have to have large 12V capacity for camping and for many that's not warranted because water capacity is the overriding factor. Owners need to think carefully about their useage pattern before peeing money up against the wall on compressor fridges and solar capacity. Not saying that doesn't make sense for some but Jayco know full well what suits the majority of users and that's 3 way fridges.

[cyberhuey]

That means you're seriously overloading the tug and asking for chassis stress problems long term. Air bags are simply for fine tuning a load which can vary with weight distribution, full or low fuel and water, etc.

As for-
"Just removed the Dometic RM-2350 3-way fridge and replaced it with an Engel ST90-F compressor fridge today."
losing 3 way fridge capability means you have to have large 12V capacity for camping and for many that's not warranted because water capacity is the overriding factor. Owners need to think carefully about their useage pattern before peeing money up against the wall on compressor fridges and solar capacity. Not saying that doesn't make sense for some but Jayco know full well what suits the majority of users and that's 3 way fridges.

Okay on the airbags, although the tug is rated for 3T towing and the camper is half that, granted ball weight on the penguins is a lot heavier than other jayco's, i've thought about relocating the batteries from the front boot to the rear of the camper underneath the seat but that would be adding considerbly longer lead and voltage drops to be considered as well.

My jayco aleady had the batteries and solar panel prior to changing from the dometic to engel, there was nothing i had to spend there, as for the Engel and peeing money up the wall its a matter of choice as to what you want/like, dometic stuggled in hot days. I was happy to spend the money getting something i wanted, weight difference between the 2 was 1kg lighter to the Engel, negilable imo.

Each to their own i guess, some people get waeco's some engels, some like the 3-way fridges.

Jayco now apparently offier compressor fridges in place of dometic 3-way at the time of your order for an extra. Whats interesting is the 3-way retails for more than the Engel equivalent model go figure.

Whilst batteries do add weight to the front, as AGMs are heavy, i've looked into the LiFePo4 option as well as they are considerbly lighter but require changing the MPPT and DC-DC to lithium compatible hardware, decided to wait until prices come down.

[Pingu]

We have a 2013 Outback Penguin on order and Nissan Navara D40 tug. We currently have a Finch and noticed that the Navara was sinking a couple of inches when coupled, and the Penguin has a heavier ball weight than the Finch so it's going to be a worse. We've been considering our options to beef up the Navara suspension for the Penguin, but I don't want to do too much to change the ride because it is very comfortable at the minute. One option is to have sumo springs fitted as they will help when the camper is towing but won't affect the ride of the ute in every day use. Has anyone else used these, or know anything about them as they are a fairly new product, but any reviews I have seen all appear to be good.

The other option is the weight distribution hitch.

Thanks
Brian

[cyberhuey]

We have a 2013 Outback Penguin on order and Nissan Navara D40 tug.

The other option is the weight distribution hitch.

Do you have the nissan genuine or hayman reese / different brand of tow bar?

Reason i ask is on the PCoA forum im a member of, there have been known issues with Nissan Tow bars and hayman reese weight distribution hitches  on the Nissan Pathfinders like mine due to failures of the nissan tow bars using wdh's,

Nissan say not to use then on their tow bars, so members on that forum have been removing their nissan tow bars and installing the hayman reese tow bars to be able to use the WDH's.

Not sure if they same issue applies to the D40 Navara's it would be worth checking with nissan if you have a nissan genuine tow bar.