SIZING UP
Deluxe brought along its 21ft 6in Eclipse Off-Road . It was the largest of the vans in attendance , with a longer overhang that the rest . Not having a rear cutaway , if any van was going to scrape its bumper as it negotiated this terrain – especially the deceptively large hills – it would be this one . Yet , it traversed the course with relative ease . That said , almost any caravan without a cutaway will bottom out around the bumper if the approach or departure angles are steep enough . But as you can see in the video , on the types of undulations you ’ d likely tackle with this caravan , it manages easily .
Riding on 3500kg-rated Cruisemaster XT suspension , which has dual shock absorbers per wheel , the Eclipse Off-Road did everything it was supposed to do , with the rear bumper / spare wheel clearing each obstacle . The van sits on a 6in hot-dipped galvanised chassis with a 2in raiser , giving it a reasonable amount of clearance to the underside .
Clad with composite aluminium and checkerplate over a meranti timber frame , the 21ft 6in Eclipse is equipped with all of those essential features : a bike rack up front , a checkerplate storage box with dual slide-out trays , a DO35 coupling , a tunnel boot , a large offside-rear storage space , a reversing camera , a couple of jerry can holders at the rear , and an external shower .
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