Opus Ready to Roll: Review

Written by: Michael Borg

Published on March 23, 2015

Time to read 3 min

At a glance, the Ready to Roll bears a striking resemblance to your everyday hardfloor camper trailer, but take a look closer and you can see it’s unique. You’ll notice there are two foldable panels that form the top of the camper trailer when packed away, which allow it to open up and expand on both sides of the trailer. Plus, the main entry to the camper is also via the door that’s been moulded into passenger side of the camper’s body.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION

The Ready to Roll weighs in at a respectable 900kg, and with a 90kg ball weight it feels well balanced and easily manageable both on and off the beaten track. However, for the tracks we tackled, the lack of clearance was a bit of an issue. The ride height isn’t overly high and the spare wheel is fitted underneath the camper, further reducing the rear departure angle.

This creates a buffer to protect the rear of the trailer from damage but does little for the corners and stabiliser legs that can bottom out on undulating tracks. The upside to the modest ride height is that the centre of gravity is nice and low, which gives it plenty of stability for everything from high speed touring to off-camber angles. Plus, it’s nice and easy to step up and into the camper instead of climbing your way in.

The Ready to Roll runs an Al-Ko offroad hitch, which utilises your average 50mm tow ball. It’s a reliable unit that articulates really well, but I find it knocks against the tow ball over bumps, making it noisier than other offroad hitches I’ve previously used. And for this reason, I’m not a fan of it.

INTERIOR

As its name suggests, the Ready to Roll comes with plenty to get out there and explore. The main set-up has two full-sized double beds complete with inner privacy tents, 12V and 240V mains hook up, a 59L water tank and 12V pump, 110Ah battery and charger and my personal favourite feature of all — buckets loads of head room, which gives the whole camper an open non-restrictive feel. The large club lounge is comfortable and practical, and actually coverts into a bed. There’s enough room inside to take shelter inside play a game of cards if it pours down rain.

KITCHEN

The kitchen is located on the inside of the camper and I prefer to cook outdoors, however, getting hit with torrential rain soon enlightened me to the benefits of internal facilities.

The set-up is a bit different, in that you actually need to physically lift the stove and sink cabinets up off the floor and fit them to the shelf provided before clipping them in place, hooking-up the gas line and running the sink drainage hose, which will have you bending down a fair bit. The payoff is you get a kitchenette complete with a decent size stainless steel sink that is very practical and easy to use.

The Smev two-burner gas cooktop is quite ergonomic and gets the job done with flying colours, and there is plenty of bench space. Plus, the dining table is located just to the right, should you need more when preparing a feast.

THE WRAP UP

There’s plenty of cool stuff to say about the Ready to Roll! The boys set out to build a camper that could handle light forestry tracks, and in my opinion it will conquer that stuff day in and day out. It’s got plenty of features and functionality to keep the whole tribe happy on a family camping trip.

Plus, it’s sure to catch the eye of a few fellow travellers. The main chassis and running gear is all sourced right here in Australia, so spare parts are easily available as well.

At the end of the day, what you see is what you get with this camper. It’s by no means a hard-core offroader, but it’s exactly what the guys at Opus say it is — an honest, semi-offroad rated camper that’s perfect for the family to get out there and explore