Rig rundown: Our epic setup for the road
As winners of The BIG Aussie Review, Grace and Matt received a Ford Ranger Tremor and MY26 Crusader Musketeer Grand Treville to use during their year-long journey around Australia. After months of highways, corrugations, off-road tracks and off-grid escapes, they share what it’s really like to travel with the Ranger and live in the Crusader.
Before winning the BIG Aussie Review, neither of us had ever towed a caravan. We set off on a BIG lap around Australia equipped with a Ford Ranger Tremor and a Crusader Musketeer Grand Treville that’s just shy of 22ft. No pressure, right?
After a few months, plenty of corrugations and more than a few lessons later, the Ranger has become our fearless road warrior and the Crusader our home on wheels. Together, they’ve made learning to tow, live and travel on the road far less daunting than we expected.
Here’s our honest rundown of the rig that now plays a huge part in our everyday lives.
We're Grace and Matt from The BIG Aussie Review. We were lucky enough to win a Crusader caravan and Ford Ranger, and a year on the road at BIG4 parks
Learning the towing ropes
As complete towing rookies, we were always going to face a sizeable learning curve. Thankfully, our Ranger, which we’ve dubbed Bluey, has helped us feel much more confident from the start.
Before setting off, we work through its trailer connection checklist and select our caravan’s profile, including its weight and dimensions. Having those prompts and towing features built into the vehicle gives us one less thing to second-guess before a big drive.
Our Crusader van, affectionately known as Bingo, does its share of the work too. Its CrusadAir airbag suspension and DO35 hitch have helped the caravan feel settled behind the Ranger, including when the terrain becomes uneven.
They’re the kinds of features that, when they’re doing their job properly, you don’t even notice them. But that’s exactly the point.
Together, the Ranger and Crusader have helped two complete beginners like us gradually find our feet. We’re not towing experts just yet, but we’re certainly feeling more comfortable than when we began.
Our rig: Bluey the Ford ute and Bingo the Crusader van (geddit?!)
When the road gets rough
There have been plenty of big driving days already on this lap. Spending seven to 10 hours behind the wheel is no small feat, so comfortable seats, good air-conditioning and helpful technology make a huge difference.
Some of our first corrugated towing stretches were between Normanton and Burketown, then from Tom Price towards Exmouth. We were a bit anxious because we hadn’t towed off the blacktop before, but the way the rig handled the rougher sections was nerve-settling, to say the least.
We’re not engineers, but from the driver’s seat the Ranger felt reassuringly planted, even when the road beneath us was anything but.
We also drew on lessons from our Driven Training 4WD course on the Gold Coast. With some help from fellow campground legends, we adjusted our tyre pressures and the Crusader’s airbag suspension to suit the conditions.
It was one of those moments when both parts of the rig needed to work together. The Ranger helped us feel comfortable up front, while the Crusader remained settled behind us.
Towing on the gravel in Karijini National Park, Western Australia was a breeze with our setup
A place for everything
Moving from a house into a caravan was one of our biggest concerns. We knew we’d be giving up space, and we weren’t sure where everything would go.
It turns out the Crusader has far more storage than we expected, as proven by the fact that it took us three months to find all of it.
Along with its drawers, cupboards, full-height kitchen pantry and ensuite storage, there are another three storage cubbies under the club lounge. Yes, it really took us three months to discover compartments inside the caravan we live in every day.
We now have a designated place for almost everything. Whether we always remember that designated place is another question, but at least it exists.
The generous club lounge gives us space to relax, plan the next part of the trip and spread out after a long day. It’s one of the features that makes the Crusader feel like a home that happens to move around Australia, rather than simply somewhere to sleep.
Our genuinely gobsmacked reaction when we stepped inside our new Crusader Musketeer Grand Treville caravan before starting our BIG lap
Soft sand and side quests
One of our favourite side quests was François Peron National Park in Western Australia.
Two German backpackers we’d met in Kununurra joined us because they weren’t confident taking their own vehicle onto the track. It was rough as guts, with seriously deep, soft sand in sections, but the Ranger handled it beautifully.
Our passengers kept commenting on how comfortable the ride was, which we happily accepted as positive feedback on behalf of the car. We certainly couldn’t claim it was all down to our driving!
The Ranger’s all-terrain tyres and selectable terrain modes have given us the confidence to tackle tracks we might once have avoided. The technology is there when we need it, but we don’t need to understand every technical detail to appreciate where it can take us.
Experiences like François Peron have shown us that the Ranger isn’t simply there to tow the Crusader from one stop to the next. It has opened the door to extra adventures, beach tracks and off-road detours that have become some of our favourite parts of the trip.
There’s definitely a bit of Ford pride when we see the Ranger make its way through a challenging section.
Bluey the Ranger has handled the sand, gravel and other off-road terrain like an absolute champ!
Home comforts on the road
If we had to nominate one Crusader feature that surprises other travellers most, it would be the 4kg front-load washing machine.
People are constantly amazed we have such a big washing machine inside the caravan. We make full use of it, often doing a load a day to stay on top of things. Its short 15min cycle is one of those small conveniences that makes a big lap much easier.
The ensuite is another talking point. It’s spacious enough that even our taller friends who have come to stay can comfortably use the shower.
Add the indoor and outdoor kitchen facilities, club lounge, storage and living space, and we have the everyday comforts needed to make long-term travel feel sustainable. We’re still on one big adventure, but we certainly aren’t roughing it anymore.
We love the space inside our van. Being able to cook our own meals makes us feel right at home
Four days off-grid, one forgotten water tank
The Crusader has also given us the freedom to spend time away from powered sites, including a four-day stay at Karijini.
Its solar and battery set-up had no trouble keeping us going, while the inverter meant we could still use a few luxuries, including the microwave and washing machine. We lived pretty much as normal.
Power wasn’t the problem. The problem was that we forgot to fill our second water tank. Let’s just say the showers became significantly shorter for the rest of that stay.
We also learnt a few weeks into the trip that the Crusader’s airbag suspension could help us level the caravan on uneven ground. Since discovering that, setting up at off-grid camps has become easier, and our bed is far less likely to feel like it’s sitting on the side of a hill.
Again, we’re learning as we go.
We still can't believe we won this incredible setup!
The adventures ahead
The Ranger has given us the confidence to tow, explore and take on side quests we might once have avoided. It has kept us comfortable on long driving days and helped us reach places well beyond the bitumen.
The Crusader has made life on the road comfortable enough that, after months of travelling, it still genuinely feels like home. Its space, storage, off-grid capability and everyday conveniences have helped us settle into life on the move.
Together, they’ve taken two complete towing rookies a very long way, in every sense.
When our BIG Aussie Review comes to an end, we can already picture the next beach weekend, short escape or off-road detour. We know that the side quests won’t be stopping anytime soon.
Parking up Bluey and Bingo and cooking snags on the slide-out BBQ within minutes is an absolute dream