On The Move Adventure 6.3 Black Edition reviewed at Caravan of the Year 2024 presented by MSA 4x4 Accessories

Priced at just under $105,000, the On The Move Adventure 6.3 Black Edition is a 6.3m (20ft 6in) caravan manufactured in China yet has a great deal of Aussie engineering and design built into it.

JOHN FORD — CARAVAN WORLD EDITOR

Suitability for intended touring

Aptly from On The Move Caravans' Adventure range, this offroader is designed as a couples tourer to get you into out-of-the-way campsites. At 6.3m or 20ft 6in, it’s longer than average, so couples will enjoy a roomy interior that makes the most of the available space.

I like the layout, where the extra length has been sensibly used for added legroom at the dinette, usable bench space and in the ensuite. There are also ample storage opportunities with a full-height pantry and, unusually, drawers under the bed and low in the side wardrobes.

The north-south walkaround bed has easy access, and the entry door down the back offers privacy that many buyers will appreciate.

The riveted web design chassis and wishbone suspension are built strongly with a unique design by a team with vast experience creating rugged adventure vans. The system works well to soften the ride, and owners should be confident enough to travel long stretches of corrugated road when driven sensibly.

The airbag suspension varies travel height to meet the demands of the terrain and level the van when setting up for the night. I like the setup at the back, where there are nifty storage options. The spares are secured neatly when travelling but relatively easy to use when needed.

All the right appliances are there, including a fair-sized 188L compressor fridge and a convection microwave set low, which is great to see from a safety perspective. Finally, they go the extra mile with the side cameras, which work well to keep a lookout for traffic and are a boon for travelling along tight tracks.

X-Factor

I’m guessing the On The Move crew are Rolling Stones fans. “No colours anymore. I want them to turn black.” Well, the Adventure 6.3 Black Edition makes an impact, and that’s a central consideration for a van’s X-Factor. But let’s look under the special heat barrier paint for a closer look. Under the paint, buyers should be impressed by the body construction for its unique shape and immense strength.

You can’t go past the angular, rivetted tapered A-frame with red accents for impact. The big yellow suspension tubes that run across the chassis are surely eye-catching. There’s enough solar and battery power to impress and to run appliances off the grid indefinitely in the right conditions, so the appeal to adventurers is real.

The price at $104,990 is impressive. The Adventure series has a lot going on, and it’s sure to attract a lot of buyers.

TIM VAN DUYL — CARAVAN WORLD CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Towability 

We had a base spec RAM 1500 and it was probably the best tow vehicle at this year’s event. Its small wheels meant it had big tyres and a softer ride than the higher spec US trucks and it didn’t have a noisy exhaust. It was really good for the $104,990 buy price when new and although you forgo a few luxuries of higher-spec trucks, it is hard to beat for value and capability. 

Anyway, the van. It’s a proper offroader so you’ll likely tow it with something 4x4 and it’ll need to be rated to 3500kg tow capacity — I’d suggest a Patrol or LandCruiser would be a good fit if you didn’t want a US truck.

On our test loop, the Desert Master transverse wishbone suspension felt super smooth. It had the least vertical movement of all the vans we towed here, I reckon a lot has to do with the proper vertical shocks. The long wishbones open up the radius of the range of movement sweeping more gently than short-arm systems. I like that there is a little toe-in designed into the alignment too, it’ll help keep the trailer tighter on the drawbar behind you. The alignment is locked in with jam nuts so should hold true for a decent length of time.

The design has been around for decades — I first drove a setup like it six years ago and I still think it’s a good thing. I really enjoyed towing the On The Move.

Build quality

There was a lot to like about how the OTM was built and a hell of a lot to talk about. Starting with the chassis, the steel is 550 grade, high-tensile with 170mm I-Beam main rails that have been dimple pressed to add more tensile strength. The main rails are tied to the cross members with huck rivets which are also used to hold subframes to the main rails — the suspension being the most obvious. It is engineered to 4000kg and looks great with a powder coat finish over a hot-dip galv. 

The benefit of building this way is twofold. There is a weight saving in using dimple pressed I-Beam and the use of rivets allows for a minute amount of movement at joins, vital to take some stress off of the high-tensile main chassis rails. 

I’ve only seen one other manufacturer use this style of chassis and that’s the AL-KO Light-R, not a common sight but again clever and well made. Where you will see this style of chassis is under heavy trucks where its strength and longevity are appreciated. 

On the theme of manufactured tolerances, the solid composite walls and roof dovetailed together with a 1mm tolerance between the joins to allow for some expansion of the walls — vital and an issue for some early adopters of the technology.

The benefit of the 30mm walls and 55mm roof are sound and heat regulation which is especially important with the external cladding being black. It was hot to the touch outside but cool as a cucumber inside and we were told the external cladding is heat tested to 160°C so should avoid any delamination issues in our hot outback. 

The internal cabinetry is PVC laminated ply supported by alloy extrusion with hinges hung off the alloy. The doors look like they’ll never have an issue with pulling a screw out though the panel gaps were a bit uneven — once the quality is sorted, the interior build method of the OTM will be hard to beat. 

Inside the walls is a CMS Power Loom which is assembled in Victoria and then shipped to China for installation during manufacture. It comes terminated so an installer can quickly route cables and an electrician can check and sign off on it locally. It also comes with schematics for fault finding or easy installation or more powered appliances. 

Customer care

The warranty on the OTM is better than I expected. A lot of imports have vague and short periods but not here. The warranty is simple to understand and features three years for construction defects on the body and five years on the chassis. Appliances fitted are covered by their manufacturer warranty, as expected. 

There is however no warranty cover for non-gazetted tracks or roads — that’s fair, and suggests it is covered for Tanami, Gibb, Oodnadatta and so on, meaning you can choose the hard way around Australia. 

To maintain coverage, you need to follow their supplied service schedule, again this is fair and expected. One area it could be clearer on is around any roadside assistance or the covering costs like accommodation incurred due to a defect, which would be nice and is common on other warranties.

CATHERINE BEST — AUTHOR OF ULTIMATE CARAVAN TRIPS: AUSTRALIA

Liveability

The Adventure 6.3 Black Edition is loaded with extras that make life on the road very comfortable for couples looking for a moderately priced caravan without having to sacrifice any creature comforts. Almost every extra on the adventurous caravanner’s wish list is accounted for, including slide-out outdoor kitchen, compression dust reduction hatch, wi-fi booster, outdoor shower and diesel heater. There are also some nice-to-have features like electric step, convenient wireless phone charger pads on the bedside tables, a backlit ensuite vanity mirror, and Projecta console for controlling the lights, fans and the fridge. A Dometic air-conditioner, 24in TV and stereo with indoor/outdoor speakers are also standard. 

The Black Edition has a rear door and bathroom, mid kitchen and forward island bed, which has an extendable bolster for making the most of the 20ft 6in layout. The memory-foam queen bed has overhead cupboards and dual fans, reading lights, drawers and wardrobes. There are also underbed drawers and bedside niches with charge points and nifty magnetised torches — designed for overnight toilet runs. 

The kitchen has a cream leatherette dinette with extendable table, 188L Dometic compressor fridge, 34L convection microwave and gas stove/grill. The finishes are white and timber laminate, with ambient floor and strip lighting throughout. The ensuite has a 20L cassette toilet and wall-mounted front load washing machine. I really love the amenities dispensers in the shower, which are convenient and a nice touch.

Outside, there are two picnic tables, a TV box and an enormous multi-chambered toolbox with twin 4.5kg gas bottles on the near side, a generator and jerry can slide-out on the far side, and a shelf for storing long items up top. There are an additional three storage bins at the front, the middle one containing fuel for the diesel heater. The storage is bulky on the drawbar but compensates for the small amount of tunnel boot space on the far side. Some outdoor lights on the far side and rear would be good. 

Self-Sufficiency

When it comes to off-grid caravanning, the Black Edition’s four-way cameras (rear, sides and under body) will help you manoeuvre safely into tight spaces. Once set up, the caravan has everything a couple needs to stay put for a week or more, including 800W solar, 400Ah of lithium battery storage and a 3000W inverter, capable of running the air-conditioner and other 240V appliances. Then, of course, there’s the generator option if conditions are cloudy. 

There’s a huge complement of water — 300L (plus a 100L grey water tank) — which will keep couples showered and well hydrated for more than a week. If I had to nitpick, the only things missing are a grey water bypass, which would spare the wastewater tank from unnecessary exposure to suds and grime, and a composting toilet, which would help eke out an extra few days in the bush.

MALCOLM STREET — CARAVAN WORLD FIELD EDITOR

Value for money

With a price tag just under $104,990 for a caravan built for offroad use, the OTM’s Adventure 6.3 Black Edition is a very interesting proposition indeed. What you get for your money is a 6.3m (20ft 6in) caravan that’s built in China yet has a great deal of Aussie engineering and design time built into it. It’s also clear that a great deal of Australian supervision went into the van’s construction. 

Some of the features, like the wishbone suspension system and chassis design, have been seen before in less modified form, but other items — like the body construction — are quite new.

Just about everything built into the caravan packs a punch. For instance, the electrical system has 400Ah of Lithium LiFePO4 battery capacity, 800W of solar panel power and a 3000W inverter. 

Add to that the storage capacity, inside and out, plus the touch-panel light switches and features like the external slide-out kitchen (in addition to the internal kitchen facilities), which all add to the value for money category. 

The interior looks a little disappointing. Although the general fit and finish inside are very good, the overall look (a little plain) doesn’t quite match that. I know from a conversation with the OTM team that the issue is on their radar, and future models should look different. 

Innovation

What’s to be said about this van? A fair bit, I have to say. Starting with the very different-looking chassis. It’s not a box section RHS steel structure. Instead, the hot-dipped galvanised/powder-coated automotive steel chassis has 170mm (7in) deep web main bearers and 200mm (8in) deep web drawbar rails. It’s Huck rivetted for strength and dimple pressed for weight saving. In addition, it’s constructed so that parts of the chassis are replaceable if damaged and there’s a definite emphasis on weight saving design. 

Another feature of the Adventure’s construction is the body construction. The ‘lock and block’ blind dovetail panel joints all are designed to give high strength and assembly accuracy. Apart from the high battery and solar panel capacity, electrics also have some other good features. One is the internal cable runs in a conduit where the roof meets the wall. While mostly out of sight, they are also easily accessible if testing or repairs are necessary. 

The electrics feature in another way, too. All the 240V cabling is done using a modular CMS cabling system, simply described as a ‘plug and play’ arrangement. It makes cable and component installation easy and minimises the risks of faults. 

There’s an onboard air compressor for the suspension airbags. In addition, on the drawbar, there’s a panel for isolating individual air bags in the event of a failure. Meanwhile, at the rear of the van, there’s a bumper bar with a difference. Rather than having an afterthought look as a spare wheel mounting, the rear storage bar has the facility for two spare wheels and a couple of storage bins on either side. It’s quite well thought out. 

Overall, the Adventure 6.3 Black Edition has quite a few impressive features. It is a little different from the more usual Australian designs, which makes it innovative as an overall project. 

ON THE MOVE ADVENTURE 6.3 BLACK EDITION SPECS

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

EXTERNAL

INTERNAL

On The Move Caravans Adventure 6.3 Black Edition price from $104,990

MORE INFORMATION

On The Move Caravans
18 Business Street
Yatala Qld 4207
P: 1800 668 436
E: admin@onthemovecaravans.com.au

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