Can someone please tell me the pros&cons of owning a Freedom Jetstream caravan.E.g. are they very small inside,is there enough storage space,are the seats/bed comfortable,can they be pushed into position,what is the interior build like.As i live a long way from the factory,your first hand reports, will be very appreciated.
Hi Dave we have a Freedom,we moved from a Mezan Autosleeper last year there wasn't enough room for us and the dog in that. We love the Freedom to us there's plenty of room its easy to tow, when we bought from Freedom at Stafford it came with a free awning with this attached we have lots of room, van is compact with good storage and has a washroom with toilet.
Glad you liked your freedom,we have got a Cabanon t.t. and a frame tent, but they both take so long to erect,and as we are both retired, and a lot slower at doing things, we feel that this light weight unit will take a lot of the strain, out of setting up.We would tow it with our Hyundai 1.6 Matrix which is ok for the weight of the caravan,<i dont know about the cars performance,i dont think it will be to much strain on the engine>.Did you buy yours from stock, or did you have to order it, and is the awning easy to put up, by one person,
Our first caravan was a 1992 freedom sunseeker. We bought it 2nd hand in 1998 and kept it about 2 years. We had 3 sons and a dog and did manage to sleep 4 in the van and 1 in the awning. It was cramped for all us lot but for 2 would be OK. Towed it with a mini metro with 4 people and a dog in.
It had no hot water, heating, oven or toilet compartment so was very basic. Storage was fine with roof lockers all round, cupboards under the kitchen and the wardrobe was shelved rather than for hanging clothes. Fridge was very small.
Bed was the comfyest mde up bed we've had in a caravan, only the fixed bed we now have is better.
It was very well built on a galvanised chassis. Body was all fibreglass so will not leak or deteriorate unless damaged. Only trouble was the roof lining which was glued to the fibreglass and tended to come away.
We now have an 18foot long fixed bed van for two of us which is perfect, but if I had to have a small car again I wouldn't hesitate to get another freedom especially as now they are much better equipped.
Thank you for another great reply, the prospect of buying one is getting nearer,i noted that you towed with a Metro, so my 1.6 Hyundai matrix should be ok.
Yes, my sunseeker was 660kg, the metro weighed about 830kg. It was steady as a rock. It was the 1.4 diesel with a towing limit of 460kg but coped fine on motorway etc. It cruised nicely at 50mph which is all it was comfortable at when solo. Only problem was pulling away on hills, because it was over its towing limit, but in practice I avoided really steep hills. Even so it still went up Long Drag Hill out of Tiverton.
Can you tell me, my towing weight with my Matrix is 1100, the freedom is 750, so the 85% rule is ok, but if i load the van with a bottle of gas, awning, wheel clamp, chairs& table, do i add the weight of these items to the vans mtplm and recalculate,the 85% rule, also how do i calculate nose weight.
No, the MTPLM (Maximum Technically Permissible Mass) is the maximum weight your van can weigh when you've fully loaded it. The MIRO (Mass In Running Order) is the weight when it's empty. The difference between the two is the payload.
As long as you're sensible you won't exceed the MTPLM. Pack all the heavy stuff over the axle. Try and weigh the noseweight if you can, and make sure it doesn't exceed the maximum noseweight allowed for you car. If it's too much, take things out of the front gas locker.
Our first van was also a Freedom, they are small but we always found it absolutely fine for the two of us. Actually had a lot of storage space we found, and we only used the awning if we were staying somewhere for a week or more. Ours was old, a '91 I think, and build quality was fine. It was a very basic little van, but we had good times in it.
Like mumhud said,you have to be prapared to put the awning up most times for the space.There are only two of us but you will be suprised how much equipment you have to leave in the awning because of actual space in the van itself.
------------- Those that danced were thought to be quite insane to those who could not hear the music. Angela Monet
I used to have a 2005 Jetstream, nice little van, the build quality was good (unlike the Sterckeman I bought aftterwards) and I didn't struggle space wise. The bed was comfy when made up but if I had someone with me they had to stand in the bathroom whilst I put the bed up because the cushions took up all the space. They are basic but if you are on a site with facilities then its even better. You can always use a halogen oven in an awning to make up for the lack of an oven. If I had to go back to a small car then I would go back to one.
New to caravanning 2 years ago we bought a 5 year old Freedom Jetstream 1st class. They are nice dampfree vans. It was basic cupboards etc but had hot water boiler, oven, hob, fridge, shower cubicle and was a light van to tow. We changed a year later to a 2 berth Lunar Ariva as we wanted to be able to sleep as single bunk configuration, which we could not do as the bunks were short. We had to make up the double bed configuration and sleep across the van which was a nusiance when the inside person wanted to go to the toilet at night. One thing rather disconcerting was that because the hot water boiler was sited in the kitchen cupboard at the rear of the van, when we unhitched, the van would tip backwards sharply. We also needed to load the locker with heavy equipment to keep the nose down which was not ideal. This may not apply to all vans if they site the boiler, or do not have a boiler at all, elsewhere in the van but not sure there would be room.
The Ariva is not that much heavier than the Freedom but feels a lot bigger. We could tow the Freedom with our then Almera and it towed the Ariva but we did then change up to a Ford Focus which of course did tow better. By buying slightly too small for us it cost more than we intended as we lost on p/e and buying again within a year.
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Topic: freedom jetstream imformation
