Ingenious 4WD campervan

“With the airbags fitted, I don’t even need extendable legs. I drive the rig onto a flat surface, attach a set of legs and lock them in place before deflating the airbag suspension to drop the chassis and tray. Then I just drive away from under the Innovan before reinflating the Nissan’s air bags. To reload the camper I simply reverse the procedure.”

Davidson has discovered other benefits of the On-Air suspension. “At river and creek crossings I maximise the vehicle’s clearance by inflating the airbag suspension. I also raise it when negotiating deeply rutted tracks or in rocky, off-road conditions.

“On good open roads I drop the rig down to lower the centre of gravity and improve the ride,” he said. “This also increases safety and handling characteristics of the laden vehicle. Another major advantage is that, with the airbags, it is just a matter of pressing a switch to quickly level the unit for cooking or sleeping”

Airbag suspension also has been fitted to the new trailer version of the Innovan.

“With on-vehicle controls we can increase or decrease the trailer’s clearance at will to clear water or obstacles that you find all the time in remote areas of the country. It’s a real plus for serious touring,” Mr Davidson added.

“The premium quality Firestone airbags used in both systems are fully adjustable. By simply adding or removing air, owners can maintain their vehicle’s height under different loads and optimise ride, performance and safety.” Vehicles can be fitted with in-cab controls and on-board compressors enabling drivers to dial the ideal suspension setting for the road conditions without stopping.

The Innovan comes in four models currently, with the top of the range Voyager costing AUD $35,000 (USD $27,000 or EUR 21,000), the Rover AUD $30,000 (USD $23,000 or EUR 18,000), the Crusader AUD $25,000 (USD $19,000 or EUR 15,000) and the bottom-of-the-range Trader AUD $20,000 (USD $15,000 or EUR 12,000).

Those prices come without the van of course, and prices range from a two wheel drive chassis for under AUD $20,000 (USD $15,000 or EUR 12,000) through to a top of the range Toyota LandCruiser for AUD $50,000 (USD $38,000 or EUR 30,000).