Jayco Eagle Touring 2018 review

The Eagle transforms from a 4m-long unit to more than 6m, when unfolded.

The Eagle is the second largest camper in the Jayco stable, longer than the Hawk, shorter than the Swan. While it’s being towed, the camper measures 5060mm long and 2240mm wide. Suited, as it is, to highway and bitumen travel, it’s actually not as tall as most of the cars that will tow it, measuring in just 1660mm. 

It’s a far bigger camper once opened up, though. The 4020mm body extends by more than two metres to 6200mm, which is about as long inside as a 20-foot caravan. 

It’s not very heavy, either. In standard, empty form, the trailer weighs only 1100kg, puts 125kg of download on the hitch and can carry another 300kg of water, gear and food. Many medium SUVs and large sedans should be able to tow this without much trouble. 

The dinette turns into a third bed for the tin-lids if you can’t fit them in the two full-time beds.

There are two full-time beds in the Eagle. The bed at the front is nice and wide, measuring 1460mm across (wider than double, not quite queen), so is generally accepted as the master bed of the camper. It can be screened off from the main living area by a curtain to offer the illusion of privacy or just to block out light. Its own light clips to the overhead spreader bar. It brings light into the often-darker bed ends, although I’ve always wished Jayco would find a way to fit proper, personalised reading lights. Climbing into it means climbing over the forward lounge. 

The rear bed is narrower, more suited to younger children who haven’t yet realised the luxury of space in a bed. It’s only 1140mm wide (a bit wider than a king single, but not quite double like it says on the floorplan diagram). There’s no need to step over anything to climb in and it has its own light, too. Both mattresses are inner spring and quite comfortable considering this is a trailer. 

The main dinette converts easily. The table simply unclips from its wall rail and settles into place, then the two backrests fill in the space in between. It’s a cosy little space that two kids will fit easily in head-to-tail. 

I set the camper up in less than eight minutes, although time isn’t a good indicator of ease. The Jayco camper-trailers haven’t changed their method of set-up in four decades, so it’s safe to say the process is simple. Unlike some other camper-trailer designs, there’s nothing heavy to flip or fold. 

Once the roof is wound up, the beds need to be pulled up and this does expose them to the weather, so expect them to get wet if you’re forced to set up or pack up in the rain. That problems largely solved if you option the bed-end storm covers (fitted to this tester), but there’s still some risk. 

Setting the spreader bar on both bed ends is also a little tricky, as it necessarily has to be a tight fit, but working above your head to set it used muscles not regularly used, especially if you’re just a pen-pusher like me. 

Out of five, though, I’d say it’s a four in terms of ease.

There’s not a lot of clearance under the back of it – hence the grass in the wind down stabiliser leg.

Other than the lack of a battery, small dinette and the potential for the beds to get wet if you’re caught packing up in the rain, there’s little to criticise about the Eagle. 

It’s certainly not a camper for any sort of off-road travel, as its ground clearance, especially at the back under the stabiliser legs and water tank, is very modest. Even some uneven caravan park sites or gutters could cause it to bottom out.