[Zapper]

I purchase a Hiker off road earlier this year. It’s got everything you need. Furnace,water heater,20 gallons of fresh water, inverter, solar(400watts) and 2 6volt deep cycles. I sold my M416 look alike I built out. I’ll get into the pros and cons later.

[Tuc4R]

Originally Posted by DannyLlama

Which brand is that.

I agree with everyone about them being too pricey. It's ridiculous and don't know how they stay in business selling trailers at price point of a new camry.

I have hunted all over craigslist and offer up, the forums to try to find something that's half OK and haven't been successful. I might have better luck hitting up the expos or just paying someone to build one, but that won't have a warranty..

@Jhalko what bumper/configuration do you have?

It’s a Hiker trailer. This is their extreme off-road model. Their prices are way better than most off-road trailers on the market. Don’t get me wrong, they can get very pricey if you start adding on a ton of options, but their base price is hard to beat.

[Hydguy]

Keeping an eye on this..

I want a trailer, but not a RTT, as I have a decent sized dog who has to sleep with her dad, and I need to have a spot to put my kayak.
Might be better to get one of the flat style with a kitchen, and just mount my kayak on that and sleep in the back of the 4Runner.

[Zapper]

With the hiker trailer, I have transported kayaks with no issues. My wife and I sleep in side with the smaller German Shepherd, not sure what we are going to do now. We have added a second And he’s big. Galley is in the back and with some drawers I added everything is very convenient..

[War Eagle]

I have a home built, but I highly recommend the HEO trailers. Jeff is local and builds among the best at a great price.

Highland Expedition Outfitters | Cosby | Tennessee

[DannyLlama]

Originally Posted by Jhalko

Danny,
I’ve got a cbi without swingout, have looked at getting a new bumper with swingout from all manufacturers. I’m in a similar situation as we are busting at the seams and with a 4 person rtt the roof space is gone. Plus we just got a golden retriever puppy! I’ve researched but haven’t decided what route to go, trailer or more bumper space. Based on what you describe you should look at these.

CVT Product Manuals and Resources | Cascadia Vehicle Tents

This is pretty much what i'm looking for, but I really don't want to spend 5k on something like that..

Originally Posted by 3rdCoast Runner

The wife and I are considering one of these:

The Venturist - RunawayCampers.com

Comfortably sleeps two inside but can also have a rooftop tent. Seems to be priced right as well.

These look pretty awesome too... What is the cargo space inside @3rdCoastRunner .. I tried to look at pics but nothing of inside the cabin..

Originally Posted by Zapper

I purchase a Hiker off road earlier this year. It’s got everything you need. Furnace,water heater,20 gallons of fresh water, inverter, solar(400watts) and 2 6volt deep cycles. I sold my M416 look alike I built out. I’ll get into the pros and cons later.

What is the price point for this configuration?

[DannyLlama]

Originally Posted by Drobs

The owner and his wife for the below Teardrop trailer company were at the Ozarks Overland Rally a few months ago. He was pulling his with a Tacoma but used a 4Runner in the past.

Prices are fantastic and he only requires a $500 down payment to get one built. Said he sells ever single trailer he builds.

TCTeardrops Trailers

Prices start at $4500 for the base model.
TCTeardrops Trailers | Essentials

Top out at $10,600 for the off road trailer.
TCTeardrops Trailers | ORE

I personally don't want to deal with a trailer off road. It makes everything more difficult. I could see parking it at a campsite and off roading. I'd worry someone would steel it though.

Watching Jason Koertge on youtube roll his trailer - just confirms my opinions. Could've easily rolled his 4Runner as well.

I laugh at Primal Outdoors on youtube, pulling a tiny OR trailer with his 8ft bed diesel Ford F250. Makes no sense at all.

Jason who rolled what?

[Cymon]

We recently sold our custom modified m416. They are hard to find but we modified with custom adjustable height rack for our CVT Mt.Ranier. We had it fully customized with the RTT for the same amount of $ as the CVT trailer, which we were seriously considering before finding the m416. The issue we were running into in South Florida was that it was just too hot to camp in 8 months of the year. We looked at everything to potentially replace it.
I contacted VMI over the summer. The extended alpine would have been our first choice but it’s a 12 month lead time and our main constraint was that it had to fit in our 7ft high garage (thanks HOA). So it was a no-go and they are very pricey. For the same price you could also import a Bruder EXP4.

I also took a hard look at Black Series Campers and the Opus Line. We really like the specs of the new Opus 15, but again they height requirement and it’s dry weight is pushing 5000lbs.

In the end we were realistic with what we wanted...a trailer to go down light duty trails as a base camp and explore from there. It needed to sleep 2 adults and 2 kids, have an a/c option and setup quicker than our trailer with RTT since we do lots of road trips where we are pulling into camp late at night with 2 kids and a dog. It also had to be comfortable and carry all of our gear and bikes for our extended road trips.

We just picked up one of the last “New” 2018 Taxa Crickets from Road Trip Camping in Orange, VA. The owner does lots of custom work on small “micro campers”. We got ours outfitted with a custom portable a/c solution, 120 ah lithium batteries, dual child berths and lock n’ roll hitch. It tows so much better than the m416, sets up in less than a minute (literally) once unhitched and also has 15 gallons of onboard water, sink, stove and trauma heat. Taking it out for our first trip driving back from Maryland to Florida over New Years, so I’ll report back with more info and pics.

If interested I have more pics of our old m416 in my thread linked in my signature and will have pics of our new trailer once we get it out this week.

Out with the old and in with the new for 2020.

[idHawk]

Following this thread with interest. I am very curious what kind of gas mileage you guys that are towing are getting with your rigs. So far, I am only getting about 14mpg around town with 285 tires. I can't imagine what that is going to drop to with the weight of armor and even more so, towing a trailer.

[Cymon]

Originally Posted by idHawk

Following this thread with interest. I am very curious what kind of gas mileage you guys that are towing are getting with your rigs. So far, I am only getting about 14mpg around town with 285 tires. I can't imagine what that is going to drop to with the weight of armor and even more so, towing a trailer.

I was getting around 16 mpg highway, 14 city when towing our m416. That was usually with stuff loaded on our roof rack as well (Yakima skybox, bikes, etc...). I had 275 LRC Coopers at the time. Remember that when towing you also usually drive slower (I would never go much over 70 mph and that was pushing it with trailer sway)

When we picked up our new Taxa Cricket, my mpg’s on the last part of our trip actually increased from 15.9 mpg before trailer to 16.5 mpg because of its aerodynamics (not towing a brick m416) and my avg speed naturally decreased from 78mph up i95 to 65 mph. Any speeds over 70mph in the 4runner absolutely kill gas mileage due to the aerodynamics, so for me, towing something under 2,000lbs on the highway vs. not towing was almost a wash because it forces me to drive slower.

[Drobs]

Originally Posted by DannyLlama

Jason who rolled what?

One of our fine members here showing what a major pita it is to pull a trailer off road:

Jump to 10:53
YouTube

More off road fun with a trailer...
YouTube

[Friggin Idiot]

Originally Posted by Drobs

One of our fine members here showing what a major pita it is to pull a trailer off road:

Jump to 10:53
YouTube

More off road fun with a trailer...
YouTube

I had been considering a teardrop style off-roading trailer, but hadn't considered the weight of the trailer dragging and handling like this. Forest roads are one thing, trails like that are a completely different story. Thanks for posting this, it's really given me pause on something I had convinced myself would suit my needs perfectly!

[pkima]

After months of research, I think I've narrowed down to this. So far.

Flyer Explore Travel Trailer - inTech RV

Under 2k lb, can sleep up to 6, carry gear/toys, A/C & heat etc...
Simplistic yet functional design, no plumbing etc....

The construction seems very solid, with an all welded aluminium frame and price seems reasonable compared to many of the other "off-road" trailers and what you get.

Plan is to use as a base camp while exploring the areas and not lug it around on really rough trails.

[Jetboy]

Has anyone purchased an offroad trailer from the manufacturer in China? I've had some dialog with a few manufacturers of popular models you often see sold under various brand names by the importers and the pricing is pretty reasonable to a port in California. I'm curious if anyone has gone through the import process and whether it's worth having them prepare the DOT paperwork vs taking delivery and registering yourself. I've built half a dozen trailers and registration is generally very easy - at least in Utah.

I already have a medium size teardrop I build a few years ago, but would like to go a little bigger and have a pop-top. I think the pop-top is ideal for my use as long as I'm able to sleep with the top down in bear country where they often don't allow soft sided camping. I would be fine with it open during the day. The lower height folded down should improve the mileage a good bit.

This is the model I'm mostly looking at. Ends up around $18k delivered. Biggest obvious down side is that the entry door is almost always on the wrong side because they are designed for Australia. That's a potential problem whenever you end up in a developed camp ground. For off grid camping it's a non-issue.

[DannyLlama]

^ That thing is cool, how much?

So.... this is totally random but I came across a company that makes similar trailers to M416 and happens to be what I'm looking for. I reached out to them about a group buy and they responded positively!!

I have no affiliations with this company and its completely coincidental!

If anyone has interest, check out the group buy page ... Direct link Off Road Trailer Group Buy (that's right!)