For sure. Though I'm alright adding the accessories on myself as I need them. I contacted them in the past and they said they can accommodate custom designs too. I've been considering the basics and then adding on as I find the need, though things like running wiring and such can be a hassle after the fact.
Do you happen to know what sort of AC they have available? Is it 12V or requires shore power?
Do you happen to know what sort of AC they have available? Is it 12V or requires shore power?
I'm not sure, though I've usually seen regular ~5000BTU units run off the battery system via the inverter. But I'm not specifically sure about the Vorsheer trailers.
After researching relentlessly, and after renting a T@g boondock trailer, I put reserve money on a 2021 Boreas XT hopefully ready at the xgrid dealership in Las Vegas in May.
My wife and I were very dissatisfied with the build quality of the t@g teardrop (you get what you pay for), but having a comfortable bed with walls was a comfort in the 40 mph howling winds in Joshua Tree.. Stabilized, we barely shook. In a tent? It would have been miserable.
I plan to go off road with my boreas. I will deflate the trailer tires. And disconnect before going up any iffy roads.
Trailers are for basecamps and overlanding, not 4x4ing.
After searching the crap out of the topic, I put money down on a Boreas XT due in May. Not inexpensive, but I think worth it. It is a turnkey buy (well except for greater solar, battery, and gas capacity than stock and the add on room).
I like that boreas moved from custom to small scale production and sells through dealerships (2 grand refundable deposit vs. 1/2 down like most custom builders). I like there is NO WOOD. Nothing to rot. It is light and can handle rough terrain. Built in stove, sink, and 12v single zone 60L freezer or refrigerator. Built in propane shower, 20 gals. water, propane heater, a/c prep. Big storage box, spare tire, 20 inch clearance, timberline axles. Lock n roll hitch, 23zero awning, roof rack.
I like that that the site pics show a 4runner towing it.
Glamour shot with my former vehicle. We have a 2019 Off Grid Trailers Expedition 2.0 and love it. Lots of small improvements have been made in the 2020 model. Did the RTT thing for years. We now highly prefer sleeping indoors.
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Dispensing advice 24/7. Usually free and sometimes worthwhile! @4xoa on the gram.
After a lot of research and patience I was lucky enough to pick up a lightly used SoCal teardrop. Big fan of the suspension; straight axle with leaf spring and shock. Plus the craftsmanship is amazing.
I was using an off-road trailer with a RTT before this and really enjoyed it but I wanted something that was more 4 season friendly.
I've posted mine before. But it's a DIY teardrop. Been through a few iterations. I would not built a teardrop shape again. It's not aerodynamic. And the rear hatch is a PITA to form steel and also not very useful. A side opening rear door or barn doors would be better.
Overall - I've been everywhere from the California coast to the Canadian border with it and we've spent probably 100? nights in it over the past couple years. Not sure how many days we've spent. But it's been quite a few. I've re-done a lot of parts on it after owning it and finding out what needs to change.
I have no heater. It is fully insulated - walls are foam/wood sandwich construction and the roof is all insulated as well. So it stays warm enough with body heat. I did build in an A/C unit and an inverter large enough to run the A/C unit off battery/solar power for a few hours. This was pretty critical for us - not for the people, but for our dog. When we travel with our dog to places like southern Utah - it's really nice to be able to leave her in the camper for an hour or two and have it say cool. It also of course works on shore power if we're somewhere that has electricity, but I rarely need to do that. I do not use a generator and try as often as possible to stay in campgrounds that do not allow them. Also - it has no hot water. I'd love to have hot water! It has a 24ish gallon fresh water tank with a pump and sink in the kitchen and only about a 12 gallon gray water tank. Since it's only dish water or face washing - I often drain it at the camp site if it's allowed. It has a two burner propane stove and a 12v fridge/freezer on a pull out drawer in the rear kitchen.
No interior bathroom or shower. It does have a pull out porta potty setup on the driver's side.
It has a matching track as the 4Runner and uses FJ Cruiser wheels with some lower profile tires. Still has about the same ground clearance as the vehicle because no differential down there. And can share spare tires etc. I also built the chassis and it's made to handle moderate off-road use. The gray water tank is the only tank underneath and it has a steel skid plate. But it's usually the rear bumper or the hitch that drags the most. The way I adapted the axle for FJ Cruiser wheels was to use a wheel spacer with the correct pattern for a Toyota. The spacer bolts on and then has the correct Toyota 12mm lugs to use OEM lugnuts that fit correctly with Toyota wheels. It has your typical 3500lb axle with electric drum brakes. I think it weighs around 1500-2000lbs, but I've never put it on a scale, so I don't know.
In the next year or two I think we're going to probably buy a bigger camper. We have a 1year old and it was great with 2. It's tight with 3 when one of them kinda needs a crib of some sort to sleep in. The interior area is roughly 8' long and a bit under 6' wide.
I built chassis and everything from there up to a CAD design I made before I started. Overall I think the total cost is probably in the range of $3000 in materials. If I remember correctly - I think that it took about 5 or 6 weekends to build from start to my original finishing point. I did "cheat" in some sense in that I have a CNC router that I could cut all of the panels and parts on so that really helps speed up the build. I also have a plasma setup on the same CNC machine so the metal brackets and other parts are also very fast and easy to cut to size/shape.
We went down the whole RTT to RTT on Trailer, to now having a small camper trailer rabbit hole.
In all of the research the biggest thing that was realized is that it really was all about compromises. Because of the way we travel we needed something that could setup quick (we normally get into camp late at night after long drives), could sleep a small family of 4 and could supply us on multi-week trips. We also wanted something that would work as well off-grid dispersed camping as it would in National Park/State Park campgrounds and give us an option for A/C so we could camp in the Florida summer heat.
We decided to give up some "off-roadability" for convenience and comfort. After tons of research it brought us to the Taxa line of products, specifically the Taxa Cricket. We luckily got in on a new late model 2018 last December before the pandemic camper rush and got a pretty good deal on it.
We had it customized with a Lock n' Roll hitch, 120ah lithium battery and it is already pre-wired for solar. We also have a portable A/C that we can bring along and hook-up when needed (although we do need shore power to run it for more than a couple hours).
I would definitely classify this as an "off-pavement" trailer as opposed to "off-road" trailer, but it has gotten us to camp where we want to off the beaten path. In addition it sets up in less that 5 minutes (this is not an exaggeration).
So far we have about 10,000 miles of road-trip in it, with over 500 "off-pavement" miles and it has been perfect for us. I have more pics and write-up on my thread.
available 12v a/c, heater, hot water, kitchen. Outdoor shower, port-a-potty...
Starts at low 20k, but minimal options at that price...
made in Utah
I agree, I researched these heavily along with VMI Off-Road’s extender line. I would have likely gone with one of them instead of our Taxa but we needed ours to be garageable (under 83” in total height). These are 86”.
What AC vendors are these camper builders using? Climateright is out of stock indefinitely (with the rumor that a new model is being released in 2021) and alternatives are drying up.