Most budget "Overland" / camping trailer

[jayhat]

What's the most basic, budget, Overland/camping, trailer out there?

Basic tub style is great (can be open). Want it to have rails on top but no RTT from the factory. Semi-off-road type suspension, semi decent ground clearance, with larger wheels. Does not need to have a built in kitchen/water/power/ gas/solar/etc.

There are a lot of $10,000 trailers out there that I feel are just too much for what I'd use them for.

 

[Wookiemonster]

Look at the CVT ( cascadia vehicle tents ) trailer. I am in the process of purchasing one as we speak, should be picking it up this week. Anyway, very nice trailer, well built, with many nice features like 31' tires and Timbren 3500 axles. I added the taller rail system so I could utilize the annex with my RTT, all in all my trailer was 6800 bucks. Definitely the most affordable out of the bunch, by quite a bit too. Really all depends on what you are looking for and what your budget is. I broke it down by what i was looking to accomplish with my trailer and the characteristics i sought most were; Ruggedness; because I will be taking the trailer off road. Clearance; achieved that with the axle less system Timbren employs. Storage; because I have two boys and two dogs that always travel with, and not cramming my runner to the brim was the main goal. and last but not least a more convenient/permanent solution for my RTT. With my lift and the size of the tent I found my self constantly donning and doffing my RTT from my vehicle, which if you have ever done you will know to be a PITA. This way it is fixed to the trailer and we can still enjoy the benefits of the RTT without the hassle, and in the process gain much need storage for our excursions.....Plus I didn't feel I needed all that fancy crap that really jacks the price way up, the majority of the trailers cost as much as a new car....

 

[smallfry]

Buy an old truck chop the cab off and turn the bed into a trailer or an old army trailer then mount a rack and RTT to it.

 

[Wookiemonster]

or that works too...

 

[Vinsil]

Buy an old truck chop the cab off and turn the bed into a trailer then mount a rack and RTT to it.

Get you some!

 

[spizike9]

Am I the only one that thinks these "overland trailers" are way over priced?

 

[DesertCanyons]

Teardrop options

Here are a few low cost options:
TC Teardrop Camping Trailers
5x8 Off-Road Deluxe - Hiker Trailer
https://www.leaddogmotorsports.com/extreme-off-road
OFF- ROAD TRAILER - SierraMadreTeardropTrailers
My favorite for what it offers in ruggedness, simplicity, compactness and lightweight. Not the cheapest but appears to be a very good value. 4x8 feet, no kitchen, any wheel and tire size:
https://www.socalteardrops.com/page.php?p=30
A good resource, Teardrop Magazine:
https://www.cooltears.com/

 

[Zach_F]

Dinoot, if you are willing to put in a little work.

 

[sn_85]

Free Spirit has a "reasonably" priced one for $7k
Journey ? Off Road Trailer |

Although their website sucks in general for pictures and descriptions. The trailer has a few doors I'm assuming for storage but you don't get any pictures of internal storage areas.

 

[Magnetic4R]

Look into a Dinoot

 

[Kamalani Mahie]

Checkout the Smittybilt 84700 Scout trailer. $6k. Good description here:
https://www.bluelineeo.com/collecti...rland/products/smittybilt-84700-scout-trailer

 

[SwayzeExpress]

We have a livin lite quicksilver 8.1 - it's a sweet platform to build off of and can be lifted easy or bought in an off road package. There is one size smaller that is just at 6k

 

[ScoMey]

This is what I did...

... I utilized a 5x8 utility trailer, and mounted my RTT to it. The trailer was around $2K, and it only weighs 400# unloaded. I was able to mount my RTT to it with a Yakima rack I already owned. OK, it's not a rugged "off-road" trailer, but it works perfectly fine for weekend and extended stay camping, and pulls well on gravel and not-well-maintained NFS forest roads here in the upper Midwest, etc. I'm building a removable slide out tray so that I have a separate platform for cooking, strapping stuff down, etc.

And, I still have a decent 5x8 trailer for trips to Menard's and The Home Depot.

Hope you find what you're looking for.

 

[honda250xtitan]

cheaper to buy a welder and learn to weld and build your own trailer IMO. This fall i'm (hopefully) going to build one, should be easy since i have all the tools necessary, only issue i'm concerned about is axle placement.

 

[Hellaflushfj60]

M101 trailer

 

[jayhat]

... I utilized a 5x8 utility trailer, and mounted my RTT to it. The trailer was around $2K, and it only weighs 400# unloaded. I was able to mount my RTT to it with a Yakima rack I already owned. OK, it's not a rugged "off-road" trailer, but it works perfectly fine for weekend and extended stay camping, and pulls well on gravel and not-well-maintained NFS forest roads here in the upper Midwest, etc. I'm building a removable slide out tray so that I have a separate platform for cooking, strapping stuff down, etc.

And, I still have a decent 5x8 trailer for trips to Menard's and The Home Depot.

Hope you find what you're looking for.

That looks great. I've been kicking the idea around as well. Found a local trailer distributor that sells what seems like a pretty perfect utility trailer. It's not real beefy/ off-road built, but it doesn't have tiny trailer tires either. I have some spare yakima towers and cross bars as well. How did you mount yours? Honestly don't know how much extreme off-road stuff I'd be doing with it anyway. 90% of the time would probably be standard camping on either well maintained or semi rough forest service roads.

 

[jayhat]

Has anyone used these guys?

They have the "OVERLAND UTILITY TRAILER" for $4200

https://anchormtnoverland.com/collections/overland-trailers/products/overland-utility-trailer

 

[jayhat]

... I utilized a 5x8 utility trailer, and mounted my RTT to it. The trailer was around $2K, and it only weighs 400# unloaded. I was able to mount my RTT to it with a Yakima rack I already owned. OK, it's not a rugged "off-road" trailer, but it works perfectly fine for weekend and extended stay camping, and pulls well on gravel and not-well-maintained NFS forest roads here in the upper Midwest, etc. I'm building a removable slide out tray so that I have a separate platform for cooking, strapping stuff down, etc.

And, I still have a decent 5x8 trailer for trips to Menard's and The Home Depot.

Hope you find what you're looking for.

I was thinking about using this as a base ($2350)
Great Northern, 5x8, Barn Doors - 99 West Trailers

 

[ScoMey]

That looks great. I've been kicking the idea around as well. Found a local trailer distributor that sells what seems like a pretty perfect utility trailer. It's not real beefy/ off-road built, but it doesn't have tiny trailer tires either. I have some spare yakima towers and cross bars as well. How did you mount yours? Honestly don't know how much extreme off-road stuff I'd be doing with it anyway. 90% of the time would probably be standard camping on either well maintained or semi rough forest service roads.

I repurposed the Yakima Railgrab towers I had previously used on the 4Runner's roof rails - I had to get longer crossbars though. Since my trailer has the separate 'rope rail' going around it, the Railgrabs worked out perfect. Yakima has now discontinued the Railgrab, but they have an updated version of it... and Thule, Rhino-Rack, and others should have something you can work with too. All in with the tent, and other stuff I've done to the trailer I'm still way below $5K total expenditure. And did I forget to mention I still have a fully functional 5x8 utility trailer?

At some point I may try to come up with a means of getting the tent a up little higher, but for now it works good. And since I pretty much travel alone, I still have room in the 4Runner for stuff I want to keep dry, so not having a covered trailer isn't a show-stopper for me.

The trailer you're looking at looks substantial enough for what you want to do, and I think has lots of potential... I like the barndoors on the back.

Lot's of other good suggestions in this thread for you, and I even considered some of those options. In the end though, I needed to kill two birds with one stone so I went the direction I did. Good luck.

 

[jayhat]

I repurposed the Yakima Railgrab towers I had previously used on the 4Runner's roof rails - I had to get longer crossbars though. Since my trailer has the separate 'rope rail' going around it, the Railgrabs worked out perfect. Yakima has now discontinued the Railgrab, but they have an updated version of it... and Thule, Rhino-Rack, and others should have something you can work with too. All in with the tent, and other stuff I've done to the trailer I'm still way below $5K total expenditure. And did I forget to mention I still have a fully functional 5x8 utility trailer?

At some point I may try to come up with a means of getting the tent a up little higher, but for now it works good. And since I pretty much travel alone, I still have room in the 4Runner for stuff I want to keep dry, so not having a covered trailer isn't a show-stopper for me.

The trailer you're looking at looks substantial enough for what you want to do, and I think has lots of potential... I like the barndoors on the back.

Lot's of other good suggestions in this thread for you, and I even considered some of those options. In the end though, I needed to kill two birds with one stone so I went the direction I did. Good luck.

I really like the idea of being able to use the trailer to move furniture, haul stuff to the dump, etc. So multi use is a really nice feature for me.

I was thinking about getting some high, removable, cross bars fabbed and mounted (tubular or square tubular steel) to the trailer for tent mounting that I could remove for hauling activities.