Off Road Trailers Thread

[DannyLlama]

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.. :moping:

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..

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]

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]

Gas mileage?

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]

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]

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]

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]

Intech Explore

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 https://www.toyota-4runner.org/group-buys/281331-off-road-trailer-group-buy-thats-right.html#post3417474

 

[007Tacoma]

Just to throw another one in the mix...

I met the owners of Highland Expedition Outfitters (HEO Trailers), and I was really impressed with their all aluminum design T3.5 trailer. I am saving up for one right now.

Highland Expedition Outfitters – Overland Trailers

 

[CherokeeTactical]

We have an Intech XLT flyer, although I think they have changed the name to the Chase flyer. We got ours when they first come out. I pulled it behind my tacoma for a few years. It's currently at the vinyl place about to get wrapped.

 

[teotwaki]

Be extremely careful with any company with long lead times (more than 3 weeks) who is demanding deposits, down payments and other prepayments without an iron-clad refund policy stated in writing. There is a long thread on the Expedition Portal companies (Inka & Moby1) that essentially used deposits to build a few trailers then went "bankrupt" without any deposits being refunded.

You should be given a delivery date usually less than a month out.
They are upfront about delays and notify you if there are any.
Have them build the frame first with VIN then get title: get it insured for theft
They send pictures of progress and keep lines of communication open.
You get the product that you ordered

"$500 deposit to guarantee your place in line in the build sequence giving you an estimated beginning build time for the start of your build with a specific exit date that you can demand the return of your $500 deposit no questions asked if the builder has not started the build of your trailer as outlined below. A that point when the builder is ready to begin the build of your trailer pay no more than $1K or less additional deposit until the builder can provide to you pictures of your legal chassis, a VIN number attached, a copy of their issued MSO with VIN number stated (Manufacturer's Statement of Origin) for your chassis and a purchase contract signed by both parties purchase contract outlining your responsibilities as the buyer for payment/performance to the builder at specific points of completion during the build and the builders responsibilities to you concerning the trailer build specifications and delivery timeline for your completed trailer. "

"I recommend calling your credit card company and giving them the details. I did that with Amex before I put a deposit on a custom trailer in mid 2017, before the Inka and Moby disasters, to avoid those very scenarios. My builder even said they would charge extra to put it on a card, but when I said I was treating it as consumer protection insurance he saw the logic.

I was very clear with Amex, as in "So to be clear, if the company goes bust before I get my trailer, even if is several months after I place my deposit, the credit card will protect me?" They said yes, the time limit is from delivery or if I never get delivery, not from the date of payment. I'm glad I never needed to use it, but it gave me peace of mind. And yes, it was not more than I could afford to lose anyway."

Issues with Inka Outdoors | Expedition Portal

Moby1 Going Out Of Business? Has Anyone Received A Deposit Return? | Page 11 | Expedition Portal

Owner of Utah County camping trailer business faces criminal charges | KSL.com

 

[MooseT4R]

Hiker and Escapade have had my attention the most as of late. Saw Hiker has been posted, didn't see Escapade. This is something I could see myself "By the time you figure X nights in a hotel..." figuring.

Escapade Camper Co.

 

[49Runner]

Neon Pop-up with 33’s mounted.

 

[Colorado S14]

Here is mine, doubles carrying capacity and goes anywhere the truck will go. Best of all I snagged it for $350.

 

[honda250xtitan]

Well, I had two offroad trailers. I can tell you they were terrible! The first one was old, and I thought it was time to throw it away and buy a new one. Well, I bought a new trailer. And you know what? It was even worse! It was impossible to drive it on normal roads. It was shaking from one side of the road to the other.

lots of factors.


i built mine in the backyard. shared the same track width as the toyota. had just the right amount of tongue weight, leaf springs were setup to accommodate the actual loaded weight (alot of trailers are way over sprung), and tire pressures were way reduced since the trailer weight was much lighter than the load rating on the tires (tires were 285/70-17's to match the toyota) even added cheapo shocks to the axle to help keep it planted on small bumps on the highway lol

small trailers can be squirrely because theyre so light and so short.

 

[teotwaki]

Well, I had two offroad trailers. I can tell you they were terrible! The first one was old, and I thought it was time to throw it away and buy a new one. Well, I bought a new trailer. And you know what? It was even worse! It was impossible to drive it on normal roads. It was shaking from one side of the road to the other.

It sounds as if you made two bad decisions in a row. As mentioned by honda250 the right trailer can be easy to tow by a capable vehicle

Back in 2013 I took my trailer through the Maze District which offers fun challenges. Here is a trip report with pictures.

Sun To The North: August 2013

 

[Cheers!]

I want a UK MOD surplus Penman Trailer. They can be had for 900gbp off their equivalent of GovPlanet.

There was a Rover speciality shop out of Maine (I think) that imported a handful and sold them for $3250 usd each. I missed out on buying 1. Seems like ideal trailer for 4Runner. Has a rear gate, stabilizers on all 4 corners when parked. Stainless tub. Around 1320lbs empty. Also has surge brakes built in.

It isn’t huge and unwieldy like the m1101A or older m101 3/4 tons.

The m416 or the Canadian version m101cdn would be great. But most are rust buckets asking for too much money.

 

[Dinosaur Overland]

We love our Smittybilt Scout trailer, for the money it is hard to beat. We used it with a RTT for a while but really like our OZ tent. I have added a lot of bells and whistles that have made camping off the grid very comfortable. I usually get between 14-16 mpg while towing it depending on how hilly it is.