Tribe EX500

rehammer81

Active member
I have always loved the Kimberly Karavan. I just don't like the full imported price and would prefer for a North American passenger side layout, though that isn't a huge deal. This Tribe was initially interesting but the more I see of it the less interesting it is. It appears to have some odd characteristics and look to it.

I personally think the bed looks small. It is still North American driver side oriented. I agree that the tongue looks too short. For an off-road trailer, the the TV show be able to get close to jackknifing the trailer and should have plenty of vehicle clearance on a decently sharp and deep dip. My personal opinion is that black tanks should not be part of an off-grid oriented trailer. To me, they should be designed around some sort of dry toilet or a cassette toilet. I'm not even sure what the heck the toilet in that thing is with all the piping and stuff next to the throne. I also personally think they should give up the chincy integrated single burner and sink. Just put a sink a counter space. There are portable burner options that work so much better than that burner one could use if they needed it and the rest of the time not have that dumb burner taking up counter space. Also, like some other options coming from overseas but being sold for pretty hefty price tags, they need to be at least bare minimum lithium battery banks. These AGM battery banks actually only have 50% of the capacity installed since you aren't supposed to drain AGMs below 50% capacity.

It will likely be cheaper than a Kimberly Karavan so it might have its market but I do think Tribe could do so much better with it and offer something that doesn't exist yet in the NA market at a more "affordable" price than the Karavan.

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EPO

Active member
Agree rehammer81. While it has some promise, it's a long way before I'd remotely consider purchasing it. In addition to your above comments, will add that the bathroom is atrocious. Nasty cesspool bacteria laden infection potential; it needs to be simplified tremendously.
 

Obsessed2findARuggedHybid

Well-known member
So Tribe website lists at 49k. I believe ROA mentioned they anticipate many upgrades that need to be done so they list it at 65k. At first I thought that was a lot for this trailer but after the fiasco of how much Imperial Outdoors blind sided ROA on thier final pricing I appreciate them guessing high. If your handy and good at negotiating 49k MSRP might be a good price to take a chance. My guess is it is possible that these guys could get swamped with warranty depending on how many units the ship over. They seem to be setting up any Tom ******** and Harry dealer known to man. Can't get over how full the A frame is. Looks like there is barley room for hitch. Like to see a picture of that trailer in a jack knife position.
 
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Obsessed2findARuggedHybid

Well-known member
Checking out the spec sheet on the 500 from Tribes website.

Tar weight (Dry) 3,660 lbs
ATm- 4,100 (Gvw) lbs

Could this be something lost in translation?
CCC- 440lbs. Full tanks would eat that up.
 

DFNDER

Active member
Agree there are some odd design choices. The strange angled cushion; if you set up the dinette bed, the main bed becomes landlocked and you have to crawl over everyone to get out. Interior burner is silly. Just use a portable there, or get more lithium and use an inverter and portable induction. Safer for indoors anyway, especially in that tight a space. Water tanks in the rear could make it unstable for towing when full, and look like rock bait anywhere off road. What happens if roof raising mechanism fails in the middle of nowhere? Doesn't look like there's a manual option, or any way to use the interior with the roof down. No mention of winterization, so I assume this is a 3 season camper at best, especially when that black tank freezes up. Short tongue is definitely a question mark for maneuverability. It would take a lot of faith in ROA's support and proximity to them for repairs to make me trust this thing given where it's built and the generic Chinese components throughout.
 

Drifter2023

New member
This trailer was at Overland Expo Mountain West - see it in youtube video at the Expo
Priced clearly at $55,000 - - pretty attention getting price (Lithium standard)

I don't know about the tongue being too short issue, but I'm concerned about all the things that could go wrong - many moving custom parts (e.g., dutch door, roof lift). I also agree the toilet with black tank is not a value add for me - would much rather have a full cassette or a wrapon. There is a heater, but no brand name that I heard - I infer it's diesel though which is ok if it's a high-quality component.

Seems comprehensive in features but not for me if this is imported from China.
 

Treefarmer1

Active member
Nicely built little trailer. At $55k that seems high to me, but we own and are more familiar with the larger dual axle off roaders. You should compare this to the Kingdom Camping Adventure Pro Mini at $30k. It also has lithium standard, has all the bells and whistles, and is pretty customizable.
 

Obsessed2findARuggedHybid

Well-known member
So I saw guy post a vid on the Tribe Trailer owners public FB page. I don't want to embarrass this guy but I wonder if folks get a little over zealous watching roa and the like YT videos of off road trailers going a bit to loose and fast on off road terrain. ROA usually does this with an empty trailer and tow vehicle. This guy is fully loaded. That Chinese chassis is going to snap in half if he keeps driving that fast over rough terrain . Why?
 

Treefarmer1

Active member
I've always thought the same thing about decked out jeeps, etc. People seem to want to spend tens of thousands of dollars on off road upgrades for trucks/jeeps/trailers and then purposely try to destroy them. We like to arrive at camp with everything in good working order. If you have to ask why people do otherwise, I guess you just don't get it.🙂
 

Obsessed2findARuggedHybid

Well-known member
I posted this yesterday on I different string

Looks like ROA has the Tribe 500 demo unit on sale for 34k. Does this mean they are dropping the line or have 40 of them coming? I believe they said the first production run will have improvements. After the OBI disaster my guess is thier dropping the line?
 

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