What about expedition trailers?

[ErrinV]

The Campa ATT...


...as well as ours (rentals available at the end of April from Adventure Trailers). Try them both and get the one that works best for you, your application and your tow vehicle.

Thanks for taking the time to reply elcoyote. Makes complete sense about the differences. I saw the King Kamper at the Sportsman Show and thought basically what you just said. It's probably great if I'm in Australia, but not really suited for where I would like to travel in California.

That's a great idea about renting them. I will do that as soon as that is available. Now I get to plan not one but 2 trips.
:luxhello: :luxhello:

Errin

 

[flywgn]

Man, I don't know how the heck I missed this thread, but I'm glad that I've caught up on it.

There are some absolutely priceless comments in above posts related to "stuff", "time", and "efficiency", to name a few. Diana and I loved the one about passing the time when, to paraphrase, "...rolling your toothbrush and a couple of Power Bars in a tee-shirt and zip-tying this to the roll bar", was behind you.

We have back-packed (where only half a toothbrush was acceptable) and we have traveled in a motorhome (yuck) and everything in between. Some years ago after a trip into the Midriff of Baja California we came to the conclusion that we wanted some type of expedition trailer.

We purchased a Conquerer right off the floor at the Pomona Off-road Expo in 1999. Stephen Goetz of Safari Trailers was reluctant to sell it to us because the two he had at the show were his only two, but after I promised to tow ours to SEMA in Las Vegas and to two other shows he relinquished, and we were off and running, so to speak.

The Conquerer was (is) a terrific off-road expedition trailer and we towed it into some incredible spots. We would still own it had it not been for a life-threatening horse-accident that Diana had a few years after our purchasing it. Diana broke five ribs and punctured a lung as well as rupturing an Achilles tendon in that tumble, and for a long time it was too painful to ascend the ladder into the tent on top. We used the lower tent (beneath the cantilevered upper deck) for a year, but I finally acquiesed to the cris de coeur of a friend who just had to have the Conq to tow behind his H1.

We are now in that "need another expedition trailer" mode. (Yes, El Coyote, I know this gives you an advantage. ) We loved the advantages of the rugged, off-road qualities of the Conq, and, from what I've heard and read, the Adventure Trailer has the same qualities. We were never prevented from taking any road because of the encumbrance of a 'toad'. Quite frankly, my view is "if the toad can't go, we don't need to."

I'm not sure a small expedition trailer will supplant our 19' ATRV. We'd use them differently. I can even see using them together with the ATRV being Base Camp (actually its nickname) and having the smaller one for side trips. Probably won't do a lot of that, but it's a possibility.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Horizon and Chaser in Phoenix in a couple of weeks.

 

[blupaddler]

What we need to do is everyone bring the trailer you own or rent one that isn't represented, and have a show-down weekend. Where everyone gets to try the different trailers and tow them, thus seeing first hand how well they work.


:jump:

 

[Desertdude]

Great idea Robb - :jumping: Seeing is believing

After wheeling in El Camino Del Diablo last weekend and seeing the (three no less) "Adventure Trailers" first hand - I am quite impressed with the attention to detail - the suspension in and out of the rocky washes and the foot of silt - how easy they set up and work - very cool :clapsmile

 

[91xlt]

i think that trailers are the way to go. i thru one together last year as a "test rat", to see how i liked it. AWESOME!!! now the trailer i have is not really off road worthy...YET! i really wanted to see how it worked out before i built a overpriced paperweight, also wanted to check it out for sizing. i do all year round camping and for winter camping there can be a whole lot of gear. i am going to start build up of serious off road trailer in near future. possible military or custom built, leaning toward custom fabbed but we will see. i want to concentrate on my vehicle for a while first, and the trailer i have works fairly well, but i think using a trailer as a "home base" it just work great!

 

[VikingVince]

The Adventure Trailers that were on El Camino Del Diablo are very nice units...well designed (handy kitchen, water tank), easy to use, good suspension, storage space, sturdy. IMO, trailers are most attractive to folk who drive jeeps, Landcruisers, or SUV's because they solve the Sleeping, Cooking, Storage (SCS!!!) problems that are a real challenge in vehicles with limited space. (especially Jeeps)

But if you're a pickup truck owner, there are numerous ways to solve SCS without going to a trailer....Flippac, Fourwheelcamper, Shell with sleeping platform/slideout storage. (unless you want to use your truck bed for a motorcycle). And, depending on how you design these approaches, you can have everything that the trailer has to offer and MORE. (ample standing room, easy access to sleeping area, cook inside if you need to..to name a few)

But there ARE drawbacks to pulling a trailer...but as we all know, everything re offroading rigs and mods is a series of trade-offs. And the benefits of having a trailer might offset the drawbacks for some. The biggest drawback that I can see is the difficulty in turning around or backing up in tight situations. I was on a NARROW SHELF road with SWITCHBACKS and came upon a big washout...only choice was to back up half a mile until I could turn around...and then it was a space that I could barely turnaround in (could have kept backing up for 3 miles to get out)...imagine being in that situation with a trailer!!

 

[colvere]

another trailer option is the units from three feathers mfg. www.threefeathersmfg.com/index.html make few different models.

 

[The Swiss]

Would this be an unreasonable platform to start out with if you wanted to create your own adventure trailer? Looks kinda Kewl..!

..........or is it just too huge?

Maybe some of the guys with bigger rigs might be interested?


LINK: http://www.swissarmyvehicles.com/shpics.php?table=vehicles&idnum=59

I have some experience with those trailers; they were mainly used with Unimogs, Mowags or larger trucks (never seen them behind a Pinzgauer) They are virtually bullet proof, but their weight empty is 2,090lbs. They do have a astronomic payload of 3,300 lbs which brings their total weight to short of 5,400 lbs. Even when empty, driving with one of those is like driving with an anker. Our logistic units would try to avoid to leave the black top or good graded roads with those trailers.

 

[Steve Curren]

Thanks

I want to thank all those who have been taking about the traliers. I have been looking at Mario's traliers for about 5 months now, I went to Phoenix and looked at the Chaser. I knew that I would like it and use it, I went home and talked myself into buying it. I had seen the quality of his work and knew it was a good tralier, I know now that I did indeed make the right choice of not only buying a tralier for the liesure years but I also picked a winner after listening to those of you who have used his trailers.
Thanks again to all, especially Mario.

:beer:

 

[Scott Brady]

Cool Steve, nice to see you here on the forum Hopefully we can have you out on an adventure soon!

 

[Scott Brady]

Here is a great review from a self described "Surf Geezer" of the Horizon trailer, which was retrofitted with the new Chaser suspension. He is also pulling it behind a G-Wagon, which is a very cool thing too...

Page one: http://web.mac.com/rgrussell/iWeb/Geezer/Adventure Trailer Review.html

Page Two: http://web.mac.com/rgrussell/iWeb/Geezer/Adventure Trailer Page 2.html

 

[Steve Curren]

Thanks.

Scot, thanks for the welcome and I am looking forward to getting out with some to enjoy the beautiful country we have here in the States. I have passed this site along to a friend who has just completed a tralier of his own and did El Camino Del Diablo about 3 weeks after you did.
Once agian thank you for the greeting.
Steve

love the icons:gunt:

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

I have some experience with those trailers; they were mainly used with Unimogs, Mowags or larger trucks (never seen them behind a Pinzgauer) They are virtually bullet proof, but their weight empty is 2,090lbs. They do have a astronomic payload of 3,300 lbs which brings their total weight to short of 5,400 lbs. Even when empty, driving with one of those is like driving with an anker. Our logistic units would try to avoid to leave the black top or good graded roads with those trailers.

Thanks Michael,

I realized they were too big when I found these.

Only $800 bucks and never been used!



http://www.futurelogistics.ca/AftermarketSales.html

 

[Mike S]

New Adventure Trailer Chaser

I visited Adventure Trailers today, and got a first hand look at the new Chaser. This is a very well built trailer. I was especially impressed with the suspension system.

The two, independently sprung wheels are attached to two heavy duty trailing arms, cushioned by aire bags and springs, and carry shocks to help keep the wheels where they belong. While I was unable to 'borrow' the trailer, I think that this is a whole new ides, and much better that leaf sprung or torsion axles. The ground clearance is impressive.

I designed and built my own trailer of high quality materials, and like it very much. Even tho' I got a great deal of satisfaction from the project, and the trailer is what I hope it would be, it was still over $5000 by the time I finished it. This cost does not include the tent, wheels or tires. A reasonable total cost would be closer to $7500. If I had to do it over again, I would buy a Chaser in a heart beat.

 

[flyingwil]

The suspension on the Adventure Trailers is definitely superb. While observing the suspension from behind you can see how the independent travel creates an outstanding foundation for overland travel. While the styling shows similarities with the military 416 trailers, the Chaser shares almost nothing in common with them. It reminds me of the new Mustangs, kinda looks like the old classics, but updated to the current technological breakthroughs.

Not too spill too many beans, but a review will be posted once Scott returns from Morocco in the equipment reviews section.