AT trailer fails the test

[bobDog]

Very true. If you abuse anything it will eventually break.

So since it sounds like maybe they bought this sight unseen out of the catalog on the net....maybe, has AT had anything to say? Maybe these guys didn't tell AT anything about what they doing w/ it. Seems like if they had AT might of had some input about upgrades, etc.

 

[Martyn]

I'm not worried about the soundness of our engineering.

Given the speed being traveled, the conditions of the trail, and the fact the failure happened early in the trip my faith in the design is even deeper. The trailer made it through hell in one piece.

The source of all the problems was a freak failure of a high pressure reinforced hose. I'm 100% confident the same trailer could do the trip again with no mishap. But when components fail your ultimate outcome is a direct result of decisions you make at the time of failure.

 

[chasingdreams]

I can't afford to build or buy anything "cheap" when it comes to offroad products.... cheap tends to fail faster. Quality comes at a price. The AT Trailer is one of the industry leaders in design, peformance, service, and quality.

The conclusion that I have come to is....... that no matter how well built something is, when you put it in the hands of someone that doesn't care for it the way it was intended........ IT WILL BE DESTROYED.

Some children shouldn't be permitted to play with toys if they don't care for them properly!

 

[Life_in_4Lo]

sometimes you don't have the luxury to let the equipment dictate the schedule.
The equipment is there to help support your schedule.

It is not the fault of the user that the trailer failed. That was, in fact, a design fault.
I don't see this as abuse. It was a failure of the product. I agree with the article that something "offroad" should hold up to "abuse"- especially when all it's doing is support for a Suzuki Kizashi sedan.

I also agree that you don't hold AT at fault for not fixing it properly. Crap happens, so what.
AT learned something from the experience and the failure didn't seem to slow the trip down too much so it all worked out in the end.
They also get to say "it wrecked our equipment but not the new 2011 Suzuki Kizashi awd"...
I agree w/ Martin, it shows what the trailer can hold up to.

Don't kill the messenger just because they didn't sugar coat their words.

 

[elcoyote]

The sole part that failed and caused a chain reaction was the SS braided line from the remote oil reservoir to the Fox coil over on the passenger side. Once the coil over no longer had any dampening, other parts started to get beat to death. What was omitted from the article was that the drivers side coil over had no problems and worked even harder than it would have had to normally.

We have built several trailers with the same Fox coil over and they are serving in extreme duty environments such as Angola without a hiccup.

A noteworthy fact that despite losing a coil over, the trailer completed the entire expedition. We are picking it up in a week to evaluate the braided line failure and execute repairs. It will then be returned to the organizers of the expedition so that they can put it back into the field for other similar media projects.

This expedition was covered in many magazines including Motor Trend and Motorcyclist. The Suzuki KLR had problems too. Is it a bad motorcycle? No. Is Fox a poor quality brand? No. Everytime I see the back page of Petersen's Off Road with a Jeep on its lid or a truck stuck in the mud, do I decide that it is a bad or poorly made product? No.

As Overlanders, we choose the best products for our adventures and hope that the conditions will turn out to be as planned. But just in case we travel prepared with tools and parts. Bottom line is that stuff happens.

 

[twisted63]

Interesting that the blame goes to the Suzuki guys for being ‘too rough’ on the unit. The Suzuki's were stock CARS – Sedans - and survived the "beating". The roads certainly didn’t look any worse than typical Baja trails.

I have the article and will read in more detail but the article mentions the
following: "...our next trip to Russia will not have an [Adventure] trailer, just a Suzuki."
and also: "... We had two [Suzuki] cars, two [Suzuki] trucks, one [Suzuki] motor cycle, and one ill-fated Adventure Trailer"
and also: "the Suzuki [sedan] did great passing over rough pot-holed tracks with only the occasional flat tyre"

Conclusion: Two Suzuki sedans made the rough trip. The Adventure Trailer failed.

Alternate conclusion:

Suzuki all wheel drive SEDAN ----- passed
Adventure [off -road] Trailer ----- failed

A friend of mine has an 8-year old $500 utility trailer that’s been dragged through all sorts of terrains, abused and overloaded – perhaps that would have been a better choice…

Granted, nothing is prefect but it appears that in this case even though the problems with the AT trailer may not have been catasrophic, they were sufficient enough to result in the conclusion that they would not use an AT trailer for their next expedition.

On the other hand, they were happy to use the Suzuki all wheel drive sedan -a regular streetcar - again inspite of any problems.

 

[Hill Bill E.]

All in your point of view. They were out testing the Suzukis, not the AT.

Of course they are going to give the Suzuki a good review.

I skimmed over thier blog, when something happened to the cars, they fixed it.

They weren't out testing the trailer.

And they sure weren't using it in a manner that it was made for.

 

[twisted63]

All in your point of view. They were out testing the Suzukis, not the AT.

Of course they are going to give the Suzuki a good review.

I skimmed over thier blog, when something happened to the cars, they fixed it.

They weren't out testing the trailer.

And they sure weren't using it in a manner that it was made for.

"They were out testing the Suzukis, not the AT."
Suzuki all wheel drive SEDAN ----- passed
Adventure [off -road] Trailer ----- failed
"And they sure weren't using it in a manner that it was made for."
It appears they came to that conclusion as well - the Suzuki Sedan is better suited for a 3000 mile expedition than an [Adventure] Trailer.

 

[campausa]

And they sure weren't using it in a manner that it was made for.

A friend just called me and told me about the discussion of the Adventure Triler failing the test. Being a trailer builder I wanted to check this out.

From my perspective, whether they were or were not testing the AT does not really matter, I'm sorry that it had the problems it did. However, Hill Bill E could you tell me what manner of use the AT was made for? Thanks very much

 

[Titanpat57]

The sole part that failed and caused a chain reaction was the SS braided line from the remote oil reservoir to the Fox coil over on the passenger side. Once the coil over no longer had any dampening, other parts started to get beat to death. What was omitted from the article was that the drivers side coil over had no problems and worked even harder than it would have had to normally.

We have built several trailers with the same Fox coil over and they are serving in extreme duty environments such as Angola without a hiccup.

A noteworthy fact that despite losing a coil over, the trailer completed the entire expedition. We are picking it up in a week to evaluate the braided line failure and execute repairs. It will then be returned to the organizers of the expedition so that they can put it back into the field for other similar media projects.

This expedition was covered in many magazines including Motor Trend and Motorcyclist. The Suzuki KLR had problems too. Is it a bad motorcycle? No. Is Fox a poor quality brand? No. Everytime I see the back page of Petersen's Off Road with a Jeep on its lid or a truck stuck in the mud, do I decide that it is a bad or poorly made product? No.

As Overlanders, we choose the best products for our adventures and hope that the conditions will turn out to be as planned. But just in case we travel prepared with tools and parts. Bottom line is that stuff happens.

The Fox shock crapped to bed and beat the hell out of was left...Mario clearly states this....why would anyone elude that AT product is inferior? Because someone wrote it in an article? No one here, unless they were actually on the trip and experienced the described problems first hand, and are familar with the conditions, should speculate on all the coulda', woulda' shoulda's....

Problems were recognized, addressed and fixed by AT.

Martyn and Mario are always the first ones to assist with advice or help wither it's a professional or backyard build on any level, privately and publicly. I have yet to see many other trailer builders step up to plate here and do the same.

All for FREE...not many business' can say that, and sure as hell with the same sucess that AT has had.

 

[campausa]

Martyn and Mario are always the first ones to assist with advice or help wither it's a professional or backyard build on any level, privately and publicly. I have yet to see many other trailer builders step up to plate here and do the same.

Well said Titanpat57. Mario and Martyn are really great.

 

[chasingdreams]

Funny........

When something happened to the cars, they fixed it

When something happened to the trailer...... just keep dragging it......

The trailer NEVER recieved the "proper" repair for the shock, they just kept dragging it and letting one problem "the shock" cause further issues...... Look at the fact that the trailer still completed the trip!!! The cars were addressed properly "they were testing them",.... the trailer "not being tested" gets bandaids and dragged across hell and back and COMPLETES the trip!!!:victory:...... just saying:ylsmoke:

 

[AYIAPhoto]

Funny........
When something happened to the cars, they fixed it
When something happened to the trailer...... just keep dragging it......
The trailer NEVER recieved the "proper" repair for the shock, they just kept dragging it and letting one problem "the shock" cause further issues......

:iagree: I have no dog in this fight, I don't own nor can afford an AT. I also don't own a Suzuki or have a subscription to 4WD&offroad. I do have a ten year history in fleet maintenance and a lifelong history of abusing the heck out of all forms of wheeled conveyance. If they had thrown a donut spare on the Suzukis and tried finishing their trip what would be the outcome for it? Why not just drive it on the flat tire if they're not gonna fix everything correctly? If one of those flat causing potholes had busted a shock on the car, would they wait for a replacement or just weld in a piece of steel to support the weight of the vehicle and continue?
Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I'm not running to AT's defense. Obviously their reputation and record speaks for itself. I am however dismayed at the magazines less than honest explanation of the failure.

 

[Marcie's Disco]

A customer used an Adventure Trailer and it had a couple of mechanical breakdowns. Is it the customer’s fault, I don’t really think so. The AT trailer is built to tackle austere conditions so it’s reasonable to expect that the AT Chaser would have held up under the road conditions encountered. Mario hit the nail on the head when he explained the probable chain reaction that caused the series of mechanical hiccups.

The fact that the Chaser had some failures is not an indictment of M&M or AT. It isn’t an indictment of AT’s engineering or designs, the trailers are proven on tougher tracks than these Russian roads. It sounds like most of the problems can be attributed to a reservoir line that wasn’t isolated and chaffed through.

It is great that everyone is so supportive of AT, they’ve earned their impeccable reputation. They even offered to assist in the correction, which continues to cement their good standing but hey, it’s not personal…it’s mechanical. Stuff breaks, it happens. Let’s just accept this issue for what it is.

 

[Steve Curren]

I have had my Chaser for almost 5 years now and I can say without a doubt that Adventure Trailers have nothing but the best product available and they have always stood by their product. I don't beat the living heck out of my Chaser but I have taken it places that are not civilized and it came along with not a bit of trouble. I know that Martyn and Mario have responded to the article but I just want to say that Adventure Trailers and their products are nothing but top notch.