Chinese Trailer - NJStar Explorer

[oregontrd]

Finally decided sleeping in the back of the car isn’t the way to go anymore and began a search for a trailer that could fit 3-5 people. Say what you want, but prices for off-road trailers are absolutely insane. With a budget of around $30k the selection was pretty slim.

One option I strongly considered was the Opus OP4. It was great to see in person, the living space is a palace, and they can be found used for $20-25k. Unfortunately the amount of canvas would restrict the usage here in PNW with how rainy it is, and the setup time (and space required) would restrict the movement for the longer trips where I just need a place to crash on the side of the road. Digging further into the OPUS, realized that most of the models are made in China, with final assembly here in US. This sent me down a rabbit hole of how many trailers are actually built there vs in Australia or here in USA and spoiler alert: it's a lot of them. Going deeper down the rabbit hole I started trying to track down the factories to try to figure out what is the actual price of the trailers and stumbled upon, what is to me, the perfect trailer: The NJStar Explorer.

The Explorer clearly takes inspiration from the UEV 490, but with some meaningful differences that really make it perfect for us. For starters, the interior doesn't look like a prison cell, but instead uses lighter colored materials and wood accents. It also has an interior shower booth and sink which for me is quite important. It also comes standard with a 12V AC, diesel heater, diesel water heater (or propane depending on how you option it), 370W solar, insulated canvas, and the list goes on. Before shipping and options it is $19.8k, with about another $3k to get it shipped stateside. The issue is of course, getting it over here, getting it past customs, getting it properly insured and registered. Lucky for me, I'm not the smartest person when it comes to avoiding challenges like this so I decided to order it and put down our $6k deposit. The trailer is currently being built and I will be updating this thread with the progress of the build, the shipping, and all of the challenges of getting it from the port to on the road. Wish me luck!

Video of the trailer from the factory:

 

[ITTOG]

It looks nice. I hope it goes smoothly for you. I will be watching along.

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[Hummelator]

I was on alibaba the other day just perusing the "expedition" style campers.
It's amazing what they build and charge for what you can get in China vs what you can get in North America.
Sure quality may not be on par but for the price difference that's something I'd be willing to work with.
Hopefully all works out well for you!

 

[ExpoMike]

Definitely curious how this turns out. I have watched a few videos on these trailers and they seem fairly legit but not being able to see one in person, it's hard to say.

Wishing the very best for your purchase and the review once you get it.

 

[Treefarmer1]

I can vouch that it takes a bit of a leap of faith to buy unseen. As long as you are confident in your mechanical skills and are willing to spend a little on whatever mods you need, you should be OK. All you really need from any manufacturer is a solid frame and well constructed box. Everything else is relatively easy to repair or replace as needed. I'm looking forward to your updates.

 

[oregontrd]

It looks nice. I hope it goes smoothly for you. I will be watching along.

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Thank you!

I was on alibaba the other day just perusing the "expedition" style campers.
It's amazing what they build and charge for what you can get in China vs what you can get in North America.
Sure quality may not be on par but for the price difference that's something I'd be willing to work with.
Hopefully all works out well for you!

Thank you! Definitely agree that the "bang for the buck" factor is definitely there. I will say though, the good chunk of campers I ran into on Alibaba probably wouldn't fly when it comes to importing. I spoke with a local vehicle importer who refused to work with Chinese trailers because of a bad experience they had importing a food trailer from China. Essentially, it showed up with no wheels attached, didn't have a VIN or DOT sticker (it means it can only be released to a registered importer who then has to transport it to their garage via truck and get it up to regulations before it can be released), had a bunch of stuff like a gas generator that didn't meet EPA regulations so it had to be removed and destroyed before it could be released, etc. The buyer ended up racking up over $10k in holding charges between the port, transportation from port, and the RI. A big part of why I decided to bite the bullet on the NJStar one was I was able to get in touch with someone who has imported one into US before, and was able to get details and video on how it shows up to port including the necessary paperwork to release it to a non registered importer.

Definitely curious how this turns out. I have watched a few videos on these trailers and they seem fairly legit but not being able to see one in person, it's hard to say.

Wishing the very best for your purchase and the review once you get it.

Thank you, will definitely do an in-depth review once it's here!

I can vouch that it takes a bit of a leap of faith to buy unseen. As long as you are confident in your mechanical skills and are willing to spend a little on whatever mods you need, you should be OK. All you really need from any manufacturer is a solid frame and well constructed box. Everything else is relatively easy to repair or replace as needed. I'm looking forward to your updates.

Yep, definitely! One thing I didn't mention was at some point before finding this I was set on actually building my own. I'm quite handy with a number of CAD programs, have some fab skills, and have a few CNC machines, and figured getting a few additional things to be able to do a proper build would still net out to be much cheaper than buying one. The only thing is I imagined it would take 1.5-2 years with my current schedule, and after finding this one I thought having a solid base to go off of would be ideal and would get us back to doing our trips sooner. I'm fully expecting to tinker and change a lot of things on the trailer. If anything works super well and doesn't break, that would just be an added bonus.

 

[oregontrd]

Well, looks like things are progressing quite well in the factory and the trailer should be done this week.

Here are some progress pics with dates so everyone has a good idea of the timeline. I sent the deposit on Aug 25th and got the following pics on September 8th. I can confirm this is our trailer since we custom ordered a shorter door for better clearance as well as had it swing the opposite direction from the default one (these customizations were free of charge).



On September 15th:


September 18th:

 

[jchasse]

Why's the guy at 0:54 into the video literally camping in the middle of a stream?

Where / how did you place the order? What port will it be delivered to, and how will you take possession of it?

Best of luck! Interested to see how this goes.

 

[oregontrd]

Why's the guy at 0:54 into the video literally camping in the middle of a stream?

Where / how did you place the order? What port will it be delivered to, and how will you take possession of it?

Best of luck! Interested to see how this goes.

Haha, no idea – thought that was weird as well.

I placed it with one of their sales representatives that reached out after I contacted them through their website. They spent probably 2 weeks answering all of my questions, walking through customization options I wanted, and doing a few video call tours of their factory and trailers before I placed the order.

Planning on getting it shipped to the port in Seattle. Currently hoping to pick it up myself from the port, but waiting on my TWIC card (needed to enter any ports in the US). In case it doesn't show up in time, I'm planning on finding a truck driver with one that I would be able to join to enter the port, and then take possession of the trailer myself there. Of course, this also assumes that there will be no issues with customs – worse case scenario would be that they don't deem it road worthy or meeting DOT standards for one reason or another, and requiring me to use a registered importer to take possession. This would of course mean thousand of dollars of fees for me so I really hope it goes smoothly.

 

[ExpoMike]

Looking good. I think one thing that likely won't be DOT approved is in the last side pic, I see both the front and rear side marker lights are yellow. I believe the rear ones need to be red, from most trailer codes I have seen.

 

[oregontrd]

Looking good. I think one thing that likely won't be DOT approved is in the last side pic, I see both the front and rear side marker lights are yellow. I believe the rear ones need to be red, from most trailer codes I have seen.

Oh man, thank you for noticing. You’re totally right: https://one.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/standards/conspicuity/Trlrpstr.html

I asked them to change it. They’re also swapping out their standard rear lights to be NA standard ones.

 

[Obsessed2findARuggedHybid]

My first thought was man you are brave. But with your mechanical prowess and the fact you are communicating so well with the MFGer my guess is you will obtain a trailer that fits all your needs at 50 cents on the dollar. It's all about the journey man.

 

[Obsessed2findARuggedHybid]

One thing that I am suspect on is the 1,300 kg (2,800 lb) dry weight. I assume that's dry weight. If so what is the gwr? This is likely not a factor depending on your tow vehicle.

 

[oregontrd]

My first thought was man you are brave. But with your mechanical prowess and the fact you are communicating so well with the MFGer my guess is you will obtain a trailer that fits all your needs at 50 cents on the dollar. It's all about the journey man.

Totally agree, the journey is half the fun! I'm excited to learn the in-and-outs of freight shipping and importing – never know what else I might need it for.

One thing that I am suspect on is the 1,300 kg (2,800 lb) dry weight. I assume that's dry weight. If so what is the gwr? This is likely not a factor depending on your tow vehicle.

My understanding is it's supposed to be 3,200lb gross weight. My vehicle is rated to tow 7,700lbs so I should be in the clear!

 

[hoosier96]

Thanks for documenting this and taking everyone along for the journey!!