Imperial Outdoors Xplore XR22

[TGK]

The X22 has some really good features. However, it drives me crazy when the RV industry, including Imperial Outdoors, insists on marketing BS regarding beds. In this case, the RV Queen. A while back, I was told it was 54" wide in this trailer and in the video from ROA he says it's 53". So, at 53", it's not even as wide as the industry standard full size mattress at 54", let alone a queen.

 

[one_with_adventure]

@one_with_adventure likewise, thanks for the detailed info. As I'm planning on signing on the dotted line next weekend (pick up a few weeks later when I get my vehicle out of the shop), could you maybe give us your top 5's?
What are the 5 best things you have found with the trailer, and what are your pet-peeves?
thanks

PS- also in regards to the X-Chock, i was looking for those but didn't know what they were called until you posted. If there is a particular model that you found that works for those 33's i would appreciate that detail as well!

Here is a link to the X-Chocks


Easy to set up and nothing moves!!

5 Best things:

1. Trailer does a nice job of matching some nice luxury features with the ability to really go off road - with my wife and daughter it was hard to find the trade off with other trailers and this did it. Also the insulation in it is crazy good.

2. We love the tent on top we use it all the time either to sleep or my daughter uses it to hand out - the ability to stand on the roof has been great we can get multiple people and that thing is sturdy

3. We have the toy hauler and we like the extra space it provides we can all hang out, get our dogs in there we had 7 people eat dinner in there when it was cold

4. Toilet - Sounds silly but the Dry Flush toilet and not having to deal with a black tank is nice...the bags are expensive and don't carry that much but it would be no different than a removable compostable toilet except it takes me about 1 minute to make this swap.

5. While we have not done massive overloading or off-roading yet the suspension, clearance and ability to raise and lower the trailer makes it really unique and having everything covered underneath but still has stability while on the road is nice.

Pet Peeves

1. Beds are small, we knew this, but it still bothers us some

2. I will have to upgrade the batteries, the newer non toy hauler version does that, not sure why they didn't do that with the Toy Hauler.

3. Since it is newer not a lot of info on the trailer, hence while I am answering questions as owners while everyone has been helpful their is not a lot of documentation on it

4. Hinge on the back door... ours is not always level and easy to pin back in we have asked to have this fixed but we have been told we might be the only people having a problem with this but there is a lot of weight on that hinge

5. Tent on top needs to be configured a little differently so easier to get in - looks like they pushed that back in the new trailer a little

 

[one_with_adventure]

@one_with_adventure good afternoon! I'm hoping you can shed some light on one nagging bit of info I'm still trying to find. What, if any, warranty is provided by Imperial on the build? Both i and the dealer can not find a reference on the web site. Further the dealer has reached out to them about 1-1/2 weeks back and they have yet to answer that one. I was told they will press them and have an answer by Friday but i would love to get your understanding of this as a consumer (and likely through a different dealer).
Thanks

There is a one year warranty on everything through the dealer. Then warranty on the appliances based on what they are....that's about it from what I know.

 

[cursosegundo]

We have an XR22 on order from ROA. I asked ROA to make some mods on it as follows - anything else I should ask for or skip?:
1: add 30 gallon fresh auxiliary water tank underneath
2: install a heat pump AC instead of dometic, with soft start. So we can run AC off battery or powered from a future electric pickup truck like the Rivian.
3: add a sliding extension to the wheel well bench to convert it into a kids bed
4: swap out batteries for Lithium Battleborns with built in heating - since they are outdoors and likely to freeze
5: add an inverter
6: slide a microwave in above the hood
7: add a backup camera
8: add a weight distribution hitch - assuming it would work with a mono-tube frame

- Carl

Also,
Does anyone know if it is setup for portable solar panels?

 

[one_with_adventure]

We have an XR22 on order from ROA. I asked ROA to make some mods on it as follows - anything else I should ask for or skip?:
1: add 30 gallon fresh auxiliary water tank underneath
2: install a heat pump AC instead of dometic, with soft start. So we can run AC off battery or powered from a future electric pickup truck like the Rivian.
3: add a sliding extension to the wheel well bench to convert it into a kids bed
4: swap out batteries for Lithium Battleborns with built in heating - since they are outdoors and likely to freeze
5: add an inverter
6: slide a microwave in above the hood
7: add a backup camera
8: add a weight distribution hitch - assuming it would work with a mono-tube frame

- Carl

Also,
Does anyone know if it is setup for portable solar panels?

Hi Carl,

Those are a lot of well thought out changes would be interested if ROA feels they are all doable and what that might cost. Here are my general thoughts from our use:

1: add 30 gallon fresh auxiliary water tank underneath

- This would be helpful we end up bringing extra jerry cans with us as 30 gallons doesn't go a long way

2: install a heat pump AC instead of dometic, with soft start. So we can run AC off battery or powered from a future electric pickup truck like the Rivian.

- don't have any experience here on how much power a heat pump needs vs the domestic - would be drawing down a lot of batteries from the Rivian in any case it you are running it for long?

3: add a sliding extension to the wheel well bench to convert it into a kids bed

- This is interesting not sure where it would go as underneath the well bench is the tire structure - please let me know if they find a way to do a slide out here to expand bed capacity

4: swap out batteries for Lithium Battleborns with built in heating - since they are outdoors and likely to freeze

- I wrote to Imperial and asked them about this, they said if you switch them out you need the heating and also would need to do the following - On top of that you would need to swap the converter (located in lower entry cabinet wall), as the one installed in that model is not compatible for charging lithium batteries. And yes you would also need to change the charge profile on the solar controller.

5: add an inverter - we are thinking about doing this or just having a solar generator with us

6: slide a microwave in above the hood - if you have enough to power it

7: add a backup camera - it comes with a mount easy to add and install the one of your choice or have them do it depends how it hooks to your truck on whether it is worth doing...we never use ours

8: add a weight distribution hitch - assuming it would work with a mono-tube frame - not sure this can be added and is necessary - while we get some sway with the trailer it is not excessive and you can lower it to the ground with the suspension system

We have been out 7 times so far with the camper and the batteries, water and some other way to handle the bed to expand for kids would be top on our list.

As far as portable solar panels - it is not setup for that but it is super easy to add into the battery pack on the outside at least for the AGM batteries. You can just put in a connector that ties into the Anderson Connectors from the panels and that goes into the battery. We have that done and carry a third portable panel to deal with shade or cloudy days.

 

[cursosegundo]

Hi Carl,

Those are a lot of well thought out changes would be interested if ROA feels they are all doable and what that might cost. Here are my general thoughts from our use:

1: add 30 gallon fresh auxiliary water tank underneath

- This would be helpful we end up bringing extra jerry cans with us as 30 gallons doesn't go a long way

2: install a heat pump AC instead of dometic, with soft start. So we can run AC off battery or powered from a future electric pickup truck like the Rivian.

- don't have any experience here on how much power a heat pump needs vs the domestic - would be drawing down a lot of batteries from the Rivian in any case it you are running it for long?

3: add a sliding extension to the wheel well bench to convert it into a kids bed

- This is interesting not sure where it would go as underneath the well bench is the tire structure - please let me know if they find a way to do a slide out here to expand bed capacity

4: swap out batteries for Lithium Battleborns with built in heating - since they are outdoors and likely to freeze

- I wrote to Imperial and asked them about this, they said if you switch them out you need the heating and also would need to do the following - On top of that you would need to swap the converter (located in lower entry cabinet wall), as the one installed in that model is not compatible for charging lithium batteries. And yes you would also need to change the charge profile on the solar controller.

5: add an inverter - we are thinking about doing this or just having a solar generator with us

6: slide a microwave in above the hood - if you have enough to power it

7: add a backup camera - it comes with a mount easy to add and install the one of your choice or have them do it depends how it hooks to your truck on whether it is worth doing...we never use ours

8: add a weight distribution hitch - assuming it would work with a mono-tube frame - not sure this can be added and is necessary - while we get some sway with the trailer it is not excessive and you can lower it to the ground with the suspension system

We have been out 7 times so far with the camper and the batteries, water and some other way to handle the bed to expand for kids would be top on our list.

As far as portable solar panels - it is not setup for that but it is super easy to add into the battery pack on the outside at least for the AGM batteries. You can just put in a connector that ties into the Anderson Connectors from the panels and that goes into the battery. We have that done and carry a third portable panel to deal with shade or cloudy days.

thanks for the quick reply.
#3: I met Steve with imperial outdoors at the Bend Oregon RV show, he had photos on his phone of a client who custom built a wood slats slide out system, with legs, and then bought a second cushion to create a kids bed. You could probably call imperial outdoors and get these photos from Steve. I will post photos once we get our trailer.

 

[cursosegundo]

thanks for the quick reply.
#3: I met Steve with imperial outdoors at the Bend Oregon RV show, he had photos on his phone of a client who custom built a wood slats slide out system, with legs, and then bought a second cushion to create a kids bed. You could probably call imperial outdoors and get these photos from Steve. I will post photos once we get our trailer.

Costs:
1. Water tank $1900
2. Heat pump $1900
3. Bench Bed Mod (D) $150.00
4. Battleborns TBD (400 amp Batteries are 4K to buy)
5. Inverter $1750
6. Microwave $415
7. Backup camera TBD
8. Weight distribution hitch $770

ROA includes the inverter and 400 amps of AGMs in their list price.

 

[one_with_adventure]

Costs:
1. Water tank $1900
2. Heat pump $1900
3. Bench Bed Mod (D) $150.00
4. Battleborns TBD (400 amp Batteries are 4K to buy)
5. Inverter $1750
6. Microwave $415
7. Backup camera TBD
8. Weight distribution hitch $770

ROA includes the inverter and 400 amps of AGMs in their list price.

Hi Carl,

Thanks for the great info. Interested to see the bed structure that was made off the bench.

Couple thoughts/questions that came up:

• The addition of the water tank is nice but the grey tank is still 30 gallons so depending on where you are you might not be able to get rid of it easily, just a thought
• Batteries - the outside case can fit 2 batteries, it would also fit the 2 Batteborns (I measured as I was looking into this) - the ones I have seem come in 100amp hours so you would need 4 to get 400amps based on note above - are they adding on a bigger battery case for you?

Nice that ROA has all those mods that you can select from.

 

[one_with_adventure]

Thanks for the insight guys. This will be my first trailer and I pick mine up on the 29th of the month (from Bend OR) and am brining it home stock. 30 Gallons seems like a fair bit but I know my wife and have concerns of running out sooner than later. The extra water tank mounts on the underside of the trailer I assume?

I am not sure where the modification goes for the water tank it would have to be up under the steel plating so there must be some additional space up there. As far as running out of water it really depends how long you plan on going and what you plan on doing. It's not a lot of water for off grid living and you have to be smart with it, 30 gallons is somewhat normal for this size of trailer, but some others do have 40-60 gallons.

We do the following to conserve water:

1. We take 2 five gallons Jerry Cans with us
2. We take another 3-5 gallons of only drinking water and don't use the water in the camper to drink
3. We carry a small wash tub that we put in the sink to help wash the dishes we can take some water from our Jerry Cans warm it up on the stove wash in the wash tub then since it is a small amount we can dump it out and we use all natural soap. This way we don't fill up our grey tank and keeps our water load down.
4. We use our tanks mainly for showering - which means turn water on... get wet...turn it off... put on soap...rinse and you are over... it takes about 8 seconds to get the hot water kicked on from the tankless to the shower - the shower put out 1.5 gallons per minute (or at least it says it does)

If you do something similar or limit the water for dishwashing you can make it 3-7 days depending on how many people take a shower.

If you don't do something like this the water will go quick. Congrats on the new trailer!!

 

[one_with_adventure]

One more question @one_with_adventure or other owners; can someone tell me what the cross section or height of the chassis frame tubing is going to the hitch. I'm looking at a weight distribution/stabilizer unit and models change above 6" in height. Thanks

I am not familiar enough with the the stabilizer and what you are asking to make sure I give you the right measurements, maybe someone else can or you can ask the dealer. Couple things to think about from a height standpoint, it will change as the trailer suspension system goes up and down which would change how that would work. Our RAM truck has a built in suspension system that just adjusts which is nice so if we change the height of the trailer the truck adjusts. You also have two different hitches a normal ball hitch and the lock and roll hitch. We just use the lock and roll hitch as we prefer it to the ball hitch especially off road, so that would have to factor into your setup I assume. Sorry I can't be of more help on this one.

 

[cursosegundo]

Hi Carl,

Thanks for the great info. Interested to see the bed structure that was made off the bench.

Couple thoughts/questions that came up:

• The addition of the water tank is nice but the grey tank is still 30 gallons so depending on where you are you might not be able to get rid of it easily, just a thought
• Batteries - the outside case can fit 2 batteries, it would also fit the 2 Batteborns (I measured as I was looking into this) - the ones I have seem come in 100amp hours so you would need 4 to get 400amps based on note above - are they adding on a bigger battery case for you?

Nice that ROA has all those mods that you can select from.

I asked ROA to get the photos of the wheel well bench to kid sized bed mod from Imperial Outdoors. They’re attached for your (and my) inspiration, sounds like ROA won’t have time to get this one done before it ships to us this week.

 

[Raspy]

I ordered an X-22 from ROA. Moving from a Black Series HQ19 to the Explore X-22

The options I'm looking at are:
Off-Grid package with 760 watts of solar and 480 AH of lithium (this is an Imperial option)
Delete the roof tent
Delete the AC, but wire for it and install a Maxx Fan instead
Install a window in the rear wall if possible

Then, I'll install a McHitch and do a few other mods I have in mind.
I'll add a microwave in the cabinet over the stove hood
Instead of adding the 30 gallon extra water tank, I'll carry four, seven gallon jugs in the truck and pour them in as we go.

I'm towing with a Tremor 7.3

 

[Raspy]

We have an XR22 on order from ROA. I asked ROA to make some mods on it as follows - anything else I should ask for or skip?:
1: add 30 gallon fresh auxiliary water tank underneath
2: install a heat pump AC instead of dometic, with soft start. So we can run AC off battery or powered from a future electric pickup truck like the Rivian.
3: add a sliding extension to the wheel well bench to convert it into a kids bed
4: swap out batteries for Lithium Battleborns with built in heating - since they are outdoors and likely to freeze
5: add an inverter
6: slide a microwave in above the hood
7: add a backup camera
8: add a weight distribution hitch - assuming it would work with a mono-tube frame

- Carl

Also,
Does anyone know if it is setup for portable solar panels?

The batteries are NOT outdoors in the X-22. They are under the bed. No heaters needed.
It is not setup for an external suitcase solar, but I plan to put an Anderson plug on the front that would work for that. You could always put a 12v plug on the side, near the under-bed battery compartment, and plug the panels in there.

 

[cursosegundo]

ROA ran out of time to install the microwave above the hood for us. I’m not sure if it was a difficulty issue with getting 120v power there or if they just couldn’t find a microwave that would fit inside the cabinet in time. It should be arriving tomorrow and then I’ll take a look.

The batteries are NOT outdoors in the X-22. They are under the bed. No heaters needed.
It is not setup for an external suitcase solar, but I plan to put an Anderson plug on the front that would work for that. You could always put a 12v plug on the side, near the under-bed battery compartment, and plug the panels in there.

 

[dasadab]

I ordered an X-22 from ROA. Moving from a Black Series HQ19 to the Explore X-22

The options I'm looking at are:
Off-Grid package with 760 watts of solar and 480 AH of lithium (this is an Imperial option)
Delete the roof tent
Delete the AC, but wire for it and install a Maxx Fan instead
Install a window in the rear wall if possible

Then, I'll install a McHitch and do a few other mods I have in mind.
I'll add a microwave in the cabinet over the stove hood
Instead of adding the 30 gallon extra water tank, I'll carry four, seven gallon jugs in the truck and pour them in as we go.

I'm towing with a Tremor 7.3

I have been looking at the BS HQ19 or the Kimberley offerings (but they have a long lead time). I would be very interested in knowing what factors with the X-22 made you switch because I am in the same market for something off road capable and towable with my F150, 3.5 ecobost. Much appreciated.