Manley ORV Original

[Anonymous Coward]

Hello! :wavey:

For quite some time I have lurked in admiration of the trailer builds on this site. I've wanted an m416 style trailer for my Jeeps for many years. Recently I decided to go for an out of the box option that I could build up over time.

I ended up with a Manley ORV Original trailer. These guys are great, everything I read about their customer service and quality was spot on.

I ordered the basic "Original" trailer, but had Manley change a few things:

- Custom 48" ball coupler, drilled at both ends, that can slide in and out of the tongue receiver. This also included safety cable and wiring extensions.
- Quick-release soft tonneau.
- Matching spare.
- Black decals.

The trailer was also built with a 2500 lb. Dexter Torflex axle, which is a change from Manley's previous leaf setup. Boy is this thing nice. Towed it home empty from Manley's shop over 400 miles and could not even tell it was back there! The axle is also nice and easy on my boats, but more on that in a minute.

I had the extended ball coupler made up, so that I could tow at a standard length when I just wanted to use it as a utility or camping trailer, but then extend it to pull my kayaks of 14.5' and 12' length, and also be set up to pull a 17' canoe. Eventually I will pick up an off-road coupler but haven't yet decided if I want a pintle and lunette, or the max-coupler.

The soft tonneau was kind of a last-minute addition that I had made, but boy am I glad I added it. Manley said it is made locally by the Amish. It has 4 stainless quick releases, and the whole thing comes completely off, including the frame, in about 30 seconds.

Manley started sending me some photos as the build was progressing:

 

[Anonymous Coward]

They sent some more photos as it was complete. Here you can also see how the coupler works.

 

[Anonymous Coward]

Drove out to Cuyahoga Falls, OH, to pick it up. Got 19.5 MPG on the way home, into a headwind and AC on the whole way. Had to keep reminding myself it was back there, it was so easy to pull! These style trailers are much better sized to be pulled by a Jeep than I realized.

 

[TheThom]

Looks great! Get those kayaks loaded up, go have fun, and show us the pictures.

 

[Anonymous Coward]

Mounted up my Yakima gear, and took it out with the boats for the first time last weekend. These are 14.5' and 12' boats which make the extended coupler necessary. In truth I could have mounted the boats another 1-2 feet forward on the trailer, after I checked the clearance in a parking lot.

I also tried out my Yakima J-racks and this will allow me to carry 4 kayaks. I am also looking for a canoe right now so I'll be able to run the canoe down the middle and have the kayaks on the side.

I also ended up liking the tonneau a lot more than I expected, so I'm going to try for a mounting solution for my Yakima gear that allows me to run the tonneau at the same time. I have been using my old Yakima rail grab style mounts on the lip of the tub, but I've ordered some of the artificial raingutter mounts that I will drill and mount through that top lip of the tub. Then mount some Yakima 1A raingutter towers on the brackets. This should allow me to run the tonneau at the same time, but still leave me with a rack that will quick-release when I want to use the trailer for utility or something else.

 

[Anonymous Coward]

Loading the boats on the trailer in the shade of my garage was so nice. I used to have roof racks on my old TJ's that I would mount the kayaks to. It was a good solution at the time, but boy does this trailer save my back and allow for a lot easier time to load them up. The kayaks on the roof rack would never clear the garage door and no longer will I bake in the sun loading those things up for the weekend. I can carry so much extra gear in the trailer now as well, I can't believe I didn't have one of these years ago.

One big advantage of the longer coupler that I did not think of originally, is that the longer length makes backing the trailer up so much easier. Of course you would never run this kind of coupler on the trail, but it is super nice to be able to extend the tongue like that when I want the extra length.

 

[Mark Harley]

Josh and the Manley crew make a great product.
Nice looking trailer behind the jeep.
Now the upgrade and add on list starts.
A very versitile trailer.

 

[armygreen]

Great looking trailer! :elkgrin:

 

[Titanpat57]

Good luck with it!

I'm sure it'll have it's own thread and a name once the mod bug bites!

 

[Jack Stilts]

I've been considering one of these for a while. Glad to see such positive feedback! Nice to see it in action, too.

 

[Mark Harley]

Brian: Manley does custom colors too!

 

[dstock]

I am really liking these trailers, seems to cover a lot of my wants and good quality to boot!

 

[nnnnnate]

How does the soft cover attach to the tub? Snap buttons? Also, how tall are the sides of the trailer? Thanks.

Edit: After taking a look at their website it looks like the weight rating is only 2000 lbs, is this accurate? Seems pretty low to me.

 

[Anonymous Coward]

How does the soft cover attach to the tub? Snap buttons? Also, how tall are the sides of the trailer? Thanks.

There is a whole separate aluminum frame that the cover attaches to. There are 4 stainless latches that clamp the frame to the tub. Then the tonneau attaches to the frame all the way around with snaps. You can either pull all the snaps and take the soft cover off, leaving the frame attached to the tub, or flip the 4 latches and pull the whole frame and soft cover off the tub. The latches are mounted to the inside of the top of the tub. The bottom of the frame also has a gasket, so it is watertight all the way around when latched to the tub. It's a great system, very easy to use, and very lightweight as well.

I think the sides of the tub are 19" high as measured from the bottom of the tub to the top rail of the tub.

Edit: After taking a look at their website it looks like the weight rating is only 2000 lbs, is this accurate? Seems pretty low to me.

That is about right. The axle on mine is a Dexter Torflex 2500 lb. Manley recommended a 2000 lb. cargo limit. Honestly this will be more than enough for me; a whole moist cubic yard of topsoil weighs right around 2k pounds. That would be wet dirt filled to roughly the top of the tub. The weight of the trailer itself is about 780lb. if I recall correctly.

I also don't think I would want more than the 2500 lb. Torflex axle under there. It doesn't come with trailer brakes. It pulls so nice empty and that weight rating is well matched to how I will actually be using the trailer. The rate on the Torflex is very progressive, so it behaves very well whether it is empty or lightly loaded, or with a full load. An axle with a higher rating would be mismatched to this trailer, IMHO. The hubs are still 3500 lb. hubs, though. I have no doubt, however, that the frame and tub could handle over 2000 lbs. of stuff. It is very stout.

 

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's the soft tonneau pealed back to reveal the tonneau frame. You can see the snaps on the frame rail.

You can also see the stainless latch holding the frame rail to the tub. There are 4 of these, one at each corner. A quick flip of the latch and the whole frame comes off. It is a fantastic design. I wasn't going to get this originally... but I'm so glad I did, it adds a ton of versatility to the trailer. They also have an aluminum hard shell cover that's very nice and probably more security oriented, but I like this tonneau a LOT.