I absolutely agree. Especially if it is a multi purpose trailer. You could be way over weight one weekend hauling stone or sand, then way under weight when camping the next weekend. I got the pleasure (or displeasure) of watching a leaf spring on a trailer break one time while at a stone quarry. Guy in front of me had a tandem axle trailer & told the guy driving the loader (with a bucket bigger than our trucks combined) to just dump it on there. Well, he did & a piece of his leaf spring from his trailer launched about 40' in the air !!! Could have easily killed someone if it hit them. I would like to have an extra leaf for our camper before we start traveling the country. It is not uncommon for trailer leafs to break.
XV-2 Axle Rating Advice
- Thread starter Roaddude
- Start date
Roaddude
Long time off-grid vanlife adventurist
Well, I ended up catching a great deal on a brand new 2017 XV-2 showroom trailer with almost all the options I'm after. Has a 2300# rated torsion set-up, so that's what I'm getting. I've been talking to the commercial manager at Schutt, though, to see what the heavier axle will be cost-wise. I'll run it like this for now, and because I'm damned near compulsive about tracking things, I'll be documenting my trailer weights; empty, loaded full with water, fuel, and all gear when headed out, then when a lot of gear is off-loaded for camp, etc, and will be documenting trailer ride and everything, too.
I appreciate all the input, especially from those with practical first-hand experience. Brought up some very valid points, and that's 'zackly what I was after. After messing with the new trailer and a variety of loads, I'll have that first-hand, well-documented experience as well, complete with tracking drone vids. I suspect that in the end I will want/need a more heavily rated torsion set-up. I do find it appealing to potentially have both and be able to switch the axle once a year like snow tires, depending on what kind of average loads I'll be hauling the next couple seasons. Especially if going back-country camping with not as much load, weight-wise.
This trailer and the gear I'm getting lately is an ongoing and very conscious decision I'm making over investing in a more conventional home. I may get some undeveloped property and play with off-grid ideas I've been developing for years, but have no plans currently to purchase or go into debt on a house. If I can't buy it outright, whether trailer, gear, or tool (and especially a friggin' house) I don't buy it. No payment plans, card interest, or mortgages.
My van and trailer and gear will be my wandering home 'til I get too old to move around or 'til I can't see to drive. Done it before for long periods of time and loved it. This time I'm going to be geared up for more off-grid style of adventuring.
Hope to see you all out there somewhere someday. Dry roads and open skies to you, thanks for the help in pondering axle ratings.
Road
I appreciate all the input, especially from those with practical first-hand experience. Brought up some very valid points, and that's 'zackly what I was after. After messing with the new trailer and a variety of loads, I'll have that first-hand, well-documented experience as well, complete with tracking drone vids. I suspect that in the end I will want/need a more heavily rated torsion set-up. I do find it appealing to potentially have both and be able to switch the axle once a year like snow tires, depending on what kind of average loads I'll be hauling the next couple seasons. Especially if going back-country camping with not as much load, weight-wise.
This trailer and the gear I'm getting lately is an ongoing and very conscious decision I'm making over investing in a more conventional home. I may get some undeveloped property and play with off-grid ideas I've been developing for years, but have no plans currently to purchase or go into debt on a house. If I can't buy it outright, whether trailer, gear, or tool (and especially a friggin' house) I don't buy it. No payment plans, card interest, or mortgages.
My van and trailer and gear will be my wandering home 'til I get too old to move around or 'til I can't see to drive. Done it before for long periods of time and loved it. This time I'm going to be geared up for more off-grid style of adventuring.
Hope to see you all out there somewhere someday. Dry roads and open skies to you, thanks for the help in pondering axle ratings.
Road
Roaddude
Long time off-grid vanlife adventurist
@RagnarD - Hoping to pick it up the week of 8/20. Going to Schutt, too, to pick up the swing-away tire carrier, ARB Compressor kit, pure-sine inverter, and hard-rolling titanium cover. I'll install all that myself once I grab the trailer in OK. Was too good of a price not to grab, really, especially new and with just about everything I wanted already on it. We'll see how the 2300# torsion setup does and I'll be sure not to overload it any more than it takes to get to a scale here in town and back.
I come down through most parts of Texas pretty regularly. Let me know if you want to meet up to see the beast that is an XV-2 and have a beer or coffee.
Thanks again for your wisdom and experience, RagnarD, much appreciated.
Roaddude
Long time off-grid vanlife adventurist
XVenture XV-2 Photos
Here are some images of the trailer I'm picking up in a couple weeks, provided by the seller
(with rear-most and forward-most hard folding cover panels and storage box cover up in some images):
Driver's side:
Front right 1/4:
Passenger side and tailgate:
Front Storage Box, 62W x 22H x 19D:
Power Center with Solar Charge Controller in front storage box, passenger side:
Power Center closeup with 2 Odyssey batts, 6 switch control panel, fuse panel, and 110 in/out :
Elevated Rhino Rack Pioneer Tray, 62W x 99L. Shows one of the Rigid Industries rack lights, too:
Cargo Area, 59W (49W between wheel wells) x 89L x 19H, with shielded water heater and underside of hard folding tonneau cover
(I'm swapping it for the hard rolling tonneau cover). Also shows galley table with sink cutout, folded and stowed in the nose:
20# Propane, HD Jack, and 7pt wiring harness. Hard to see in this image, but the wiring is
completely inside the frame channel for protection, then emerges near the chain:
The XV-2 is going to be a huge change over my M416 and Bantam T3-C trailers in cargo capacity (I can lay full-sized sheet goods down flat now, woohoo!), weight capacity, suspension, and overall versatility. And, I'll be able to see the damned thing behind my mongo van. Has almost the same tracking width, and with the 6 to 8 lug adapters, will be even more the same.
Overall dims on the XV-2 are 79W, 155.5L (in comparison, that's the wheelbase of my GMC Savana) and 50.5H with 16-19" ground clearance, depending on which specs you read and which tires are used.
I can't wait, and will definitely be doing a lot more photos once I get it.
Here are some images of the trailer I'm picking up in a couple weeks, provided by the seller
(with rear-most and forward-most hard folding cover panels and storage box cover up in some images):
Driver's side:
Front right 1/4:
Passenger side and tailgate:
Front Storage Box, 62W x 22H x 19D:
Power Center with Solar Charge Controller in front storage box, passenger side:
Power Center closeup with 2 Odyssey batts, 6 switch control panel, fuse panel, and 110 in/out :
Elevated Rhino Rack Pioneer Tray, 62W x 99L. Shows one of the Rigid Industries rack lights, too:
Cargo Area, 59W (49W between wheel wells) x 89L x 19H, with shielded water heater and underside of hard folding tonneau cover
(I'm swapping it for the hard rolling tonneau cover). Also shows galley table with sink cutout, folded and stowed in the nose:
20# Propane, HD Jack, and 7pt wiring harness. Hard to see in this image, but the wiring is
completely inside the frame channel for protection, then emerges near the chain:
The XV-2 is going to be a huge change over my M416 and Bantam T3-C trailers in cargo capacity (I can lay full-sized sheet goods down flat now, woohoo!), weight capacity, suspension, and overall versatility. And, I'll be able to see the damned thing behind my mongo van. Has almost the same tracking width, and with the 6 to 8 lug adapters, will be even more the same.
Overall dims on the XV-2 are 79W, 155.5L (in comparison, that's the wheelbase of my GMC Savana) and 50.5H with 16-19" ground clearance, depending on which specs you read and which tires are used.
I can't wait, and will definitely be doing a lot more photos once I get it.
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Roaddude
Long time off-grid vanlife adventurist
XV-2 Axle Rating Feedback and Report
Well, been back on the Maine coast for a few weeks after my mongo gear-gathering and off-grid trip and have some observations about the axle rating.
I was on the road sixteen weeks and traveled just under 12,500 miles, hauling my XV-2 trailer over 10,500 miles of the trip. I wandered through all sorts of terrain from desert trails and rocky arroyos to windy-assed mountain roads and through every kind of weather imaginable, from parched dirt and sand to greasy blizzard conditions where you couldn't even see lane stripes. I've traveled with the trailer from completely empty of cargo and water, to lightly loaded, to loaded to the max with a variety of camping and photography gear in the cargo bay, on the tonneau cover, and up on the rack. I have not, however, used it yet for large loads of gravel, landscape timbers, or other extreme loads. I don't rule out those kinds of loads in future, but can see they will not be anywhere near as frequently done as camping and off-road.
The 2300# rated torsion axle currently on my XV-2 proved to be more than enough for what I've used the trailer for so far. The trailer weighs around 1200 lbs empty and has a payload capacity of 2300 lbs, for a GVWR of 3500 lbs.
Below is the load I had on the trailer for almost all of the trip, though the bike went in the van, not on the trailer. Everything else in the image went in or on the trailer in one way or another. More cargo was added after this image was taken, including a full Oz Tent setup, firewood, a boxed Warn 16.5ti, and around 30 gals of water.
I could easily see the trailer wheels in my side mirrors while traveling and was impressed with not only how well the trailer tracked, but how absent any bouncing was. I did manage to get it airborne once or twice on desert roads after hauling it a bit too fast but it settled right back into the groove. Didn't seem overloaded at all, either, and as long as I kept my cargo balanced front to back and side to side, I hardly noticed the trailer was back there. Even if I had it out of balance as far as weight over short jaunts, the trailer didn't mind, just became tongue heavy or light.
I'm looking forward to putting it on the scale both before and after loading before this next trip commences. Overall, for my usage, I'm pleased as hell with the 2300# rated torsion axle for this trailer.
I'll post back with any other results after future adventures.
Road
Cargo for the XV-2
Typical base camp/trailer set up
Just me and the Smoky Mountain Peckerhead Turkeys
Wrapped up, packed up, ready to roll.
Well, been back on the Maine coast for a few weeks after my mongo gear-gathering and off-grid trip and have some observations about the axle rating.
I was on the road sixteen weeks and traveled just under 12,500 miles, hauling my XV-2 trailer over 10,500 miles of the trip. I wandered through all sorts of terrain from desert trails and rocky arroyos to windy-assed mountain roads and through every kind of weather imaginable, from parched dirt and sand to greasy blizzard conditions where you couldn't even see lane stripes. I've traveled with the trailer from completely empty of cargo and water, to lightly loaded, to loaded to the max with a variety of camping and photography gear in the cargo bay, on the tonneau cover, and up on the rack. I have not, however, used it yet for large loads of gravel, landscape timbers, or other extreme loads. I don't rule out those kinds of loads in future, but can see they will not be anywhere near as frequently done as camping and off-road.
The 2300# rated torsion axle currently on my XV-2 proved to be more than enough for what I've used the trailer for so far. The trailer weighs around 1200 lbs empty and has a payload capacity of 2300 lbs, for a GVWR of 3500 lbs.
Below is the load I had on the trailer for almost all of the trip, though the bike went in the van, not on the trailer. Everything else in the image went in or on the trailer in one way or another. More cargo was added after this image was taken, including a full Oz Tent setup, firewood, a boxed Warn 16.5ti, and around 30 gals of water.
I could easily see the trailer wheels in my side mirrors while traveling and was impressed with not only how well the trailer tracked, but how absent any bouncing was. I did manage to get it airborne once or twice on desert roads after hauling it a bit too fast but it settled right back into the groove. Didn't seem overloaded at all, either, and as long as I kept my cargo balanced front to back and side to side, I hardly noticed the trailer was back there. Even if I had it out of balance as far as weight over short jaunts, the trailer didn't mind, just became tongue heavy or light.
I'm looking forward to putting it on the scale both before and after loading before this next trip commences. Overall, for my usage, I'm pleased as hell with the 2300# rated torsion axle for this trailer.
I'll post back with any other results after future adventures.
Road
Cargo for the XV-2
Typical base camp/trailer set up
Just me and the Smoky Mountain Peckerhead Turkeys
Wrapped up, packed up, ready to roll.
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