Overland Trailer, local Teardrop builder

[Greg]

A few weeks ago I had a local guy from Grand Junction come checkout and drive the 100 Series Cruiser when it was still for sale... we got to talking and he mentioned he built teardrop trailers for a living! I have been wanting to build one myself and was very interested in checking out his operation. We talked quite a bit about build sizes and a few other details, he started building 4 x 8 trailers that weigh it at only 600#'s! He mentioned that he had customers that pull them with their Subarus!

He showed me a couple of his new builds that are 5 x 8 and it's amazing how much 1' wider looks. Plus the ability to fit a queen sized mattress! He and his brother hand-fab every single one and they look great. Check out his site!

http://www.overlandtrailer.com/

I wanted to build a teardrop last Winter, but had too much going on... perhaps this next Winter?

 

[sixstringsteve]

Those look great.

 

[Greg]

Those look great.

I was pretty impressed with what they're doing, the build quality is high and the 600 #'s weight is pretty incredible!

 

[gahi]

For some reason I cant get around the wood used in most teardrops. It just seems like a recipe for problems. Must be fine though, they been built that way for a long time.

 

[RogueJeepr]

I dont what the big deal is other than he stuck the name "overland" on it to get it to sell .
Mine is made of wood and holds up just fine to all the punishment I put it through. Most trailers are built of wood anyway.
Not bagging on his work . I think they are a nice peice of work . Just the word "overland" is OVERDONE.

 

[Cascadia]

He liked the name Overland so he used it. Who cares.

 

[Greg]

I dont what the big deal is other than he stuck the name "overland" on it to get it to sell .
Mine is made of wood and holds up just fine to all the punishment I put it through. Most trailers are built of wood anyway.
Not bagging on his work . I think they are a nice peice of work . Just the word "overland" is OVERDONE.

It's a trendy name... deal with it. The guy building them, Britton, is a solid guy with a great desire to help people get out and enjoy camping when they probably otherwise wouldn't. I like the fact that he's building them locally (to me ) and that he's so stoked about the product. He's a great guy and I want to see him do well.... thought others on here would enjoy seeing what he's doing.

 

[muleskinner]

It's a trendy name... deal with it. The guy building them, Britton, is a solid guy with a great desire to help people get out and enjoy camping when they probably otherwise wouldn't. I like the fact that he's building them locally (to me ) and that he's so stoked about the product. He's a great guy and I want to see him do well.... thought others on here would enjoy seeing what he's doing.

That's pretty cool. I was traveling on I-15 last Thursday and spotted 1/2 dozen of these headed south.

 

[Greg]

That's pretty cool. I was traveling on I-15 last Thursday and spotted 1/2 dozen of these headed south.
View attachment 98999

Probably a group headed to Overland Expo, it started last week and ended on Sunday.

 

[CobraNutt]

The Moby 1 gang... Man I want one of their XTR's....but they sure are spendy!

Sent from my mystical handheld gizmo.

 

[spencurai]

The benefit of a teardrop is that you can pretty much camp all 4 seasons in comfort. The small layout of the trailers means you really have to like the person you are sleeping next to...not a problem if things are good in the relationship but can get a little weird after a fight lol. Suspension on these offroad trailers is a BIG factor. Most suspensions are designed for extremely occasional dirt roads...a road that would take 5 minutes to blast down can take an hour to traverse with the trailer or you'll just kick the hell out of your trailer and everything in it. I had an on-road teardrop and it was great but anything over 15mph just left the trailer spending a lot of time airborne if you know what I mean. There are some really cool trailing arm suspensions with cantilever mounted coilovers but that's a huge expense to be able to bomb down the dirt roads pulling your trailer.

The single best thing about teardrops is you can stop literally anywhere and hit the sack. If you don't have to set up camp then the world is your campground because it just looks like you're parked on the side of the trail.

What broke it for me though is towing a trailer is a pain in the ass...it kills gas mileage and slows me down. The lower convenience of a tent makes my offroad experience lite on its feet. The trade off is that a tent takes time to set up...the trailer does not. The additional comfort of a trailer does make camping more appealing to the lady folk and that added comfort means more trips with the lady so...take it for what it's worth!

 

[Greg]

Good info Spence! I still want to build a 5 x 8 with a queen mattress and probably 5' tall sides. Was yours on leafs or a torsion axle? Britton (builder of the above teardrops) is now using torsion axles and he claims they ride much better. I realize there will be limitations and the need to slow down on the trail... sounds like you really have to take it easy to get the trailer to survive. I don't see us dragging it thru a rough 4x4 track, but you never know. I love the idea of having a 4 season, comfortable option that you can setup real fast and easy. I love winter camping... but really love staying warm at night.

 

[spencurai]

Yeah mine was torsion... Still rode like hell though... No real way to put a shock on a torsion setup.

The only time I heated mine was new years at lava hot springs... Negative eighth was a bit too cold lol.

 

[CobraNutt]

Greg, if you haven't already, check out the Moby1 XTR. It's designed for off-road with a trailing A-arm coil sprung suspension with Fox Racing Smooth body 2.0 custom valved shocks...it's a bit heavy, but definitely a nice rig. I'd love to build something similar in design. Like Spencurai stated...they're not for everyone or even the best option in every case...but I could sure put it to use! lol!

 

[Greg]

I have seen those, they're neat! I can't afford one though, so I'd have to build my own. And the overall product wouldn't be near as fancy, torsion suspension would have to do.

 

[CobraNutt]

Yeah...the BASE price of $18.5k is pretty steep! I have a 2500lb torsion axle on my trailer. It only weighs about 800-900 lbs but tows extremely well and handles any terrain my jeep will pull it through. But I'd still like a teardrop one of these days!

Sent from my mystical handheld gizmo.