Offroad Teardrop under 1000lbs? | 4WDTalk - Overlanding and offroad Forum
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Offroad Teardrop under 1000lbs?

The issue with most of the trailers is their a trailer first and offroad second. Trailers are designed to carry weight which means stiff suspension. Most "off-road" trailers are a standard trailer with off-road tires and a small lift. This is because their made by a trailer manufacture trying to jump on the off-road band wagon. Not an off-road company building a trailer.

When I built my teardrop, it ended up about 2000#. I did a few things overkill and to do it again, I could shave 300-400 off it and still have a nice trailer. I also used my desert race knowledge when I built the suspension. As far as I know, there's only a couple of manufactures out there with good suspension but they run around the same weight as mine and their pricy.

If it was built with a light frame and composite body it would be light and hold up well as long as you had nice squishy suspension.
 
smritte said:
The issue with most of the trailers is their a trailer first and offroad second. Trailers are designed to carry weight which means stiff suspension. Most "off-road" trailers are a standard trailer with off-road tires and a small lift. This is because their made by a trailer manufacture trying to jump on the off-road band wagon. Not an off-road company building a trailer.

When I built my teardrop, it ended up about 2000#. I did a few things overkill and to do it again, I could shave 300-400 off it and still have a nice trailer. I also used my desert race knowledge when I built the suspension. As far as I know, there's only a couple of manufactures out there with good suspension but they run around the same weight as mine and their pricy.

If it was built with a light frame and composite body it would be light and hold up well as long as you had nice squishy suspension.
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Didn't you convert a hauling trailer into a camping one too? Any photos of the tear drop? I've been following stuff you build and always amazed. How long did it take for you to build the teardrop?
 
Carlos said:
Didn't you convert a hauling trailer into a camping one too? Any photos of the tear drop? I've been following stuff you build and always amazed. How long did it take for you to build the teardrop?
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The teardrop I did from scratch, It took about 8 months before I could use it but like all of out toys, their never done. Here's a link to my build thread. Somewhere in that thread is a picture of my converted M-100. That one is getting a makeover/rebuild this fall.
I really suck at build threads and don't think about documenting things until its done. The one on my teardrop hasn't been updated for a while even though I did some changes.
 
That's kinda cool.
The swing arm suspension is nice. Looks easy to maintain, The shock looks useless once the arm moves up a little. I would have tipped them forward. I also prefer brakes and hub looks common enough to add them. On one of the videos, it going pretty fast. Near the end you can see where it needs a bit more shock. Springs look perfect. Most of the ones I have seen, the springs are way too stiff. It is a bit small which I personally like.

Over all, not too bad. I can find more wrong with more expensive ones.
 
600lbs? Yeah that is pretty impressive weight, so I'm guessing everything must be a bit on the light duty side. Looks slick, I'm sure that price tag is attractive to a ton of peeps.
 
smritte said:
That's kinda cool.
The swing arm suspension is nice. Looks easy to maintain, The shock looks useless once the arm moves up a little. I would have tipped them forward. I also prefer brakes and hub looks common enough to add them. On one of the videos, it going pretty fast. Near the end you can see where it needs a bit more shock. Springs look perfect. Most of the ones I have seen, the springs are way too stiff. It is a bit small which I personally like.

Over all, not too bad. I can find more wrong with more expensive ones.
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You have a link to that video please?
 
Frank Vos said:
You have a link to that video please?
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Follow the link above then click on the link in the top left corner with their name. You should see a short video in the top 1/3 of the screen. Its at the end of the drone footage. You see the trailer hit a small washout at speed.

There's a video link with a guy telling about the trailer, I didn't see a good action shot in that one.
 
Yep agree, 600lbs is nothing in the weight department. I'm guessing the suspension is on par with the overall price of these things. Just curious if you could upgrade the suspension if you so desire?
 
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