Mojave Road - Joshua Tree Forest
First off, i want to thank SoCal Teardrops in Upland California for loaning us their Krawler 459 off road tear drop to use for the trip. It would prove to be a great deal maker in upgrading to a hard-shell type trailer for us.
We have been battling with getting away from a tent for a bit now. I don't know if it's about getting older, lazier, tired of the elements or just wanting that added comfort that most provide..but its the case may it be. The problem is that most RV's can't fit where we go, rattle apart at the site of washboard road and generally won't last. Secondly, Sportsmobiles, Four Wheel campers, and the like are still soft topped tents for the upper portion. Having owned a Sportsmobile, they're nice but not for us right now. So when given the chance to try out this oldschool concept we couldn't pass it up.
Indian Cove Camp - Joshua Tree NP
Tear drops have been around for a long time. Starting way back in the 1930's with a Popular Mechanic article on how to build yourself and carrying on all the way till now in 2011. There are crazy groupies and straight die-hards devoted to these trailers. Almost a cult following. Some strange and some with the distinction of wanting something lightweight and easy to use. The Teardrop fits the bill.
Hole in the Wall Camp - Mojave Preserve
Now start putting oversizes tires on them, a .120 wall heavy duty frame, Old Man Emu springs, Rancho shocks, multi-axis couplers and most of the amenities of an RV you get a pretty sweet overland/off highway trailer. They're well designed too. These aren't your grandpas home-brew shade tree tears. These things are bullet proof, designed for off road use with ribs for reinforcing and anodized aluminum sheets for lasting through any element weather can throw at them.
The interior is wrapped up with full DVD player, cup holders, clothes hangers, simple dual switch white and military red lighting. All hand crafted in the USA. The exterior provides the cooking area with full Cook-partner stove, ARB freezer fridge and plenty of storage space. Also included as an option are a water tank with pump, on board heater, air conditioning unit if you choose, Fiamma awning and outdoor speakers. Anything is available as an option basically. The kitchen is outfitted with a LED light bar that is easy to find in the dark, not too bright and annoying and doesn't draw too much power. All good things to think about in the field.
The great thing that Socal Teardrop thought of when constructing these trailers is the kitchen stove versatility. You can literally unlock it and carry it off if need be. In our case, it was windy and i made coffee over on the fender flare platform. Perfect thinking, i have to hand it to them on that one.
The axles can be configured however the end user likes. Bolt patterns, widths and brake options. This particular axle was equipped with trailer brakes as we were accustomed too.
The diamond plate nose box runs single or dual AGM deep cycle batteries to run the electronics inside the cab and the rear cook section. This is also where a shore power charger and a solar charger is housed. Along with a roll up solar panel if you so choose to go that route for base camping. It also houses cigarette plugs for accessories and a work lamp for nightly duties on the trail.
Also along with the nose box there are two can holders for 5 gal water or fuel. This proves to be an asset for long range vehicle traveling. A definite necessity for most.
The biggest thing we found with this trailer was it was quiet. So quiet in fact, i thought the wind had stopped the minute i fell asleep on the first night. But to my surprise when i got up in the middle of the night to do my business i found out there was still 40-50mph winds blasting. I can't say enough for how quiet and insulated these things are. Secondly, we found that it didn't take much to setup camp (obviously). We stored our soft gear in the trailer bed while traveling. Sleeping bags, clothing, chairs, that sort of thing. When at camp we just took our chairs out and popped the rear open. Done. Everything is on slides, the fridge and stove pull out and then you just connect the stove up. Worked great. Camp setup in mere minutes. Much faster than our RTT setup on our Horizon trailer.
Off Road the trailer handled great. Even better than our Horizon. The Krawler is significantly lighter than our Horizon so it travels better down roads and pulls less on the tow rig which is already lacking for power. The Old Man Emu springs did great and im a big fan of keeping suspension components simple for reliability sake. No need for extra added arms, coil overs, the whole nine yards. Leafs work just fine and they're easy to fix on the trail. Also, when i say leaf spring.. there's a huge difference between military and these OME's. Old military springs need a billion pounds for the trailer to ride right. These were soft and plush no matter how we had it loaded.
The roof was equipped with a flawless hand crafted TIG welded aluminum load bars instead of Thule or Yakimas others use. They were beefy and designed to carry a roof top tent in case you have more company on the trip. For us, we didn't need that so we opted for the Baja Rack which carried our firewood to camp. Worked great and the height was perfect for loading.
The onboard propane tank was in the perfect spot for a bit of grilling next to the trailer.
Dust was not a problem with this trailer like i thought it would be. Even coated with dust from long washboard roads through the desert, the interior and the kitchen stayed clean. I was surprised with that.
A beautiful night in the Joshua Tree NP
The kitchen was appropriately lit during anytime you needed access.
Yosh waking up in the morning enjoying a cup of hot chocolate in bed.
Interior shot with flip down screen, head unit, aux cigarette plugs and storage cabinets.
Off Camber and tricky situations didn't even make the trailer flinch. The solid axle and leaf sprung rear end just trucked through anything the Landcruiser did.
Coming down steep hills created no push. Because the trailer isn't really heavy i actually stopped on this hill without trailer brakes assisting. It was great.
These trailers come with all sorts of options but the one we tested weighed in at about 1500 lbs. I could actually lift the tongue up myself, vs our current trailer where there's no way i could ever. The price tag for these guys start around $14,995. which if you look at other campers on the market is very comparable.
All in all, we like the tear drop so much i think we may be selling our Horizon and upgrading. We do love our trailer, but we've had it for a while and i think it's time to move on to a SoCal Teardrop. So you can possibly see ours in the for sale section soon!
For more info on the SoCal Teardrops Krawler 459 visit their website at http://www.socalteardrops.com/page.php?p=22