- How many of us adventures, campers, off-roaders,
and just outdoor enthusiasts in general
have often contemplated either purchasing
or building an off-road camping trailer
set up with all the coolest amenities
or ditching the idea of a trailer
and either throwing a rooftop tent on top of our vehicles
or converting the back of our rigs into a sleeping area.
There are definitely a few different options
to consider here.
And each one has its advantages and disadvantages.
But after spending some time up at XVENTURE trailers
in Clintonville, Wisconsin, we take a closer look
at why a well built utilitarian modular type
of overlanding trailer just might be the best way to go.
Well, first of all, rooftop tents
can be a great little shelter to escape the elements.
Plus being high up in the air
brings back fond childhood memories of building tree forts.
But rooftop tents will add additional weight
to the worst place to add additional weight to,
the top of your vehicle.
This not only negatively affects
the handling of your vehicle,
but also creates more wind resistance
when cruising down the highway.
And if you need to use your vehicle to do anything,
regardless if it's just to make a quick trip
to go get firewood or to go out adventuring
in the wilderness for a day, you have to pack down your tent
and provisions every single time to do that.
And it can get pretty old pretty quick.
Another option is to set up the back of your vehicle
as a sleeping area.
Maybe you have an SUV or pickup truck with a topper on it
and convert the back of the SUV
or truck bed into a nice and little cozy sleeping area.
Either one works great in keeping you safe
from nature and the elements, but in both situations,
you end up using valuable real estate
that can be used for gear, coolers, fridge, onboard air,
tools, and a bunch of other things that you now have
to find a different space for throughout the night.
This is exactly where I'm at.
And although it does work pretty great
for sleeping comfortably in,
I find myself constantly shifting gear around
and it's still a pain in the ass.
And that's where an off-road trailer
becomes the be-all-do-all almost perfect way
to have your cake and eat it too.
Especially if it's something as utilitarian, modular,
and robust as what the XVENTURE trailers are.
And what I mean by utilitarian, modular, and robust is,
unlike a teardrop style trailer
or RV style type of camping trailer
that are made to be like a tiny home on wheels
and already has, or almost has all
of your creature comforts built right into it.
And that works great for many people.
The XVENTURE trailers are a military grade
off-road trailer that you can mount a rooftop tent on.
This means that you get an actual heavy duty trailer
that is sort of like pulling
an extra truck bed around with you.
However, it's a lot more than just that.
And guys, before we get too far
into talking about these XVENTURE trailers,
let me just start by saying that in no way,
shape or form is this a paid sponsorship video
from XVENTURE trailer by any means?
This video is purely meant to bring awareness
to one of the many companies in the industry
who manufacture purpose built overlanding trailers.
And well, they just happen to be located
about 45 minutes from our shop.
So it turned into a pretty awesome opportunity
for us to find out exactly who XVENTURE is,
hence the reason for wanting to share them with all of you.
In fact, these trailers may not even be for you,
but at the very minimum, by the end of today's video,
you'll least know who XVENTURE is.
Another really interesting thing
about the city of Clintonville
where XVENTURE is headquartered,
is that it's known as the birthplace
of the four wheel drive vehicle.
With the first successful four wheel drive vehicle
being developed and built there in 1908,
it then became the Badger four wheel drive auto company
founded in 1909, and full production
of their four wheel drive vehicles
being produced there in 1911.
But what else is pretty cool
is that XVENTURE trailers are built by Schutt industries.
And Schutt industries is one of,
if not the largest manufacturers of trailers,
for the Department of Defense, and supplies their trailers
to all four branches of the military
which means that the same technology of superiority
that's going into their military trailers
is getting put into their XVENTURE trailers.
That right there tells you that Schutt industries
knows exactly what they're doing and how to build
some of the best overlanding trailers out there.
For example, all XVENTURE trailers
have an all aluminum construction
for one of the best strength
to weight combinations there is.
And they assemble them using a Huck bolt technology
which means instead of aluminum welding them together,
which aluminum welds will fatigue from stress
and eventually they will break apart,
whereas the Huck bolt system uses Alcoa fasteners
and each individual fastener has 5,000 pounds
of bonding strength.
Guys, that's 5,000 pounds of strength per fastener,
not 500, 5,000.
And each trailer has over 300 of them,
which these things are not coming apart on you.
And if, and that's a huge if,
anything does happen to fail on your XVENTURE trailer
and it's within 10 years of the original purchase date,
it's covered under warranty anyways.
But it's not just the aluminum construction
or the Huck bolts that hold it together,
but the XVENTURE trailer has the same structural design
as their light tactical military trailers that are subjected
to rigorous military grade criteria tests.
This means the frame and the cross structural supports
are made from a quarter inch thick aluminum
and are two and a half inch
by three and a half inch closed box type framing.
No C channel, no small tubular construction,
but severe duty boxed frame chassis construction.
I'm sure if you wanted to, that you could probably
literally build a house on this frame
and it still wouldn't have any issues.
Okay, well maybe that's a slight exaggeration,
but you guys get the point.
These are built to be the toughest, longest lasting,
most durable trailers on the market.
So one of the biggest advantages
to having a utilitarian type of trailer
is that it is modular in use for a multitude
of hauling all kinds of different things.
You can use it to haul your four-wheeler, snowmobile,
a small fishing boat, canoe, kayak,
rooftop tent, firewood, a bunch of camping supplies,
spare tires, water containment systems.
I mean, you name it and you guys can pretty much haul it
as it acts like a regular trailer.
The smaller version, the XV-3,
has a curb weight of 850 pounds with a payload capacity
of 1,500 pounds of additional cargo.
And the XV-2, the larger version, weighs 1,200 pounds,
and can haul 2,300 extra pounds of cargo.
And guys, these specs and all of their other specs
and features again, can be found right on their website
just by clicking the link below.
But the great thing here is
that you can use your vehicle as the machine
to go off-roading, to go adventuring,
touring the local area, and the trailer can be the grunt,
the donkey per se, have the trailer carry all of your crap
and sleep in the back of your vehicle, if you wanted to,
and not have to worry about continuously
shifting your gear around
or even have to worry about buying a rooftop tent.
However, if you prefer a rooftop tent,
the XVENTURE trailers do come equipped
with an adjustable roof rack system to mount the tent too.
Besides the sleeping arrangement configurations,
I think the best part of utilizing a trailer,
regardless if it's a teardrop, camper type,
or XVENTURE trailer, or any type of trailer
for that matter, is the convenience
of being able to unhook the trailer
and use your vehicle to go exploring for the day
or to go off-roading, or even just to make that quick trip
to go grab some beer from the store
without having to pack down or put away all of your stuff
that you would have normally had to do without a trailer.
Granted, you don't wanna leave all your crap
just laying around all over the place
and will probably still wanna keep it in the trailer
along with having a surefire theft preventative system
so your things are there when you get back.
But besides that, I think it's still way more convenient
to have a trailer.
And not to mention that XVENTURE trailers
also have a standard battery operated power control system
to power up the lights, chargers, your coffee pot,
and other essential electronics.
You also get a standard max swivel coupler hitch,
electronic brakes, swing-out tailgate,
propane system, spare tire carrier,
a 22 gallon water tank, along with a water heater,
and a whole bunch of other goodies
to help make your adventure traveling experience
a whole lot more enjoyable.
There's even a slide out kitchen
and hot water shower hookups
to really help make camping a lot more,
well, like glamping, if you really wanted to.
And guys, like I had mentioned earlier,
this video is here to create exposure
for XVENTURE trailers.
And I really do hope you guys check them out
as they are pretty badass trailers
that will give you years and years of traveling benefits.
If you do end up considering an XVENTURE trailer
and would rather upgrade your wheels
and tires on the trailer
to match your vehicle's wheels and tires,
or just want an upgrade
from the XVENTURE factory wheels and tires,
then make sure and let them know as well.
In fact, it'll probably be Tim
that you'll end up working with there as he is the gentleman
that almost exclusively works with everyone
on getting them set up with their new XVENTURE trailer.
Either Tim will have the axle hub swapped out
to match your vehicle's bolt pattern
or there are adapter spacers
that can be bolted onto the existing hubs.
And then the bolt pattern on the wheel mounting side
will match the same bolt pattern of your vehicle.
And then after that, whichever route you guys do end up
deciding to go with, just let Tim know,
and he'll get you in contact
with one of us here at TrailBuilt.
This way we'll be able to personally help you guys
match up the exact wheel offset
and back spacing you're looking for,
depending on how wide you want the track width to be
or how much you'd like the tires to either stick out,
have them flush with the fenders,
or even if you wanted to tighten them up a little bit
to keep them as tucked in as possible.
So then, for overlanding camping,
we went through sleeping in a vehicle mounted rooftop tent,
sleeping in the vehicle itself,
or having a trailer with either a rooftop tent
or just to keep all your gear in,
plus other traveling provisions
like a warm shower attachment.
But what I'm really curious about
is what do you guys do for sleeping arrangements
while you're out exploring or camping?
Do you just ground tent it, which I'm realizing
that I know we really didn't discuss ground tenting much,
but it is another option,
and well, one I've done plenty of in my younger years.
But do you have a rooftop tent
attached to the top of your vehicle?
And how does that work out for you?
Or do you have a trailer, and how do you have it set up?
I'd really like to know and sincerely would like
to know what all of you guys do or what you have
so that myself and others can see what works
or what doesn't work.
Definitely make sure and let us know in the comments below.
And guys, as always, we appreciate all of you for watching
and all of your support.
I'm Josh from TrailBuilt
and we'll see you guys out on the trails.
(upbeat music)