T@B Outback off road questions

CamperCamper

Hello.  I am considering a purchase of the T@B Outback.  I am primarily interested in off road, off the grid adventures.  Most of my destinations will include fire roads in varying degrees of travel quality.  I will not be using a trailer for severe off roading such as rock climbing etc.

My choices seem to be narrowed to a trailer such as the Outback or a pop up truck camper such as the Four Wheel Campers as I am not looking for extreme off roading, do not want the confines of a small tear drop or a tent set up.

Despite extensive searching, I can not find any photos, reviews, reports or user experience that would detail just how well/fit this platform is for such travels.

Are there any owners on this forum who can share with me the viability of this trailer for my intended use?  How does the suspension perform? Is the hitch type adequate?  Did you ever need to turn back and if so under what conditions?  Destination photos or road condition reports and general experience are most welcome and greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your experienced reviews!

BWidget

This is exactly how I intend to use my Outback. I have not yet had the opportunity to test it in any off-road situations.

The hitch is just the normal hitch, if you have any concerns you can look into purchasing a fully articulating hitch.

Rad

Ya know the Outback is really just a regular T@B with a different axel, a touch higher and a few cosmetic exterior items that make it look great.  There even was a comment someplace noting it was not intended for serious off road use.  I wish I could remember where I read that. 

If you look under any T@B there are a lot of fragile items hanging all over the place.  I have spent a lot of time off road on motorcycles and in jeeps and I have never seen a rig like the Outback, a single axel trailer being pulled over anything other than smooth gravel or a dirt road that any family wagon could traverse.  

The Outback is the equivalent of the urban SUV.  No disrespect intended towards the unit.  

You may want to spend some time on a few of the off road forums and see what folks take off road.

All that being said, I would have purchased the Outback if one was available when I purchased mine just because I love the look and the slightly higher ride height.  Would I pull it off road other than smooth dirt or gravel? No.  When you hit your first serious washboard you will understand.  

jkjenn

I 100% agree with Rad. If you want a serious off-road teardrop, look at the Moby units. They are rather pricey, however. I probably would not, for example, try to take it to Hole in the Rock Rd. in Escalante, Cathedral Valley in Capitol Reef, or places like that. I have driven my T@b up rough dirt roads and lost my license plate. Things just jiggle and bounce too much.

CamperCamper

This is great feedback and what I was hoping to get.  Please keep it coming.

As Rad suggested I have spent a lot of time at the various off road forums and did not find any reports on the Outback.  I wondered if that was because it was so new or simply not up to the task.  The T@B is more comfortable than the standard teardrops and I was hoping it would be adequate.

There does seem to be a good number of users with the Little Guy Teardrops and I was hoping that some of the build components from it were incorporated into the Outback.  Might have to consider the Little Guy as the price point is much lower than the Moby1 builds and I do not plan to rock crawl but would certainly want to run washboards.

Ratkity

....

jkjenn

CamperCamper said:

This is great feedback and what I was hoping to get.  Please keep it coming.

As Rad suggested I have spent a lot of time at the various off road forums and did not find any reports on the Outback.  I wondered if that was because it was so new or simply not up to the task.  The T@B is more comfortable than the standard teardrops and I was hoping it would be adequate.

There does seem to be a good number of users with the Little Guy Teardrops and I was hoping that some of the build components from it were incorporated into the Outback.  Might have to consider the Little Guy as the price point is much lower than the Moby1 builds and I do not plan to rock crawl but would certainly want to run washboards.

I forgot about the Rough Rider model. I think that might be a bit more up to the task. The Expedition Portal forums is probably a good place to look for info on real-life off road experiences with the Rough Rider. I had considered a Rough Rider at one point.

There are places I still need to go that I can't take the T@b. I had and will likely buy, again, a roof top tent for those one offs where I need to sleep overnight. Personally, I felt much safer up off of the ground.

source3

I bought the Outback for the little additional ground clearance to get me into a primitive camp spot that a regular T@B would not get into.

I consider the Outback off-pavement. A 3-inch deep rut road or 4-inch high rock here and there will be fine.  An inch deeper rut or inch taller rock and I will begin to think about wheel placement.  Although this still leaves a few inches of clearance. 

Anything more I would consider the LG Rough Rider.  For a fully capable offroad teardrop look at the Moby1 or SoCal teardrops.

Rad

source3 said:

I bought the Outback for the little additional ground clearance to get me into a primitive camp spot that a regular T@B would not get into.

I consider the Outback off-pavement. A 3-inch deep rut road or 4-inch high rock here and there will be fine.  An inch deeper rut or inch taller rock and I will begin to think about wheel placement.  Although this still leaves a few inches of clearance. 

Anything more I would consider the LG Rough Rider.  For a fully capable offroad teardrop look at the Moby1 or SoCal teardrops.

Makes total sense.  

Those Rough Riders, Moby 1's and SoCal rigs sure are awesome looking.  I'm not in the market for a true off road rig, but if I was it would be fun to be researching those three. 

BWidget

My wife does not want to climb up and drown from a RTT, plus she likes the on-board privy.

source3

BWidget said:

My wife does not want to climb up and drown from a RTT, plus she likes the on-board privy.

RRT is only for extra sleeping if needed.  +1 for the privy/shower.  With the true offroad teardrops and by the time you add hot water, outdoor shower, kitchen, etc you are at $30K + and still have to eat outside if the weather is bad and/or the bugs are biting.

This is why I compromised with the Outback.  Wife is happy so I am happy!

source3

Rad said:

Those Rough Riders, Moby 1's and SoCal rigs sure are awesome looking.  I'm not in the market for a true off road rig, but if I was it would be fun to be researching those three. 

I researched them heavily and have seen them in person. The Moby1 and SoCal are beasts.  The cooking shelf is at my abdomen (equipped with 33" tires to match my tow vehicle) and I am 6 ft tall.  My wife would need a step stool just to cook.

With proper wheel placement on unimproved dirt roads that are not too roughed up the Outback is a good fit.

jkjenn

source3 said:

Rad said:

Those Rough Riders, Moby 1's and SoCal rigs sure are awesome looking.  I'm not in the market for a true off road rig, but if I was it would be fun to be researching those three. 

I researched them heavily and have seen them in person. The Moby1 and SoCal are beasts.  The cooking shelf is at my abdomen (equipped with 33" tires to match my tow vehicle) and I am 6 ft tall.  My wife would need a step stool just to cook.

With proper wheel placement on unimproved dirt roads that are not too roughed up the Outback is a good fit.

Yeah, you just have to remember that sometimes a road turns out to be rougher than you anticipate.

Rad

jkjenn said:

Yeah, you just have to remember that sometimes a road turns out to be rougher than you anticipate.

Ah yes, much like life itself 

GeoMars

Regarding Hole in the Rock Rd near Escalante (mentioned earlier in this thread), this photo shows our Outback on a side road about 30 miles down Hole in Rock. T@B did fine, except that the air conditioner shook its retaining frame loose on one side. Fortunately it didn't fall out completely. Otherwise it did great for our 4-day trip. I replaced the screws holding the a/c retainer frame with longer screws that now attach to aluminum tubing surrounding the a/c, which I hope will solve the problem.

WilliamA

I can't speak to the T@B offroad capabilities but I've done a considerable amount of "gentleman" offroading with my T@G and have written extensively about some of the potential foibles.  In my opinion, the major setbacks with either the T@G or T@B are the hitch and axle.  I have read that the T@G Boondock/Outback (whatever they are calling it this week) axle is a bit stronger than the stock T@G axle and perhaps the T@B is also beefier?  I'm not sure.  For sure, the hitch is the weakest link in offroading as, with any ball hitch, articulation is quite limited.  It's easy to run afoul of maximum travel both up and down as well as side to side.  I have experienced binding on my stock ball setup when the trailer twists in the opposite direction of my Jeep.  I quickly decided to go with a pintle as: they offer lots more articulation in both forward/backward and torsion or side to side.  I welded on my pintle and haven't looked back (pun intended) since.  I find the pintle to be everything a person needs in a hitch and, just as importantly, it is by far the least expensive upgrade option. I used a weld-on adapter for the trailer end that has a bolt-on pintle, but also has a bolt-on ball hitch option should someone want to borrow my trailer (my son) or I decide to sell it.  On the tow vehicle end, it's as easy as buying a slide-in receiver mount for the front end.  
One of the problems I ran into right away on my T@G was sidewall to tire clearance.  This may be peculiar to the T@G but the factory trailer wall to tire clearance was tiny, measuring in at about a 1/4".  When offroad, I would get the trailer tires rubbing against the body in off-camber situations and had to add some beefy wheel spacers to correct the problem.  I also added Dexter axle spacers to get me more ground clearance (2 3/4"), which I think is one of the most important things that one can do to make a trailer more offroad friendly.
My trailer is now, with roofrack and lights, not really any shorter than a T@B but has huge ground clearance.  I also peeled the spare off the bottom of the trailer and moved it to a tire mount on the side in back.  
One of the easy things to do that I feel needs to be done for offroading is to have a switch inside the tow vehicle to turn off the electric trailer brakes.  There are lots of times when things are tricky that I don't want the trailer brakes to apply.  Off-camber, slippery sidehills and when trying to squeeze between trees on wet grass, the trailer brakes will grab and lock the wheels causing all sorts of mayhem.  I solved that for my trailer by simply wiring my brake controller with a switch I can turn off when I want.  I don't forget to turn it back on because it's immediately apparent when they aren't on!  I can feel it.   If one wanted to be fastidious, you could also wire the off switch with a light that tells you when they are off.  
Here's my write-up for the T@G offroad (and other) modifications I've done along with the logic behind them:
http://teardrop-trailers.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/230/off-road-ready-upgrades-and-mods#latest
WilliamA

ChanW

@GeoMars, plowing up the soil a bit there, with your hitch?

GeoMars

Yes, plowed the sand a couple of places. 

And I do wonder how much of a difference in roll angle between trailer and TV the standard ball hitch can handle before it binds.

WilliamA

GeoMars said:

Yes, plowed the sand a couple of places. 

And I do wonder how much of a difference in roll angle between trailer and TV the standard ball hitch can handle before it binds.

I've done some looking into that and, while there are some variations on different kinds of ball hitches, the maximum included angle of a ball hitch in both extension (front and back) or camber from side to side is distressingly small and it's possible to start binding the hitch just turning around in an off-camber yard.  One needs to be especially careful offroad.  You can measure the angle yourself by taking the receiver ball out of your hitch and putting it into the trailer, lock it down and then measure the angle fore/aft and side to side.  I think you'll be surprised at how tight it actually is.  The most dangerous thing would be to bind the ball hitch which stresses the trailer portion and bends it it such a way that it doesn't fit tightly on the ball.  It's also possible to twist the nose of the trailer frame.  In the photo you posted of your dry wash traverse, you can see that the nose of the trailer hitch is very close to the backbone of the ball mount.  You're pretty close to maxed out there.  
Information is power.

Here's my tow vehicle side hitch arrangement.  I am still wanting to tuck it in closer to the bumper, but it's miles above where I was with the ball hitch.  I liked this one as it allows me to use either the pintle or a standard 2" ball hitch without changing anything.


Here's my basic hitch after welding.  I bought the kit for this at the local Fleet Farm for $56 bucks or so.  The bolt-on lunette is nice because you can remove the lunette ring and just bolt on a 2" ball hitch extension, so if you want to, you can go backward-compatible for any reason.


I was uncomfortable with the light metal on the trailer tongue as it was less than 1/8" so I made and welded on some gusset plates.  Now I'm a happy camper.  


Disclaimer!!!!!
I highly recommend that anyone wanting such a modification have it done by a certified welder!  This isn't easy to do and any failure of the welds will certainly be catastrophic!  There's NO room for error in such things!  I welded my own but previously had talked to 2 different trailer places and both said they would do the work if I decided I didn't want to.  As far as cost goes, a good welder/metal worker should be able to do the job in an hour or two.  

The end result is stupidly overbuilt.  I think this one is rated at 12 tons.  You very seldom hear anyone say: "It's too strong....make it a bit weaker."

WilliamA

MuttonChops

@WilliamA . . . . . . . . WOW

GeoMars

WilliamA, now I'm thinking about hitches, but my T@B is in Utah and I'm in California. Does anyone know if the hitch on the 2018 T@B 320s Boondock is welded on or bolted under the jack assembly plate? Has anyone used the bolt-on Max Coupler (see image) to attach to the T@B frame?

If the T@B frame is too thin, it might be necessary to weld up more of a trapezoidal box than the three-sided plate in the image. In any case, it would be more convenient for me to fabricate/modify a mounting assembly here in California (where my shop and welding gear are) and then only have to drill holes and bolt through the frame in Utah.