Off Grid Trailers

[DudeLePowSki]

OGT Ambassadors are owners that have signed up to show their trailer and answer questions from potential owners, they're expected to be knowledgeable about the products but if there are any questions that someone wants official answers for then the only way to get them is by contacting OGT directly. The base specs are listed on their website, but like any trailer the base weights aren't what owners will see once they receive the trailers. A lot of people don't seem to understand how their vehicle payload and tow ratings work, either, so when they load their vehicle up with people and gear often times they actually don't have enough payload capacity left for a trailer. For example, a 2017 JKUR has a payload capacity of around 1,087LB and a max trailer tongue weight rating of 350LB. A base Expo has a tongue weight of 290LB but closer to 400LB in reality isn't unheard of. So that already exceeds the hitch rating of 350LB. But let's say it doesn't. However, let's say you're a family of 4. Your combined weight is 600LB. 1087 - 600 = 487LB remaining payload. Hook up the trailer with a 400LB tongue weight and that drops down to 87LB left. Do "you" have more than 87LB of non-factory "stuff" in or on your vehicle? If so then you're overweight and it's likely to be obvious by the amount of sag in the rear suspension.

The actual tow and payload capacity for vehicles will change as you add people and gear to the tow vehicle. Some people know this, but the vast majority don't, and then you see them going down the road with their nose/headlights pointed towards the sky, their ass looking like it's dragging, and the driver wondering why they're having such a horrible experience.

The vast majority of tow vehicles, ESPECIALLY those that have been outfitted for overlanding, are going to run out of payload capacity/GVWR first. Anyone that wants to tow a trailer needs to sit down and figure out if their vehicle is actually capable of doing it first. The "max tow rating" and "max tongue weight rating" are the maximums, not actual.

I hear you. I tow a Mission Overland in a Crew Cab F150 with upgraded leafs. The Mission Overland is almost identical in weight to the OGT's. I was surprised with my dirt bikes loaded, even my truck needed some airbags to tow without squatting. And, I only have a family of 3 and am a total weight weeny.

 

[Kep01]

Yeah, I know about ambassadors. You saying that you "sold" OGT products implied you were a dealer, thus why I was confused.



Again, both the Pando and Expo have a GVWR of 3,500LB. The Pando starts out with a higher base weight but as a result it has reduced payload capacity. If a Pando can max out a Jeep then so can the Expo, as I said. Tongue weight is actually the biggest issue and is the #1 problem new owners of these trailers have to contend with when towing with a Wrangler, Gladiator, Tacoma, 4Runner, etc. Just a few examples of Expos causing excessive sag.

View attachment 724657


View attachment 724659

View attachment 724660



Yeah, what do I know...not like I've towed with a JKUR in addition to my current vehicle or anything...or recently spent time with the OGT folks and other owners at Expo West recently...or have personally witnessed numerous people whose #1 issue that they didn't plan for when purchasing was the tongue-weight-induced sag (some examples above).

No complaints about the overall weight of the trailers, though. Only the sag that is often made worse due to all the gear they have in/on their tow vehicles or made worse by running a lift whose springs don't have a high enough spring rate to carry such a load.

Mayyyybe next time don't start with the attitude, especially if you don't know who you're talking to or their background.



OGT Ambassadors are owners that have signed up to show their trailer and answer questions from potential owners, they're expected to be knowledgeable about the products but if there are any questions that someone wants official answers for then the only way to get them is by contacting OGT directly. The base specs are listed on their website, but like any trailer the base weights aren't what owners will see once they receive the trailers. A lot of people don't seem to understand how their vehicle payload and tow ratings work, either, so when they load their vehicle up with people and gear often times they actually don't have enough payload capacity left for a trailer. For example, a 2017 JKUR has a payload capacity of around 1,087LB and a max trailer tongue weight rating of 350LB. A base Expo has a tongue weight of 290LB but closer to 400LB in reality isn't unheard of. So that already exceeds the hitch rating of 350LB. But let's say it doesn't. However, let's say you're a family of 4. Your combined weight is 600LB. 1087 - 600 = 487LB remaining payload. Hook up the trailer with a 400LB tongue weight and that drops down to 87LB left. Do "you" have more than 87LB of non-factory "stuff" in or on your vehicle? If so then you're overweight and it's likely to be obvious by the amount of sag in the rear suspension.

The actual tow and payload capacity for vehicles will change as you add people and gear to the tow vehicle. Some people know this, but the vast majority don't, and then you see them going down the road with their nose/headlights pointed towards the sky, their ass looking like it's dragging, and the driver wondering why they're having such a horrible experience.

The vast majority of tow vehicles, ESPECIALLY those that have been outfitted for overlanding, are going to run out of payload capacity/GVWR first. Anyone that wants to tow a trailer needs to sit down and figure out if their vehicle is actually capable of doing it first. The "max tow rating" and "max tongue weight rating" are the maximums, not actual.

I did sell for them from 2019 till last month. Just as the guy in Arizona does. And the guy in Texas as well. I decided to walk away due to time constraints. They dont have dealerships or dealers. At expo west you would have been with Randy in his booth. And with the sales director Denny. And if you went to expo east last year you would have been in my booth and any of the other east coast shows we were at last year for Offgrid. Randy takes care of the west and JP takes care of the middle. I was the east coast guy. Hope that clears it up a bit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Obsessed2findARuggedHybid]

Yeah, I know about ambassadors. You saying that you "sold" OGT products implied you were a dealer, thus why I was confused.



Again, both the Pando and Expo have a GVWR of 3,500LB. The Pando starts out with a higher base weight but as a result it has reduced payload capacity. If a Pando can max out a Jeep then so can the Expo, as I said. Tongue weight is actually the biggest issue and is the #1 problem new owners of these trailers have to contend with when towing with a Wrangler, Gladiator, Tacoma, 4Runner, etc. Just a few examples of Expos causing excessive sag.

View attachment 724657


View attachment 724659

View attachment 724660



Yeah, what do I know...not like I've towed with a JKUR in addition to my current vehicle or anything...or recently spent time with the OGT folks and other owners at Expo West recently...or have personally witnessed numerous people whose #1 issue that they didn't plan for when purchasing was the tongue-weight-induced sag (some examples above).

No complaints about the overall weight of the trailers, though. Only the sag that is often made worse due to all the gear they have in/on their tow vehicles or made worse by running a lift whose springs don't have a high enough spring rate to carry such a load.

Mayyyybe next time don't start with the attitude, especially if you don't know who you're talking to or their background.



OGT Ambassadors are owners that have signed up to show their trailer and answer questions from potential owners, they're expected to be knowledgeable about the products but if there are any questions that someone wants official answers for then the only way to get them is by contacting OGT directly. The base specs are listed on their website, but like any trailer the base weights aren't what owners will see once they receive the trailers. A lot of people don't seem to understand how their vehicle payload and tow ratings work, either, so when they load their vehicle up with people and gear often times they actually don't have enough payload capacity left for a trailer. For example, a 2017 JKUR has a payload capacity of around 1,087LB and a max trailer tongue weight rating of 350LB. A base Expo has a tongue weight of 290LB but closer to 400LB in reality isn't unheard of. So that already exceeds the hitch rating of 350LB. But let's say it doesn't. However, let's say you're a family of 4. Your combined weight is 600LB. 1087 - 600 = 487LB remaining payload. Hook up the trailer with a 400LB tongue weight and that drops down to 87LB left. Do "you" have more than 87LB of non-factory "stuff" in or on your vehicle? If so then you're overweight and it's likely to be obvious by the amount of sag in the rear suspension.

The actual tow and payload capacity for vehicles will change as you add people and gear to the tow vehicle. Some people know this, but the vast majority don't, and then you see them going down the road with their nose/headlights pointed towards the sky, their ass looking like it's dragging, and the driver wondering why they're having such a horrible experience.

The vast majority of tow vehicles, ESPECIALLY those that have been outfitted for overlanding, are going to run out of payload capacity/GVWR first. Anyone that wants to tow a trailer needs to sit down and figure out if their vehicle is actually capable of doing it first. The "max tow rating" and "max tongue weight rating" are the maximums, not actual.

Well said sir! Everyone should look in thier owners manual and or call the tow vehicle manufacturer and find the GCWR and max tounge weight. Print the published GCWR and tounge weight spec sheet and leave it in thier glove box. Then hit the scale on thier way to a camping adventure. If your over gcwr and you get into an accident it is possible that you will not be covered and sited by the police. Good example my 6,800 pound Ford Transit Quigley 4x4 has a 5,000 lb towing capacity. After adding the Quigley, wheel chair lift, my family of 5 w/ lab, Mt bikes, inflatable raft, 350 tounge weight, 13 gallon water tank on rhino rack and my weight is 7,700 pounds. Still under gvw rating but if subtracted from my gcwr of 11,200 my towing capacity is 3,500 pounds when loaded for a camp trip.

I see off road trailer manufacturers showing thier rigs in adds being pulled by vehicles that could never handle them fully loaded. 90% of the time it's wranglers and gladiators that are pull over thier limits. It must be a jeep thing

 

[4000lbsOfGoat]

I'm close to pulling the trigger on an OGT Pando, could use some help. I'd be pulling it with a JKU Rubicon with just a small 1 inch body lift. I think the hitch height is approximately 13 inches, but I still have to measure.

Seems to me I'd have to get some sort of riser to connect my hitch to the trailer? How much of a rise height is too much before it becomes unsafe, if it does?

Also, at 2200 lbs that doesn't give me a lot of capacity before reaching the limit on my Jeep, is the pando too heavy to a JKU and would i be better off looking at the expedition or a different make? Any JKU owner who can weigh, so to speak, lol as to how it pulls behind their vehicle?

thanks for any help all!

Exact heights are going to depend on your specific vehicle and on the type of coupler you're using on the trailer.

When you measure it out make sure to account for the inevitable sag caused by the tongue weight. The actual hitch on my Tacoma will drop 2 inches when the trailer weight is put on it. That means the ball needs to be 2 inches above level in order for the trailer to sit level. You have to start with your closest guess then load up the trailer and hook it up. Only then can you see where it will actually sit and adjust the hitch height accordingly.

As everyone else has mentioned, I would not recommend one of these trailers without upgraded rear suspension, i.e. heavier springs and upgraded bumpstops. After pulling mine for about 10k miles I'm replacing my upgraded springs with even heavier ones....

 

[RonC]

Lots of discussion on tongue weights and such. Attached is my actual weights. This is for my JLU Sport. We also have a JT Sport that we tow with also. In any case, my OGT Expo has a spare tire, which I found to be way to heavy for my JLU. As all JLU rigs I believe the max tongue weight is 350 pounds. I moved the spare tire to either the mid top or a little bit back over the tires. Not ideal, but with kayaks and such, it's either that or no spare tire. See below: Expo is fully loaded, and with water.

 

[Obsessed2findARuggedHybid]

Looks like OTG has I believe two US dealers now. I wonder if this means they do not sell direct to US customers anymore? Wondering if this increases the msrp as dealers usually need to profit?

 

[DRAX]

Looks like OTG has I believe two US dealers now. I wonder if this means they do not sell direct to US customers anymore? Wondering if this increases the msrp as dealers usually need to profit?

Nope, no dealers. There are "location" ambassadors that are companies that have physical locations that people can go to if they have questions or want to see a unit, and these ambassadors can be used as a trailer delivery destination where customers can pick them up and the ambassador will help get them set up and on their way, but there are no dealers. The purchase process is still direct to consumer.

See Our Teardrop Camping Trailers in Person

Our Location Ambassadors offer the chance to ask questions and see our teardrop camping trailers in person. Get in touch with our ambassadors today.

offgridtrailers.com

 

[Obsessed2findARuggedHybid]

Nope, no dealers. There are "location" ambassadors that are companies that have physical locations that people can go to if they have questions or want to see a unit, and these ambassadors can be used as a trailer delivery destination where customers can pick them up and the ambassador will help get them set up and on their way, but there are no dealers. The purchase process is still direct to consumer.

See Our Teardrop Camping Trailers in Person

Our Location Ambassadors offer the chance to ask questions and see our teardrop camping trailers in person. Get in touch with our ambassadors today.

offgridtrailers.com

Got it and thanks for the clarification. Nice rigs!!

 

[DRAX]

I thought I should post up here as I've done a number of mods/upgrades/quality of life improvements since the trailer was delivered back in Feb. I think this is all the really notable stuff.

• Replaced the annoyingly "too smart" NOCO GENPRO10x2 AC -> DC charger with a Victron IP22 AC -> DC charger. The GENPRO10x2 doesn't do parallel charging so the second bank is useless and makes it a 10A charger, plus the smart "bad battery" logic in the charger means that if you want to run the fridge while the charger is connected to AC power then the charger will trigger the "bad battery" fault due to a charge timeout of 41 hours or something, basically if it can't fully charge the battery/batteries within 41 hours then it will assume the battery can't hold a charge and the charger will disable itself. Running a fridge 24/7 for 2-3 days is enough to trigger this and if you don't know any better then you'll drain your batteries until the low-voltage cutoff is reached by the fridge.
  • 
• Installed a Victron 100/30 MPPT smart solar charge controller to use my existing 120w solar panel.
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• Installed a Victron 18A DC-DC charger to charge while towing down the road. Used 6AWG wire and Anderson connectors.
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  • 
• Replaced the stock furnace ducts that resulted in A LOT of mechanical noise in the cabin (sounded like a small jet engine and would wake me up at night) with acoustic ducts. Noise from the furnace has been reduced by probably 90%, it's amazing and no longer disruptive. I had to order it from the UK and it wasn't super cheap because of shipping, ended up being $138 for two 1-meter sections and half that cost was shipping. It was totally worth it, though.
  • 
• Wife made window covers, in the middle is Insul-Bright insulating material, these work amazing. They don't block out 100% of the light but probably 90% or so. Lets enough light through to see and you'd never know the sun were shining directly on the window.
  • 
    
  • 
    
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• I swapped the arm brackets on the 23Zero 180-degree awning so that the rear arms are outboard, this allows the awning to be fully open and tight without contacting the rear door when it's open. They way it came from 23Zero meant the rear arms couldn't be properly tensioned and as a result caused the awning material to droop. Not anymore!
  • 
  • 
• Replaced the shower head with one normal people can use (The factory one required Hulk strength to turn the thumb valve on) - https://a.co/g7K4OwQ

 

[OlderGuy]

Newbie Here.....Gettin' ready to pull the trigger on a Expedition 3.0......or even a well-maintained Used Expedition 2.0 (if I can find one)
However....Two questions for the general group (in no particular order):


And....I realize that the Expedition 3.0 is a new product, so if your answers apply to a Expedition 2.0 that's okay.
I can infer.

1. Have you ever considered (or had the need for) some form of a water filtration system?
1a. Does OGT even offer something like that as either "Stock" or an Add-on?
I've pored all over their website & if water filtration is mentioned, I can't find it.

.....All it takes is ONE bout of Montezuma's revenge to start thinking about filtration.....don't ask me how I know



2. How many days have you been able to run completely "Off Grid" - using only the "stock" Electrical System ?
2a. Did you feel the need to upgrade from the "stock" ?

Guesstimated/Projected MAXIMUM "load" would be:
* The fridge - 24hrs/day
* Two Laptops - 2-6 hrs per day each - Max
* Two Phones - 2-6 hrs per day each - Max
* Two Tablets - 2-6 hrs per day each - Max
* One string of LED lights - 2-6 hrs per day - Max
* One hour (or so) of interior lights (reading,etc.) per day

 

[Jseda3g]

Exact heights are going to depend on your specific vehicle and on the type of coupler you're using on the trailer.

When you measure it out make sure to account for the inevitable sag caused by the tongue weight. The actual hitch on my Tacoma will drop 2 inches when the trailer weight is put on it. That means the ball needs to be 2 inches above level in order for the trailer to sit level. You have to start with your closest guess then load up the trailer and hook it up. Only then can you see where it will actually sit and adjust the hitch height accordingly.

As everyone else has mentioned, I would not recommend one of these trailers without upgraded rear suspension, i.e. heavier springs and upgraded bumpstops. After pulling mine for about 10k miles I'm replacing my upgraded springs with even heavier ones....

Got any pics of the trailer on your Tacoma?

 

[Nikilrho]

Well, I may not be the only one who will not use FB under any circumstances, even if "only for groups", so perhaps someone else will show up here someday!

My husband. Zero social media. Lurks on the occasional Reddit or forum, but never posts.

 

[4000lbsOfGoat]

Got any pics of the trailer on your Tacoma?

Here is the truck by itself with Icon RXT springs, set up in the heaviest configuration:


And here is the truck and trailer, with those springs, after a couple thousand miles pulling the trailer. You can see that it doesn't sit quite so proud anymore...The trailer is clearly a bit low on the tongue end. It started out level...



And here is the truck and trailer after a couple thousand miles with Deaver Expedition Stage III springs. Possibly not the best angle, but the rear of the truck clearly sits higher, and the trailer is now a bit high on the tongue end. Truck and trailer are loaded up the same amount in both picks.

 

[80t0ylc]

Here is the truck by itself with Icon RXT springs, set up in the heaviest configuration:
View attachment 823942

And here is the truck and trailer, with those springs, after a couple thousand miles pulling the trailer. You can see that it doesn't sit quite so proud anymore...The trailer is clearly a bit low on the tongue end. It started out level...
View attachment 823943


And here is the truck and trailer after a couple thousand miles with Deaver Expedition Stage III springs. Possibly not the best angle, but the rear of the truck clearly sits higher, and the trailer is now a bit high on the tongue end. Truck and trailer are loaded up the same amount in both picks.
View attachment 823944

An option to try because tongue weight and loads vary is air bags in the rear suspension on your truck. They have helped my 80 series since I added an aux fuel tank. Here is one source:

Air Suspension Kits and Air Helper Springs | Air Lift Company

Air Lift’s air suspension kits include air helper springs and on board air compressor systems to help you tow and haul with safety and comfort.

www.airliftcompany.com

 

[Ozarker]

Just buzzed through this thread expecting to see off "grid" trailers but only saw off road types, is there a difference?