Tvan. By Track Trailer

[jerdog53]

Howdy all!

I am really surprised there hasn't been any posts about this here. Our friends in Oz have seen them for sure but most Americans haven't yet i have found.

This expedition camper trailer is built by Track Trailer and is called the Tvan! It is the most awesome off road camp/tent trailer I have run across on the net! Two problems with is I have seen (1) it is not imported into the states as of yet and (2) its a bit pricey in the 25K range.

I don't work for them but I want to make all of you aware of this product and when you visit the web sight fill out the information request and ask them when they will start to import them, the more of us ask the more interest it will generate a some thing is bound to happen.

Here is a few shots I have found of the Tvan on the net.

:luxhello:

 

[RunninRubicon]

Trac trailers

Nice pics. What kind of suspension does it run? Looks like it has merit though for the price it ought to! thanks for the insights.:sunflower

 

[jerdog53]

Nice pics. What kind of suspension does it run? Looks like it has merit though for the price it ought to! thanks for the insights.:sunflower

This trailer has a trailing arm suspension in a Y configuration, very robust looking. If you look at the web site they will go into detail about it.

 

[jerdog53]

I still want one of these, owning an LJ my self I want something light weight and very off road worthy.

If this TJ can pull it then my LJ could.

Would there be enough interest in these to order a shipping containers worth from OZ maybe a group buy kind of thing 6-8 units what ever would fit in a large shipping container and see if we couldn't get a price cut on the bunch from the manufacturer.

The more I look at these the more I want to do something about it.

 

[Doin_It]

That is site is saved in my favorits list. That is a very cool trailer, little pricey, I think though. The suspension, (they have a video on how trails) is no doubt the best trailer suspension out there right now for trailers of that size. Overall looks pretty neat.

 

[Camuyano]

A while back I filled out the information request form for the Tvan when I was considering building a large expedition trailer. They sent me a nice package that included an awsome DVD. After watching the DVD, my wife was like, "I want one..." until she saw the price. :Wow1: I am not saying that it's not worth it but it is a lot for such a small trailer.

I was surprised that they sent the DVD since the product is not marketed in the US. I am not sure if they still do that. Maybe there's a way to have one of those shipped over here? Of course, that would add a bunch more to the price.

 

[jerdog53]

They still do send the DVD even though we are in the states and they know we are.

The company I work for imports a fair amount of large items from overseas from places like Chili and Japan. I talked to the director of "transportation" the guy over that aspect of the business as he is a fellow Jeeper and he told me it would be easy for him to set up track and coordinate. All I needed to do for mine would be set up the payment with the factory and he would handle delivery. His other concern was dealer support or the lack there of, I feel like we as expedition type people have the ability to overcome that aspects in our lives so I really don't think that is an issue. The other think we may need to look into and not being an electrician I can’t really speak to would be the fact the external power supply is set up for 220 vs. 110 but I really cant see that being an issue. I could assume that the 220 is converted to 12volts and fed into the system like it came out of the batteries. He seemed to think that shipping on an individual basis would be around $3K a unit but it would drop with the more units ordered.

They seem a little pricey to me to and this is why if we are able to do like a group buy thing we may get to get them a wholesale or at least a better price.

I have been in email contact with a sales manager in OZ about this and if you like you could ask him questions directly, his name is Craig Hewitson chewitson@tracktrailer.com.au

 

[Tucson T4R]

Not to hijack this thread, I really like the TVAN trailer but importing trailers is more complicated than I originaly thought. That's why I ended up with a formaly approved imported off road camping trailer.

Here's a qoute from Martyn at Adventure Trailers on importing trailers:

Per Martyn: "The major issues with importing trailer are that they must meet DOT and NHTSA regulations to be sold here. Individuals can not import their own trailers unless they go through a Registered Importer and there are only about 3 companies who deal with trailers and they deal exclusively with big rigs.

King Kamper and Campa USA are the only two who import and have stock of foreign made trailers as far as I know. There are a couple of other "companies" who will arrange for a trailer to be shipped to the USA for you, best be careful when dealing with them, if they are not recognized by the DOT and NHTSA the imported trailer is subject to re export or destruction."


I own one of the King Kamper trailers and they formaly import theirs already into the US. They have all the US approvals and have converted the power to our 110V requirement. They also re-sourced a lot of the trailer parts to US suppliers for easy service.

Here's their Website:

www.kingkampers.com

Let me know if you have any questions - they are similar in price at around $20K but I think you get a little more for your money.

Pictures of mine can be found in this thread:

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2398&page=5

 

[jerdog53]

That really wasn't the way it was communicated to me about the importation of trailers. I thought there might be some DOT issues but I figured you could get around that by calling it a home build trailer. I am sure that a supplier couldn’t do it that way but a few of us one timers probably could.


I have looked at Kimberly Kampers long and hard but couldn’t get past the weight of them behind my LJ and I don't like the possibility of wet canvas folded up onto the bed. Get around that I will look again. I do see they are working on a sport SUV model that is smaller and lighter than the next model up but you still have canvas folded up on the bed. I really like the way the Tvan looks and the way the canvas folds up into the top of the door with has hard sides and roof.

 

[Tucson T4R]

That really wasn't the way it was communicated to me about the importation of trailers. I thought there might be some DOT issues but I figured you could get around that by calling it a home build trailer. I am sure that a supplier couldn’t do it that way but a few of us one timers probably could.


I have looked at Kimberly Kampers long and hard but couldn’t get past the weight of them behind my LJ and I don't like the possibility of wet canvas folded up onto the bed. Get around that I will look again. I do see they are working on a sport SUV model that is smaller and lighter than the next model up but you still have canvas folded up on the bed. I really like the way the Tvan looks and the way the canvas folds up into the top of the door with has hard sides and roof.

I know exactly what you mean. I went nuts drooling over this South African offroad trailer:

http://www.brakhah.co.za/

I even engaged the owners trying to get them to export to the US. In the end, they weren't interested in the added hastle. I finaly gave up and went with the KK.

The KK deals with the potential of wet canvas by covering the bedding with a plastic tarp before folding up the trailer. The hard sides and top around the sleeping area on the TVAN are attractive though....I have to agree.

The newer sport models of KK are lighter and may be more in line with what your looking for. I don't know anything about your LJ's towing capability but at least with the 4Runner, the full size KK I have tows like a dream with no sway and is steady as rock both on and off road. I don't know what your vehicle width is...you defintley want a trailer that is no wider than your tow rig.

All just food for thought. Good luck in your quest. I can relate.:costumed-smiley-007

 

[elcoyote]

That really wasn't the way it was communicated to me about the importation of trailers. I thought there might be some DOT issues but I figured you could get around that by calling it a home build trailer. I am sure that a supplier couldn’t do it that way but a few of us one timers probably could.

DEAD WRONG! It will be stated on the bill of lading that it is a trailer in the container. Customs will run the VIN. The VIN is encoded to identify the MFG, which factory it is built in, the unique # of the trailer, how long it is, how many axles it has, when it was built plus a check digit which is an algorithm of all the other numbers in the VIN to verify its legitimacy. If the VIN is not US Compliant, it doesn't get out of Customs until it goes through a Registered Importer (of vehicles) who will render it compliant and there are only a handful of them. The compliance process is expensive...it's not the parts that get you, it's the protocol. Take it from one who has gone through the process and does it for a living. You don't want to give yourself an expensive headache.

 

[adventureduo]

*choke $25k!

 

[Tucson T4R]

*choke $25k!

If your choking, just wash it down with this :beer: :sombrero:

 

[adventureduo]

Yeah i think i'll need quite a few of them to write that fat of a check.

 

[Rezarf <><]

I have been in Oz and seen them up close, they are SHA-WEET! But for 25K, there are a lot of other cool things I would hunt down first.

Another killer camper trailer is the Ultimate Trailer... equally as nice. For the US market, there isn't a better trailer than the Adventure Trailer IMHO.

Drew