Tvan. By Track Trailer
- Thread starter jerdog53
- Start date
RunninRubicon
Adventurer
Buy American
I love our brother Australians however, I agree with Martyn. There's a whole gammit of reasons why we should buy american.
I love our brother Australians however, I agree with Martyn. There's a whole gammit of reasons why we should buy american.
Tucson T4R
Expedition Leader
:iagree: Unless you have the support of a major importer that maintains a large stock of parts and provides great customer service, you don't want to go down this road.
My KK, even with US dealers, can be challenging to support when unique non-stocked parts are needed. I have been very lucky and have had the opportunity to work directly with KK engineers in OZ. They have provided great support but we still had to deal with the challenges of outrageous shipping costs and time for small parts and payment complexities.
Working with a US manufacturer is soooo much simpler and more efficient.
Don't get me wrong though...I'm keeping my KK until someone pries my cold dead hands off of it.:elkgrin:
My KK, even with US dealers, can be challenging to support when unique non-stocked parts are needed. I have been very lucky and have had the opportunity to work directly with KK engineers in OZ. They have provided great support but we still had to deal with the challenges of outrageous shipping costs and time for small parts and payment complexities.
Working with a US manufacturer is soooo much simpler and more efficient.
Don't get me wrong though...I'm keeping my KK until someone pries my cold dead hands off of it.:elkgrin:
Tucson T4R
Expedition Leader
jerdog53 said:
It is some good reading, isn't it.
Lots of food for thought.I vote for you to work with AT and see if they can design and build a trailer that meets your specifications (or close to it). It may take awhile to get through it but the end result would be sweet for both you and AT.
Just my two cents thrown in there.:sombrero:
jerdog53
Explorer
Well you don't see me jumping through all those hoops to order a Tvan and get it coming do you, yes money is a key factor and if there was product support in parts and service I might be more inclined to spend the coin. I truly love the design and what it represents and it totally disgusts me that the best we Americans can come up with is a rough terrain pop tent trailer. No offence.
RunninRubicon
Adventurer
Hey now, one says we can't build a copy-cat version here. After-all we Americans showed the world how to do many modern gagits. It wouldn't be out of line at all to produce one here if you could draw up a design and get some backers to fund your manufacturing process. Distribution can be easily dealt with as this medium can be an advertisement anyway. So, go for it! Heck you might even beat the price they want for the import! Be there competition. Capitalism rules bro!jerdog53 said:
DesertBound
Observer
jerdog53 said:
While I understand your frustration at not being able to get exactly what you want (I wouldn't mind a diesel Patrol, myself
), I don't think the current North American off-road trailer designs are "the best we Americans can come up with". Rather, I believe it has everything to do with market and demand. The market for the high-end trailer that you want doesn't currently exist in North America the way that it does in Australia and South Africa. We don't have the history of overland travel that those places do, and there just aren't enough folks here who are willing to pay the $20+ grand that it would take to build such a beast. It's the same lament heard on every vehicle forum in the land. "If they'd only bring the [insert non-NAS spec vehicle here] over, I know they'd sell every one of 'em!". Companies are in business to make money, so you can bet if they truly thought there was a business case, somebody'd be doing it. One could argue that there's pent-up demand here for a high-end off-road trailer like the Tvan just waiting for a product, but to speculatively design and build such a thing would be a financially risky proposition.
As for me, I'm thrilled that there's any company in the States making a true off-roadable trailer with off-the-ground accomodations, kitchen facilities, and ample storage. Now if I could just convince my wife that we need one...
elcoyote
Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0004
DesertBound said:While I understand your frustration at not being able to get exactly what you want (I wouldn't mind a diesel Patrol, myself
It's the same lament heard on every vehicle forum in the land. "If they'd only bring the [insert non-NAS spec vehicle here] over, I know they'd sell every one of 'em!". Companies are in business to make money, so you can bet if they truly thought there was a business case, somebody'd be doing it. One could argue that there's pent-up demand here for a high-end off-road trailer like the Tvan just waiting for a product, but to speculatively design and build such a thing would be a financially risky proposition.
As for me, I'm thrilled that there's any company in the States making a true off-roadable trailer with off-the-ground accomodations, kitchen facilities, and ample storage. Now if I could just convince my wife that we need one...
You hit the nail squarely on the head. Thank you.
Here at AT we have tons of product designs that never even make it to the prototype stage because they fail our price point/market demand criteria. Overlanding in the US is still in its infancy and the community is still small. Unfortunately the US market perception of what a trailer should cost has been corrupted by the mass produced low quality pop ups coming out of midwest factories. The reality is that to build a trailer durable enough for overlanding takes high quality materials, careful fabrication, time, all of which equals $.
I would hazard a guess that the total current market for commercially available overlanding type trailers in the US is not more than a couple thousand per annum at best.
US innovation is not dead. We are not done improving upon our core product platforms and we have a couple of new products that will be out in the next 12 months that are significantly different from anything offered in North America. Stay tuned, you may be pleasantly surprised...
Squob
New member
Hi Mario,
Does this mean that you're going to build a trailer with a new configuration, perhaps similar to the way the roof area is engineered on the Tvan ..?
I ask because we're going to run a piece on the Tvan on Squob soon, and I'd be interested to know where AT is heading in that regard.
Cheers
Chris
Does this mean that you're going to build a trailer with a new configuration, perhaps similar to the way the roof area is engineered on the Tvan ..?
I ask because we're going to run a piece on the Tvan on Squob soon, and I'd be interested to know where AT is heading in that regard.
Cheers
Chris
Martyn
Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
agavelvr said:
There are a lot of hurdles to jump. The EU does not have a set of standards for trailers that is community wide, so each country had different regulations, This should change in the next 12 months.
South Africa has SABS standards that have to be adhered to, and then each country in Southern Africa has their own variations on the SABS. Africa is a big continent so regulations change from region to region and country to country.
The sad facts surrounding "I don't speak African" are that most people think Africa is a country not a continent. There are some 2000 languages spoken on the continent and the colonial boundaries of countries in no way reflect the diverse groups who live there.
The fact the USA still uses imperial measurements is beyond my comprehension.
Hilldweller
SE Expedition Society
The metric system is just a fad; it will pass....Martyn said:
We've already convinced most of the industrialized world to learn English...
elcoyote
Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0004
Compliance in the EU is quite complicated. I just returned from Germany where over-ride couplers are required. The regulations state that the mfg of the chassis must certify the entire system through the TUV i.e. the chassis, the brakes, the mechanical linkage and the over-ride coupler as one unit. No deviation is allowed. Annual inspections are required to make sure that the owner has not modified the system after purchase.
To answer the question about the TVAN to Squob, we are emulating Aussie clam shell design for space efficiency but with a euro twist while complying with the needs of the US & Canadian markets.
To answer the question about the TVAN to Squob, we are emulating Aussie clam shell design for space efficiency but with a euro twist while complying with the needs of the US & Canadian markets.
Accrete
Explorer
We have an Aliner Ease and we took the stock mattress out and put two 4" memory foam mattress toppers in it and it is the most comfortable bed i've slept in! So you might try that when the time comes.jerdog53 said:
My project next year is to go with 8 matching rims/tires for both rigs and get the aliner up a bit more than it is. Swap out the standard hitch with a Lock & Roll hitch. We regularly take it on fire/logging trails no problem, but would like the aesthetics and ease of similar wheels all around.
: ) Thom
Enigma
Observer
I just blew out the candles on my birthday cake and wish for a North American importer for the TVans.
Seriously though, these importing trailer laws are such bull****. Here, well in BC anyways, any idiot can glue some metal to wheels and register it as a u-built trailer, with NO inspections. But you attempt to bring in a well designed and built produced unit and it's game on.
Seriously though, these importing trailer laws are such bull****. Here, well in BC anyways, any idiot can glue some metal to wheels and register it as a u-built trailer, with NO inspections. But you attempt to bring in a well designed and built produced unit and it's game on.