Off-road Camper Trailer for family of five

I'm beginning to research an off-road camper trailer to tow with my 2017 TRD Sport. The thing is I'm looking for something mostly move-in ready AND can support my family of five (my wife and three young kids). We can make it work with a 4-person sized thing...but I want something compact but rugged.

I'm looking mostly at the:

OPUS 4-sleeper OP15
Black Series HQ12 Off-Road Travel Trailer
Airstream Basecamp 20

I live near the beach and might look at renting it out (on line with Airbnb or other travelers) looking for a place to crash with it parked in the back yard. Just to help offset the cost.

I'm cool with beefing up the rear-suspension and adding a brake controller myself but want to leave the TRD Sport mostly stock.

Anyone have any experience with these specific trailers or towing a larger trailer like these in an off-road environment?

 

Trade for a fullsize of your choice and buy what will make your family comfortable.

 

I hate to say it, but I have to agree with @OmahTako on the topic.

The maximum towing capacity of any Tacoma is 6500lbs. Towing offroad is rough on the truck and a conservative rule of thumb is to cut your towing capacity in half. Can you do more? Sure. It's your truck and your repair bills. My trailer is under 2000 lbs. I barely know it's there when I'm towing on road. Offroad I absolutely know it's there. Keep in mind also that you'll very likely be over your truck's payload as well after you factor in the weight of your family, anything you have in the bed of the truck for camping, as well as the tongue weight of the trailer.

I've done quite a bit of reading and research on the Black Series and Opus trailers. I don't have much experience with Airstream other than one incident camping when I helped a guy reconnect the water fill hose on his. He was on his third trip and his trailer had been in the shop for months between each trip getting things fixed that failed shortly after delivery. Some of the things sounded like specific manufacturer failures (ie, if the refrigerator fails is that on Airstream or Dometic?), some of the things sounded like failures due to how things were installed by Airstream. That's a sample size of one and maybe it was a Friday build.

Black Series and OPUS both have large owner's groups on Facebook. BS has a litany of issues and I wouldn't be surprised of OPUS has many of the same. BS, for instance, has issues with their suspension, leaks and delamination of counters and walls. Many owners will also tell you to plan on replacing the AC immediately. Opus is still relatively new to the market compared to BS, but they've had issues with leaks as well. Comparatively, there are many more BS on the road in the US than OPUS so it may be a bit before the problems start to rear their heads. One thing that is consistent between both companies is that they are almost all delivered above their advertised weight, so take any published weight with a grain of salt and double check the manufacturer's tag on any specific trailer that you're looking at.

If you're dead set on this style of trailer, I'd also toss MDC into the ring. They're another Chinese manufactured trailer, same as OPUS and BS. They have a very large market share in Australia and sell trailers under several brand names. In the US they are MDCUSA and AUSRV. I was pestering the importer to try and get them to bring their XT12DB into the market but I don't think they're interested. It's the biggest trailer that I'd consider towing behind the Tacoma and it's still in the 4500lb neighborhood empty.

Some other manufacturers to look at are:

TetonX, though they would probably be a bit cozy for a family of 5. https://tetonx.com/shop-all-trailers

Misson Overland. Their current offerings would be really tight for a family of 5, but they're working on a new model that would be more suitable at the expense of being heavier. They haven't published any estimates other than a GAWR of 7200 lbs, which leads me to believe that it'll be in the 5000-6000lb range empty. https://missionoverland.ca/models/the-approach/

Taxa. Their Mantis can easily sleep additional people on hammocks and they are relatively light weight. They look a bit funny and I've read of issues with *some* earlier models experiencing failures related to washboard roads. https://taxaoutdoors.com/habitats/mantis/

Boreas. Their EOS-12 sleeps five and comes in under 4000lbs empty. They were having delay issues with their composite panels but it looks like that may be behind them. I'm not personally a fan of their layout as you wind up with four people sleeping in a row, so if the last person in the row needs a bathroom break then they have to climb over three sleeping people to get there. https://boreascampers.com/eos12/

There are quite a few other manufacturers out there as well that I've ruled out for various reasons

Another option that may or may not be feasible for you is to build your own. As you can tell, I've done a bit of poking around on the matter. After almost four years of teardrop travel my kids are beginning to outgrow their bunks, so I've been weighing options. So far I haven't found anything on the market that checks the boxes of what I want, so I've started collecting the parts to build my next trailer to meet the needs/wants for my family.

There is a company, Total Composites, that offers a foam composite panel trailer kit. It's a blank slate, just a box, and would considerably speed things up if you wanted to go the DIY route. https://totalcomposites.com/travel-trailers/

As much as we love our Tacomas, going with a larger truck opens up a lot more options.

 

14’x16’ canvas wall tent with a diesel stove, 5 cots, and a propane kitchen setup!

total weight 250 lbs

 

Hate to say it, but it isn't how much you lift or armor your trailer that limits you off road. Sure, those are nice trailers. But I guarantee that I can get just as far off grid as any of those examples with my Forest River pop-up, and I paid a fifth of the price. The limiting factor is that these things are going a beast trying to get them between trees, under branches, up switchbacks, and good luck on any approach that scrapes the hitch or goes off camber by more than 15°.

Again, I'm lucky with my popup that my CoG is lower, as is my roof clearance. But I have put myself in a pickle or two dragging that bastard into a situation, and then trying to figure out how to turn it around. In most cases the reverse gear is not an option with off-road trailering. Sometimes I have to park it at a turnaround spot and then hike to the next turn around spot, to make sure I can make it. Twice I have had to unhitch, test my hernia-resistance by pushing it around on it's jack wheel in the sand, and then squeeze by with the truck to re-hitch. If I was pulling a big hardside, no way I would have been able to get unstuck.

I know my experience isnt exactly what you were asking for, but an 84" wide, 17 foot (ball to bumper) trailer is within the ballpark of experiences, Id say.

My advice is to not limit yourself with overengineered trailers, unless you just want an overengineered trailer for the fun of it. Get what fits you. But get it with the reality that any trailer will do a fire road or a field, but none of them are exactly going to conquer the Rubicon.

 

Fantastic write up! The effort you put into that is very appreciated and helped a ton!

My family is flexible so something like the Opus 15 or Taxa Cricket Overland (with the hammocks for the older kids and a small crib for the baby) will work fine. I love my mid-size Tacoma for lots of other reasons so getting a bigger truck just to get a bigger camper doesn’t appeal to me or make financial sense. I’m drawn to the compactness of a pop-up style trailer and certainly still plan to be able to use a normal tent or truck bed tent when the weather is good.

 

Good points all around! I guess I’m trying to find the balance between a small pop-up with a bed and a table and a full size camper that I can’t take anywhere past the gravel road.

 

I'm a fan of the popup all day every day. That puts me in a very special class of weirdo. I know everyone hates on the popup and with good reason. I love mine though, it's been on some serious cross country trips and I have no plans to get rid of it anytime soon.

It has it's set of plusses and minuses:

Pro:

• Low roofline and light, goes where most trailers can't. Like parallel parking in downtown Asheville for a quick lunch.
• Sleeps 5. So much room for activities.
• 15 MPG at 65 mph all day, baby.
• 365 degree windows. All the light and all the spring breeze when the windows are open. Ever wake up at first light to catch a herd of deer foraging directly underneath your bunk window? Heaven on earth.
• Energy efficient. 120Ah lithium battery powers lights, heater, fan, and radio for a solid 3-4 days. A solid week if you aren't burning the heater at night.
• Stores in the garage. Suck it, HOA.
• Cheap. Cost me 11k new in 2017, and I've added maybe 2-3k worth of mods on top of that.

Con:

• Tent-like setup times, if you had to also park and level your tent.
• Tent-like packing too. Sucks putting away wet.
• Insulation- lol no. Reflectix window inserts are stored under the bunk, they help somewhat.
• Fridge is only accessible when the trailer is unfolded. Makes pretrip packing fun. I just bring a cooler and load the fridge on site.
• Forest River build quality. Have fun playing "there's a screw on the floor, where did it come from."
• No blackwater tank. Either use the portacan located conveniently under the dinette or your standard issue shovel.
• Fine dust. Dusty washboard trails suck. The constant bouncing and rattling opens up the seals just enough to let dust intrude and get everywhere. Maybe I should slow down on those roads.

Comparisons:

• Won't go as far as a military trailer, but will go farther than a hardside camper.
• More roomy than a hardside of the same size. Less insulated.
• More fun.

But for a go-anywhere vehicle, that was my choice of compromise. It goes.

Have you tried renting a trailer? I'd recommend getting on a camper rental and trying that for a trip or two to get a feel for what you like and don't like.

 

Eh yo! Congrats on beginning the research into this. This is an exciting time for you. A bit about me then my thoughts...

• Just bought a Vorsheer XOC off-road teardrop from B&B RV in Denver - pics are from last week in Wyoming
• GVWR is 3500 for the trailer and I am stock TRD Sport DCSB w/
  $256 Hellwig 980 Leaf Helper Spring
  Hellwig 980 helpers and a Redarc Tow Pro EliteTongue is ~350 +/- depending on what I have in the storage cabinet

When considering an off-road travel trailer (a true off-road travel trailer that is built and warrantied for off-road use) you will quickly find the trailers to be heavy. They need to be because of the forces they have to withstand off road. If you had a 1/2 or 3/4 ton I would point you to Imperial Outdoors X-22 since it is a beast, you can walk on the roof and a Roof-Top-Tent is optional. That thing is 8800 GVWR and there is no way a Taco will safely pull that.

I suggest looking into an off road teardrop with a roof-top-tent if you are not interested in upgrading your tow vehicle. I have a FSR High Country 55 and my brother and his three kids (all under 7) could fit in it snugly. You and the Mrs could stay in the teardrop and the kids could be up, off the ground in the RTT. Their own mobile tree house. I bought a cassette toilet (Campa Potti XG) to handle the waste needs and it does the job well and I don't have to worry about black or grey and can empty the thing in a gas station/truck stop toilet, pit toilet, or porta potti. Easy peesy.

1. I'm biased since I bought the XOC check out Vorsheer.
2. Check out the Black Bean from Bean Trailers
3. Check out Teton X
4. While not a teardrop - the Taxa Mantis may be worth looking into although I think they are funny looking. Taxa has a cult following. Plus the trailers are super lightweight.

Winter camping in Platte River State Park


NW Wyoming, about an hour from the East Gate to Yellowstone last week

 

Thanks @Louisd75 @Rock Lobster @mic_sierra for the in-depth info, it’s really helping!

Here’s some of my thoughts after obsessing over this for a day…
1. I didn’t realize how close the tow capacity of the Tacoma and some trailers are, like the Opus OP15 or the Black Series HQ15. The Taxa Mantis and Boreas EOS-12 were the only two I found with a dry weight below 4K.

2. I think we’d prefer a wet bath with a cassette toilet. Those seem easier to deal with and dump rather than black tanks. My wife like the idea of always having something private nearby.

3. The EOS-12 is great but pricey! $75K is a lot. I know these types of trailers aren’t going to be cheap but the Taxa Mantis is a third less with the same features. But I have heard about their reliability and issues with leaking and overall quality.

4. I do like how roomy the popups are but I think we’d want something more substantial between us and the elements.

5. It also seems like the used market isn’t huge for these types of camper trailers. Maybe they haven’t been around long enough or I’m not looking hard enough but a used Boreas would be awesome.
EDIT: It would appear the EOS-12 is so new the only dealer on the east coast doesn’t have them so probably no used.

 

Regarding number 5, how patient are you? Keep an eye on RV trader. Camper sales started blowing up even before I bought mine in 2017, and sales went even further through the stratosphere starting in 2019, because reasons. Historically, a wave of buyer's remorse classifieds always follows a major spike in gasoline prices. (Some day traders even use the "RV index" to gauge the general health of the economy. )

So you have a gasoline spike and a pile of 2-5 year old RVs that their owners aren't getting the use that they thought they would, I'd put my money that used trailers are going to start showing up. Nobody is desperate to unload their 120 month finance thats just collecting rust and vermin yet, but I speculate its likely to see the beginning of that trend before next summer.

 

@cameron172 save yourself the heartache and don't email Bruder in Australia. I looked at a few of their trailers, requested some information and inquired about shipping from AUS to the US. Ya, those things go for a quarter mil. They are so sweet though. In all my research I found there to be so many Aussie caravans that were the perfect layout and weight but they weren't sold in the US.

I highly recommend you check out ROA's YT channel (RVs of America) and look for the 4 or 5 part factory walkthrough of Imperial Outdoors. I'll embed one of the vids below. Even if you aren't in the market for an Explore X-22 the guys talk about materials, design, and what sets their trailers apart which I found to be extremely helpful when doing my own shopping.

 

Take heed on the rule of thumb offered for towing capacity. I sold my Jayco 154bh BAJA after 3 trips and bending the axle. Must have been a big rabbit!

 

The photo of your 2 dogs chilling out is just great. Our 12 year old GSD goes everywhere and every time we camp in our RV. (Prior Travel Trailer owner)

 

This is perfect timing to post this thread. My girlfriend and I are going crazy in Minnesota's 4th winter. We are playing with the idea of selling everything buying a travel trailer, moving to Alaska next summer and then go south in the fall and staying nomadic. We have some requirements which is making it hard to find the right trailer. We want indoor cook space, wet bath, decent ground clearance, and mostly hard sided for when we end up in crap weather which tends to follow us everywhere. Its just 2 of us and our dog but she works remote so we also need a dinette/ place for her to work everyday. So we are looking into the black series but there are a lot of other options out there. We would also like something with a warranty incase something does go wrong.
Thanks for all the info everyone.

 

FYI, not all dealers are alike, but I'll tell you of my one and only warranty experience. I had a leaky freshwater tank when mine was new. I took it in and the service guy was like "yeah sure we'll honor that, but just so you know we're 3 months backlogged. You'll probably get it back mid-summer if you drop it with us today. Now I'm not saying that a roll of teflon tape will fix it, but I'm not-not saying that."

Message received. Teflon tape and rethreading the cross-threaded drain spigot fixed it. 3 bucks and 20 minutes. I chatted around the campfire with a local RV group (various brands, various dealers) and they said that was typical of their experiences as well. If you own one, get proficient at doing your own repairs and maintenance, or forever have it parked at the shop.

Also to be fair, my straw poll said that it was almost never an appliance that went bad. It was almost always electrical/plumbing and trim that had issues, which are all easy enough to fix on the road. My favorite was my own fault. Had a cast-iron dutch oven get into a fight with my water filter on my way to a TW meetup. I turned on the pump, and promptly flooded the bench where all of that was stored. 30 minutes of mopping with our bath towels, then using a pair of pliers to kludge up a bypass around my shattered filter housing, and I was back in operation for that weekend.

 

That sounds like a bad experience with the dealer but good to know. That is also one requirement for me as well is that I need to be able to access EVERYTHING. I have seen reviews of many different campers having a small water leak or a bad electrical connection that can be fixed in mins but they had to take it to the dealer. I can do all my own fixes but only if its all accessible. I would want the warranty mostly for a leak in the roof or something else major. I know there are things on campers a lot of people over look like checking the silicon on the roofs for degradation, and keeping an eye on tanks and dump lines.

 

Yup. Roof seal is on my annual checklist. Along with water anode and wheel hubs, those seem to be the biggies that a lot of people forget.

 

In my two-day-old searching, I have really only found two that have a wet bath but won't max out your tow capacity. These also sleep my whole family, but I'm not sure if anything smaller would have a wet bath.

Taxa Mantis/Mantic Overland
Boreas EOS-12

 

Yeah we spent all day Sunday researching, watching videos, reading reviews and almost went to a lot to look. We do like the Texa trailers but there are things we don't like/need on there. On the cheaper end of trailers we have been looking at Forest River R Pods. Very spacious, decent clearance, good brand, But BIG. We can easily tow it but its tall and we don't really need almost 7 ft of headroom. When we were in Wy a couple years back, You would not believe the trailers people out there bring down some questionable forest trails. (like 5th wheel goose neck 50ft) I think anything with decent clearance would get you and your fam out where you want to go. We like to boondock and be as remote as possible so we want some sort of good suspension on it.

Watch some Youtube reviews. We found RVblogger to have a lot of informative videos and he breaks them down into videos about "3 best small trailers without slideouts" or "with a wet bath" and so on.