At the end of the summer, my family and I headed into the mountains for a long weekend of camping and trail running, along with my heavily modified 2006 LJ Rubicon. In preparation for this trip, I spent hours loading and unloading my Jeep with every camping item we might need along with tools and pertinent spare parts for taking the Rubi on the rocks.
[Not a valid template]Even an Unlimited version of the beloved TJ has its limitations for that challenge. Part of the challenge with me is figuring out what really needs to come along. In the end, I had stuffed bungee cords anywhere I could while squeezing and cramming things into every crack and crevice so as to stay secure off-road.
It was a very successful trip even though most of what I packed along wasn’t used or needed. By the end of the trip, my wife (such a wonderful lady she is) concluded, “That was a lot of work. I think we need to get a trailer!” Cha-ching!!
So, for those of you that maybe haven’t thought about the benefits of pulling an off-road trailer (filled with gear, parts, tools, firewood, beverages, etc), behind your rig when exploring off-highway, look no further than Adventure Trailer (AT) trailers. I searched for months among the different makes and models and in the end I was extremely pleased with my choice, the Chaser model.
This thing is built like a tank. There’s a sticker on the side of the trailer that states, “BUILT FOR OFF-ROAD”. That sticker isn’t there just to protect the powder coating.
I won’t get too deep into the trailer options since the company web site explains them well, but my trailer has a 19-gallon water tank, two five-gallon Scepter gas cans, a 45-liter fridge/freezer, 1500W inverter, dual series 31 sealed batteries, 46 square feet of general storage, and a king+ size expedition tent with mattress on top. I will say that my trailer is about as loaded as they come. We only passed up on the expedition type of gear that I already have or don’t need.
My family was planning on using the new trailer immediately after delivery for a little late year travel up to the Grand Tetons and the surrounding area just to shake down the overall trailer concept. We were looking forward to keeping the inside of the Jeep empty and roomy (yes, it’s possible) and still take along pretty much everything we wanted to. We had hoped to receive the new trailer in time to try it out for a few weekends before heading backwoods for a couple of weeks or more.
At no fault of AT, production schedules changed primarily due to vendors and their other commitments. Delays caused my trailer to be scheduled for completion and delivery AFTER our last vacation of the year; however, after talking with Mario Donovan, President of Adventure Trailers, it was arranged for me to use a rental trailer as a loaner. This trailer would be almost exactly equipped as mine except it would be an earlier production with different color and smaller tires (33’s instead of my 35’s). The trailer was furnished by Clint, an AT representative in Snowflake, Arizona. More data is available at his web site: www.lostzj.com.