PRICE REDUCED — now $19,500 (was $22,000).
2021 Turtleback Expedition, Tempe, Arizona. Clean title in hand, registered, easy transfer.
THE SHORT VERSION:
Off-road expedition trailer on a hot-dipped galvanized steel frame, 3,500 lb GAWR. 48 gallons of water with a propane hot water heater and a plumbed hot/cold shower. Slide-out galley with a two-burner Cook Partner stove and a stainless steel Dometic sink. 1,500 watt-hours of Goal Zero energy including a 2,000 W pure sine inverter. OVS 270° awning. A Front Runner rack set up to carry whatever tent or gear you want on it. And a complete spare set of running gear that rides with the trailer. About 40,000 miles across eleven western states, western Canada, and Alaska. Everything is in perfect working order.
WHY THIS PARTICULAR ONE:
From 2018 to 2023 I was Turtleback's product tester — the guy they sent things to in order to find what breaks — and I ran the brand's "herd of turtles" community events that whole time. I still run the owners group today. This is the Expedition I kept for myself, and it's where a lot of those fixes were developed, so every upgrade that came out of that testing is already on it. That's the whole pitch: you're buying the sorted one.
I'm only selling because we picked up a Tundra with an OVRLND camper, and as that build came together we used the trailer less and less. It's been under cover in the backyard about a year now and it deserves to be out getting used.
WHAT'S BEEN UPGRADED:
THE REST OF THE BUILD:
MAINTENANCE: it's been maintained its whole life — by Turtleback themselves until they moved to Tennessee, and by me ever since. The wheel bearings have been repacked every single year without exception. Nothing on it has been deferred.
CONDITION — I'll be straight with you: about 40,000 miles of real trails, so it's earned some honest trail badges, rock chips, and light pinstriping. For the miles it's in remarkably good shape. The protection above genuinely did its job; what patina there is sits mostly right at the edges the film and pads don't cover. There's a vinyl topo wrap on the galley areas that take the most abuse. It's been kept under cover in dry Arizona and it cleans up well. Happy to shoot detailed photos of any area you want to see, or get on a video call and walk you around it live.
ONE MORE THING that doesn't come with a trailer off a lot: I ran all of the official herd events for Turtleback from 2018 to 2023 and still run the owners group, so whoever buys it, I'm happy to take you out on a shakedown trip, give you hands-on time with every system, and introduce you to the Turtleback community.
$19,500, Tempe, AZ. Clean title in hand, registered, easy transfer. Reasonable offers considered — I'd rather it go to someone who'll use it than sit under a cover another year. It's easy to come see here in Tempe, and if you're coming from out of state I'm happy to meet you partway within reason. Ask anything right here in the thread, or I'm happy to get on a call or send more photos.
Full writeup, complete spec sheet, all the photos, and the Lifestyle Overland walk-around video: overlandsale.com
2021 Turtleback Expedition, Tempe, Arizona. Clean title in hand, registered, easy transfer.
THE SHORT VERSION:
Off-road expedition trailer on a hot-dipped galvanized steel frame, 3,500 lb GAWR. 48 gallons of water with a propane hot water heater and a plumbed hot/cold shower. Slide-out galley with a two-burner Cook Partner stove and a stainless steel Dometic sink. 1,500 watt-hours of Goal Zero energy including a 2,000 W pure sine inverter. OVS 270° awning. A Front Runner rack set up to carry whatever tent or gear you want on it. And a complete spare set of running gear that rides with the trailer. About 40,000 miles across eleven western states, western Canada, and Alaska. Everything is in perfect working order.
WHY THIS PARTICULAR ONE:
From 2018 to 2023 I was Turtleback's product tester — the guy they sent things to in order to find what breaks — and I ran the brand's "herd of turtles" community events that whole time. I still run the owners group today. This is the Expedition I kept for myself, and it's where a lot of those fixes were developed, so every upgrade that came out of that testing is already on it. That's the whole pitch: you're buying the sorted one.
I'm only selling because we picked up a Tundra with an OVRLND camper, and as that build came together we used the trailer less and less. It's been under cover in the backyard about a year now and it deserves to be out getting used.
WHAT'S BEEN UPGRADED:
- Timbren 3500 HD bolt-on spindles — the first production Turtleback to run them, and the most important thing on the trailer. Early Expeditions used a 3,000-lb spindle welded into the trailing arm; my testing is what drove the change to a bolt-on 7,200-lb spindle derated to 3,500 lb. It's field-replaceable, and it's symmetric side to side, so one spare covers both trailing arms. To my knowledge nobody has broken one of the new spindles. A Turtleback of this era without them is a different proposition off pavement.
- Cruisemaster DO35 coupler — this one has had the DO35 since new, not the MaxCoupler these historically shipped with. Full 360° articulation, zero slop, less maintenance, and it doesn't fatigue and develop play the way the MaxCoupler does. Comes with the handbrake and upgraded 12" electric drum brakes.
- Reinforced water-heater mount — I built a proper support for the heater and pulled the thermostatic mixing valve that hung weight off the plumbing stub. That stub is what cracks and leaks on long washboard. Solved here before it ever happened, and it comes with spare thermistors and a spare control board.
- Relocated Guzzle H2O purification — moved off the high-vibration rear panel into the protected internal cage with a dedicated service hatch, so filter changes take minutes.
- Front Runner aluminum rack + OVS 270° awning — the heavy steel factory rack came off, weight came off the top, and the center of gravity dropped with it. The Front Runner is the industry standard platform with a huge ecosystem of purpose-built mounts, so almost anything goes up there without drilling or fabrication: whatever rooftop tent you prefer, or gear and recovery boards if you run a ground tent or sleep in the truck. That's deliberate — it's set up for maximum versatility, and you're not paying for someone else's tent choice. The 270° awning is on the driver's side, where the electrical box is and where you actually spend your time.
- Two spare Timbren 3500 HD bolt-on spindles
- A second complete set of ICON shocks, rebuilt by Podium Suspension
- Two sets of wheel bearings, pre-greased and vacuum-sealed
- A spare wheel hub
- Full-size spare tire and wheel on the rear swing arm
THE REST OF THE BUILD:
- POWER — Goal Zero Yeti 1500X, 1,500 watt-hours with a 2,000 W pure sine inverter, charging off a 10-amp DC-DC through the 7-pin, 100 W solar, or shore power, distributed through two 8-circuit Blue Sea panels.
- WATER — 48 gallons, Dometic propane hot water heater, plumbed hot/cold shower.
- GALLEY — slide-out, with a Cook Partner two-burner stove, a stainless steel Dometic sink, and Accuride locking drawers. The camp kitchen, utensils, walnut cutting board, propane fire pit and 30-lb tank all convey.
- COMMS & LIGHTING — Yaesu FTM-300D (MARS-modified), weBoost booster, Rigid and KC lighting.
- ROLLING — new ICON shocks with about 5,000 miles, and a new set of BFGoodrich KO3 285/70/R17 Load Range E tires.
- PROTECTION — INYATI bedlined chassis, clear paint protection film on the large flat surfaces, impact panels on the nose box and side panels, diamond plate over the side box tops, MOLLE panels, RotopaX carrier, ARK corner steadies.
MAINTENANCE: it's been maintained its whole life — by Turtleback themselves until they moved to Tennessee, and by me ever since. The wheel bearings have been repacked every single year without exception. Nothing on it has been deferred.
CONDITION — I'll be straight with you: about 40,000 miles of real trails, so it's earned some honest trail badges, rock chips, and light pinstriping. For the miles it's in remarkably good shape. The protection above genuinely did its job; what patina there is sits mostly right at the edges the film and pads don't cover. There's a vinyl topo wrap on the galley areas that take the most abuse. It's been kept under cover in dry Arizona and it cleans up well. Happy to shoot detailed photos of any area you want to see, or get on a video call and walk you around it live.
ONE MORE THING that doesn't come with a trailer off a lot: I ran all of the official herd events for Turtleback from 2018 to 2023 and still run the owners group, so whoever buys it, I'm happy to take you out on a shakedown trip, give you hands-on time with every system, and introduce you to the Turtleback community.
$19,500, Tempe, AZ. Clean title in hand, registered, easy transfer. Reasonable offers considered — I'd rather it go to someone who'll use it than sit under a cover another year. It's easy to come see here in Tempe, and if you're coming from out of state I'm happy to meet you partway within reason. Ask anything right here in the thread, or I'm happy to get on a call or send more photos.
Full writeup, complete spec sheet, all the photos, and the Lifestyle Overland walk-around video: overlandsale.com
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