Turtleback Expedition or So-Cal Teardrop Trailers
- Thread starter WTAGP
- Start date
No trailer has a better kitchen, hot water, and water setup than the Turtleback. Others can disagree but I have seen a lot of different trailers, built another one similar to a Turtleback, had a M416 trailer, and I have seen lots of nice DIY trailers. So my opinions are based on a few years of looking at everything on the market.
The Turtleback can hold 42 gallons of water. Do I use that much for every trip? Nope. But it is nice to have. I usually keep the tank at around 15-20 gallons. When some moron doesn't put his/her fire out properly it is nice to have the extra water to stop and put it out properly. When water sources are questionable it is nice to have the ability to take extra water. It's convenient to carry and I don't think you can have too much water.
Totally different designs and there are pros and cons to each. Some folks don't like climbing up a ladder. It doesn't bother my wife and I. You can't find a teardrop with a king size bed. Some folks are concerned about good ventilation in warmer conditions in Teardrop style trailers. So that really depends on the brand and model. Does it have a roof fan, windows and doors with screens. Some Teardrops are just not built to go off-road. I can't comment on a Socal. Never owned one. Storage can be limited in Teardrops. Again depends on brand a model.
Pro to teardrop is if the weather is poor and you don't have a bunch of stuff to move you can crawl in and go to bed. But. What type of kitchen does it have? What about water, hot water, and shower? Is the kitchen covered. I liked some of what Teardrops NW has built but there are huge tradeoff's IMHO compared to a Turtleback. If those tradeoff's are acceptable no worries.
One comparison I could give is with the Turtleback you can setup the kitchen and be cooking in no time. Tent takes a few minutes. Teardrop (depending on model) your bed can be ready in no time but kitchen make take a while to setup. Like I said everything has a pros and cons.
So there's my either completely biased or unbiased opinion.. Take your pic... :)
The Turtleback can hold 42 gallons of water. Do I use that much for every trip? Nope. But it is nice to have. I usually keep the tank at around 15-20 gallons. When some moron doesn't put his/her fire out properly it is nice to have the extra water to stop and put it out properly. When water sources are questionable it is nice to have the ability to take extra water. It's convenient to carry and I don't think you can have too much water.
Totally different designs and there are pros and cons to each. Some folks don't like climbing up a ladder. It doesn't bother my wife and I. You can't find a teardrop with a king size bed. Some folks are concerned about good ventilation in warmer conditions in Teardrop style trailers. So that really depends on the brand and model. Does it have a roof fan, windows and doors with screens. Some Teardrops are just not built to go off-road. I can't comment on a Socal. Never owned one. Storage can be limited in Teardrops. Again depends on brand a model.
Pro to teardrop is if the weather is poor and you don't have a bunch of stuff to move you can crawl in and go to bed. But. What type of kitchen does it have? What about water, hot water, and shower? Is the kitchen covered. I liked some of what Teardrops NW has built but there are huge tradeoff's IMHO compared to a Turtleback. If those tradeoff's are acceptable no worries.
One comparison I could give is with the Turtleback you can setup the kitchen and be cooking in no time. Tent takes a few minutes. Teardrop (depending on model) your bed can be ready in no time but kitchen make take a while to setup. Like I said everything has a pros and cons.
So there's my either completely biased or unbiased opinion.. Take your pic... :)
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I have seen both Turtleback and So Cal Teardrop ... They are both nice , both have kitchens, both have hot and cold water, both have storage , So Cal have a ton of options and both builders will add what you want... So Cal base price is higher , Turtleback has other trailer options. Like I said I have seen both and I have been at So Cal teardrop factory nice folks and family owned. I'm in market for trailer and am leaning to Turtleback. I hear someone took their Turtleback trailer on Rubicon, now I have been on Rubicon three times and I would never run a trailer on this trail the Rubicon is no joke, but from what I hear it did not fair well at all. These trailers are great for most trails and campgrounds not Rubicon or other extreme trails.
The tale you heard is true! I know the person that did it. While I could tell a crazy tale the trailer survived. He did smack the floorboards in front of the cargo doors bad and they needed to be rebuilt.
Yah I heard he smacked a few other items also something about smoking tires, they was on Rubicon last week. Turtleback is nice trailer but to be honest its too nice a trailer, I would not run on Rubicon, I have seen other trailers take on Rubicon most having issues. The military type trailers seem to work better on this trail, they are smaller, more nimble and just tuff. I would hate to be in a predicament and have to back up !!!! Ouch for sure.
