Black Series trailers

[Glenthirteen]

Saw these trailers at a RV expo and was so impressed.
Built in Australia, suspension like a rock crawler and a abundance of accessories.
Solar panels, gel batteries, built in inverter. Check them out

 

[tritonl]

The “4WD Action” guys on YouTube bring these out, they seem to beat them up really good and never break anything.

 

[Matt2105]

They look good and are no doubt tough, but they carry a hefty price tag. Not sure Id ever deem it to be worth it for me.

 

[Glenthirteen]

10k for the alpha seems very reasonable...seeing how many things come standard that you won't have to buy.

 

[1Louder]

Built in China....."assembled in Los Angeles". Lots of complaints by owners. With that said everyone has to decide on their own. Just don't believe the Australia stuff. Plus there are probable a dozen companies in Australia marketing the same type of trailer. Also made in China and shipped over.

 

[bshinn]

There's a pretty heated thread going on another overland board about the Black Series. General consensus seems to be that the basic trailer design and build quality is OK, but the fit & finish seems to be US RV standard, (read shitty at best) and the customer service is a bit lacking. No personal experience, so take that for what it's worth. If I had a dealer within a reasonable distance, I would at least go take a look and consider them.

 

[1Louder]

There's a pretty heated thread going on another overland board about the Black Series. General consensus seems to be that the basic trailer design and build quality is OK, but the fit & finish seems to be US RV standard, (read shitty at best) and the customer service is a bit lacking. No personal experience, so take that for what it's worth. If I had a dealer within a reasonable distance, I would at least go take a look and consider them.

I agree that thread is well worth a read. A friend of a friend owns one. Had a bunch of issues early on. I don't know all of the details though. In a nutshell crap craftsmanship. As Overlanding becomes more popular in the states more and more "shiny object" marketing wizards will come to the forefront.

 

[Brian Glendenning]

That thread is indeed very interesting. The Utah RV dealer has posted the intro to a series he is going to post on YouTube taking those trailers to the Dollhouse in Canyonlands Maze district. Should be very interesting, although of course from someone with a financial interest.
My ideal would be if someone would provide a bare-bones rugged travel trailer (frame, suspension, shell, maybe water tanks and some wiring), but leave the finishing to me (cabinets, partitions, appliances, ...). That way you could start by using it as effectively a hard-sided tent initially, and build it up over time - spreading out the expense and improving the fit and finish, which seems to be where these things all fall down.

 

[Glenthirteen]

I would really only be interested in the Alpha, its very basic, but comparing what you would spend for a overland trailer, plus the cost of a rtt, solar panels, battery and inverter it seems very reasonable.
I have know Idea how they hold up under offroad conditions, but I have seen them up close and they are above the typical RV plastic garbage fixtures.
I am sure home built trailers are much better built because of the experience of the person doing the build, plus not having to factor in a profit helps with using higher quality materials.
I still would love to get my hands on one and take it out for a weekend.

 

[bshinn]

Here's another option: https://www.cruxexpeditiontrailers.com/ I just bought a 1610, It's by no means perfect but it was a good value. Haven't seen the 2700 or 3100, but they seem comparable to the Alpha.

 

[Raul B]

Here's another option: https://www.cruxexpeditiontrailers.com/ I just bought a 1610, It's by no means perfect but it was a good value. Haven't seen the 2700 or 3100, but they seem comparable to the Alpha.

Their website needs some work. Some of the images error out and zero images of the interior. I would love to know how much you paid for yours and any images you have of the inside when it's set up.

 

[bshinn]

Asking price was $15K, I got it for $13k. That included the RTT, annex, Electrical system including solar, and a Dometic CF50 tossed in on top of the deal.View attachment 93294

Here are a few with it open the other weekend.View attachment 93295View attachment 93296View attachment 93297View attachment 93298View attachment 93299View attachment 93300

 

[Raul B]

Asking price was $15K, I got it for $13k. That included the RTT, annex, Electrical system including solar, and a Dometic CF50 tossed in on top of the deal.View attachment 93294

Here are a few with it open the other weekend.View attachment 93295View attachment 93296View attachment 93297View attachment 93298View attachment 93299View attachment 93300

Looks good. How is it to setup that awning room? Is it a bunch of poles you have to connect? 13k is still way cheaper the. Some of these offroad trailers

 

[bshinn]

I can have the tent up in about 5-10min. The full annex will take about 45min solo, you might be able to shave that some with a helper. Search YouTube there are a few videos on the setup. I don't see me putting the full annex up for a weekend trip, I would have to be stationary longer than that to make it worth while. It's really stout canvas and will make a great basecamp tent,

Mine was a demo, so scoring another for $13K would probably be tough unless you waited until the end of the season and get lucky. Asking price was $15k, even at that It's still about $6-10k less expensive than anything comparable I found, other than the Smittybilt, then you have to upfit that as it comes with nothing but the box on wheels.

 

[Corsair84]

I agree that thread is well worth a read. A friend of a friend owns one. Had a bunch of issues early on. I don't know all of the details though. In a nutshell crap craftsmanship. As Overlanding becomes more popular in the states more and more "shiny object" marketing wizards will come to the forefront.

revival of this post but I'm curious if you might remember where that thread was.

 

[1Louder]

revival of this post but I'm curious if you might remember where that thread was.

It was on Expedition Portal long ago.

 

[Brian Glendenning]

There was a lot of good information in that thread with real experiences of Black Series owners, unfortunately it got taken down. (Don't know why, but there was discussion of lawsuits, bankruptcies, etc). Too bad - I could potentially be in the market for such a trailer, but the most unbiased information has been deleted, and consequently much of my interest.

 

[OutdoorGaz]

Black Series trailers here in Australia are manufactured in China, sometimes assembled in Australia and built to a price. There are many different brands of basically the same trailer here in Oz. Spare parts can be an issue which means if you break the suspension (or something else), it may take a while to get some parts.