Congrats!!! That is so exciting.
We waited a few months for our build but had a lot of fun getting ready for it. We had been tent campers for ever so there was a lot of preparation to do.
But ya, I felt like a 5 year old waiting for Christmas. :)
Rethinking many aspects of our Overlanding setup and goals.
- Thread starter DRAX
- Start date
We waited a few months for our build but had a lot of fun getting ready for it. We had been tent campers for ever so there was a lot of preparation to do.
But ya, I felt like a 5 year old waiting for Christmas. :)
Advocate I
Yeah, we're pretty stoked. I'm in the process of trying to sell equipment we'll no longer need in order to make room for it in the garage. Really just the RTT and fridge need to go to make room for now. Also waiting for the weather to cool off so that we can do some garage reorganization as well to make room to maneuver and get to things while it's parked in there. No way I'm going to do that until the temps are down into the 60s and 70s at least. :D
Probably looking at at least March for it to be completed, so plenty of time to get ready.
Yes, that's another great thing about the Pando. It fits in some common garage space.
I built a carport for our Meaner Bean. We call it the "Bean Port".
The different graphic wrap options that Off Grid offers is a really nice feature.
What design did you choose? Or is that top secret?
The Bean Port was a fun project to work on while waiting for our trailer to be built.
Advocate I
Yeah, wasn't really a make or break thing, but the wrap options included in the price were pretty cool. We went with the Aurora Borealis wrap. Got this in-person pic from another owner via FB since the renderings on the OGT website aren't exactly realistic. :) That's a nice "Bean Port!" Where we live we have an HOA so we can't build additional outside storage/carports, but we do have a 3-car garage and the way our garage is set up the 3rd space is best for trailers.
Member III
Advocate I
Hasn't even been a week since we put the order in and it feels like it's been a month. I've never been good at waiting, this is going to be awful but worth it. :)
Congrats on the purchase! If you have to make progress payments, it'll go much faster than you imagine.
Been following your thread, enjoyed reading your thought process/culling of builders/options. Cemented that overthinking isn't exclusive to our house. Although we went with a different manufacturer, the process was nearly identical. And the process was the agonizing part. After the initial order was placed, we hemmed and hawed (what if, maybe we should have chosen, maybe we shouldn't have selected).
Manufacturer reached out 5 days before production started to confirm final specs/get any changes we wanted made onto the build list. 8 months of hand wringing, second and third and tenth thoughts. And in the end.................made a total of zero changes to original build sheet.
Rest assured, it'll be worth it.
Advocate I
The only progress payments are $1000 to lock in our order 12 weeks before production begins and then the balance of the trailer due 2 weeks before production completes.
So there are checkpoints along the way and not just waiting. But still... It's a lot of waiting. On the flip side, the wait isn't as long as the other manufacturer I was looking at. They were 18-24 months lead time! So 7-ish months is nothing in comparison. Heh
Member III
It will be worth the wait! We picked up a new pre-built Expedition 2.0 that had all the options we wanted plus some I did not (want to pay for) at a better price then I could order a custom built one, so we just picked up the in stock unit. At that time, they only had a 4 week delivery time on custom built trailers. Covid really hit OGT hard :(
Yes the wait is rough. We waited 90 days for our Meaner. That company requires a down payment upon ordering then balance upon delivery. They offer some in stock trailers but we preferred getting just what we wanted. I'm sure your personal Pando will be a perfect fit for you!
As a favor to those who've enjoyed your journey, revisit the tread again once you've picked it up and again after a few months of living with your choices.
We were looking for feedback from folks who optioned things they regretted as well as hadn't and wish they had. Most threads are content heavy on the buying process, go radio silent after pick-up and wisdom of hindsight.
Advocate I
Just paid the confirmation fee today to lock us into the production schedule, estimated build completion date is Feb 4, 2022 but delays are likely/expected as supply chain issues remain and I see folks having their builds delayed by 5 weeks recently.
Steward I
Member III
That's awesome! February is a great time of year for camping, no crowds.
We just pulled into Boise, ID after 4 days of backcountry. We hit snow at about 8,000 feet. At one point we decided to un-hitch and ended up doing a three point turn-around when the snow got too deep. We lucked into some pretty nice weather but one night it just poured rain. An insulated hardshell teardrop is great for camping in severe weather conditions. I'm sure you will love it!
We just pulled into Boise, ID after 4 days of backcountry. We hit snow at about 8,000 feet. At one point we decided to un-hitch and ended up doing a three point turn-around when the snow got too deep. We lucked into some pretty nice weather but one night it just poured rain. An insulated hardshell teardrop is great for camping in severe weather conditions. I'm sure you will love it!
Member III
Most of our trips are tent camping due the difficult roads we like to explore, but when on less demanding roads absolutely love our tab. It tows no problems with 2013 2 door wrangler and the build quality is very good. Also has swing arm axles giving it tons of ground clearance, more then the jeep. So if the jeep clears so will the trailer. This is not a hardcore off-road trailer but I have pulled it into some pretty rough spots. I do have a Land Cruiser that I am building to replace the Jeep. Want more room for gear when not using the trailer. 
Advocate I
We got our first build delay of 3 weeks earlier this month, so now the trailer is estimated to be built the last week of Feb. That both sucks and is fine, we weren't planning on getting the trailer until March or April anyway so it's still sooner than anticipated but also sucks because I'm going stir crazy. :) We sold off our unnecessary/redundant gear back in Aug/Sep to free up space and put some funds away before winter came so unless I want to sleep in the bed of my truck we're pretty much SOL for camping right now. I don't really "fit" in the bed of my truck anyway unless I lay diagonally.
Anyway... Only 2-3 more months, that's not too far away. Right?! :D
Anyway... Only 2-3 more months, that's not too far away. Right?! :D
:o Yep, a 3 week delay is harsh but not surprising, but 2 or 3 months without camping? I couldn't do it.
