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Road Warrior Sports Atlas 8 aero cargo trailer

28025 Views 14 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  lsymboluk, 
J
This is one very cool trailer and it would be ideal for towing behind just about any model Outback - it's very similar to the unobtanium U-Haul Sport trailers that you simply can't buy anywhere:



This one has an aluminum frame, a removable tailgate for long loads, and weighs only 550 pounds with a 1000 pound load capacity. Base price is US$5695 and you can get it custom painted to match your tow vehicle for an extra US$300. There are a lot of expensive options. I think the pricing is way too high, but there aren't any other trailers like this in the USA, to the best of my knowledge. I wonder if they would sell you a bare tub with the lids and hardware??


The main thing I do NOT like is the tire and wheel size. 12 inches is marginal. I would be much happier with 14 inch, I wonder if they would fit in the wheel wells. You might have to raise the body a few inches over the axle.

You would need some sort of stone protection (bed liner, StonGard, or a removable aluminum rock panel for the tongue), or the fiberglass and paint would suffer badly as soon as you ventured off pavement.

It has a detachable tongue as standard equipment (Yay!), so you can store the tongue in the trailer, or under it, after parking the trailer in a corner of your garage. With the tongue removed and the trailer propped up and squatting on it's butt on a scrap of carpet, it wouldn't take up very much floor space, and you could easily park things like a lawn mower or a floor jack underneath it. This is a great feature, one I incorporated into my custom utility trailer. It also allows you to fabricate and install a different tongue if you need a higher or a different type of coupler, or a longer tongue for carrying a canoe on the roof.


It really needs a metal rear bumper - I GUARANTEE any owner will eventually smack something reversing into a tight parking spot or maneuvering in the garage, and it will damage the paint and glass ... bumpers are good things on trailers.

It really REALLY needs some internal tie downs and a good non skid surface for when the trailer isn't loaded to the max. You could install aircraft type rails, but flush mounted rails from the factory would be much better:


I think adding a bunch of bikes to the top of an aerodynamic trailer is crazy and defeats the design goal, but you can do it if you need to.



Road Warrior Sports

Comments?

EDIT: I just found this - in the Accessories section they list a rubber floor mat, a gravel bra, and a "Storage System: The storage system allows you to store the Atlas 8 in a vertical manner to reduce the floor space that it requires. The steel structure has a cable winch system to enable safe and controlled lifting."

Sounds like they have thought things out pretty well.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA
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DrCloud
Interesting. I've been thinking about something like this.

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but here* is an alternative (although way more expensive, it may be more flexible). HPH
__________
*This is the product details page, and you need to watch the video to really see the thing. Their home page is light on info, but it does have pictures.
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S
Thanks for the feedback

Hey John,
I work for a PR firm that represents Road Warrior Sports, so plenty of bias here!
Appreciate your feedback on a couple of missing features - you're the first to mention internal tie downs and a metal bumper, but both are good ideas. Adding bikes to the rack does make it less aerodynamic, but still a heckuva lot less resistance that throwing them on the roof of the car. We've taken test drives behind a Volvo (I know, sorry!) comparing mileage and the impact has been less than 1 mpg without bikes and just over that with them. Obviously, individual results will vary.
The trailer was just launched in Jan. of this year, and really Subarus are the vehicle the company was envisioning through the design process. In fact, we built one up a month or two ago for promotional purposes in a great Subaru red.
Check us out on facebook (facebook.com/roadwarriorsports) and twitter (twitter.com/BeARoadWarrior) for updates. We're working with some Subaru dealerships in a few markets to get trailers in the showrooms, so we'll keep this forum posted.
Also, we'd love to hear any suggestions/feedback you've got. You can post here or email me at astrickland [at] soarcomm.com.
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J
SOAR Comm said:
Also, we'd love to hear any suggestions/feedback you've got.

Click to expand...
Thanks very much for joining us here - was it because of the email with a link to this thread that I sent to RWS? That's a cool trailer in your pic, but the big banner is a little over the top. ;)

Can you please find out if larger wheels and tires can be made to work? If anyone plans to take this off pavement (for example, potholed or washboard forest roads), those dinky 90 psi tires are a disaster waiting to happen - they are prone to rock cuts and ride really hard.

Can electric brakes be fitted at the factory? Subaru recommends trailer brakes if the trailer is over 700 pounds, I think, for the Generation 3 cars. I may be off on the number, but your trailer, loaded down, is way over their limit regardless.

My comment on the internal tie downs concerns loose cargo - having everything fly forward and slam into the front of the cargo bay during a fast stop would not be good. And heavy stuff needs to be strapped down, or at least restricted a little, on rough roads. With strong, adjustable tie downs along the sides of the floor, you could even do this with your trailer - assuming the floor structure is stout enough:


More here: Soft Road Trailer

Is the floor solid glass, or is there a wood or foam core for stiffness?

Thanks for any help and comments.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA
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mcbrew
Looks cool... But for half the price, you could get this:


410 pounds empty. 1,100 pound GVWR. Wood floor. Removable polymer top. Cargo tie downs. 13" wheels.
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S
Hey all, sorry for the delay in getting back with you.
John - answers to a couple of your questions:
We actually got a google alert about the thread; we have them set up to crawl most things for the brand name.
We're actually working on a larger diameter tire solution right now. With the standard model, the clearance is an issue with bigger tires, but we'll be posting more info on that as it comes.
We don't have anything set up to add brakes to the unit at this time, that's good to know about Subaru's recommendation there. We've never had problems, but we definitely acknowledge that they don't make recommendations for no reason!
The internal tie down idea is a good one, and something we're talking about. There is a removable divider between the main compartment and the nose cone that helps organize gear and prevent stuff from flying back to front.
The floor is solid glass, and has aluminum cross braces from the frame structure underneath it. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the underside handy.
And for the record, we think the banner on the red trailer is just the right size... Ha! Gotta make the brand name real clear on the promo units!
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Subyblue
mcbrew said:
Looks cool... But for half the price, you could get this:


410 pounds empty. 1,100 pound GVWR. Wood floor. Removable polymer top. Cargo tie downs. 13" wheels.
Click to expand...
Trailer specifics? Source-Cost-Name?
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J
SOAR Comm said:
Hey all, sorry for the delay in getting back with you.
John - answers to a couple of your questions:SNIP
Click to expand...
Thanks for the information and your participation here. This trailer is definitely intended for a narrow niche market, due to its features and base price, but it is reassuring to see you responding to suggestions by adding features or options.

There are some folks with lots of disposable income (I am thinking about street rod owners) who will buy this trailer, with custom paint no doubt. I have major doubts about Subaru owners though..... most seem to be pretty cash conscious, and this trailer does seem like an expensive toy, though a useful one.

Can you comment on whether we could expect to buy a bare (gel coated) tub and lids, with hinge and strut hardware? That way a buyer could build his own rig to his specifications. Obviously there would be minimal warranty on the tub. Am I dreaming?

John Davies
Spokane WA USA
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mcbrew
Subyblue said:
Trailer specifics? Source-Cost-Name?
Click to expand...
That's a Wells Cargo MPT461. Price is about $2,800 to $3,000. Fills specs are on Wells Cargo's site.
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aftCG
+1 on larger wheel/tire set ups. Ideally they would be the same as the tow vehicle. Rolls better and gives you an "extra" spare.
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hiker74
mcbrew said:
That's a Wells Cargo MPT461. Price is about $2,800 to $3,000. Fills specs are on Wells Cargo's site.
Click to expand...
I like this unit. We were looking at pop up campers not so much for the getting off the ground thing, but rather an ability to keep our stuff together so its good to go when we want to get up and go. I will look into these! I thin Wells Cargo is really well known (probably because of the funny name). While I like th aerodynamic units shown earlier in the threat I think the pricing is way too steep for a thermoplastic bubble on aluminum rails. Im also going to look at the Lifetime Tent Trailer unit as well
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S
mcbrew said:
Looks cool... But for half the price, you could get this:


410 pounds empty. 1,100 pound GVWR. Wood floor. Removable polymer top. Cargo tie downs. 13" wheels.
Click to expand...
Made better too. I'm not a big fan of the chopper gun fiberglass bin bolted to a frame idea for long term durability etc. It looks good but chopper gun spray in a mold fiberglass structures are either exceptionally heavy to address the lacking structural nature of chopper gun glass work or they simply go soft after a short time.

Chopper gun sailboat hulls hauled on trailers with stiff suspensions and bad support get damaged easily by the harsh ride from the road. Unless this bin is fairly heavy and has some extra structural components to its glass bin its not going to stay rigid and stiff for long. Not sure what the price tag was but guessing its not cheap.
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hiker74 said:
I like this unit. We were looking at pop up campers not so much for the getting off the ground thing, but rather an ability to keep our stuff together so its good to go when we want to get up and go. I will look into these! I thin Wells Cargo is really well known (probably because of the funny name). While I like th aerodynamic units shown earlier in the threat I think the pricing is way too steep for a thermoplastic bubble on aluminum rails. Im also going to look at the Lifetime Tent Trailer unit as well
Click to expand...
Hiker - This is my kit
SubaruOutback.org Member Galleries - subiesailor Gallery

That is the older aka original Lifetime trailer before they seemed to have messed it up by removing the top deck and making the bed frames into singles ie smaller tent.

The older ie original tent is two queen beds after fold out - with a proper top load deck designed to hold a ATV if you chose to do that. The larger version at 6ft wide and 8ft long is called the Jumping Jack made by the same shop that builds the Lifetime trailer. Very high quality!

I would pester lifetime about getting your hands on the older lifetime trailer with the proper top load deck and larger queen beds.
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Subyblue
mcbrew said:
That's a Wells Cargo MPT461. Price is about $2,800 to $3,000. Fills specs are on Wells Cargo's site.
Click to expand...
Thank you.
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lsymboluk
SOAR Comm said:
Thanks for the feedback

Hey John,
I work for a PR firm that represents Road Warrior Sports, so plenty of bias here!
Appreciate your feedback on a couple of missing features - you're the first to mention internal tie downs and a metal bumper, but both are good ideas. Adding bikes to the rack does make it less aerodynamic, but still a heckuva lot less resistance that throwing them on the roof of the car. We've taken test drives behind a Volvo (I know, sorry!) comparing mileage and the impact has been less than 1 mpg without bikes and just over that with them. Obviously, individual results will vary.
The trailer was just launched in Jan. of this year, and really Subarus are the vehicle the company was envisioning through the design process. In fact, we built one up a month or two ago for promotional purposes in a great Subaru red.
Check us out on facebook (facebook.com/roadwarriorsports) and twitter (twitter.com/BeARoadWarrior) for updates. We're working with some Subaru dealerships in a few markets to get trailers in the showrooms, so we'll keep this forum posted.
Also, we'd love to hear any suggestions/feedback you've got. You can post here or email me at astrickland [at] soarcomm.com.
Click to expand...
Subyblue said:
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Hi. I'm really interested in buying this trailer in white. I can find pictures, but none of the links go anywhere. Any suggestions? Any help you could give would be really appreciated. (Please reply to messenger - Thank you, Linda Symboluk)
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