Rubicon 37’s with a Trailer

Hooligan_JL

New member
I’ve done some research on this and couldn’t come up with any info so i tried it myself.

Last night I hooked up my expedition trailer on my 4 door Rubicon with 37’s and headed out on a camping trip. (Currently writing this from the campground).

The Jeep isn’t regeared and I can confirm, it pulled like a dream. The trailer was fully loaded with gear, the Jeep had 5 people in it and loaded with even more gear inside.

My only real concern was braking. I didn’t have any problems but to be safe, I will be switching the axle on the trailer to something with electric brakes to assist with stopping.

Other than that, I think it did excellent.


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I'm glad you posted this. We're rebuilding our popup camper completely into an offroad camper, and I was concerned about towing it with ours on 37s.
 

Hooligan_JL

New member
That’s good to know. I’ve been thinking about building my own trailer. Pics of yours?


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IMG_1826.jpgIMG_1829.jpg

Sorry for the lack of trailer picture but it’s made by a company in California. I won’t name them because the trailer sucks. Anyhow, I’ll be fixing the trailer and once I do, it’ll be a great trailer.

Also, the trailer is running 35’s.



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MR.Ty

Moderator
Sorry for the lack of trailer picture but it’s made by a company in California. I won’t name them because the trailer sucks. Anyhow, I’ll be fixing the trailer and once I do, it’ll be a great trailer.

Also, the trailer is running 35’s.



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It’d be beneficial if you did name the company and gave an honest review on what is wrong with it and how you fixed it.

Other than that the Jeep and trailer look great! Glad that it tows well. [emoji106]


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Spack

New member
View attachment 8483View attachment 8484

Sorry for the lack of trailer picture but it’s made by a company in California. I won’t name them because the trailer sucks. Anyhow, I’ll be fixing the trailer and once I do, it’ll be a great trailer.

Also, the trailer is running 35’s.



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Thanks. That’s exactly the size I was thinking about and good to know the Jeep doesn’t care it’s back there. Both rigs look great. I agree it would be beneficial to know what is wrong with it and how you plan to fix it.


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Hooligan_JL

New member
It’d be beneficial if you did name the company and gave an honest review on what is wrong with it and how you fixed it.

Other than that the Jeep and trailer look great! Glad that it tows well. [emoji106]


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After giving this much thought, here it goes. A yelp style review. The company name is RockBox Off-Road in Salinas California.

I’ve been hesitant to write this review but after 2 1/2 years of owning a RockBox Steel series, I must review the trailer to warn others of the quality and engineering of the trailer.

The trailer was purchased in October 2017. My trailer was the one on display at the 2017 RockBox open house. Yes, it looked great! But shortly after, the troubles started and haven’t stopped.

1. The way the lid is attached to the body is not a safe and will break like mine did after only the 3rd trip out. The hinges are welded onto the sheet metal, with a roof top tent mounted on the top and the vibration of dirt trails, caused the hinges to rip off from the body’s sheet metal. This is a poor design and very unsafe.

2. The water tank leaked from day one. The seams on 3 of 4 sides were not properly welded and quickly started leaking when I filled the tank up. The welds inside of the tank are rusting very badly. Not sure if the wrong welding wire was used as stainless steel is not supposed to rust. The hand pump doesnt have a rubber seal around the base which causes water to leak from there as well. They forgot to install the hose to suck water into the pump so no water would come out when the hand pump was pumped. You’ll be better off ordering a plastic tank instead of this extremely expensive stainless steel tank. I reached out to Andy about all the leaks and he offered to fix it. I would have to remove the tank and ship it to him. He promised to reimburse the shipping fee. The problem was that I couldn’t find a shipping company that wanted to ship it without a pallet and having the tank in a cardboard package. It was truly a hassle to have it removed and shipped back to him. I hired a local welder that charged me 300 to fix the leaking seams.

3. The pain job is horrible. Drips throughout the trailer not to mention, it doesn’t look like any primer was used as the paint is chipping off in several places. Also, the bottom of the trailer seems to have received a light amount of paint because it’s rusting pretty badly. I plan to get under there, sand the rust off and apply POR-15 to stop the rusting and hopefully have a more durable finish. Not to mention, there are several large areas under the lid that are not painted. The bare metal is exposed.

4. I believe the springs on this trailer are generic 3500 pound rated springs. The trailer doesn’t weight that so the springs are extremely stiff. There’s no movement on the springs which allows the trailer to constantly bounce. Also in my opinion, the lack of shocks on an extremely expensive trailer makes this a terrible design.

5. When I ordered my trailer, I was supposed to get a stainless steel generator box, instead I received an unpainted steel box that I needed to paint and install myself. I should have never accepted that but I needed it for a trip that I had planned the following week and didn’t have time to build my own. Needless to say, I had to spray paint and install it myself.

6. Registering the trailers is a chore in itself. Andy gives you the information on a “loophole” in California law that allows the owner to register it as a “owner built”. I’m not sure why he didn’t give me any paperwork and my opinion is that he doesn’t meet the DOT approval for California trailer building. I could be wrong on this but worth looking into.

6. Andy is a nice guy but would I ever do business with him? Absolutely not. As a business owner myself, honesty and integrity are key to having a successful business.



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Brute

New member
After giving this much thought, here it goes. A yelp style review. The company name is RockBox Off-Road in Salinas California.

I’ve been hesitant to write this review but after 2 1/2 years of owning a RockBox Steel series, I must review the trailer to warn others of the quality and engineering of the trailer.

The trailer was purchased in October 2017. My trailer was the one on display at the 2017 RockBox open house. Yes, it looked great! But shortly after, the troubles started and haven’t stopped.

1. The way the lid is attached to the body is not a safe and will break like mine did after only the 3rd trip out. The hinges are welded onto the sheet metal, with a roof top tent mounted on the top and the vibration of dirt trails, caused the hinges to rip off from the body’s sheet metal. This is a poor design and very unsafe.

2. The water tank leaked from day one. The seams on 3 of 4 sides were not properly welded and quickly started leaking when I filled the tank up. The welds inside of the tank are rusting very badly. Not sure if the wrong welding wire was used as stainless steel is not supposed to rust. The hand pump doesnt have a rubber seal around the base which causes water to leak from there as well. They forgot to install the hose to suck water into the pump so no water would come out when the hand pump was pumped. You’ll be better off ordering a plastic tank instead of this extremely expensive stainless steel tank. I reached out to Andy about all the leaks and he offered to fix it. I would have to remove the tank and ship it to him. He promised to reimburse the shipping fee. The problem was that I couldn’t find a shipping company that wanted to ship it without a pallet and having the tank in a cardboard package. It was truly a hassle to have it removed and shipped back to him. I hired a local welder that charged me 300 to fix the leaking seams.

3. The pain job is horrible. Drips throughout the trailer not to mention, it doesn’t look like any primer was used as the paint is chipping off in several places. Also, the bottom of the trailer seems to have received a light amount of paint because it’s rusting pretty badly. I plan to get under there, sand the rust off and apply POR-15 to stop the rusting and hopefully have a more durable finish. Not to mention, there are several large areas under the lid that are not painted. The bare metal is exposed.

4. I believe the springs on this trailer are generic 3500 pound rated springs. The trailer doesn’t weight that so the springs are extremely stiff. There’s no movement on the springs which allows the trailer to constantly bounce. Also in my opinion, the lack of shocks on an extremely expensive trailer makes this a terrible design.

5. When I ordered my trailer, I was supposed to get a stainless steel generator box, instead I received an unpainted steel box that I needed to paint and install myself. I should have never accepted that but I needed it for a trip that I had planned the following week and didn’t have time to build my own. Needless to say, I had to spray paint and install it myself.

6. Registering the trailers is a chore in itself. Andy gives you the information on a “loophole” in California law that allows the owner to register it as a “owner built”. I’m not sure why he didn’t give me any paperwork and my opinion is that he doesn’t meet the DOT approval for California trailer building. I could be wrong on this but worth looking into.

6. Andy is a nice guy but would I ever do business with him? Absolutely not. As a business owner myself, honesty and integrity are key to having a successful business.



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Well...It looks like you have a legitimate gripe with the company. I can't believe he didn't provide a title with weight so you can easily register it...

My trailer has a 22 gal water tank that was rotationally molded...and never leaked...there are a lot of inherit problems with a steel water tank...even if it is "stainless" (304,316?...or whatever)...

Your last statement is so very true...I've been a small business owner myself, and like to think that part of owning a successful business is being honest with your customers...I'm surprised he still is in business
 

Hooligan_JL

New member
Well...It looks like you have a legitimate gripe with the company. I can't believe he didn't provide a title with weight so you can easily register it...

My trailer has a 22 gal water tank that was rotationally molded...and never leaked...there are a lot of inherit problems with a steel water tank...even if it is "stainless" (304,316?...or whatever)...

Your last statement is so very true...I've been a small business owner myself, and like to think that part of owning a successful business is being honest with your customers...I'm surprised he still is in business

Nothing was provided on his behalf. No paperwork. Nothing. He said it’s really easy to register the trailer claiming you built it yourself. I guess that’s what all of his customers do.

Now, I have held back for over 2 years about this but knowing how dangerous the lid situation was, I felt I needed to get my experience out in public.


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Eazy

Member
I tried towing mine, 37s with stock gears and no weight distribution. could not reach highway speeds and feel safe about it. But my trailer was too heavy 3500lbs dry. Had plenty of power to go and stop but the handling was sketch. IMG_20181231_202633_632.jpeg20190119_010428.jpeg20190120_112321.jpeg

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