by Colin_R6 » Mon May 02, 2016 1:04 am
I bought a backpacker 2XT last year and have used it quite a number of times now. No stays longer than 4 days so far - which seems normal for me. Might do some more this summer, we'll see!
I am pretty happy with the unit, overall I like it quite a bit, there are a few things that have not sat well with me though. Before I get to them let me remind you that I am happy with the unit. This is a highly critical review.
1) Fit and Finish. My unit has somewhat of a "rushed" feel to it. Two of the cupboard doors (one in the galley, one in the cabin) are mounted crooked. Obviously crooked... like it wasn't even eyeballed to see if it was leveled before the hinges were screwed in.
2) Upon delivery, it still had quite a bit of sawdust and drill cuttings throughout. It wasn't cleaned or vacuumed at all.
3) Inside of the drawers in the galley were un-stained pine. Just ready for a dirt and moisture invasion. Ended up staining and varnishing these myself.
4) The ordering process was a bit screwy for me. Refer back to #1 for that "rushed" feel. I requested a little screened door be installed above the countertop to access the cabin (pass a coffee or breakfast through etc) and it was agreed to in the emails.. but forgotten during construction. The answer to my complaint was "bring it back and we'll install it for you".... except i'm now 12 hours away in a different country - thanks but i'll make do without it I guess.
5) To add to the ordering process, I specifically requested no roof rack. Its way too bloody high to be loading stuff on the roof, unless you pack an 8' ladder with you everywhere. You can't stand on the wheel wells, they are thin aluminum. I suppose i'll use it to attach a canopy to one day - until then its just extra wind drag. Honestly, if I hadn't already driven the 10 hours to get to Seattle.. this would have been enough for me to turn away from this unit and come back in 3 months when one was built to a spec I wanted. Anyway, i'll make do.
6) The Side boxes that are behind the wheel wells.. online the pictures all depict them as aluminum diamond plate. Mine are plastic.
7) The Pictures of the galley online depict a spice/towel rack and a table mounted on the inside of the door. Mine had nothing on the inside of the door. I was informed that the door supplier changed to one with insulated doors with no way of mounting anything to the inside of them.
8] The trailer tongue could use about another 6-12 inches of length. Very easy to jack knife this trailer. I had a welder buddy cut the corners off of the cargo basket and re-weld it back together to gain some turning radius.
9) There is a board above the cupboards in the galley that blocks a significant space above the cupboards that could be used for more storage. I'll take it apart one day and saw it down to something more reasonable.
10) Back to that Rushed feel again... the main door won't lock.. ever... unless I lift the door up about 1/32nd of an inch. On level ground. With no frame twisting etc. Mounting issue? Who knows, i'll use my Dremel to hone a bit of metal away one day when it annoys me enough. Haven't gotten there yet.
11) Interior bulbs were not LED. All of the outside marker and signal lights are LED and look really professional... 5 minutes on amazon and I bought several LED bulbs for less than $5 to replace the filament ones. (I was told that sourcing these was difficult)
12) With the bed fully pulled out there is about 4 inches of space between it and the wall. Another 12 inches of width on this trailer would really shine in the cabin. Suspect I will mod the bed a bit to pull out to about 4" shorter than what it does, just so I have enough room to at least swing my feet off the bed and put shoes on before I dismount the trailer!
13) I was told there would be a little "surprise" included with my trailer since I was very patient (ordered a unit in Feb/March and was not complete until June, quoted a 6 week build period). I haven't found any surprises yet - maybe that was what the crooked doors were?
Things I like;
The cushions for the bed are comfy.
The suspension and axle pairing on these is VERY well chosen. Trailer floats down the road nicely.
Good airflow from the windows and the fan.
Lots of areas to stash bits and pieces of camping goodies.
Good solid Frame.
The bottom is sealed up really well, heavy gauge polyethylene liner installed.
The brakes work well on this unit, I am quite happy with them.
Happy with the overall finish, except for the few bugs listed above.
Good height and ground clearance.
The LT tires will probably never puncture.. the trailer is nice and light.
The exterior is really well constructed.
Hubs came with bearing buddies.
There. That is my very critical review of the Three Feathers MFG Backpacker 2XT.
I am happy with it.. there were just a few things that I would have done differently, had I been the man behind the hammer. This thing draws a lot of eyeballs. I might use it for another year or two and sell it - then mastermind my own cargo conversion with all the tidbits i'm learning.
Hope this helps a new buyer with purchasing their Backpacker.