New American Built Adrenalin Off-Road Camper (1 Viewer)

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jonharis

Adventure Imports
Joined
Jan 24, 2010
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Location
Western Colorado
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Hello all, I am excited to share with you my new camper trailer. It is the all new Adrenalin Rush (Adrenalincampers.com). I am excited that I am going to be taking possession of serial number 1 in the next week, just in time for Cruise Moab.

Some Background:
In June of 2010, my wife and I had identical twin girls enter our already busy lives, we committed to not let children slow us down a long time ago and twins were just more of a challenge. For the first 2 years, we were fine camping in tents and made good with our old 4 person. We managed over a month of camping in the girl’s first two years but grew tired of the setup time and the cramped quarters. WE have transitioned into more of a base camp lifestyle, spending 2-3 days in one location so a trailer became appealing. We spent considerable time looking at the market’s offerings. We looked at the Adventure Trailer Horizon and loved the off-road ability but not the lack of living space and the altitude above the ground. We looked into the Kimberly but the price tag of even a new one was out of reach, and the weight was formidable. We even considered a Coleman E3 but reading reviews showed us that it’s not really an off road camper. That led us to the Adrenalin.

A few months ago I received a call from a relative in Montrose, Colorado, an hour from my home town. He said there was a new off-road trailer being built by an Australian that had recently moved to town. I was intrigued and immediately gave Ric Rodriguez a call. Ric had been building the Adrenalin in Australia for nearly seven years and saw a need for an affordable but very capable off-road tent trailer in the US. He began work on sourcing the parts and labor to build the trailer right here and set up shop in Colorado. I was instantly sold.

A bit of a disclaimer, I am not an employee of Adrenalin (you who know me know that), I just think this is truly the best new product on the market in several years and brings real off road ability and all the creature comforts of home to people at a reasonable price.

EDIT: On the topic of the comparison between Adrenalin and Kimberly. I have been in and around many Kimberly Kampers in the past 10 years. They are truly remarkable campers. Many people in the posts below are comparing this to the Kimberly. In my mind it is like comparing a Ford F-150 to a Toyota Tundra or a Audi to a BMW. These are both unfair and irrelevant. There are dozens of manufactures of flip top trailers in Australia adn I think they are still a bit foreign to the American Buyer. In fairness to that buyer (I am one of them) The Kimberly is really all that most of us know and are familiar so it is natural to want to compare them to each-other. The Kimberly and Adrenalin are different in every imaginable way with the exception that they are both flip top style Campers. They both have different frame designs, different body make ups, different configurations and market to a different demographic and user type. The Kimberly is incredibly well thought out and full of a ton of features. Those features come at a price, both financially and in extra weight carried as well as a much more time consuming complex setup. The Adrenalin on the other hand is simple and purpose built. It lacks a fridge and a tripple slide out kitchen and has several features that are more basic than other offerings. At the same time, it is light weight, agile, arguably better off road and built incredibly well. It still retains the niceties of home such as LED lighting, Kitchen and running water while omitting extras such as a fridge (mines in the truck which is always with me) and a furnace. All of these and many items can be added after the fact using the products that the end user sees fit. This keeps the base configuration light and affordable. At the current price point I truly think no other product can come close to the Adrenalin, Products in the same price point are inferior in almost every way or 10 plus years old. To me, it's not a Kimberly Lite, It's an Adrenalin. See one in person and I think you would agree.

The Trailer
The Adrenalin is a hard floor fold over tent trailer not unlike a Kimberly or an unproduced prototype that AT once made. It has been built and thoroughly tested in Australia for 7 years and the US version uses the same basic design. The trailers frame/chassis is built on fully boxed 1/8” steel and it’s body is folded 1/8” Aluminum. The frame is built in Montrose, Colorado and the Body, up the road in Delta. The trailer features independent swing arms with adjustable Air Bags. Full Stats from their website are listed below.


  • [FONT=&quot]Chassis[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — All American Steel, 0.118 Thick[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Body[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — Folded 0.118-Thick Aluminum[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Suspension[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — Fully Independent Swing Arm with Air Bag and Shock Absorber [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Wheels[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — 16x8 Rims with 235/70/16 All-Terrain Tires[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Cooking[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — 3-Burner Stainless Steel Stove[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Water[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — 20-Gallon Food Grade Water Tank, Stainless Steel Sink with Electric Pump[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Sleeping [/FONT][FONT=&quot]— Queen-Size Bed, 4" Foam Mattress[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Canvas[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — 4X Waterproof 450g High-Quality Canvas[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Awning[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — Fully Enclosed Awning, PVC Floor, 3 Split Walls for Easy Assembly[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Storage[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — Full Width Front Tool Box Plus under-Bed Storage[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Tow Hitch[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — Custom 360-Degree 4WD Tow Coupler[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Stabilizer Jacks[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — Heavy-Duty Dual Pin, Foldaway Jacks[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Jockey Wheel[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — Heavy-Duty Jockey Wheel to Make Moving Easy[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Brakes[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — 10" Electric Off Road Brakes, Hand Brake[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Lights[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — All Exterior & Interior LED Lights[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Electronics[/FONT][FONT=&quot] — Optima 75AH Battery, C-Tek Charger, Fuse Box[/FONT]
The trailer has been thoroughly tested and holds up to abuse. Here is a short clip of the most recent torture test.


Here is a video of the Australian version.


I have been photographing as much of the build and will be posting it here as well as my initial testing and impressions. For pricing and ordering information give rick a call (number at the website above). Be sure to tell him Jonathan Harris sent you! Thanks for looking.

I will have the camper at Cruise Moab and will be testing it in the San Rafael Swell. It will somewhere at Slickrock CG if anyone is interested in looking at it.

The Black camper seen here is the prototype from the video. I inspected it inch by inch after the test and could find no broken parts or pieces. The Raptor unfortunately did not fare the same.


The frame is all 1/8 steel, fully boxed and powdercoated.
60497849.jpg


1/8” Steel frame with independent suspension. Airbags are adjustable for off-camber situations.

D7K_7381.jpg


http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i462/jonharis/Adrenalin Camper Build/D7K_7388.jpg


The kitchen has a 3 burner stove, sink with powered pump, cutting board and utility storage.

http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i462/jonharis/Adrenalin Camper Build/D7K_7389.jpg

D7K_7390.jpg


This is my trailer, All trailers will come in brushed Aluminum but I believe that custom paint is available at additional cost.

http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i462/jonharis/Adrenalin Camper Build/D7K_7392.jpg

Off road coupler

http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i462/jonharis/Adrenalin Camper Build/D7K_7399.jpg

The kitchen has covers to give you a large surface area.

http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i462/jonharis/Adrenalin Camper Build/D7K_7405.jpg

D7K_7407.jpg


This is the hard floor. Ultimately there will be a bed on the camper body with lots of storage underneath. The hard floor is enclosed by the same canvas.
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i462/jonharis/Adrenalin Camper Build/D7K_7415.jpg

The body is all 1/8 aluminum folded as much as possible.

http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i462/jonharis/Adrenalin Camper Build/D7K_7428.jpg

D7K_7431.jpg


Airbag suspension is fully adjustable independently, The black at the top is a large 20 gallon water tank. The trailer has electronic brakes and can be attached to an in truck controller.

http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i462/jonharis/Adrenalin Camper Build/D7K_7454.jpg

All lights are LED and the camper has a large house battery.

http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i462/jonharis/Adrenalin Camper Build/D7K_7457.jpg

I’ll post more pics as I get them. In the meantime visit the web site to see photos of the complete camper with canvas.
 
Last edited:
Needs more Cowbell. Can't wait to see this thing!

Fixed it for you. :D

Here are a few pics from the manufacturers Au website showing how modular this thing is.

I had a chance to set it up myself in this first stage with little instruction. It truly takes less than a minute to get from driving mode to open. When open, the bed sits on the body. It is close to queen sized and has that much storage underneath. The inside has LED lighting and USB ports for charging those iDevices.
Down below is the hard floor that is larger than King sized. We plan on having some air mattresses for the girls to sleep here.
Quick Setup.jpg

Need a bit more shade or protection from the elements? Here is half of one of the canvas awnings.
Half Setup.jpg

Need to feed 15? Here is the full setup, this is modular so you can setup like shown with one set of canvas on each side or put both on one side for a huge room.
Full Canvas.jpg
Quick Setup.jpg
Half Setup.jpg
Full Canvas.jpg
 
That is the most impressive camper/4X4 trailer I have ever seen! WOW!
 
By the time you're done setting all that up, It will be time to go home.... :)

Just kidding, That trailer is :smokin:
 
I need this......:cool:


one slightly used ROAM for sale!!




Nice to see someone here in the states putting out what the Aussies were privy to!


:cheers:
 
By the time you're done setting all that up, It will be time to go home.... :)

Just kidding, That trailer is :smokin:

Did you see the part where I said it take literally a minute to setup in it's basic configuration. ;) That is what I feel I will use 90% of the time.

I need this......:cool:


one slightly used ROAM for sale!!




Nice to see someone here in the states putting out what the Aussies were privy to!


:cheers:

Did I mention that the company owner is the one building them here in the states? Ric saw a niche, took a huge leap and transplanted himself to Colorado. If he really believes in the product enough to to all that I think he has something special. Your ROAM is awesome BTW. I've never commented but have really enjoyed reading your build thread.
 
How much does something like this run? That thing is slick!
 
spotcruiser said:
$17,500. Yeah, $17,500 to start. :D

$17,500 complete. It's actually right in line with most of the other offerings in this category. When I saw the thing in person for the first time I thought $22-24k. Because the only think I could compare it to mentally was the KK. It's priced similarly to a loaded AT or SoCal and I feel at least the it is much more useable on a day to day basis for a family at least.

A member on ExPo compared it to the Kamparoo. Which I believe was $7-8k (without other options that are standard on the Adrenalin) an it is no where near the same type of camper. You get what you pay for. A Coleman E3 was around $17k new when it came out. You know how those hold up.
 
$17.5K...damn about 12K outta my price range!

It's definitely not for everyone but the niche is there. I spend 25+ nights camping a year with my family so a $5k camper with issues I have to deal with isn't really going to cut it.

I plan on adding some form of heating. I am currently looking into either a Webasto 3900, Espar Airtronic 4, or a HeatSource HS280. Decisions, Decisions. Other than that the trailer really has everything I want and need.

:cheers:
 
Looks cool, here is the deal:

Beat yours up, sell it to me used and you can get the new improved version. ;) :bounce:

Seriously, its a great trailer, and the clamshell design has proved itself overseas, it reminds me of a stripped down tvan. I dig it.

And yes, I think its in the right price range it is holds up. Quality ain't cheap and it looks like they have used some nice hardware on that thing.

Are you in Colorado? I'd love to come see it.
 
Corbet and Drew. Here is the scoop. The trailer was finished today. I,ll get pics posted in the morning. I'll be using it in the San Rafael overnight and then it will be setup somewhere in Slickrock CG (we are staying in a condo). I'll have it opene up during vendor night and will have some flyers and other info available. I'm just displaying it, not selling it so I'll likely differ some questions to the builder.
I live in western Colorado and am happy to show the trailer any time, the builder is in Mobtrose and has several to look at. Pics when I wake up!
 

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