A 200 and an Opus... with some kids (1 Viewer)

[ATwoZ]

Great review, definitely a sweet trailer! Keep eyeing them, we do straight tent camping now with a 3yo, and feel like this might be next...

 

[CanyonLX]

Man, must be nice to tow with a 200.

 

[Desmothedog]

What’s it like to set up in bad weather? Does it hold up in a tough downpour? Does putting it away wet get the interior wet?

 

[ikarus]

Man, must be nice to tow with a 200.

View attachment 2730239

It is! The weight isn't bad at all.

 

[El Skywalker]

I like your style!

 

[El Skywalker]

I have had a few requests to give a little write up detailing our life towing an Opus OP4 around with our 200. We just got back from a one month trek from PA to CO and back.

I would first like to admit we are new 200 series owners . We have had it for about 8 months and 9000 miles. Many of those miles with our Op4 in tow. On the other hand we have had the Opus for about 1.5 years at this point and use it all year round.

Towing: The 200 pulls this thing with ease, I have a tow pro elite, airbags kept at about 18-22psi and medium springs in the rear. I crank my tough dogs down and cruise at 80-90mpg with ease on the highway.

Our first tow rig was a v8 4Runner with a stage 6 icon kit. The smaller SUV with the bigger motor did amazing off road and around small towns, but as soon as we touched any interstate towing became frustrating. The 4.7 makes loads of torque down low and you can lug it around with ease. The 200 seems to make gobs of torque higher in the rpms making driving at higher speeds and long pulls up hills a lot more enjoyable. ( plus the longer wheel base and added horsepower certainly help)
We are located on the east coast at the moment and spent most of our time with the opus on the tighter trails of VT, NH, NJ and ME. In the tight, technical stuff the 4Runner was pretty impressive. But please keep in mind loaded up the trailer is not “light” we are between 4500-5200lbs depending on how much water loaded and how long we’re going out for. I wouldn’t go any heavier on a travel trailer even with the 200 pulling it. Even though the weight is well within both trucks towing capacity, I feel this is about the top side of comfort when actually towing on moderate to difficult trails. ( this was my biggest issue with the purchase of the trailer prior to stepping up to a 200)

The trailer:
In short, it’s our “perfect” set up at the moment. I’m sure things will change at some point, but for now the opus is tough to beat. We spent tons of time researching and speaking with different companies and manufacturers before pulling the trigger on our OP4. We were actually about to move forward with a patriot camper until we were able to see and experience the opus in person.

While traveling, it’s my wife, two children(both under the age of two) and myself. I beat on this trailer probably more than most opus owners getting to some pretty remote areas. It has never let me down. I Set up alone while my wife watches the kids and we have room for two pack n plays and a queen size bed for my wife and I to sleep in. Having a trailer so well built and capable gives us the oportunity to set up base camp in remote areas and make day trips exploring from there. One of us can stay back with the kids if necessary and have everything they need. I’ll get into some of the sacrifices made when going with a travel trailer below, but rite now, for our family dynamic we couldn’t find anything better suited for our needs.

Set up:
Now this isn’t trailer you pull into camp and your set up and ready to go. There is effort involved. My wife says it would be too much for some. It doesn’t bother me at all. The nice thing is I can get everything opened and blowing up quickly and then Start a meal while it blows up and while my wife is setting up the inside living area. You can watch videos on the 3min set up that’s marketed with the Op4 and get a pretty good idea of what’s involved. For the most part they are true... it’s not at all difficult but is a bit more time consuming than stated. I think your set up time has a lot to do with what you have packed out for your specific needs as a family. However, all by my lonesome, I can have the trailer leveled, our living space set up, our forced hot air pumping and kitchen 100% set up in about 10 minutes. When you start adding this like a hot water heater, shower, solar, making beds, setting up tables etc time is obviously added. For the most part it’s easy and completely manageable alone and incredibly efficient.

Break down:
I’m at about 15-20 minutes for breakdown. From completely set up to getting in the driver seat of the truck to pull away. That includes everything( personal belongings and the trailer closure itself). Breakdown takes a bit more physical effort than set up. Closing the trailer and latching the fold out wings can be difficult. If you take your time folding your canvas properly before closing up, you save tons of time and effort in the end.

There are a few add ons available to better your outdoor space from OPUS. ( Air Anex and air awning) they are both marketed as being able to pack into your existing canvas area. Its a bunch of nonsense to have either of those items folded into the trailer. It makes for a time consuming and frustrating pack up in my opinion. Puts significant more strain on hinges and latches. We have the annex, used it once and now leave it at home. It was unnecessary and more of a hassle for us as a family. I absolutely see the value in both of those add ons for other. They just didn’t work for us.

Changes we made:

Water pumps: The single most annoying thing about these trailers is water pressure and the cheap water pumps included. The noise level and water pressure are a complete joke from the factory. I quickly swapped them out and have since added better water pumps. Two hours and some pex pipe and I have fantastic water flow and silent pumps.

Bug blockers: proper bug blockers in the winter are essencial. We dropped the combo heating/air Conditioning system option and opted for the central heat system. (The combo systems does neither heat or cool well) The forced hot air system however, heats the trailer in a matter of minutes and we get added storage space since the air conditioning unit is non existent. Now with that being said, there are 5 areas where the canvas meets the trailer that are incredible drafty. The bug blockers solve this issue.

(Just to put things into perspective with the heating system abilities, we don’t use sleeping bags in the winter. We have done quite a few single digit nights as a family in the trailer with nothing but normal clothes, simple bedding sheets and blankets and the heat on with no issues at all. (Our youngest was 8 weeks on her first trip out. 20 degree nights in VT and no problems at all)

dc to dc charger and Anderson plugs: both were installed and now our alternator properly charges the trailer while diving. I show up to camp with full batteries every time. I literally don’t have any power concerns, ever. A simple renogy solar set up at camp maintains our batteries when we are not driving.

Hot water heater: the shower situation from the factory is terrible. A mounted fold away shower curtain, a gas hot water heater and our water pump upgrade solved that problem.

Indoor carpet: I Installed carpet tiles on the hard floor of the camper and it has made a huge difference in both usable space with children and overal aesthetic.


Here is a list of pros and cons, the trailer has great bones and is built incredibly well where it counts. Some of the little things at times seem like cheap and lazy decisions made during the engineering process, but all of these are easily correctable for any handy OPUS owner.

Cons:
-Overall loaded weight.
-Rear hitch on the trailer is pretty much useless and isn’t rated.
-2ply tires
-water pumps are trash
-no hot water heater from the factory
-rivet buttons at entry are worthless. ( replaced with industrial strength Velcro)
-some of the key cylinders stick when locking/unlocking
-heat/air combo is a terrible option
-being mold conscious when packing away wet and letting it properly dry out before storing for any period of time over 2 days
- more storage would be welcomed( not bad, not great)
- with factory configuration you rely on shore power every 2-3 days
-poor, low grade hardware used in some instances. (Key cylinders, propane quick connects, etc)

Pros:
-Opus customer service and warranty work process is incredible.
-2year warranty
-Frame is very sturdy and very well built
-suspension quality and travel
-almost 8 foot ceiling in the center when blown up.
- indoor space versatility and overal usable room.
-4 burner industrial gas stove( best kitchen out of any travel trailer in my opinion)
-40 gallon water capacity split between two semi isolated tanks
-steel water tank skid plates
-efficient set up time
- incorporated roof rack for temporary and permanent storage
- bed size
- tons of 12v and usb plugs all over the trailer.
-2 Jerry can holders
- lock n roll hitch
- outdoor kitchen, storage, shower and refrigerator pull out ( makes mid day road trip meal options endless, having access to all of this without a full set up is life changing. Especially if traveling with children)
- removable wall and endless windows makes for a pleasant living space with nice weather
- it’s Offroad capability and overall durability
- having access to a full kitchen, refrigerator, shower and storage without any set up. All of those things are accessible around the outside of the trailer.
- since the kitchen is a pull out, this forces our family to congregate outside, which I see as a pro. Especially with little ones.
- it’s a trailer and that makes it removable. I can home base wherever and have the truck for exploring.

Overall, it’s a pleasure to own. I have had my moments of frustration and it did take some time to get acclimated with its functionality. However, for us it works great for us right now. A sprinter isn’t capable enough and lacks needed living space. A pickup with a bed camper lacks living space and storage with small children. A full size hard sided camper isn’t capable enough. So we agreed we needed a full size SUV and a travel trailer. The 200 was an easy decision for us. A decision on a travel trailer, not so much. There are so many fantastic options out there, each with their own set of pros and cons. However, based on our priorities the OP4 seemed to have the least amount of compromises. The opus gives us a massive, airy living space with a very functional kitchen( I’m a chef owner of a fine dining restaurant in Philly) and the whole thing folds up into a wonderfully capable, tactical trailer ready for any adventure.

I’ll be going through the whole trailer in the coming days and I’ll get a bunch of better photos up here. What’s posted is just what I had in my phone. If anyone has any areas they want to see let me know.

What did you have to do to get the proper charge to the trailer while driving your vehicle.
This is the one thing that I am always thinking about because most places we camp do not have electric.

 

[CanyonLX]

What did you have to do to get the proper charge to the trailer while driving your vehicle.
This is the one thing that I am always thinking about because most places we camp do not have electric.

A full charge from your house will last a while. All of the lights are LED, the fridge pulls very little voltage.

For extended trips, people either buy solar panels to charge during the day, or I roll with a goal zero generator w/ panels.

 

[thezbone]

It is! The weight isn't bad at all.

What kind of gas mileage are you getting with your 200/OP4 setup? I know I'll eventually want to install a Long Range America tank when we get our OP4, but I want to make sure I don't immediately need to.

 

[OldCarSmell]

is this thread dead????

 

[ikarus]

What kind of gas mileage are you getting with your 200/OP4 setup? I know I'll eventually want to install a Long Range America tank when we get our OP4, but I want to make sure I don't immediately need to.

Sorry I never responded to this. Didn't keep track really but it seemed like a 200-220 mile range with mixed conditions. I think I get about 240 mi to the tank unloaded in the 200

 

[ikarus]

is this thread dead????

Not the OP, but - we really enjoyed a lot a of aspects of the Opus but my wife didn't love the bathroom situation. I really liked that I could drag it down all sorts of trails, but started to get tired of the setup and tear down time - about an hour each way between hitching/unhitching, deflating mattresses, tucking in all the canvas, folding it up, packing up the 200, etc.

We ended up moving to an MDC and I haven't pulled it with the 200 yet. Using my Tundra instead.

MDCs have a very similar frame and suspension setup but I do miss the low profile of the Opus. 7K lbs loaded up so quite a bit heavier.

 

[xeuxaz]

I see about 10.5 mpg towing my Opus OP4 with the 200. (It’s on 34s too)

 

[xeuxaz]

For other Opus owners, you might be interested in these.

• OPUS camper stove cover by user_849648810 MakerWorld: Download Free 3D Models - https://makerworld.com/en/models/1334511-opus-camper-stove-cover#profileId-1373549
• Caravan/camper Gas Burner Travel Protectors | ACE 3D Creations - https://www.ace3dcreations.com.au/product-page/caravan-camper-gas-burner-travel-protectors

 

[Killacaviar]

We sold our Opus a few years ago. We still miss it for the type of wheeling and camping we do. At the time we lived on the east coast and moisture/mold was the big deterrent.

I almost bought another one a few years later after having a teardrop style and a larger caravan.

We ended up with a uev490 and honestly it’s been a great decision. Not so great for cold weather camping but with three girls under 6 it’s the perfect size and allows us to base camp really effectively and I love that there isn’t one piece of wood on the entire camper.

 

[OldCarSmell]

This has been a very helpful thread. I’ve been considering an OP4 but just can’t pull the trigger, have been wanting more info and real world reviews and the internet is just littered with promotional material and influencers that, even if not sponsored, are always shopping for deals.

We’ve got another little one on the way just can’t make our current setup (For Sale - FS: MOAB Fort XL Overland Trailer - Ashland, Oregon - $15,500 - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fs-moab-fort-xl-overland-trailer-ashland-oregon-15-500.1362041/) work any longer. We love sleeping outside(ish) and don’t want to go hard-sided. Also much prefer cooking outside. Love the UEV and have considered a Bushwakka (not sure they’re even being imported any longer), wondering what else I might consider? In southern Oregon, plenty dry here, so mold on the canvas isn’t a concern.

 

[OldCarSmell]

I see about 10.5 mpg towing my Opus OP4 with the 200. (It’s on 34s too)

View attachment 3925902

Did you need to alter the suspension or do anything to make the 34s on the Opus work?

 

[OldCarSmell]

This has been a very helpful thread. I’ve been considering an OP4 but just can’t pull the trigger, have been wanting more info and real world reviews and the internet is just littered with promotional material and influencers that, even if not sponsored, are always shopping for deals.

We’ve got another little one on the way just can’t make our current setup (For Sale - FS: MOAB Fort XL Overland Trailer - Ashland, Oregon - $15,500 - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fs-moab-fort-xl-overland-trailer-ashland-oregon-15-500.1362041/) work any longer. We love sleeping outside and don’t want to go hard-sided. Love the UEV

Not the OP, but - we really enjoyed a lot a of aspects of the Opus but my wife didn't love the bathroom situation. I really liked that I could drag it down all sorts of trails, but started to get tired of the setup and tear down time - about an hour each way between hitching/unhitching, deflating mattresses, tucking in all the canvas, folding it up, packing up the 200, etc.

We ended up moving to an MDC and I haven't pulled it with the 200 yet. Using my Tundra instead.

MDCs have a very similar frame and suspension setup but I do miss the low profile of the Opus. 7K lbs loaded up so quite a bit heavier.

View attachment 3925505

Did you consider the MDC Robson, or just wanted hard-sided to minimize setup/breakdown? Haven’t seen much about the Robson used in the US.

 

[OldCarSmell]

not sure how my previous post got double posted…

 

[ikarus]

This has been a very helpful thread. I’ve been considering an OP4 but just can’t pull the trigger, have been wanting more info and real world reviews and the internet is just littered with promotional material and influencers that, even if not sponsored, are always shopping for deals.

We’ve got another little one on the way just can’t make our current setup (For Sale - FS: MOAB Fort XL Overland Trailer - Ashland, Oregon - $15,500 - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fs-moab-fort-xl-overland-trailer-ashland-oregon-15-500.1362041/) work any longer. We love sleeping outside and don’t want to go hard-sided. Love the UEV

Did you consider the MDC Robson, or just wanted hard-sided to minimize setup/breakdown? Haven’t seen much about the Robson used in the US.

Never considered the Robson or Jackson because we wanted hard-sided for both ease of setup and also a private bathroom with a door that could be accessed at any time without unpacking the entire tent. But I did look around a Robson at the dealer and I was impressed. Looked like a really cool setup.

After having both Opus and MDC, you can tell they're both made from extremely similar if not copycat designs, (who came first? IDK) and obviously made in China. MDC claims that their Chinese factory is proprietary and I believe it. You can find trailers on Alibaba that look almost exactly like Opus trailers, even down to the same wheels and everything. It seems like the build quality on MDC campers is better but still be prepared to be occasionally disappointed/have to DIY some upgrades or fixes.

There is a lot of influencers and marketing material out there and it's hard to sift through it. Facebook groups have been the best place to find real-world info:

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[xeuxaz]

This has been a very helpful thread. I’ve been considering an OP4 but just can’t pull the trigger, have been wanting more info and real world reviews and the internet is just littered with promotional material and influencers that, even if not sponsored, are always shopping for deals.

We’ve got another little one on the way just can’t make our current setup (For Sale - FS: MOAB Fort XL Overland Trailer - Ashland, Oregon - $15,500 - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/fs-moab-fort-xl-overland-trailer-ashland-oregon-15-500.1362041/) work any longer. We love sleeping outside(ish) and don’t want to go hard-sided. Also much prefer cooking outside. Love the UEV and have considered a Bushwakka (not sure they’re even being imported any longer), wondering what else I might consider? In southern Oregon, plenty dry here, so mold on the canvas isn’t a concern.

After spending a few years with an Opus Air series trailer, I’ve developed a sense of its pros and cons. While some opinions focus on potential shortcomings in build quality and ruggedness, my experience suggests that the construction is better than it's often credited for (especially the frame and suspension). That said, like most tent trailers, it's clear that affordability takes priority over long-term durability. Unless you're stepping up to something more premium, it's unrealistic to expect a tent trailer to feel truly built to last. I swapped the crappy fridge for a Dometic and the Chinese tires in the first week. I also moved on to lithium batteries and a different charger, etc. I still haven't solved the poorly designed velcro/button snap door issue. ånother ongoing frustration is the limited storage. For its size, there isn't enough room to store gear efficiently, and much of it can only be accessed after setting up the entire trailer. When we transitioned from a larger A-frame style pop-up, we immediately felt the lack of storage space. This makes packing and unpacking a bit of a chore. Still, with practice, the process gets easier and more intuitive. (Tetris for adults!)

The air beam system is surprisingly durable and easy to set up. We haven't had any leaks or issues. There is a ton of room inside. I do appreciate being able to use the fridge and stove without having to unfold the whole tent. It makes prep and cleanup much simpler. The interior is bright, well-ventilated, and thoughtfully laid out, creating a roomy feeling (very tall ceilings). There are some odd design choices, such as awkward button placement and inconsistent materials, that detract from the overall polish. The trailer tows easily and is very lightweight. I'm thinking about adding a small diesel heater for extra comfort on colder trips. Even with a few compromises, the Opus offers a good mix of innovation, practicality, and overall value (especially used!) If you are seriously considering one, rent one first.

TLDR: If you value a smaller trailer that you can pull almost anywhere, then it's worth the shortcomings. Otherwise, opt for something larger that offers more storage and maybe a dedicated bathroom. Our family has been stuck in the land of popups because of our HOA, but we are moving soon, so....