SOLD RARE OPPORTUNITY - 1 of only 2 Trak Shak Campers in North America - Denver, CO - FOR SALE (1 Viewer)

Location

United States

ASKING $8,000 OBO
Located in Denver, CO
Call, TXT or Email if interested: (970) 987-1969 or trrowland@outlook.com

Well, this is a very bittersweet post for me. Our family is in the process of selling most of our belongings as this time next month we will be starting our next adventure and living and travelling full time in an RV with our 1.5 year old son and 3 year old daughter. I am extremely excited and feeling very lucky to be in a position to do this, but it also means selling some vehicles and toys and hardest of all our beloved TrakShak. We have considered storing it, but we don't know how long this adventure will be.. could be 1 year, could be 10, we don't have a plan other than hitting the road and figuring it out as we go. We even briefly considered towing it behind our LX570... which will be towed behind a 40ft Class A motorhome. That's probably a bit much, and not sure that's even legal... so we must part ways. Enough about my feelings, lets talk about this awesome trailer!

These things are fairly common in Australia, but I am only aware of 2 that have made it over to North America so this thing definitely turns some heads and rightly so, it is an amazing piece of engineering. I'm a visual person so lets get to the photos and I'll explain as we go!


Here is the rear of the trailer with everything closed up and ready to tow. The body appears wider than the track width but its just the perspective. This thing has some seriously beefy independent suspension and it is the best towing trailer I have ever had. I've done some long hauls with it through some remote areas and let's just say its seen speeds nearly double what the sign you see in your mirrors on the U-Haul tell you keep it under and it's just rock solid. Light enough that you can tow it with anything. But heavy enough that it is planted and doesn't get blown around.

On the trail this thing is even more impressive. I have taken it all over CO and UT and it has never held me back. Approach and departure angles are great and the clearance is amazing, but the suspension is just so dialed in. I've been dragging trailers and campers of all sorts off-road for many years, my wheeling buddy has a converted M101 with an RTT and solar setup that probably weighs half what this thing does, but it's a handful compared to this thing. You really have to experience it for yourself to appreciated but it is well engineered and floats through the rough stuff.

You can probably guess the environment this thing was designed for just by how much water and fuel it can carry. 6 Scepter Jerry Cans on this side. 3 More and 2 x 10Lb propane tanks on the other. The Light Green Jerry Cans are for Water. The Dark green cans are for fuel. All 6 Scepter Cans are included along with the good (Not the CARB safety latch, leak everywhere style, B.S.) gas spout.

OK let's get to the fun stuff and start opening it up! Flip two latches and the gas struts will lift the solar panels to vertical. Notice the white strips of plastic on the top of the solar frame and the tie down points on the corners. The solar frame is also a boat loader. This thing is designed to carry an aluminum boat on top of the solar panels, it even has a mount of the front to carry your outboard motor. Don't worry it gets even better this thing is so cool!

Now from here you can deploy the tent and keep the solar rack up and out of the way and then tilt it catch the sunlight. This is helpful if you are camped in a tight area and it keeps the trailer foot print small.

 

[RyanR]

If you have some room to spread out you can rotate the arms down further. The panels are hinged at the top and have two quick release pins on the bottom. The arm can be deployed at any angle and will rotate down until parallel with the ground

You now have a huge range of motion and adjustment to position the panels optimally! Notice in the background there is a blue NRS Strap from the solar frame to the trailer. The hydraulic pistons effectively make the whole solar setup weightless. You can move it around with one hand and very little effort. This means the wind can pick up your panels and fold the whole assembly back up for you. The strap prevents the arms from moving and keeps the arm and panels in place even in high winds. The panels are covered in what appears to be Nylon or another tough, yet semi-soft and flexible plastic. There are a few scuff and scratches on the panel but they are purely cosmetic and in the plastic top sheet, not into the panels themselves. It appears much worse than it really is in this photo as its been in my garage all winter getting dusty and I hadn't cleaned it up yet in these photos.

Underneath the Solar/Boat frame is the tent. There are two sleeping areas with wood under each mattress. When I received this trailer the original wood had not been maintained and it started rotting and a bit of moisture got inside. The stock mattresses were ruined and I tossed them out. Canvas was dirty and damp in spots but had not started to mildew or rot so that was good. There was some surface rust beginning to form inside around the sleeping areas as the mattresses had soaked up and retained all of the moisture. I put several weekends of work into cleaning up all of the rust, ripping out the stock sleeping platforms and replacing with new wood, sealing everything back up and then finally I spent about 20 hours cleaning the canvas and then applying two new coats of Nikwax Cotton Proof. This thing will not let a drop of water in during ANY level of rainstorm. I've had it in pouring rain and howling wind for 3 days straight without even the slightest hint of moisture intrusion. Anyone who has had heavy outfitter style cotton tents will know what I'm talking about. They shrug off rain like nothing and you don't have to deal with condensation because they breathe amazingly well even when they are completely sealed up.

Specs for the Solar Panels - There are 3 in Total

Ok, we have power but now we need shelter. Lets deploy the tent! Pop two more latches on the opposite side and now we can flip open the tent. Again the gas struts make this whole structure feel weightless, you can easily flip this open with one hand.

 

[RyanR]

Next step is to deploy the bed support legs. There is a beefy piano hinge that runs the entire length of the trailer front to back holding this section, its not going anywhere but I wouldn't go jumping on the bed on this side without the support legs deployed.

This part however is optional. If your campsite is level the trailer is quite stable without the Stabilizers, and if I am leaving the trailer hitched to the truck I never bother with them. However. If you are on a less than level campsite and not hitched up, it is very nice to have the option of deploying the stabilizer legs!

Even better, I don't have to decide if I want to throw them in the truck or make space for them before I head out as the stabilizers, poles and all hardware for the trailer tuck away nicely in this huge tool chest on the side of the trailer. The big fat stakes are great in sandy loose soil to tension out the awning and the big orange screws are perfect when we camp on the beach. Screw those things into the sand and I guy out the awning to those and I don't worry about the wind for a second, they aren't going anywhere.

Once the trailer is stabilized, simply pull the canvas forward and let it hang off the back. What you are seeing here is the top of the awning and the roof, it is one continuous piece, not a separate attachment.

You simply pull the canvas forward and it flips open. It might resist a bit and at first I thought it was just really really heavy canvas. The resistance is actually the vacuum inside and you are forcing it to suck air through the canvas as it expands. Just pull slowly and it comes along. If I remember to leave the windows halfway open you don't encounter this issue. Really illustrates just how sealed up and tight this tent is though.

 

[RyanR]

Forward windows can be zipped up internally, opened with screen or opened all the way with this great external awning over each! The wooden section is designed to hold an outboard motor. I don't have an outboard motor but the quickfist mount is handy. This trasharoo was only used for one season, I have a couple others so this one will be included int the sale.

This little space under the second bed is one of my favorite parts of the whole trailer. Inside there are two super comfy queen beds with brand new 5" thick Gel Memory Foam mattresses. TrakShak even includes a net that can be deployed on either side so your kids don't roll out of bed and fall to the ground! This is amazing when we are sleeping with the kids next to us. However when the kids crash and we want to stay up (Remember they are only 1 and 3) we get a bit nervous about them trying to climb out to find us and falling. So we started using the annex that zips into this section and makes it part of the tent.

I didn't deploy it for photos but I should have it only takes a minute. A Exped Mega Mat Duo fits inside perfectly. Now we don't worry about the kids falling out of the bed, they think its a super cool fort/cave inside the tent and they can just walk right in and crash whenever they get sleepy. When we don't use it however I still like this space. We've been in some serious rainstorms with sideways rain and even under the awning you are still too exposed and getting wet. Well this place it much more sheltered and just big enough to park a couple camp chairs, you've got a door right into the tent there and I have spent many hours sitting under here drinking beers and watching the rain.

Let's take a peak inside. Here you can see the internal access to the area under the flip out. On both side you have these great 6' tall windows that zip all the way open. You can let a ton of air through the trailer OR...

For rainy days the trailer also includes snap in windows. Being stuck inside in the rain sucks, but having two huge windows so you can still keep it bright and airy inside when its rainy is AWESOME! I leave these two open for light with the windows in place and then deploy the mini awnings over the front windows and leave them open with just the screens in place. Natural light, fresh air, no bugs. That's about as good as it gets in a tent in the rain.

 

[RyanR]

And looking back at the other side. The fridge is actually attached to a shelf on the rear trailer swing out door. You can keep the door shut and maximize the space inside the tent, but if you want to get something out of the trailer, or have the fridge inside the tent you can not only zip open the door and get to it, it is designed in such a way that you can zip it back up snug around the swing out door. So now you can have the tent buttoned up tight so you can stay toasty or keep the rain out, but have access to your food and drinks inside the tent. Very cool design!

There is a power outlet for the fridge right on the trailer door. There are also two more outlets up in the bed area so you can charge your phones, power a fan, lights etc right from the beds. FRIDGE IS INCLUDED IN SALE!

Looking inside the interior storage of the trailer looking at the front swing out door that has the kitchen setup mounted to it. The shelf holding the fridge as well as the kitchen just lift right off of the doors. So if you would rather have the fridge in front and the kitchen in the rear you can easily swap them. The kitchen setup lifts right off the door and has legs that drop down and a big slide out table extension. Just carry it to wherever you want to cook in camp (I usually deploy it under the tents awning), drop the legs down, fire up the stove and you are good to go. There are colored plastic totes that perfectly fill this interior space. I just threw some extra gear in here to get it out of the way for the winter, but in use I pack everything into the totes. That way nothing can move around inside the trailer and it makes packing and staying organized easy. The totes come stock with the trailer and I will include all of them in the sale.

I love how overbuilt everything is on this trailer. A simple latch would have been fine for many years, but why do that when you can do two huge studs with screw down retainers AND a third flip down latch for good measure.

This system is not just pleasingly stout, this also ensures that the doors seal TIGHT and you get absolutely zero dust inside the trailer. I've had tent trailers in the past where my bedding would wind up dirty and gritty after a day of blast through the desert. Not here. Nothing getting in these.

 

[RyanR]

Top Left - Snap in Rain Windows for the 2 huge tall windows
Top Right - Annex Room that goes under the flip out/second bed area
Middle Left - Screen Walls for Awning
Middle Right - Flooring - This stuff is cool sand goes right down through it, but down not come back up through it. I usually use it inside the tent to protect the floor from wear, but on the beach I will stake it down under the awning as sort of a giant door mat. The sand comes off your shoes/feet when walking on this thing and you don't track much inside the tent that way
Bottom Left - Solid Canvas Walls for the Awning.
Bottom Right - The Kid Catcher Net - You can attach this to either internal bed, its about 3ft tall and prevents kids from rolling out of the bed and falling to the ground.

Here is the front swing out door opened and a view of the camp kitchen setup. I have all of my kitchen gear, utensils, pots and pands and non-perishables like oils and spices stored in here ready to go. The duffel bag is full of propane canisters and some rope lights I use to light up the awning area. You can see the slide out portion on the right. Simply lift the who thing off the door. Drop the legs down. Slide out the table and drop the legs for the slide out down and you are ready to roll. Take about 1 minute to setup.

Ok lets talk power now. The trailer has a 7-Pin connector and lights up nicely, in addition to the all LED tail lights it has front and side marker lights when in tow. It looks like you're towing a tiny semi trailer behind you, its very visible. I like this a lot. It also has an Anderson connector. This goes straight to the charge controller so you can run a dedicated 12V line to the rear of your tow vehicle and use the vehicle alternator to charge up the trailer when in tow. The charge controller is intelligent and will only pull charge when the vehicle is running. Shut the truck off, the voltage dips and the charge controller will stop pulling charge from the tow vehicle.

Battery box. Leads all run to various 12V outlets throughout the trailer. The are fused individually. The battery currently in the trailer is NOT a deep cycle battery. I popped this interstate wet cell battery in to replace the totally destroyed battery that came with the trailer with the intention of throwing in a nice deep cycle AGM or even going crazy with a Lithium battery (Charge controller supports charge profiles for many battery types!). But as I used the trailer... I just left it in there. The solar array more than keeps up with the fridge and my accessories during the day, and its usually cool at night in the Colorado high country even in the middle of summer so the fridge barely runs over night. I never came close to discharging this battery to 50% so even though its a starting battery and not meant for this type of us its been totally adequate. Now, that said. Put a nice deep cycle AGM or Lithium in here and you'll have TONS of power on tap!

 

[RyanR]

Battery at Float Voltage

Fridge Turned on. Hot Day. Nothing but air inside in Boost Mode. This is pretty much max draw for this fridge outside of the initial spike when the compressor spins up.

Charge input from Panels. If you're thinking this is low for 3 huge panels, keep in mind battery is pretty much full so it can't cram in more juice than the battery is going to accept. After running the battery down a bit overnight and then getting full sun to recharge I have seen this top out right at 20Amps which is the max rating for this controller. I would bet you could swap out the controller and get a bit more out of the panels. Not sure that is needed unless you use a LOT of power. Getting a consistent 15+ Amps during daylight hours is pretty awesome!

Battery voltage under load

 

[RyanR]

One last shot for the road. Strangely I don't have any photos of it setup with the awning deployed. It is just an extension of the roof canvas so its the full width of the tent and as long again as the roof section you can see. Probably 8-10ft, its a nice large area big enough for a couple of chairs and the whole kitchen setup. You can also add either a full top to ground screen wall or a solid canvas wall and effectively double the size of the already massive tent. Both option connect via velcro and heavy snaps so it is MUCH easier than the zip on style awning rooms. Either one takes just a couple minutes to deploy.

Other Random Odds and Ends:

All Factory Accessories are included
Dometic CF75 Fridge IS included
Trasharoo IS included
Front of Trailer and Top of Tool Chest has been Rhino Lined to prevent rock chips

Manufacturer Lists Fully Loaded Weight (All accessories onboard) as 2,733 lbs with a tongue weight of 251 lbs
Trailer does not have electric brakes. It does have a manual parking brake but it has been disconnected. I never had a need for it so I never did anything with it.
There is some surface rust on the outside and a section of paint that is not in the shade of the solar panels when it is closed up has the clear coat fading. Otherwise it is in excellent mechanical shape and everything works. (Except the parking brake)
Is there a USA Distributor?? Nope. This is 1 of only 2 of these in North America. Trak Shak brought this one over and toured out around a bunch of offroad and camping shows but at the time (2005-2006) the overland scene hadn't quite exploded like it has now and this thing was just too expensive for the market (About $40,000 new)
The good news is this thing is build like a bank vault and very simple. The only real wear parts on it are the hydraulic pistons that aid with setup, which are easy to source and wheel bearings. And hey good news, it comes with an extra wheel hub assembly that is stored next to the propane tanks. Remember, this thing is made for being towed for thousands of miles across the Australian outback. My weekend warrior trips would take several life times of use to wear this thing out.

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[RyanR]

 

[SFCDiablo]

DAAAAAAAAAYYYUMMMMMMMM!!!!!

 

[RyanR]

SALE PENDING

 

[SFCDiablo]

Someone's gonna have a REAL NICE setup!! Congrats on sale and enjoy your family's next adventures. Super Cool!!

 

[Bisonthecruiser]

Please let me know if the sale falls through. This is awesome!

 

[RyanR]

Sorry guys TRAILER IS SOLD!