Part 1 : Sat 23 August 2003 (
Dingo & O'Brien)
Hi,
I went and had a look at the
Dingo trailers and the O'Briens trailers on Sat, my "personal" comments and opinion's are below, please fell free to comment on them. I hope to visit a couple of manufactures each weekend, to get an idea on what is the best for me and what I believe is the best available.
Dingo trailer's - the owners claims are true, cheapest around and also the most stock around (He had lots of stock) (he will repeat it about a hundred times while u speak to him on the phone and then again when you are there), however there is a few reason's why he is. For one thing all his trailer widths are one standard size, therefore it might not track behind your vehicle, not very helpful when in sand or mud. He doesn't make the trailer's on site, has someone else make them, also believe the same is true with his canvas tents, therefore doesn't have any control over the quality of the goods, not saying that the quality is bad though, just saying he can't oversee the whole process of making the trailers. He just assembles the two parts together and does a few other things. The trailers have an excessive amount of checker plating, in my book not really needed. You really see any checker plating on expensive trailers, but you can't compare apples to oranges here.
There is nothing wrong with the canvas tent part, but was more looking at the trailer at this stage, thought it was a bit more important. On the trailer I noticed that the A-Bar is just welded onto the bottom of the trailer, i.e. it doesn't run the full length of the trailer. Not sure of the advantages of this (Please point them out if you know them.)
Other than those couple of points, they looked good and look good for light corrugations. However I have read other people's comments on the
Dingo trailers and they have raved about them. The owner was also saying that he is closing down shortly, retiring, so don't know how the warranty situation will go, something to keep in mind. Also one more thing, if you go and have a look at the
dingo trailers make sure you get his wife (a lot of other people will tell u this) as the guy can talk, and he will repeat the same stuff over and over again and will also bag the competition... Talk to the wife, much more pleasant and she knows her stuff, he isn't really interested unless you are buying on the day!!
O'Brien's Trailers...
Totally different to going to
Dingo's, this company is more interested in showing you how the trailer is made and the workmanship that goes into it, they make the whole trailer on site, trailer and also the canvas tent part. Quality looks good starting with the trailer, again didn't pay much attention to the canvas work, poles though didn't look very strong. The trailer chassis rails run from the A-Bar to the back of the trailer - one piece. While I was there I noticed that most of the
suspension systems being installed where leaf
suspension. Which I prefer, because you can always get yourself to the nearest garage if it breaks and don't have to wait for spares to be flown in from around the country. The other advantage I didn't think about is that you can always get an extra leaf put in or taken out if need be. The best part is if later on down the track you add a boat to the top of your trailer, you just add an extra leaf if need be.
The drawer system on the O'Brien trailer is a bit over the top, would hate for it to break on you as it would be one bloody heavy unit to try and pull out in the middle of the bush (full of your gear). I have always preferred putting all my gear into different size plastic tubs, means you can move them around as
well. I admit the drawers under the bed are a good idea, but don't know how you pack them before u leave, or if you need to get something out while on the road!!
O'Brien, will always make your trailer to the width of your car, and also put the same stud pattern rims on, both an excellent idea. (This is why you will find a lot of manufactures don't have a lot of stock on they show room floor.)
Another disadvantage to the O'Brien's trailer is that he said to me that you have to wait 6-8 weeks at least to get a trailer!! Also I think his base trailer's start at about $7k (Basically not much) whereas
Dingo's start at about $5,500 for a light off road trailer, and I believe you can take that on the day just about.
Anyhow, I think I have pointed out a lot more disadvantages than advantages of the two types of trailers, but it is interesting visiting these
places. And I believe that we need to point out the disadvantages more than the advantages because a lot of people (including myself!!) go into these
places with blinders on and don't think about what they are buying until it's too late. Hope this helps, it hasn't helped me, means I want to spend a lot more $$ now.
In the end I guess you get what you pay for, you just have to really work out where you want to take you car and trailer!!
Matt.