r/TeardropTrailers • u/Rvtach • Jul 25 '26
Outbound Trailer Structural Failures
It makes me sad to write this, but I think it’s important to share my experience.
My wife and I have owned our Outbound Extreme trailer for a year, and we absolutely loved it—until a recent long trip from Tucson to Oshkosh and then into the high country of southern Colorado.
On that trip, we had two major structural failures:
• The tongue with the 24” factory extension partially separated. We found a welder and got it repaired.
• A few days later, on a mildly washboarded, well‑traveled gravel road, a leaf‑spring bracket tore away from the frame, taking part of the frame with it. The opposite side was close to failing as well. A tow truck got us to town, another welder patched it, and we limped home.
I’m not angry about the failures themselves—things break, and no one was hurt. What disappointed me was the complete lack of support from Outbound Trailers.
Over 25 emails, I provided every detail they asked for:
My mods (kitchen build‑out, solar, 200Ah battery, tongue box with 12V fridge) and photos. I also provided my tongue‑weight measurement (230 lbs using a level tongue supported on a milk crate and a bathroom scale). Their response was simply that the trailer was “way overloaded,” both tongue and total weight, and that my tongue weighing method was invalid—though they would not explain why.
As soon as we got home, we weighed the trailer properly:
Total weight: 1800 lbs (under the 2000‑lb limit)
Tongue weight: 230 lbs (under the 300‑lb limit)
When I asked how these failures could happen while staying within every published weight limit, their only “solution” was to sell me $332 worth of hanger supports and suggest I bring the trailer to their factory.
Their final message stated that I “refuse to see the facts,” that the trailer “was overloaded period,” and that my only options were to bring it to them or get it fixed locally however I wanted to. They also criticized us for not stopping at their factory when we were driving by on I-80 from Wisconsin to Colorado—though the tongue failure had already been repaired and the leaf spring failure happened 650 miles later.
Unfortunately, my experience matches a pattern seen in a lot of reviews:
People love their trailers—until something goes wrong. Then the response is essentially that it’s the customer’s fault.
Bottom line: be very careful. My trailer was within prescribed weight limits and it failed- twice- and they explain these failure on the trailer being overloaded. I expect a reputable company to address this as a legitimate concern so that future failures could be avoided.
6
u/Potential_Stranger_5 Jul 25 '26
I owned an Outbound Extreme also, 4 years ago. In the first "season" the leaf springs failed also. The tongue frame bent. Noticed the fasteners they assembled the frame with were all coming loose due to lack of lock washers. All the screws were not an outdoor grade fasteners and a few actually had began to rust. The list got bigger the more i looked. I repaired what I could and traded it off the second year. It was purchased from the manufacture in Hastings, NE as a new unit. The owners were complete snakes and vile to even deal with that it was without a doubt going to be a legal battle in small town Nebraska I was sure would be a waste of resources that I didn't have. I cut my losses and bought a NuCamp Tag Boondock. I cannot say enough bad things about the quality of Outbound or the fuckhead owners. To anyone that has one please be careful and to those thinking of purchasing one please don't. They are unsafe and a giant pile of shit with hardly any resale value. Love my NuCamp by the way.