วีดีโอ

I am glad I found this video......I have been watching Hiker trailer videos and have been considering buying one. Now I know there will be items that will need some repairs. No different than my $100k motor home. The whole camper industry has the worst quality control.... so sad...

Good morning ,I’m a new subscriber and we have a Hiker on order for next April How’s your trailer overall ? Looking forward to learning from you 😄

Personally I hate the smart system, and with these batteries it's my understanding when you charge them the negative charging cable has to be behind the BCM chip or the car will not register the charge. If you go back and look where the ground is hooked up before the terminal you will see where the ground wire has a nut up top and that's where you want to charge it from so the cars bcm will recognize the charge. I have to drive with my lights on all the time to keep my voltage at 14.5 or the rear defrost on, this is insane for a few miles worth of gas every couple fills if even that much, it dosnt save much.

A bit of a clutz, but got the idea. ;

I’m sure you a bad experience with your hiker trailer. I picked up mine early October in Fort Collins, Colorado and I’ve spent five nights in so far but I have any have had a great and pleasing experience in mine so far did you contact hiker. I love my trailer. I can’t wait until spring to utilize mine more.

I think I am looking around for buying my first trailer. So they said 90 days to build, you would think that it would be cleaned before picking up. That’s messed up not using bolts connecting it to trailer. I would be pissed if I had to fix anything after purchasing. Just watching your video, I am not buying a Hiker Trailer. I would rather do all my wiring and I have Bluetti batteries and Renogy solar panels 2- 220w light weight solar panels.

I think I am looking around for buying my first trailer. So they said 90 days to build, you would think that it would be cleaned before picking up. That’s messed up not using bolts connecting it to trailer. I would be pissed if I had to fix anything after purchasing.

Hello Major. Coming in from DIY Outdoor Life. I want to commend you on all this work. It is far, far beyond my capabilities in terms of both knowledge and tool skills, but it's very fascinating nonetheless. I think I could follow about 80% of this. At 72, I'm probably not going to try and learn new skills to this level, but it does offer me some insight on how to use DC power in ways I probably would not. I don't own a teardrop, but do most of my camping with a canvas tent, and have been considering more and more how to get on with DC power only, combined with minimizing my actual need for power. So thanks a lot. I'll be viewing your other videos over the next week or so to see what other tips I can pick up.

Honestly, sounds like you're really reaching on this video.. I know you did a walk through upon receiving your trailer were you clearly said nothing or had planned this in advance.. had mine since 21, no issues whatsoever.. you should sell this and go spend double on a similar product 👍🏻

Only thing I see wrong is self tapping screws. If your that picky you Should have just built one your self.

We were going to buy one, but this video just changed our mind.

Wow you are dangerous

Never,ever mount solar controllers upside down.

No spacer! Causes resistance from what I know.

Super helpful guide! You made the installation process look easy-great job! You are making amazing and helpful videos. Your video editing and thumbnail is very good each others. But your videos not getting more views. What do you think, why your videos are not getting more views?

Why didn’t you inspect and pointed out those flaws at the Hiker?

I’m not an electrician, but I’ve done solar installation and I understand dc backup systems. I still might get one of these and fix the issues. Why would I still get one? Well, I do not want to build one. I can replace the screws, I can redo the caulk, I can redo the wiring, etc. the cheapest model is $5k or $6k. That’s all I can afford right now. When I have money, I’ll get a $100k travel trailer.

large flange insert nuts make mounting super easy for projects like this

I don't think you talked about how the heaters get triggered. I think I see they're plugged into the mppt controller? Is there some thermistor on that which triggers the heaters to turn on?

Would be cool to do a 48V version.

powerwerx sells the round panel mount powerpole connectors for 20 bucks (2 connector pairs)

Wow! Not nitpicking. Just very poor workmanship all around. Off my list now. 😢

Wow that is straight up junk, Hiker should be embarrassed. Who’s their QC guy?

I was just about to buy one. I did my build and everything. This video stopped me dead in my tracks. Hiker needs to do better.

Strange. We bought ours in 2021. The unit was spotless, the factory was spotless, and I don't see any rust on the hardware so far. The trailer is beautiful and tough. I've been in the factory several times and it is always spotless. I do hope you get these items fixed, though. The new front jack has wheels and can be fit onto the current jack space.

this is what happens when places cut corners to try and save money the parts easily go to crap

Omgod what a a piece of 💩 trailer is. That's going to be a rotted piece of wood soon. After spending my summer dealing with (different maker) roof leaks (and having been told not.possible to ever get roof leaks), and gutted trailer to address water damage,,,yup, going to make my own next, thank you for well documented and explained video

I hope that @Hikertrailers watches these videos. I am still back and forth between them and Runaway Trailer and this video certainly scores points for Runaway.

I am very glad you pointed out there mistakes. Often over looked over the excitement of owning a new camp trailer until you find out the hard way

now you know why they used self tapping screws lol

For anyone looking to buy a Hiker trailer like me, Keep in mind that all the reviews you see on TH-cam that seem really nice are all made by content creators and youtubers who are monetized. Most of them were payed by Hiker or given a huge discount on their trailers. The other reviews are from people that just bought them and haven't had them long enough to give a proper review of how they hold up over time. I am not saying they are horrible trailers, but for what you pay for them, there is no reason for Hiker to cut corners on anything. They make a killing off these things. It probably cost them $3-4K to build them and they mark them up 4-5X more. So no excuse for bad work or lazy craftmanship.

Hiker forces you to put down a 10% NON-Refundable Deposit, so they know you probably wont back out of the deal and take it anyway. What Dealer was this, so I make sure not to buy mine from them?

Won't be buying a Hiker, too many comments on how cheap things are done. I'm building my own Hiker Look alike, but without the defects of a Hiker

Bless you Thank you for this video,i would love some info on your battery builds and the box housing. Im not an electrician but I can do basic wiring, also hate those butt splice connectors,and cheap buss bar. The cheap 12volt meter w/usb plugs with low voltage charge. Sad , you get what you pay for ! Please let me know about wiring upgrades. Again thank you

Good review on your Hiker. It's too bad the Hiker is not all that it is cracked up to be. But hey with Matt and Wendy Dewitt promoting the guts out of it Hiker is getting a crap load of orders so the volume of money they are making is crazy. Quality is poor and they are slamming out trailers by the dozens. Just look at their warehouse it's full of trailers. The other trailer manufacture Pathway out of Wisconsin makes one that looks identical but just a dad and son operation and no Matt & Wendy promoters. I'm doing what some have mentioned I'm building my own Hiker look a like and will be doing a TH-cam channel " How to build a Hiker Trailer" next year. I asked Vintage technologies if their doors were China made and he said no and he didn t supply Hiker either. So to make more profit Hiker must be buying cheap China parts. Keep up the great videos

good info, i was looking to buy one of these this coming year. i think ill stick with my original plan and just build one.

I need to re-emphasize. Did you look at this thing before you brought it home and paid for it?

Good walkthrough. Thanks for the feedback. It’s crazy that some in the comments are justifying poor workmanship. I’m not handy enough to fix some of these issues so it’s important for me to not run into issues like this. I’ll be continuing my search for a rig with another company.

WHY DO YOU THINK YOUR HEAD NEEDS TO BE IN THE PICTURE?

I use buck converters to power different loads as well. I have one assigned to my little solar powered system in my shop that powers my radio gear, and can run the refrigerator and freezer.

Oh man. I am glad I got mine from Colorado before they closed and started making them all in Indiana. That wiring is horrendous. My electrical is waaaaay better than that. That "weatherstripping" hanging out is just there for aesthetics purposes btw. You can cut it. Colorado was taking to long to deliver. I had to wait 15 months for mine... which is nuts. People were pissed. But they took their time making the trailers you know. Indiana is able to push this out like candy. Comes at a price it seems.

If the seller is suggesting that you caulk areas where they cut into the trailer, I guess that's a sign they are aware of water leak problems in their manufacture. That would be extremely frightening as a customer. It sounds like they should have paid you to drive the trailer off the lot. Cheap American company.

This is what nobody invites you..Thanks, Mr Buzzy McBuzzkill.

You didn't have to takenit off the lot...also, you can build you. After all, you are an expert! 🤦‍♂️

Do you not own a vacuum?

Great disclosure on what you've found. I was on the path to a hiker trailer as well but a friend purchased one which allowed me to inspect. I noticed some of the very same issues with his trailer. We have since dissassembled his trailer and very nearly rewired everything ( wished I had made a video but I'm not that guy). As you dig deeper, under the paneling, etc, it gets worse. I almost bought into the "Made in America" but realized that it is geographically made in America but the quality and craftmanship is from somewhere else.

It takes a lot of guts, knowledge and character to publicly bad mouth such a popular product. And to back everything up with a video. As an automotive engineer by trade, I feel ashamed of what we are seeing here... Kudos to you, Sir. You actually got less than what you paid for. Shavings are one thing. Rust is another. Bad wiring is unacceptable.

Honestly I can’t imagine paying for something unwanted…….. a basic , inspection has been known to be beneficial !

Every one can complain about something. What will you do wood chips how horrible.. 😅

Thank you for the honest review