Hiker Trailer - Highway Deluxe

[@foolthepity]

Watching while sleeping in my highway deluxe 5x9. I love it.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

That’s awesome!

[@kristinecarlson9074]

I absolutely love my 5x9 Highway Deluxe! Great for my campground and highway usage.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

I really like the build quality and design!

[@mixflip]

I like the idea of a blank space in the back. I have my own fridge and my own stove. Plus water jugs don’t need winterizing. I rented a hiker trailer for overland expo and loved it. Simple has a value all its own.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Thanks for swinging by, I watched your videos on Hiker! Simple, definitely has a value of its own. They also have a far more solid feel than the competition, built like tanks!

[@robertclymer6948]

Hello Brian! always appreciate the info on the price point straight away. That way I know if it fits my budget of what I want to spend or go back out of the video and look it up. Thanks for that courtesy.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Thank you, I'm that way too!

[@andek_foto]

Those are really nice. Love the large side windows.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

👍 I like the 4 window option for sure!

[@zkat13]

I have decided that a towable is not the way for me, but I do love watching you sell the heck out of the Hikers. They are pretty cool with the customization. They are a really nice build.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

I had a lot of fun at Hiker Trailer, I’ll have to do some videos on vans and schoolies too!

[@stevemueller7376]

great videos . Brian i finally bulled the trigger on a Ceder Ridge camper AT !! can't wait !!!

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Nice! Did the prices start to come down by you yet?

[@cia327]

Love those big windows. Cannot wait to get ours and take it for a spin with Ripple! 🐾

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

woop woop

[@puchatek200]

Thx Brian for those videos. We looked around and Hiker ended up on our top of the list. We love our Mid-range. We did few mods to it, from dimmers to sliding trays, tables solars etc. Outback Wilderness pulls this without any issues.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

It’s great to have a trailer that can be pulled by gas efficient cars!

[@plantingseedsproductions4195]

Brian … always taken it up a notch! Keep it up. Nice job, very informative.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Thank you, we’re trying!

[@hidel308]

Nice rig!

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

👍 thanks for watching!

[@touringandtrails]

Great interview Brian!

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Thank you, I appreciate you watching!

[@ponderwithjess]

loved this

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Thank you, check out all of our other content on Hiker as well!

[@adventuresofthememorymakers]

Definitely an interesting concept that I wish we would have known about sooner! Enjoying the video series.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

You already have 2 campers, what’s three???

[@adventuresofthememorymakers]

@DIYOutdoorLife adding another camper means adding onto the toy box to hold it and we are out of room to add on anymore!

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Haha

[@robertwalton1054]

Im looking into one of these small campers or the road toad from camp inn as my first trailer

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

2 great options! Either way youll have a great rig.

[@Non-Serviam300]

I’m really seriously interested in this. My only concern is whether my 2023 Mazda CX-30 can safely handle even the lightest model. I think the CX-30 is rated to tow up to 1500lbs. I think it’s stated in this video that the average trailer weight is about 1000-1100lbs so maybe that’s not pushing it too much 🤔

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Hiker deals with this all the time. Call them and they can show you how to build out a light weight set up. Thanks for tuning in.

[@Airmanmx1]

Hypothetically speaking, if the towing capacity of a Mitsubishi mirage is 1,000lbs then that means a small ford focus can tow the smallest 1,100lbs (not loaded). Nice!👍🏼

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

👍

[@Lemon_Drums_USA]

That’s Carazyyy

[@Elromon1]

Great videos as always, It did look like it had good head room, wonder if that is true once you add a 6" mattress.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

That’s a great point, I’ll have to get in one with a mattress and feel it out.

[@brettmoritz3698]

Im liking this entry level trailer. As a starter I'd be ok with bare minimum accessories, but what if I want to upgrade the axle later (for more off-road stuff), is that something Hiker can do?

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Its a great trailer! I'm not sure what they could do for an upgrade, they probably would add a lift if you wanted.

[@brettmoritz3698]

@@DIYOutdoorLife im fortunate enough to live relatively close to their Colorado location. I'll be paying them a visit soon!

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

@@brettmoritz3698 i havent been to the Co location, id love to visit some time.

[@brettmoritz3698]

@@DIYOutdoorLife Go West Young Man! We'd love to have ya.

[@thomascalescibetta2771]

Hey Brian , question what size solar panal would I need for 2 100 watt AH batterys thanks

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Hey Thomas, I have a few questions, but I could make a decent guess. What kind of battery? Lead acid, lithium? How long does it take you to drain them while camping? What rough area do you live in? Nevada? Washington? … makes a big difference As a guess, let’s assume they’re sealed lead acid, panels can be tilted towards the sun, and you can camp for a couple days without draining. You would have 1200 usable watt hours of storage and 200-400 watt panels would keep you topped off. 200 W panel would work if you have a good sun or can be efficient in your use. 400watts would be very forgiving and keep you up in a wide range of conditions. Remember, no matter how much solar you have, it will not work well if your battery capacity can’t keep up. Two 100ah batteries will be great unless you have some pretty large loads running. Hope this helps, thanks for watching!

[@thomascalescibetta2771]

I',m pretty sure I'm going with the AGM batterys I live in central N.Y. thanks for the help.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

@@thomascalescibetta2771 so if you have 2 - 100ah AGM, you will have about 1200 watt hours of capacity to work with. Think of that like having a 1200 gallon water tank. How fast we need to refill it depends on how fast you’ll use that water. Fridge? Cpap? Furnace? TV? Knowing what things draw that capacity down is really important, but like before, I can give you some guidelines. 300 watts of solar will be able to top you off completely on most warm season days. 400 if your panel lays flat, like when it’s fixed to a roof and not angles toward sun. However, if you conserve energy, 1200 WH of battery might last you a few days. If you don’t use the full 1200 WH in a day, you won’t need to replace it all at once. Going with 200w of solar or even 100w might get the job done for you, because the solar has more time to charge before you run out. Sorry to give such a run around, but this is the only accurate way to answer these questions. Anyone who just says, “you just need to get blah blah” without discussing these things is just taking a shot in the dark. Hope this helps. -Brian

[@thomascalescibetta2771]

Thank you Brian for the quick reply.I'm new to solar power so the simpler the better. The water analogy puts it in perspective. Thanks again for your help maybe I'll see you camping, keep making videos.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

@@thomascalescibetta2771 thank you, hope to see you camping too… we live close to each other!

[@quangjeff]

is this highway deluxe 5x9 made out of steel ?

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Yes, wood cabin and steel trailer frame.

[@twloughlin]

Let's see if I can keep my comments brief (not likely). Robbie: I looked at your 2022 stock Highway Deluxe for sale. The mix of options is good but not great. I'd suggest building a stock unit with these four key options: two window doors, Maxx fan, rear stabilizers, tongue box. If a stock 5x8 had nothing but those four add-ons, it would cost $7599 according to your quote builder. That would be a great price and allow me to DIY everything else (I live in NY, so I'd probably have to add the brakes). Brian, two questions for you. #1 - when will you be running the giveaway contest on your current Bushwhacker? #2 - Once you buy your Hiker (c'mon, how could you not at this point? Use your promo code!), what will you do with all your outdated DIY teardrop merch? 50% closeout sale?

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Lol lol lol.. you’ve had me rolling but there’s truth in jest. #1- I would want to keep them both! Maybe I could link them like train cars? #2- the merch is point of sale, 0 inventory, Spring is a cool company. You just reminded me, I need some square drop merch!! I think I would miss teardrop shape but it is a better camper at a great price. The options are over whelming, I love that they’re launching set options, you have some good suggestions too. Thanks for tuning in🙏🏻

[@HikerTrailers]

Not all of our Stock Units were built with the purpose of being Stock. Some folks unfortunately have to cancel their builds, even after it is completed, and since we only hold our customers to the original $500 deposit unlike other builders, some units sold as stock might be a bit more eclectic than most folks would want. When we do have stock units built to stock (like you suggested) they go quick and don't last on the website very long! We hope to increase the supply of stock units as the year progresses. Thanks for watching and the awesome questions!

[@twloughlin]

@@HikerTrailers Your trailers are really great, and I appreciate the price point. It's also good that you have so many options. I am just a lazy old man, and I don't want to take all that time to go through every option for a custom build. It's cumbersome; but the plus side is you can have exactly what you want. The reason I chose those four items for a stock trailer were for maximum ventilation/accessibility, stability on site, and storage. If you offered that as your actual base unit at $7599, you'd still be an industry leader! Nice job overall!

[@travelinwithTODD]

i like my 5x8 highway deluxe. small issues i had was the mounting of the power switch in the tool box was in a strange location and was not attached properly, wrong bolts ,the mounting is made for socket head bolts and they used flatheads?, i don't get it. only 2 of them were installed instead of 4 and the fell off on the way home. the fender bolts were loose and the inside of the door frame wasn't attached properly and stick out from the wall. you can even put your hand between the wall and the door. i live 6 hours from their warehouse so it wasn't worth driving all the way back down to have things fixed. i had bolts sent to me so i can fix it myself. other than that i do like the camper. good size for the solo camping i do.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Im glad you were able to DIY and save a long trip back for the fixes. Thanks for sharing, its helpful experience.

[@andrewmartin6896]

Do u have a dealer in Ontario Canada?

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

You'll have to call Hiker. No dealerships, they make them in indiana and deliver if needed.

[@Frank-James]

Anybody know who is considered Hiker's number one competitor? And if Hiker is the better of the two?

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

If you look up Square drops, you'll see a number of companies that make trailers in a similar design. As far as low cost trailers go, runaway makes some very inexpensive square campers. Im my opinion, Hiker is by far the best for the money in the class.

[@DHaworth100]

The company is Indiana. How do they ship?

[@DHaworth100]

Never mind you guys answered the delivery question. Good job.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Thank you for watching! I thought about having mine shipped, but I made a road trip to go pick it up, well worth it!

[@DHaworth100]

@@DIYOutdoorLife Indiana is a long trip. I would love to go to their HQ. I need more time to think about it before pulling the trigger. I really don't need a trailer because I love my tent, but last weekend I had some wind trouble in the desert, and a trailer would have been nice.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Nothing wrong with the tent, theres times where I still take the tent out for trips. As you said though, there is also a lot of times when the tiny trailer is amazing, it allows you to get out more often.

[@travisadams4470]

It would be great if they made these without using wood; either fiberglass or composite.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

It would be a great option. I don’t like that fiber and composite sweat and are uninsulated but the scamps and casitas proved how well they can hold up over time.

[@pda4you]

There has never been a Toyota Prius in the US with 2k of towing. Not sure where that come from but most of the small cars/SUV’s are in the 1k-1500lb range. And I can’t imagine towing with a Prius - what a poor choice of tow vehicle. In fact when I pulled up the actual Toyota owners manual it state “Toyota does not recommend towing a trailer with your vehicle.”

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

Hey Mike, the Toyota Prius has had a 1600 pound towing rating since 2015 in North America, Europe and Australia. My understanding was that is was 2000lb w brakes, I could have been mistaken there. There’s no reason why you would want to buy a Prius to tow a camper … lol I should’ve been more clear here, the point is that the stock trailer weighs less than 1000 pounds. Thank you for adding to the conversation, this is important .

[@pda4you]

Looking right at the 2015 manual for the Prius “Toyota does not recommend towing with this vehicle” and big picture with a trailer and X through it page 328. I get what you are saying it’s light but those who say you can tow with a Prius are not really reading their manual. They even say don’t mount a hitch for a bike rack. They really don’t recommend it - for sure.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

@@pda4you safety first is best, good info

[@tomking5358]

Only go 80% of what any auto manufacture tells you regarding towing capacity. Or even a little less if Mt travel is your thing.

[@chriskinne4940]

I like your videos but you always interrupt the person your talking to

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

It’s really tough, making a video is different than a normal conversation, always mindful of “creating scenes”. I will try to be more mindful of it, thank you for the feedback.

[@SirFunksalot-u2k]

​@@DIYOutdoorLifedon't worry I like it when you interrupt him.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

@@SirFunksalot-u2k lol

[@pureblood2020]

No comment.

[@DIYOutdoorLife]

That’s an interesting comment. LoL