hello and questions

Originally posted by chiman You are incorrect in saying the HRE is cosmetic. There are many features to one that are not available on a east coast pod. I have a friend that takes his HRE 178 off road a lot and on some rough roads and has done so for years and his pod has not had any problems. I have taken my 180 on a few not so smooth off roads and no problems My friend and myself go slow and don't do anything stupid. I believe driving on highways with bumps taken too fast will cause more problems than careful off roading I see far too many pods with poor use of WDH's bouncing down the road which is really hard on the trailer causing more problems than my careful off road use. Chiman

Mud tires and plastic deck plate make it look tough but in reality it i consmeti no matter what you or your friend think.  It has far to little ground clearance and far to little strength to handle serious off road use.

Have a great life.

Originally posted by chiman To each his own thoughts. We will just continue to take our HRE pods to the beautiful places that are tucked away not on groomed gravel roads. Of course we don't take them on a Rubican type trails, use judgment, but ours have been places off the beaten path and survived quite well. My HRE has plenty of ground clearance and larger tires than the stock ones that it came with. There are other features that we like. So, we will take keep taking our "cosmetic" pods to places it appears you don't take your pod. Me thinks you seem a tad jealous, but no need. You have your pod and take it where you want and enjoy it, we have ours and enjoy taking our "cosmetic" HRE pods where we want, so lighten up and have some 25 year old single malt around the campfire. Cheers, ⛺️😐🖖

As long as ypu are happy.  My bet is that you don't go anywhere I wouldn't go.  If you call that off roading so be it.

Originally posted by Keith-N-Dar My bet is that you don't go anywhere I wouldn't go.  If you call that off roading so be it.

I highly suspect you are correct. That the HRE is tougher looking may give owners more confidence to get off the pavement but the idea of calling it an off road trailer is just wrong. Even the HREs are too wide, too tall, too long, too heavy, and way too fragile to be called off road vehicles. Not to mention the simple hitch that doesn't articulate.

There are plenty of beautiful places you can take a pod beyond the end of the pavement but to call that "off roading" certainly stretches the meaning of the term.

TT

Originally posted by Tars Tarkas I wish there was a definition of "off road".  My idea of off road us deep, soft sand, forest roads with mud filled ruts, or mountain roads that are only suitable for high clearance vehicles with 4WD and drivers with some experience in technical driving.

Perhaps a classification system like white water rafting? OR-Class 1 through OR-Class 5. Where we're at right now is totally subjective.

Tars,
No trailer like the pod or such others are meant for really hard core "off-road" trails and I think I have tried to make that point and even changed the wording I used to "off the main path"  Despite having changed the wording and trying to be polite, I have to say that you and Keith-N-Dar seem to have some axe to grind with whether or not a HRE should ever see anything but pavement.  Perhaps you and him are from areas where an HRE pod is not available so both have not had a real chance to test them. 

codycountry thanks for chiming in on this tread and shows your experience with a HRE pod on "off the main or beaten path" use much like my friends and myself usage and experience.
Might some day take you up on offer to get some more dirt under my upgraded tires.  As to the single malt, I too prefer the peaty type such as Lacfulan (bad spelling") but no need to split the cost as I always carry an ample supply with me for such around the campfire usage, helps with the cigar use and telling of lies about adventures, fishing and so on.
Cheers,
Chiman