Outdoors RV builds trailers for rough roads, and owners are loyal to them. But a change owners have reported on the forums has made a common repair harder: the factory now directs owner support through dealers rather than taking calls directly. If your dealer is responsive, that works. If your dealer is three states away or not answering, a broken part on the road becomes a problem with no obvious number to ring.
This guide is for that situation. It separates the parts on an ORV that you can identify and source yourself from the ones that genuinely need the dealer, and it shows how to identify them.
What genuinely needs the dealer
Be honest about this list, because a wrong substitute here is expensive.
- Body panels, exterior fibreglass and the front cap. Model-specific, and the dealer is the only route.
- Windows, entry doors and their frames. Dimensions and seals are specific to the build.
- Slide-out mechanisms and their controllers.
- The chassis and frame.
- Anything under warranty. Substituting a part on a warranty item is a way to lose the warranty.
Everything below the floor and inside the walls, though, is largely standard trailer hardware.
What you can identify and source yourself
Wheel bearings, seals and hubs
Bearings are decided by the axle, not the trailer brand, and an ORV runs the same axle classes as any tandem trailer. Measure the brake drum: ten inches means the 3,500 lb bearing set, twelve inches means the 5,200 to 7,000 lb set. Our bearing sizes guide covers the measuring, and the Timken kits for 10-inch and 12-inch drums fit the common ORV axles once you have that number. Carry a fresh cotter pin per hub, and a complete greased hub as a spare if you travel far from anywhere.
Electric brakes
Brake assemblies are specified by drum diameter and side, and a matched pair of electric brake assemblies replaces an axle's worth. Confirm your drum size and whether the brake is a standard or self-adjusting type by looking at the existing assembly before ordering.
Suspension hardware
ORV trailers run tandem leaf-spring suspension with an equalizer between the springs, which is the setup that wears at the shackle bolts and bushings. If you are replacing or upgrading, the parts are sized by the trailer's spring-centre wheelbase, the distance between the axle centres, which is why equalizer kits are sold in wheelbase sizes such as 33, 35 and 42 inches. Measure yours before ordering anything.
Our guide to equalizer and wet bolt upgrades covers how to inspect what you have and decide whether the upgrade is worth it. Rubber equalizers such as the MORryde CRE3000 replace the plain steel link, come with bronze bushings, are wet-bolt ready and are rated for axles up to 8,000 lb, so they suit the heavier ORV builds. Check your bump stops while you are under there.
Water system
The 12 volt pump, the tank senders, the city water inlet and the fittings are standard parts. Match the pump by its port size and flow, the replacement pump is a direct swap for a standard unit. Tank senders on the SAE five-bolt flange fit any tank with that pattern once the length matches the tank depth; the stainless sender is the replacement.
Seals
Compartment, hatch and window seals flatten and harden. A self-adhesive EPDM bubble seal is the general fix, fitted in one piece with the old adhesive fully removed.
12 volt electrical
Fuses, breakers, busbars, terminals and LED lighting are standard across every trailer. The distribution panel layout is the builder's; the protective hardware inside it is not.
How to identify a part when you have no one to ask
Three methods, and they replace the phone call:
- Read the part. Bearings have their numbers stamped on the cone and cup. Pumps have a model label. Brake assemblies are marked with the drum size. Most trailer hardware identifies itself if you look.
- Measure the fitment, not the trailer. Drum diameter for bearings and brakes, spring-centre wheelbase for equalizers, tank depth for senders, port size for pumps, channel width for seals.
- Photograph the old part in place showing its mounting, and send it with the measurement. We will tell you whether we have a direct match or whether it is one for the dealer. We would rather say the second than ship the wrong thing.
Carry the spares that end trips
For a trailer built for the places ORVs go, and a support channel that runs through a dealer:
- Bearings, seals and cotter pins for one hub, or a complete greased hub
- A brake assembly pair for one axle if the trailer has done real miles
- A water pump, or at least its fittings
- A length of EPDM seal
- Every fuse rating the trailer uses
Our guide to the spares every off-road camper should carry explains the choices.
The same situation at other brands
Outdoors RV is not alone in routing owners through dealers. Several off-road trailer brands do the same, some through a dealer-only parts portal. The identification methods above apply to all of them, and we have written brand-specific versions for MDC, OPUS, Patriot, Bruder and Conqueror.
Everything we stock ships from Upland, California.