Full MDC Off-Road Trailer Comparison

MDC USA offers one of the most robust, reliable and off-grid capable trailers to the American market. Coming from Australia with 40,000 units delivered in 20 years, MDC knows how to built an incredible off-road trailer.

But.. with 8 models and floor plans to choose from, it can be hard to figure out which one is the best for you. So we made a video about it which you can watch above, or you can read this blog that has even more detail on the full MDC lineup.

So here it is, the full MDC off-road trailer comparison, smallest to biggest, with the honest limitations and unique features included.

The Starter Guide

If you want to skip ahead, find which unit fits you best in the table below:

If you are…	Start with
A family of six on a budget	Robson XTT MKII
A couple or solo traveler towing with an SUV	XT9 OGE
A couple who wants a bathroom, or someone hauling a lot of gear	XT12 OGE
Two adults and two kids	XT15-4E OGE
A couple who wants a full ensuite, plus an occasional third	XT16 Island or East West
A family of five	XT17 Family OGE
Two people on long term trips	XT19 OGE

Everything below explains why.

What’s The Same On All MDC Models

Before we get into all the differences, I think it is important to state what is the same, no matter which model you choose.

MDC has built over 40,000 trailers in Australia over 20 years. These were designed in Australia, for Australia, which means corrugated dirt roads that would shake a normal “stick and tin” trailer apart, river crossings, and hundreds of miles between gas stations. They’ve been tested on the Old Tele Track in Cape York, the Simpson Desert, and the Kimberley. ROA and MDC have also tested these on Moab rock climbs and thousands of miles across America.

All eight units ride on X-TRACK independent coil spring suspension with dual shocks per tire over a hot-dip galvanized steel chassis with a lifetime structural warranty. All eight run lithium batteries and rooftop solar with a 3,000 watt inverter. All eight use the Cruisemaster DO35 articulating hitch and 265/75R16 all-terrain tires.

In plain terms, the part underneath, the guts, the structure is all going to be built to the highest standard with MDC.

That is what MDC means by Escape with Confidence.

The Four Questions That Decide It

Sales Coaches at our Experience Centers will ask you these questions, but you can also ask them yourself.

What are you towing with?

This eliminates more options than anything else, but you may also choose your trailer and then your truck if you aren’t married to the tow vehicle.

The lightest trailer in the lineup is 3,300 pounds dry. The heaviest is 6,470 pounds. That is nearly double, and the tongue weight nearly doubles with it, from 330 pounds to 615.

If you drive a 4Runner, a Tacoma, or a similar mid-size SUV, you are looking at the XT9 or the Robson XTT MKII. If you drive a half-ton, most of the lineup opens up. The XT17 and XT19 both sit on tandem axles with GVWRs over 7,700 pounds, and a three-quarter ton may be better.

Keep in mind, dry weight is not what you tow. You tow dry weight plus water, propane, gear, and whatever you put in the cabinets. Forty-two gallons of fresh water alone is 350 pounds. Plan against GVWR, not just dry weight.

 

Who is sleeping in it?

Sleeping capacity across the lineup runs from two to six.

Two people: XT9 or XT12

Three: either XT16 or the XT19 

Four with real bunks: XT15-4E

Five in three separate areas: XT17 Family 

Six: the Robson XTT MKII

A convertible dinette counts as a sleeping space on a spec sheet. It does not feel like one on night four of a trip when somebody has to break it down every morning. If you have kids and you plan to be out more than a weekend, dedicated bunks may be the way to go. 

Do you need a bathroom inside?

Two of the models don’t have a bathroom inside. The Robson and the XT9 both give you a hot outside shower and a shower tent, and portable toilet which works fine in nice conditions, but when weather goes bad, it isn’t always the most comfortable solution.

The XT12, XT15-4E and XT17, all have wet baths, meaning the shower and the cassette toilet share one space. The XT16s, and XT19 have full “dry baths” with a separate shower stall.

The XT12 is the smallest trailer in the lineup with a bathroom inside. If that is your line in the sand, that is where your search should start.

How long are you staying out?

Solar and battery capacity is where the lineup differentiates the most, and it directly sets how long you can sit somewhere with no hookups.

The Robson runs 300 amp hours and 200 watts of solar. The XT19 runs 800 amp hours and 1,225 watts across seven panels. That is six times the solar on the same brand of trailer.

For a weekend, or “on-the-grid” camping almost anything here works. For a week off-grid, you want 400 amp hours minimum. For weeks at a time with a laptop and using the air conditioner, the XT19 is the only one that stops the conversation.

Fresh water follows a different curve, and it surprises people. The XT15-4E carries 62 gallons, more than the 19-footer does.

The MDC Lineup, Smallest to Biggest

Robson XTT MKII

Great for: Someone with a budget, that has a family with 3-4 kids, or brings friends along. If you are tent camping now and you want real beds and a kitchen without spending big money, you start with the Robson.

It is the only full fold-out tent camper in the lineup and the only MDC that sleeps six. It folds out in both directions. When closed it is 19 feet 3 inches. Opened up, you get a queen on one end, a full bed on the other, and a club lounge in the middle that converts to a third bed. Add the annex and you are standing in over 300 square feet of living space, which is more room than any hard wall here gives you.

Dry weight is 3,940 pounds with a 330 pound tongue, leaving 1,350 pounds of payload. Power is 300 amp hours with 200 watts of solar. Water is 52 gallons across two tanks.

What you should know: No bathroom inside, bathroom is an outside tent. Cooking is outside. It is canvas, which makes it a spring-through-fall trailer in most of the country. If you want to camp in harsh weather, keep on reading.

XT9 Off-Grid Extreme

Great for: Couples and solo travelers who tow with a mid-size truck or SUV and need the trailer to fit at home. If you do not own a truck and you are not going to buy one, this is your trailer.

It is a pop-top hybrid. The roof drops for travel and lifts for headroom, with soft-shell windows on three sides when it is up. When closed it is 15 feet 1 long and 7 feet 9 tall, the lowest travel height in the lineup.

Dry weight is 3,300 pounds with a 350 pound tongue. Inside is a queen bed and a two-person dinette. Cooking happens outside at a slide-out stainless kitchen plumbed with hot and cold water. The 270 degree awning and full annex add about 125 square feet of covered space.

The power system also did not shrink with the trailer. You get 400 amp hours of lithium, 525 watts of solar, and the same 3,000 watt inverter the big trailers run. Fresh water is 31 gallons.

What you should know: No bathroom and no toilet, that is an outdoor tent as well. This is a trailer built around being outside, with an interior for sleeping and for weather.

XT12HR Off-Grid Extreme

Great for: A couple or solo traveler who wants a real bathroom in the smallest package available.

This is the first trailer in the lineup with a bathroom inside. It is a wet bath, so the shower and the cassette toilet share the same space.

The bed is an Olympic queen, and is seven inches wider than a standard queen. Two people sleep in this comfortably without touching. The dinette seats three and the table lifts out to open the floor space.

Now the number that surprises a lot of people. Dry weight is 4,340 pounds against a 6,147 GVWR. That is 1,807 pounds of payload, more than any other trailer in this lineup, including the big ones. Bikes, water, tools, gear, all of it.

Power is 400 amp hours with 350 watts of solar. Fresh water is 42 gallons. There are two 3-burner cooktops, one inside and one outside, so the weather never decides where dinner happens.

What you should know: It sleeps two. If you have kids, this is not the one.

XT15-4E Off-Grid Extreme

Great for: Two adults with two kids. This is the smallest trailer in the lineup that gives the kids their own beds.

It is the second pop-top and the only one with an automatic electric roof lift. When closed it stands only 8 feet 8 inches tall. Only the XT9 is lower, and everything else here is 10 feet or taller.

It sleeps four. The main bed is a queen at 79 by 69, the widest mattress in the lineup. Behind it are two twin XL bunks, both 80 inches long, one narrow and one wide.

Fresh water is 62 gallons across two 31 gallon tanks, more than any other trailer in this comparison including the XT19. Power is 400 amp hours with 745 watts of solar. There is a full wet bath with a hot shower and cassette toilet, and kitchens inside and out.

Dry weight is 5,450 pounds with a 525 pound tongue.

What you should know: Wet bath, not a separate shower stall. And a pop-top means canvas, so it is a step down from the hard walls in deep cold even with the heat running.

XT16HR Island and XT16HR East West

 

 

These two confuse more people than anything else in the lineup, so here is the honest version.

Great for: Couples who want a full bathroom with a separate shower stall, not a wet bath, and who bring a third person now and then.

They are essentially the same trailer with the bed turned in a different direction. Both sleep three. Both run 800 amp hours of lithium and 700 watts of solar. Both carry 42 gallons of fresh water. Both have a kitchen inside and a slide-out kitchen outside. Same chassis, same 6,147 pound GVWR, same price.

The Island bed runs front to back, parked in the middle so you can walk around both sides. Nobody climbs over anybody at 2 a.m. Dry weight is 5,470 pounds.

The East West bed runs side to side across the trailer at 83 by 62. It is four inches longer and four inches wider, so it is the bigger mattress, and it opens up more floor space in front of it. This allows for an oven in your kitchen, and an additional outdoor fridge/storage area. Dry weight is 5,550 pounds.

Tall sleepers may like the East West. Light sleepers take the Island.

XT17HRT Family Off-Grid Extreme

Great for: A family of four or five that travels longer than a weekend.

It sleeps five in three separate places. The main bed is an Olympic queen. Two bunks sit one over the other, both about 70 inches long. The dinette folds down for a fifth. The kids have their own spot and it stays their spot for the whole trip.

This is a wet bath, with the shower and cassette toilet sharing space. Two 3-burner cooktops, on the inside kitchen and outside kitchen. A 5.3 cubic foot compressor fridge and a microwave. Power steps up to 800 amp hours and 875 watts of solar.

Dry weight is 6,200 pounds on a tandem axle against a 7,714 GVWR, leaving 1,516 pounds for bikes, coolers, and everything else a family throws in.

What you should know: At 6,200 pounds dry on a tandem axle. Check your truck before you fall in love with it.

XT19HRT Off-Grid Extreme

Great for: A couple who stay out the longest. Snowbirds, full-timers, and people working remote from a campsite. If your trips are measured in weeks instead of weekends, this is the one.

It earns the top spot with one number. 1,225 watts of solar across seven roof panels, feeding 800 amp hours of lithium through two MPPT charge controllers. Nothing else in the lineup is close. The next highest is the XT17 at 875 watts.

What that buys you is time. You park somewhere with no hookups and stop thinking about the battery.

Inside there is a Furrion 21 inch range with a full oven, plus a 3-burner cooktop outside. The fridge is 6.2 cubic feet, the biggest in the lineup. It sleeps three, with a queen and an L-shaped lounge that converts to a twin XL.

It runs 25 feet 4 inches long on a tandem axle. Dry weight is 6,470 pounds with a 595 pound tongue, and you still have 1,246 pounds of payload.

What you should know: It sleeps three, not five. More money does not buy more beds in this lineup. If you have a family, the XT17 is the bigger trailer for you even though the XT19 is the bigger trailer overall.

What Most People Get Wrong

They shop by length. Length tells you almost nothing here. The XT19 is the longest trailer in the lineup and sleeps three. The XT15-4E is four feet shorter and sleeps four with real bunks. The Robson is shorter still and sleeps six. Shop by who is sleeping in it, then check the length.

They shop by price and assume more money means more trailer. More money in this lineup buys more power, more bathroom, and more space. It does not buy more beds. The most expensive trailer here sleeps fewer people than one that costs a fraction of it.

They plan against dry weight. Dry weight is the number on the spec sheet. It is not the number you tow. Load a trailer with full water, propane, and a family’s gear and you can add 1,000 pounds without trying. Plan against GVWR.

How We Actually Do This at ROA

We are not going to sell you the wrong trailer to close a deal. If you tell us you drive a Tacoma and you want the XT19, we are going to tell you no and explain why.

Our sales coaches camp in these trailers. That is where the honest advice comes from. Somebody here has spent a cold morning cooking at an outside kitchen and can tell you exactly how that feels in November, which is a different answer than the spec sheet gives you.

Every trailer that leaves an ROA Experience Center goes through a 100-plus point pre-delivery inspection. Your delivery day is four to six hours of hands-on training, not a handshake and a “see you later”. You practice hitching, leveling, converting beds, and running every system before you drive away. Camp your first night at our Experience Center because questions come up and we will be there in the morning.

After that you get the tech support line, which solves about 80 percent of issues over the phone in ten minutes. You keep camping instead of scheduling a service appointment.

And you get the community. The annual Roamer Rally, regional Roamer Adventures with eight to ten families at a time, and Roamerland, our 40 acres in southern Utah that is open to every Roamer. People with camping friends actually camp.

Your Next Step

Text a Sales Coach at 801-860-0035 with two things: what you are towing with, and how many people are sleeping in it. That is enough to narrow eight trailers down to two in one conversation.

If you would rather see them in person, all of these are on the ground at our Experience Centers in Lindon, Utah; Mesa, Arizona; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Duncan, South Carolina. Walk through them back to back in an afternoon. The full MDC lineup has current pricing and complete specs on every model.

Every unit page links its own brochure. Start with the two the table pointed you to and compare them side by side.