Driven for More
Based just outside of Denver, Reichel founded Into the Wild Overland after a realization: He was unhappy. By many measures, he shouldn’t have been: He was a successful construction manager with a healthy income, a nice home, and an upscale pickup truck. Reichel seemed to have it made. Seemed to.
“I had burn-out,” he recalls. “Was construction management what I really wanted to spend my life doing?”
With that realization, Reichel and his wife quit their jobs, sold their home, bought a trailer, and spent a year traveling across the United States. “Travel gave me an appreciation I didn’t have before. The forests, mountains, and deserts—especially the desert. The night sky with stars in complete view…there’s nothing like it. Nothing. Travel brought me new perspective.”
It also brought him an idea to start a business around durable, space-saving trailers like the one he customized for his own trip.
4,500
Estimated miles traveled per year by the average RV owner
700,000
Approximate number of people who use their RV’s as full-time residences
IBIS World Industry Report 44121
Recreational Vehicle Dealers in the US
April 2017
$19.7 Billion
The RV industry’s revenue over the past year
58.4%
The percentage of the RV market made up by towable trailers like the Boreas
IBIS World Industry Report OD5623
Recreational Vehicle Manufacturing in the US
May 2017
Traversing New Terrain
In 2015, Reichel created Into the Wild Overland. Soon after, he released his first model of trailer, the Boreas, which comes in three different guises: the AT, XT, and Custom.
The AT is the base model, priced at $14,000. The XT is the premium model, loaded with amenities and priced just under $19,000. Customers can also choose the option to customize their trailers how they see fit.
Reichel and his team hand-assemble every Boreas camper. Each camper measures fifteen feet long, five feet wide, and four feet high, offering a grand total of 300 cubic feet of interior space.
Each camper, in turn, has a stainless-steel frame and aluminum body for resilience in harsh, outdoor environments. The Boreas also sits on two 15-inch steel wheels and a fully independent, axle-less suspension with almost two feet of ground clearance.
Versatile Features
ITWO offers various features for added functionality, including a 100-watt solar panel, a generator, and a fresh water system for showers and cooking. Most of the trailer is for interior living.
To make the most of that interior space, ITWO has kitchen and shower hardware installed at the rear of the trailer. Three amenities stand out:
- sink
- stove
- fridge/freezer
Along with the kitchen and shower, three amenities also stand out including the sink, stove, and fridge/freezer. Each is pull-out, sitting on heavy-duty drawer slides. The pull-out fridge/freezer is on the left, while the stove and sink are on the right. A novel aspect lies in the stove and sink being linked together. A user pulls out the sink first, then pulls out the stove. This pull-out-within-pull-out feature has two amenities taking up the space of just one.
The Boreas’s arsenal of features equate to what Reichel calls “a Swiss army knife on wheels…one just as sharp, if I say so myself.”
That innovation also brings added difficulty.
Along with the kitchen and shower, three amenities also stand out including the sink, stove, and fridge/freezer. Each is pull-out, sitting on heavy-duty drawer slides. The pull-out fridge/freezer is on the left, while the stove and sink are on the right. A novel aspect lies in the stove and sink being linked together. A user pulls out the sink first, then pulls out the stove. This pull-out-within-pull-out feature has two amenities taking up the space of just one.
The Boreas’s arsenal of features equate to what Reichel calls “a Swiss army knife on wheels…one just as sharp, if I say so myself.”
That innovation also brings added difficulty.
A Quality Shift
The Boreas’s rear innovations require heavy-duty movement solutions. Reichel first turned to a well-known brand’s economical line of slides. Understandably, he expected the brand’s recognition to be a sign of dependability.
It wasn’t.
Reichel soon ran into problems with the slides. While their low prices were attractive, their resilience – or lack thereof – became the source of many headaches.
“I kept having customers return to me with issues regarding the slides…members falling out of alignment, movement becoming rough. Stuff like that. It became a tremendous hassle.”
Into the Wild Overland needed a better solution. It needed a drawer slide that was able to carry hundreds of pounds, had locking features to secure applications, and able to withstand lots of vibration without functional decay
“So while I saved money going with this other company’s slides, it cost me a lot more down the road because of repairs.” Reichel needed a better solution.
9308E – Up to 600 lb. payload
A Proven Solution
Matt Reichel found his solution in the Accuride 9308. This recently enhanced ball-bearing slide tackled all of Into the Wild Overland’s needs.
- It handles heavy-duty loads
- It has locking features that secure an application in or out
- It’s a dependable product for builder and consumer alike
Below are some additional facts about the 9308E:
- It handles loads up to 600 lbs.
- A user unlocks the slide with just the push of a tab
- It’s quality tested to 50,000 cycles
The Accuride 9308 is one of many great movement solutions Accuride offers for recreational vehicles, small homes, and space-saving interiors.
Here are a few others that may help your living space:
3832ESC Heavy-Duty Self-Close
This self-closing, medium-duty slide has extra resistance to keep contents secure, making it great for galley drawers.
AL4120 Super-Duty
The AL4120 can bear loads just over 1,200 lbs., making it strong enough to support generator compartments.
3600-200 StowAway
A terrific solution for stow-away bins.
CBLift-50 Quick-Lift
The CBLift is an ideal solution for supporting hideaway flat-panel televisions and large computer monitors.
AL4190 Tilt-Track System
Ideal for making hard-to-reach overhead storage compartments accessible.
115RC Linear Track System
Aluminum tracks and re-circulating ball carriage provide corrosion resistant linear motion solution for projects incorporating sliding screens, partitions or panels.
The Process
Accuride leverages their engineering experience to work with you to produce the best automotive movement solutions in the world. Their team devotes thousands of hours in design and testing to deliver remarkable turnkey solutions.
ORIGINAL SOLUTIONS
They leverage 50+ years of engineering know-how to identify application needs from just a concept.
PROUD PROBLEM SOLVERS
Creating solutions for any application they receive is in Accuride’s DNA.
STATE-OF-THE-ART MODELING
Advanced 3D models and virtual simulations allow Accuride to better assist in the design process.
RAPID
PROTOTYPING
Production facilities across the globe allow them to produce and deliver samples fast.
WE WORK
LIKE YOU
A Tier 2 supplier, Accuride follows advanced product quality planning (APQP) and Production Part Approval Processes (PPAP) procedures.