Trillium Manufacturers = Confusing

[Roger C H]

The list of trailer brands at the head of this website still doesn't have the Outback Trailer mfd by Team Trillium, not to be confused with Trillium Trailers mfd by Trillium RV. BOTH make trailers made with former Trillium of Ontario molds as I understand.

This one should be added:

Compact lightweight fiberglass Outback travel trailers Calgary | Trillium Trailers

Not this one:

trilliumrv.com

Keep this one, also.

[David Tilston]

There is quite a bit of animosity to that brand with some of our members. I understand that there was a pitched legal battle in the history of their brands. The logo was, at one time, being used without a license. That is all water under the bridge now.
The following link tells the story in their own words.
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...oen-49646.html
Reece and his dad, Joe make the Out Back. Very much like a Trillium, but different. They only have a 13' trailer with different windows, options..., different. But then the current offering from Tom Young is not exactly like the classic Trilliums. They had different windows as well. I much prefer the front dinette option on the older trailers. But the front bath on Tom's unit make much more sense to me.

I agree, Out Back should be counted as a brand, currently in production.

[rabbit]

Both outfits have Alberta addresses now. I thought the U.S. maker was located in Arizona a few yrs. back according to a friend who has one.

jack

Correction 7/3/13: Only the "Outback" maker is located in Alberta. Please excuse.

[Steve Hammel]

Trillium USA has went from Sacramento, Ca. to Carson City, Nv. to somewhere in Arizona all within the last 7 years.

[Cathy P.]

Now I am confused. Just yesterday, I was looking at this page and it is the one in AZ: Demo 4500 Model Available | Trillium RV but it isn't an Outback as shown in the website referenced above. Also, the link above, when I was there a few months ago, had a price from 2010 so I was thinking that it was a dead link since I can't think of any prices that have not increased since 2010. So, I am confused. I don't see much discussion on the Trillium either. I like that they have variety in the floorplans of the smaller units.

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Cathy P.

Now I am confused. Just yesterday, I was looking at this page and it is the one in AZ: Demo 4500 Model Available | Trillium RV but it isn't an Outback as shown in the website referenced above. Also, the link above, when I was there a few months ago, had a price from 2010 so I was thinking that it was a dead link since I can't think of any prices that have not increased since 2010. So, I am confused. I don't see much discussion on the Trillium either. I like that they have variety in the floorplans of the smaller units.

That link is for Trillium RV now in Arizona and making trailers with the Trillium name (Which trademark/name is owned by them, see registration info at Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)

Most of the confusion surrounding this issue is due to the fact that while they don't sell a "Trillium-branded" trailer, the folks that make the Outback call themselves "Team Trillium", and their website is actually named Trillium trailers.com.

Francesca

[Cathy P.]

My curiosity got the best of me and I sent a message to Outback asking if they were still in business and sent them a link to this thread. Both Outback and Trillium are good looking trailers!

[Roger C H]

The Trillium RV trailer follows the original Trillium design in having jalousie type windows on all four sides, although presently, the windows have rounded corners whereas the originals were square.
The Outback has solid windows front and back as far as I can discern from the pictures on the website, and sliding windows on the right and left sides, although somewhat larger than the jalousie types on the Trillium.
I do agree that a lot of the confusion comes from the Outback's manufacturer's "Team Trillium" name and the website being called "Trillium Trailers."

[Mary F]

The two Outbacks in our Registry are listed as "Trillium Outback," and they have the Trillium logo molded into their door. So, was Outback at one time a model name for the Trillium? Or did the current Outback manufacturer at one time use the Trillium logo?

[Francesca Knowles]

Those molds are well traveled...haven't you seen my famous "Trilliums of the World" flowmap?

After the company went belly up in 1980, who knows who had the molds? I think that both Joe Thoen (Outback) and Tom Young (Trillium) were associated with the original company somehow. Tom Young acquired legal rights to the name somewhere along the line, but I think that Outback was the first to produce a new trailer from the original molds. The early Outbacks did come out with the original logo still molded into the door.

Francesca

[Donna D.]

Tom Young and TrilliumRV won the battle. His Trillium is the new official Trillium. Outback may look the same, but they no longer have "Trillium" any place except the name of the website. This is probably an "international" problem since one brand is in Canada and the other in the USA. Maybe the UN can solve the problem?

[mzuzel]

More history in this 2007 thread:

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ium-28201.html

Z

[Donna D.]

To screw it up even more for the newbees... Escape Trailer Industries, at one time, molded the bodies for TrilliumRV. So, are (fairly) recent owners of a Trillium, now owners of an Outback build, one of several different USA company builds or an Escape built body Trillium?

I'm glad I have a Scamp

Aaaaand... talk about Burro? There's another manufacturing place mess...

[David Tilston]

But, none of this history explains why Out Back, is not represented very well on this site. By all measures, they are a current manufacturer.
B.T.W. I have recently separated the two words, Out Back, because that is how it is on their website. Probably at trade mark thing.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

But, none of this history explains why Out Back, is not represented very well on this site. By all measures, they are a current manufacturer.
B.T.W. I have recently separated the two words, Out Back, because that is how it is on their website. Probably at trade mark thing.

Their logo shows two words, but every place else it's one word... They really, really need to update their website. Giving a base price from 2010 on the home page is very bad marketing.

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

To screw it up even more for the newbees... Escape Trailer Industries, at one time, molded the bodies for TrilliumRV. So, are (fairly) recent owners of a Trillium, now owners of an Outback build, one of several different USA company builds or an Escape built body Trillium?

Did Escape ever actually build/mold any Trilliums (brand) for Tom Young at all?

I thought that the partnership went south (pun intended) before any were actually made under the Trillium name, production then going to Mattman.

Francesca

[Cathy P.]

I still wonder if they are or are not in business, the Outback one so does any actually know for sure if they are still in business. I have no response on my email yet but it has only been a day but, frankly, if I email someone that sells something and don't get a fairly quick answer or at least an acknowledgement, I just move on and am probably not the only one.

[Francesca Knowles]

Anecdotal evidence per Outback's continuing existence:

Another member here, Gail H, has a thread running per getting an awning for her Trillium...I having acquired mine through Outback some time ago, I advised her to contact them for help/advice. She posted yesterday that she'd done so and quotes owner Joe Thoen extensively on the subject ( link to thread). Joe's the same person who proved so helpful to me in that matter...

Don't know the means of contact- sounds as if she might have just called him, which is as a matter of fact the same way I dealt with him in 2006!

Anyway, they're still out there...

Francesca

[Mary F]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

But, none of this history explains why Out Back, is not represented very well on this site. By all measures, they are a current manufacturer.
B.T.W. I have recently separated the two words, Out Back, because that is how it is on their website. Probably at trade mark thing.

Actually, it does, David. The reason for my question was this:

When we created the list of brands on the Home Page, we decided to pretty much only list brands owned by members of the site. That has been expanded, but Outback wasn't added to the list at least in part because of the confusement of whether and what the Outback/Out back/Trillium Outback is. (If it were just a particular model of Trillium, it would not get a separate listing.)

You may remember we've had a hard time getting that Manufacturers list updated these past three years or so, because of software incompatibilities (stability issues). That may be corrected now (we were able to make some updates a few weeks ago), but the Outback did not make it into the group of additions because nobody was advocating for its inclusion. We tried to catch them all... we really did.

Now that you have brought it up again, we'll see what we can do about it.

So, thank you for your help.

[Al Bear]

Just placed an order last week for a Trillium 1300 from Nohr' RV in Pleasonton, CA. It is for a Trillium made by Tom at his plant in Florence, Arizona. Can't wait to get it! We'll be taking it on the road for 4 weeks starting April 28th.