Anyone tow a Fleetwood/Coleman E2 | E3 with their 100?

[yeti in ga]

I searched and looked at all kinds and found a 2005 Starcraft 10rt which they dont make anymore. no deck, full suspension , 15 inch mud terrain , stereo , outside speakers. loaded. It pulls so nice ! no bouncing when going over bumps..... This thing is nice and with a family of 4 is perfect for setting up base camp.

I looked at the ones with decks and they just are too long to take and pull into an out of the way camping spot. You would end up not taking it to many out of the way places.

good luck on your choice...

 

[farinvail]

We've been hauling an E1 for 2 summers, and what we've have this year could be called summer I guess. I live at 8,000ft and drive over mountain passes a lot. I regeared to 4.88's and the 100 is much happier pulling that way(50mph over the pass loaded). My friend tows an E2 with his 80 it's slow. I have 2 other friends that have E3's one tows with a ram 1500, frickin' slow with an ATV on the deck (35mph over the pass loaded). Other one tows E3 with a Honda Ridgeline. I'm sure the 100 can handle the E3 if you're gonna load it smart and use the space for lighter stuff. If you live somewhere flat I don't think you'd have any problems. I've been happy with the E1 we use a Pett toilet and the outside hose to shower off. We've taken it places you wouldn't think it'd fit.

 

[rusty_tlc]

Dan, what do you mean by your "read the comments" comment? Would you personally be looking at these other options? What is your opinion on the Evolution series, in my--granted brief--investigation and crawling around various trailers it on the surface appears the Evolution is about the best-made without many mods for doing forest service roads &c.

Your thoughts appreciated.

Do you have an opinion on Scamp/Casitas? Or have you picked up a trend of info from your reading? I will definitely read some more, but your words sound like a warning...

...I am not planning on offroading my camper as the OP is. I plan to use it on highways and campgrounds. I will continue primitive camping for offroad trips.

Sorry Scott, I do not mean to thread jack entirely

There are a lot of negative reviews for both trailers on the web, my wife and I were thinking about buying one and did some research. And yes we are looking for a hard side trailer. As Imentioned there are a lot more light weight options out there now than just a few years ago.

RE the evolution: I didn't see that much difference between the Evolution series and the stock pop-up other than the suspension. We don't own quads so the cargo platform wasn't much use to us. Plus we hated the black interior, in Nevada with our light soil it would always be a mess. The bottom line is, in my opinion, you are paying a lot for some diamond plate and yellow paint. BTW the same comments apply to the Starcraft models.

We bought our used Starcraft for $3200 and I put another $400 into the spring over and larger hubs/wheels. As the cabinets fall apart I am re-building them with glue and screws replacing the staple construction. BTW unless you but a high end trailer like the Arctic Fox the cabinets will be stapled together and they will fall apart when you take the road less traveled. When I get my welder wired up I will add gussets at the frame corners, I did this with an old teardrop trailer we had and it held up to many miles of FS roads. When I'm done it still won't be a real off road trailer but it will be better than any domestically available option other than the Adventure Trailer.

 

[bkgee]

i just started reading the freebie copy of overland journal (summer 2008, dload as trial from their website). it has a comparo of 5 camper trailers. No Coleman products but it might be informative anyhow...

 

[offroadkid]

i just started reading the freebie copy of overland journal (summer 2008, dload as trial from their website). it has a comparo of 5 camper trailers. No Coleman products but it might be informative anyhow...

At the time we bought our E3, it was owned by Fleetwood. Coleman is now back as the owner of the folding travel trailers.

 

[iseibert]

I tow a Starcraft 14RT with my LX470 and have been very pleased. I use a P3 brake controller and a Equalizer hitch for weight distribution and sway control. I've probably towed over 10,000 miles with this setup and have had no issues or problems with the weight of the trailer or power.

I do tow with OD off on long inclines it will downshift to second gear on occasion but will still climb at 55 MPH. When traveling on the Interstate, you really do forget its back there. I've done 1,500 miles in one day and average about 12 MPG while towing highway miles.

My trailer approaches 4,000 pounds when loaded with the generator, full truck box with tools and gear, and coolers, etc. I've read where others are towing boats and trailers in excess of the 6,500lb weight limit. I'm not sure I would be comfortable in that area, but it seems to do very well with my setup.

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

K I m b e r l y . . .

 

[rusty_tlc]

K I m b e r l y . . .

Pictures?

 

[andyhess]

I pull a Starcraft 10RT. Empty & dry (with no propane) it's about 2200lbs. Loaded with gear & propane I estimate it's about 2600lbs. With 35 gal of water, make that 2900lbs (I never fill it up when I tow in the mountains for this reason). I went to 10lb propane tanks and a single AGM battery to lower the tongue weight, so only use a sway control (no weight distributing hitch).

Just completed a trip over Sonora Pass in California. Sonora Pass is 9600' with 26% grades (no joke), so that's about as tough as it gets. My Land Cruiser performed like a champ. I did put in in 4L for some of the steeper parts-- I expect a lot of you will freak when you hear this, but it worked great by allowing the transmission to use all of it's gears. I only did it uphill and kept the speed below 20MPH (you'd be crazy to go faster than that on that pass).

Oh, have a Prodigy break controller... total PITA to find out how to work with the vehicle's wiring harness. Ask if you need pointers.

 

[boze_man]

i towed a rented 14rt for a month last summer with the fam from TX to MT and back and the lc towed it well...i did add billys and airbags and used a weight dist hitch/sway bars...only tow issue is the feedback from the trailer battery back into the lc but i think that is an easy fix thru a rv dealer as the TSB fix does NOT fix prob

i liked the 14rt but if i did purchase i think i would find a smaller/lighter unit and do a soa like rusty_tlc posted above

 

[Pskhaat]

So what's so nice about the Starcrafts?

 

[rusty_tlc]

i towed a rented 14rt for a month last summer with the fam from TX to MT and back and the lc towed it well...i did add billys and airbags and used a weight dist hitch/sway bars...only tow issue is the feedback from the trailer battery back into the lc but i think that is an easy fix thru a rv dealer as the TSB fix does NOT fix prob

i liked the 14rt but if i did purchase i think i would find a smaller/lighter unit and do a soa like rusty_tlc posted above

I already had an OME medium suspension with Bilstiens. But the trailer is so light I can move by hand on flay ground. I doubt it would affect even a stock truck.

For the charge circuit I used a mechanical relay(solenoid) with a thermal breaker. The control is a ignition on only circuit, I think I used the cell phone or some other option I don't have. No issues so far.

 

[upper canada fjc]

Coleman E2

Hey,Guys

I have a 2009 Coleman E2 tent trailer.
I upgraded from my 2006 Fleetwood neon.

They are both in the same family, built very well all steel construction. They have great ground clearance with bigger LT MUD tires from the factory. They are made for people who like to have the option of going off the beaten path. They are not designed for hard core wheeling. (to long and wide).

But you will have no problems travelling on black tracks or getting back into the bush. The E2 has a dry weight of 2700 lbs, full weight 4400lbs and a 400lbs tonque weight. That's a of cargo.

I do not have a quad or dirt bikes. I use the front deck for mountain bikes, fire wood, coolers, gen inverter. And anything else I don't want in the truck.

For me it is Glamping, but once you start using the shower on the inside or the outdoor high pressure hot or cold spray nozzle or toilet. You will understand just how self contained you really are.

You have a 35 Gal freshwater tank, 6 Gal hot water, 6 Gal toilet.
30 Amp built in power inverter, 40 lbs of propane, indoor stove out door high pressure stove, 3 way fridge, furnace, 12 volt electric water pump, lights inside and out and radio CD with indoor outer speakers, just to name a few items.

I am not connected to Fleetwood/Coleman by any means. I checked out everything on the market before my purchase.
The construction quality and attention to detail sold me.

I currently pull with a 2007 FJC 6spd, I have a HD OME susp and have no issues.

Bottom line buy what you like, but before you do. Research and make sure you are comparing apples to apples, before spending hard earned money.

Cheers

Dave

 

[Pskhaat]

For me it is Glamping...

Noooooooo, please don't use that word!

Thanks for the info

 

[Pskhaat]

Have you ever considered removing the ATV tray on the E2? Might lighten up the tongue weight and shorten it enough?

 

[nakman]

... We've taken it places you wouldn't think it'd fit.

I love those places..

I've got an older Coleman/Fleetwood, "sedona" is the model. I bought it wrecked, had to rebuild half the interior, re-wire the lights... much better now as I took out the fridge and added a microwave, removed one of the cabinets for more interior space, added a bunch of lighting... with the SOA it'll go pretty far, only worry is finding a place to turn around if you run into other vehicles.

Here's my spot from Saturday night, we actually had hikers walk by and comment how impressed they were we got a camper back there...

100 content: I haven't wired constant 12v to the back yet, plus I needed the bigger truck for the next morning's adventure so it stayed at home and the 80 got out to play

 

[wngrog]

Mine tows this big bitch nicely. I air bagged it for this.

 

[Pskhaat]

What's the weight on that big bitch?

 

[wngrog]

What's the weight on that big bitch?

3500# is what they say..... I think more. Lots of room though!

 

[Pskhaat]

I'm still hesitant on the size/weight of the E2 being pulled by the 100 traveling primarily in the mountain states, especially with 4.10s. How'd she pull?