When building my trailers, I had some excess parts (fenders, latches, leaf springs and such) that I sold used on craigslist and had three people buy parts who all had tried hauling their various 'pop-up' style campers around Colorado trails and all three mentioned how much of a beating their campers were taking.
One had been clearly thrashing his, he had bought it for dirt cheap and figured it'd last as long as it lasted and go for junk, but the other two mentioned they were slowly destroying theirs taking them down pretty easy level trails. So yes, I don't think they are a great option.
I did buy/sell a couple older Little Guy teardrops (both purchased for under $2,000 ea) and had a poke around them and had enough confidence that they might just be a decent candidate for a more budget friendly *light* offroad camper. Throw an off road hitch on, soften up the suspension to help absorb off road stresses a bit more and throw on some good wheels/tires and give it a go. Their construction techniques mirror some of the off road brands today, although I'm sure a bit less reinforced.
Also, one perk I forgot to add to the Pro-trailer list is how nice it is not to have to break down camp to go do a little wheeling. When we had the RTT on the truck, we'd setup and be set as camp for the day. With the trailer, a few times, I've unhooked and let the wife linger at camp with all the amenities she needed and headed off in the rig to go play with the guys.
As everyone's experiences here detail, you've just gotta have a honest decision on how you plan to use your setup, what it needs to achieve as a priority and your answer for which route to go should become relatively clear (or atleast split between two main options instead of five).
One had been clearly thrashing his, he had bought it for dirt cheap and figured it'd last as long as it lasted and go for junk, but the other two mentioned they were slowly destroying theirs taking them down pretty easy level trails. So yes, I don't think they are a great option.
I did buy/sell a couple older Little Guy teardrops (both purchased for under $2,000 ea) and had a poke around them and had enough confidence that they might just be a decent candidate for a more budget friendly *light* offroad camper. Throw an off road hitch on, soften up the suspension to help absorb off road stresses a bit more and throw on some good wheels/tires and give it a go. Their construction techniques mirror some of the off road brands today, although I'm sure a bit less reinforced.
Also, one perk I forgot to add to the Pro-trailer list is how nice it is not to have to break down camp to go do a little wheeling. When we had the RTT on the truck, we'd setup and be set as camp for the day. With the trailer, a few times, I've unhooked and let the wife linger at camp with all the amenities she needed and headed off in the rig to go play with the guys.
As everyone's experiences here detail, you've just gotta have a honest decision on how you plan to use your setup, what it needs to achieve as a priority and your answer for which route to go should become relatively clear (or atleast split between two main options instead of five).
And absolutely agree with using the same rims and tires as your pull vehicle!
