GX sized Adventure Trailers & RTT's: Why/Why not? (1 Viewer)

[Tex68w]

TEX68w, we also are just my wife and I, but sometimes my daughter and granddaughter, but they will drive themselves and use my wife's Taco to load their own gear in, so we're not over loaded.
Being in the Army, I completely understand your minimalist attitude. My Go-Bag and 3-Day Assault Bag are very trim.
And even all our camping gear is very trim, it's just that it is very "comfortable" camping, which takes up room. I have everything setup as systems so it takes less space and fewer components to load when we head out.
Personally, I'd really like to design and build my own trailer. There are features I'd add that I have not seen on any other trailer, like a ~20 gal fuel cell with a hand pump to augment not having to carry 5 gal jerry gas cans or roto packs on the back bumper. Haaving a vertical telescoping stall on the front tongue (a long tongue) so when it is collapsed, it's only about 4' high, slide it up and it'll be about 6.6 to 7' high with a shower head and port-a-potty inside. Dry camping with no toilets is kind of a sticking point with my wife, although she's quite the trooper and does fine.

Agreed, it just doesn't make sense with my personal needs, I'm solo a lot of the time as well and simply use a blowup mattress in the back and sleep quite comfortably. I built my first trailer using a M1101 HMMWV trailer as the base. It was a fun project and I had a water tank underneath, some nice touches like you're mentioning, but it still didn't tickle my fancy. My other half wishes for more amenities as well but she makes do for a night or two with a whores bath (body wipes) and the luggable loo.

Tex68w: you're right, it isn't the norm for "adventure trailers". I also agree that towing isn't fun, that it was expensive, and that it limits what / where you can go with it. The advantages (all comfort related) outweigh the disadvantages for me because it means I can get the family out camping at a fairly high frequency. Without this, we wouldn't go very often.

Ideal setup for me would be a minimalist approach (tent, small fridge, and some cooking equipment) for just me (or maybe my daughter when she's a bit older), and the trailer for when *people* (wife) who require more comfort want to come.

I was in the Navy, so I guess I like the comfort a little too! I was initially very dismissive of the value of having onboard hot water, but I will tell you that after a day of hiking and hanging out around a campfire, a quick rinse off feels GREAT.

r2m: the camera quality is *okay*, and it does a decent job of backup camera and rear view mirror duties. Not as clear as direct vision for sure, but it is enough to know what's behind you. You can select or deselect the image on the Garmin very easily.

I understand the need for some and it sounds like your trailer makes a lot of sense for your needs and it looks like a spectacular unit. I grew up in a Navy family so I understand where you're coming from haha, my family thinks I am nuts for going Army but I knew enough about the Navy to stay away haha. The Navy and most certainly the Air Force had it much better than us. The AF got an added monthly stipend for certain posts that were considered substandard by the AF standards lol. Fort Sam Houston was the nicest post I was ever stationed at and the AF got a stipend there, I can only imagine how fantastic their bases were lol.

I had a FreeSpiritReacreation Overlander trailer. I bought it second hand for $8k CAD including the M60 Adventure tent, spent about $3-4k CAD on modifications, and sold the tent & trailer (separately) for $13.5k. It was a great little unit, but it had downsides. Poor entry into the storage (small doors), non-lifting top, lack of OEM tongue platform, spare wheel, etc.

I recently saw a well-equipped CVT trailer locally for $12.5k CAD brand new. It was a phenomenal unit - very well built, had everything you'd need, at a very attractive price. If I were to go this adventure trailer route again, that's what I would buy.

If you are planning on basecamping for a week, I would skip the whole ordeal and get a small, but proper travel trailer like the Hymer Touring I've got now.

I don't think my trailer limits me in any way. I can back up a trailer like a champ, and if it really comes down to it, I can take it off the vehicle, spin it around, and re-connect after turning myself around. I think this is a fantastic setup for going doing a somewhat-rough FSR, setting up camp, and exploring from there.

The lack of a pop top is what kills it for me with a lot of these adventure trailers.

 

[r2m]

I had a FreeSpiritReacreation Overlander trailer. I bought it second hand for $8k CAD including the M60 Adventure tent, spent about $3-4k CAD on modifications, and sold the tent & trailer (separately) for $13.5k. It was a great little unit, but it had downsides. Poor entry into the storage (small doors), non-lifting top, lack of OEM tongue platform, spare wheel, etc.

I recently saw a well-equipped CVT trailer locally for $12.5k CAD brand new. It was a phenomenal unit - very well built, had everything you'd need, at a very attractive price. If I were to go this adventure trailer route again, that's what I would buy.

If you are planning on basecamping for a week, I would skip the whole ordeal and get a small, but proper travel trailer like the Hymer Touring I've got now.

I don't think my trailer limits me in any way. I can back up a trailer like a champ, and if it really comes down to it, I can take it off the vehicle, spin it around, and re-connect after turning myself around. I think this is a fantastic setup for going doing a somewhat-rough FSR, setting up camp, and exploring from there.

That Hymer Touring is pretty cool, except it is sooo darn low to the ground.
I'd like to have a decent approach and departure angle if I have to cross any streams or small (very small) boulder/rock fields.

 

[r2m]

Agreed, it just doesn't make sense with my personal needs, I'm solo a lot of the time as well and simply use a blowup mattress in the back and sleep quite comfortably. I built my first trailer using a M1101 HMMWV trailer as the base. It was a fun project and I had a water tank underneath, some nice touches like you're mentioning, but it still didn't tickle my fancy. My other half wishes for more amenities as well but she makes do for a night or two with a whores bath (body wipes) and the luggable loo.




I understand the need for some and it sounds like your trailer makes a lot of sense for your needs and it looks like a spectacular unit. I grew up in a Navy family so I understand where you're coming from haha, my family thinks I am nuts for going Army but I knew enough about the Navy to stay away haha. The Navy and most certainly the Air Force had it much better than us. The AF got an added monthly stipend for certain posts that were considered substandard by the AF standards lol. Fort Sam Houston was the nicest post I was ever stationed at and the AF got a stipend there, I can only imagine how fantastic their bases were lol.




The lack of a pop top is what kills it for me with a lot of these adventure trailers.

Okay, a quick little quip on military branches and their calls.
Marine Corp: "Hoorah!"
Army: "Hooah!"
Air Force: "Hilton!"

 

[giovanni]

And Navy: "Huh?"

 

[eatSleepWoof]

That Hymer Touring is pretty cool, except it is sooo darn low to the ground.
I'd like to have a decent approach and departure angle if I have to cross any streams or small (very small) boulder/rock fields.

I have 9 3/4" under the lowest hanging valve. That's more than a stock GX. Considerably more clearance elsewhere. The angle of torsion arms is easily adjustable (pull the wheel, loosen one bolt, remove the hub and re-sit it at a different angle) for at least another 5" of clearance, (I saw the trailer sitting at that height when I initially picked it up post-lift) but at that point it wouldn't fit in the garage.

 

[Tex68w]

Cessna 150L, overhauled it myself. Wife & I make weight with full tanks, we do fly ins and $100 handburgers. Broke it in March 2020, put 150hrs on it, my son put 40. Installed a glideslope and add-b myself. Building a Ch750 Super Duty now.

Nice! My buddy had a 150K Aerobat, it was a nice little plane but making weight was always a struggle. We almost partnered up and bought a Piper Comanche 400 last year but we decided to pass due to the lack of parts for that hot rod. Less than 100 remain flying today and we didn't want to be stuck with a plane that needed some small part that we could no longer get. The current owner was already experiencing those issues, so we said no thanks. It was a bummer to pass as that plane could scoot with a cruise speed of 185 knots and a max bumping 200. That Lycoming IO-720 is a thirsty girl at those speeds though and that would have gotten pricey in short order.

Now I have been flirting with the idea of something more along the lines of a STOL like a Carbon Cub, Husky or KitFox. It would be nice to be able to fly to the ranch and do a lot of soft field landings but weight and capacity are a major issue with them and we'd never be able to take the wives up either. I have a buddy who is currently looking at Cessna 180's for the same use but with more carrying capacity, they sure are nice. The only plane available to us currently is our buddies Cessna 172S/Skyhawk SP, it's a nice plane with a glass cockpit but it bores me haha. Who knows what we will end up with if anything at all, but right now is definitely not the time for me to be shopping, that said, this conversation will have me doing just that this evening lol.

 

[jmanscotch]

I think Giovanni and others said lots of how I feel already, but I'll see if I can add my experiences. The biggest key factor for me is how we use our setup, meaning we don't wheel hard, we explore. For that, our trailer is perfect.

I grew up tent camping and never really enjoyed it (tents, that is). I'm not a minimalist camper, more a "find comfort without going overboard" type anyways. Then, 8 years ago, I met the wifey and she's a city girl through and through and while she was willing to get outside her comfort zone and go camping with me and the boys back in the day, when things got more serious, she made it clear she would only keep interest in the hobby if she had a few items of comfort:

- toilet with privacy
- a mattress (which my back always appreciated too)
- some security
- warmth

With that in mind, we tried a few things, starting 4-5 years ago. First was our RTT on the bed of the truck.




That was a definite improvement, but still lacked some warmth (yes, RTTs have come a long way since then and can be warm), security and she particularly didn't like climbing down a ladder in the middle of the night or on cold mornings. We had invested in the gear, so we pushed on for a while.

One of the things that drove me mad was loading up all the camping gear and unpacking after, some people don't mind that, but for mainly weekend trips, I was growing tired of that process every weekend. We decided to look at trailers to solve the storage issue. After pricing even the most basic adventure trailers out, we echoed the opinions of many here and thought $7Kentry price and well above that was just obnoxious for what you got. So I decided to build my own.

Bought a $300 4x6 trailer and proceeded to build it up, focused on gear storage and some off road capabilities and begun enjoying that lifestyle...while growing less fond of the RTT portion of it. The trailer went anywhere we wanted, I never avoided a trail just because of the trailer...but we also go alone, so we don't often try to traverse the toughest Colorado trails anyways, at-least not before dropping the trailer at a camp site before wheeling on.





One of the tricks was to keep it balanced right and extend the tongue. This meant it followed really well (but would be a small nightmare on small technical trails) and was easy to back or unhook and turn if needed. I grew up with trailers, so I'm comfortable with backing in most any situation (I know plenty who aren't, and that should obviously be a factor).

Then I sold that trailer and the wife and I shopped the more enclosed style off road trailers, to help hit that checklist she wanted and to get away from the RTT issues we didn't enjoy. We talked to a local shop (Hiker trailers) and priced out a trailer we liked, cost to the wind. It came in at stupid money, so we scaled it back and almost pulled the trigger, but ultimately realized we were on budget but not getting the trailer we truly wanted due to that. So again, I figured I'd just build it.

Bought a new 5x8 cargo trailer for $2,000 and went to town on it. Added a 3’ tongue (again, easy backing, poor cornering in tight spaces), Jeep CJ-7 suspension, loads of comforts and a off road hitch.

And bam, we're trailer people now. It has all the pros we wanted and no cons that we can't easily live with for our use. All her checklist items are satisfied (we have a bathroom tent and a pop up toilet, with biodegradable bags we bury) as well as fixes my main complaints.

To cover a few pros and cons for ya, from our POV:

Pros:

- Offroading with a trailer is more technically fun, meaning even medium and easy trails become more interesting. It is a consideration back there, no matter how you dice it, but that can be fun and I do enjoy it.
- It's incredibly more comfortable that tent camping and even RTT camping. We have 1" insulation, which helps with noise. We have solid walls and doors that lock (for campsite security, home security and bear security). We get very little wind issues, don't have to pack away a wet/muddy tent and getting in/out is cake.
- It stores everything we take camping, except food and clothes. So when it's time to take off for a weekend, we throw some food and drinks in a cooler, pack a change of underwear and a jacket and go.
- Having a powered camper is luxury and very enjoyable. Wheel around all day, explore the sites and come to camp with a way to recharge phones, a heated blanket and an ipad to watch movies on.
- at the end of the day, for going where we go, your options are tent, RTT, vehicle camping or a similar trailer and we feel the trailer takes the cake.
- in a true jam, I now have three spare tires for the rig to get home. Might leave the trailer behind for a day, but it is an option if our day has gone that south.

Cons:

- Limited on trials you can fit down or you dare to go down, but can be sometimes overcome by parking at camp for the day, unhooking and getting out to wheel.
- Cost. Although I'm only into my homebuilt unit about $7,000 and change, and it has everything the $25K Hiker trailer we specced out has, and more.
- you need space to store it and a little budget to maintain it, both more so than a RTT
- Security. While it has added a lot for animals and at night, it is now something that someone could somewhat easily steal, either from an unattended camp site or my driveway. There’s some easy ways to ward that off some though.
- Financial risk. This applies mostly to our specific home built camper situation. I tried long and hard, but not one insurance company will insure our trailer for anything more than a $2,000 cargo trailer. The system just isn’t setup to accommodate it. So at the end of the day, if it rolls down a trail, flips into a tree or is stolen, I’m out $5,000+. I consider it a worthwhile risk at this point, but it’s a risk to consider.

We haven't noticed much a hit on gas mileage, I'm sure it's there but it hasn't been horrible enough, so I don't mind. Our trailer only weights in at ~1,500 pounds wet though.

We don’t mind that you can’t stand up in it. We also don’t have kids, which might change things some I’m sure. At full retail price of some of them, it’d definitely be a hard justification for occasional use.

 

[jmanscotch]

Also, I know a couple companies that build them do a demo/rental program. I think it’d be money well spent to rent one for a weekend, take it down familiar trails and try it out, see what you take a liking to and what rears it’s head as your biggest complaints. Will help with the overall decision as well as some options decisions if you and the wife decide to go down that path.

Here’s one that popped up with a quick search in Cali:http://www.rentoffthegrid.com/

 

[giovanni]

jmanscotch - you've described my discussions and experience with my wife on the subject perfectly!

And I think you summarized the pros / cons perfectly!

On the security subject: I put locking pins in all three points (receiver, coupling, trailer side) anytime I leave my trailer anywhere. Wouldn't stop a person who really wanted to steal it, but they'd have to work at it and it would take time.

 

[r2m]

I think Giovanni and others said lots of how I feel already, but I'll see if I can add my experiences. The biggest key factor for me is how we use our setup, meaning we don't wheel hard, we explore. For that, our trailer is perfect.

I grew up tent camping and never really enjoyed it (tents, that is). I'm not a minimalist camper, more a "find comfort without going overboard" type anyways. Then, 8 years ago, I met the wifey and she's a city girl through and through and while she was willing to get outside her comfort zone and go camping with me and the boys back in the day, when things got more serious, she made it clear she would only keep interest in the hobby if she had a few items of comfort:

- toilet with privacy
- a mattress (which my back always appreciated too)
- some security
- warmth

With that in mind, we tried a few things, starting 4-5 years ago. First was our RTT on the bed of the truck.




That was a definite improvement, but still lacked some warmth (yes, RTTs have come a long way since then and can be warm), security and she particularly didn't like climbing down a ladder in the middle of the night or on cold mornings. We had invested in the gear, so we pushed on for a while.

One of the things that drove me mad was loading up all the camping gear and unpacking after, some people don't mind that, but for mainly weekend trips, I was growing tired of that process every weekend. We decided to look at trailers to solve the storage issue. After pricing even the most basic adventure trailers out, we echoed the opinions of many here and thought $7Kentry price and well above that was just obnoxious for what you got. So I decided to build my own.

Bought a $300 4x6 trailer and proceeded to build it up, focused on gear storage and some off road capabilities and begun enjoying that lifestyle...while growing less fond of the RTT portion of it. The trailer went anywhere we wanted, I never avoided a trail just because of the trailer...but we also go alone, so we don't often try to traverse the toughest Colorado trails anyways, at-least not before dropping the trailer at a camp site before wheeling on.





One of the tricks was to keep it balanced right and extend the tongue. This meant it followed really well (but would be a small nightmare on small technical trails) and was easy to back or unhook and turn if needed. I grew up with trailers, so I'm comfortable with backing in most any situation (I know plenty who aren't, and that should obviously be a factor).

Then I sold that trailer and the wife and I shopped the more enclosed style off road trailers, to help hit that checklist she wanted and to get away from the RTT issues we didn't enjoy. We talked to a local shop (Hiker trailers) and priced out a trailer we liked, cost to the wind. It came in at stupid money, so we scaled it back and almost pulled the trigger, but ultimately realized we were on budget but not getting the trailer we truly wanted due to that. So again, I figured I'd just build it.

Bought a new 5x8 cargo trailer for $2,000 and went to town on it. Added a 3’ tongue (again, easy backing, poor cornering in tight spaces), Jeep CJ-7 suspension, loads of comforts and a off road hitch.



View attachment 2513684

And bam, we're trailer people now. It has all the pros we wanted and no cons that we can't easily live with for our use. All her checklist items are satisfied (we have a bathroom tent and a pop up toilet, with biodegradable bags we bury) as well as fixes my main complaints.

To cover a few pros and cons for ya, from our POV:

Pros:

- Offroading with a trailer is more technically fun, meaning even medium and easy trails become more interesting. It is a consideration back there, no matter how you dice it, but that can be fun and I do enjoy it.
- It's incredibly more comfortable that tent camping and even RTT camping. We have 1" insulation, which helps with noise. We have solid walls and doors that lock (for campsite security, home security and bear security). We get very little wind issues, don't have to pack away a wet/muddy tent and getting in/out is cake.
- It stores everything we take camping, except food and clothes. So when it's time to take off for a weekend, we throw some food and drinks in a cooler, pack a change of underwear and a jacket and go.
- Having a powered camper is luxury and very enjoyable. Wheel around all day, explore the sites and come to camp with a way to recharge phones, a heated blanket and an ipad to watch movies on.
- at the end of the day, for going where we go, your options are tent, RTT, vehicle camping or a similar trailer and we feel the trailer takes the cake.

Cons:

- Limited on trials you can fit down or you dare to go down, but can be sometimes overcome by parking at camp for the day, unhooking and getting out to wheel.
- Cost. Although I'm only into my homebuilt unit about $7,000 and change, and it has everything the $25K Hiker trailer we specced out has, and more.
- Security. While it has added a lot, it is now something that someone could somewhat easily steal, either from an unattended camp site or my driveway.

We haven't noticed much a hit on gas mileage, I'm sure it's there but it hasn't been horrible enough, so I don't mind. Our trailer only weights in at ~1,500 pounds wet though.

We don’t mind that you can’t stand up in it. We also don’t have kids, which might change things some I’m sure. At full retail price of some of them, it’d definitely be a hard justification for occasional use.

THIS IS EXACTLY THE TYPE OF INPUT I WAS LOOKING FOR!!!!
Kudos on a great write-up, jmanscotch! Thank you.

 

[jmanscotch]

jmanscotch - you've described my discussions and experience with my wife on the subject perfectly!

And I think you summarized the pros / cons perfectly!

On the security subject: I put locking pins in all three points (receiver, coupling, trailer side) anytime I leave my trailer anywhere. Wouldn't stop a person who really wanted to steal it, but they'd have to work at it and it would take time.

Thanks, we’ve had several years of discussion and the ability to decide exactly what we wanted while building it, so it’s been fun. Gotta make the wifes happy .

We have a similar approach in security. We have an off-road hitch, which stops anyone with a standard ball hitch from just hooking up and driving away. We can also pull the hitch off the trailer (as it goes into a 2.5” standard receiver tube) and put our lock pin back in so there’s another time factor if they want to take it. We also have some hefty chains that loop through the wheel and around the leaf springs.

They’ll get it if they really want it, but it won’t be fast and it won’t be easy...which is about as good as you can try for.

 

[ducktapeguy]

I'm actually going through this same decision process right now. I've been debating back and forth if I want to upgrade to a larger Ikamper style or move into a teardrop trailer or some other solution. I've been doing the RTT thing for a while, and while my kids love it, with a family of 4 it's getting really tight in there. I usually end up sleeping in the drivers seat or in a zero gravity chair if I want to get any sleep at all, otherwise I'm being kicked like a soccer ball all night.

Earlier this year we rented one of those off road tear drops from the place Jmanscotch mentioned above. We spent 4 days in the Sierras and they loved it even more than the RTT. The extra space was really nice (2 in the trailer, 2 in the RTT) and being able to carry more food, water, and other stuff made for a much more enjoyable trip. Due to the large water tank we were even able to take a shower, which is an really nice luxury when camping

Then we also tried a "normal" trailer. And unfortunately after trying that, the family no longer wanted the teardrop, they like the indoor bathroom, heater, and beds and being able to stand up and move around.

We also tried an RV this past summer, and guess what, they love that even more! All the advantages of the travel trailer plus they could move around and use the bathroom while I drove. So I guess my point is, if you have a family, set the bar really, really low and don't ever let them know about more comfortable solutions because you can only upgrade, you can never downgrade. Now the RTT isn't "luxury" camping anymore, it's "roughing it"

I haven't tried a camping trailer/rtt combo yet, because I figured if I'm going to tow a trailer, I might as well get a teardrop or something I can sleep in. It's just slightly larger and heavier, but having the extra sleeping space is invaluable. I don't go hardcore offroading so the teardrop doesn't really limit where I would go. It does make some of the trails a little harder to navigate, and as you said it takes a little more forethought when travelling, but other than that it's really easy to manage. I don't mind the speed limitations on the highway, I wouldn't feel comfortable going more than 65 mph anyway, but the reduction in gas mileage really cuts into the already short range of the GX.

However, one of the limitations that's been stopping me from getting a trailer is a few of the places we've visited this past year either had length restrictions which would prohibit any type of trailer, or specifically excluded trailers, even small ones. I've thought about setting up basecamp and just disconnecting the trailer, but I'm not sure if i would feel comfortable leaving a trailer all by itself for more than a few hours. Especially with all types of trailers being in such high demand right now, I'm pretty sure the trailer would disappear the minute I was out of sight.

We just got back from 3 nights at the North rim of the Grand Canyon last week. This is one of those places where trailers aren't allowed. It'd be great to have one out there, but you wouldn't be able to go there with a trailer, so it's a catch 22. Originally I was planning 4-5 nights out there, but having to cram the whole family + gear + water + food for a family of 4, things were pretty cramped so I think the rest of my family had enough after 3 nights and were ready to come home, or at least go to a hotel for a shower. I think if we had a trailer to give us more space with the extra amenities, we probably would have stayed out a week or longer.

 

[Tex68w]

I'm actually going through this same decision process right now. I've been debating back and forth if I want to upgrade to a larger Ikamper style or move into a teardrop trailer or some other solution. I've been doing the RTT thing for a while, and while my kids love it, with a family of 4 it's getting really tight in there. I usually end up sleeping in the drivers seat or in a zero gravity chair if I want to get any sleep at all, otherwise I'm being kicked like a soccer ball all night.

Earlier this year we rented one of those off road tear drops from the place Jmanscotch mentioned above. We spent 4 days in the Sierras and they loved it even more than the RTT. The extra space was really nice (2 in the trailer, 2 in the RTT) and being able to carry more food, water, and other stuff made for a much more enjoyable trip. Due to the large water tank we were even able to take a shower, which is an really nice luxury when camping

View attachment 2514053

Then we also tried a "normal" trailer. And unfortunately after trying that, the family no longer wanted the teardrop, they like the indoor bathroom, heater, and beds and being able to stand up and move around.

View attachment 2514054

We also tried an RV this past summer, and guess what, they love that even more! All the advantages of the travel trailer plus they could move around and use the bathroom while I drove. So I guess my point is, if you have a family, set the bar really, really low and don't ever let them know about more comfortable solutions because you can only upgrade, you can never downgrade. Now the RTT isn't "luxury" camping anymore, it's "roughing it"

I haven't tried a camping trailer/rtt combo yet, because I figured if I'm going to tow a trailer, I might as well get a teardrop or something I can sleep in. It's just slightly larger and heavier, but having the extra sleeping space is invaluable. I don't go hardcore offroading so the teardrop doesn't really limit where I would go. It does make some of the trails a little harder to navigate, and as you said it takes a little more forethought when travelling, but other than that it's really easy to manage. I don't mind the speed limitations on the highway, I wouldn't feel comfortable going more than 65 mph anyway, but the reduction in gas mileage really cuts into the already short range of the GX.

However, one of the limitations that's been stopping me from getting a trailer is a few of the places we've visited this past year either had length restrictions which would prohibit any type of trailer, or specifically excluded trailers, even small ones. I've thought about setting up basecamp and just disconnecting the trailer, but I'm not sure if i would feel comfortable leaving a trailer all by itself for more than a few hours. Especially with all types of trailers being in such high demand right now, I'm pretty sure the trailer would disappear the minute I was out of sight.

We just got back from 3 nights at the North rim of the Grand Canyon last week. This is one of those places where trailers aren't allowed. It'd be great to have one out there, but you wouldn't be able to go there with a trailer, so it's a catch 22. Originally I was planning 4-5 nights out there, but having to cram the whole family + gear + water + food for a family of 4, things were pretty cramped so I think the rest of my family had enough after 3 nights and were ready to come home, or at least go to a hotel for a shower. I think if we had a trailer to give us more space with the extra amenities, we probably would have stayed out a week or longer.

View attachment 2514055

Yea if you continue to move your way up the trailer food chain you'll quickly turn your nose up at the smaller and less luxurious options. We have family members with Airstreams, 35' bumper pulls and even a 42' toy hauler which is like a house on wheels. I dog on the adventure trailer a lot but that's simply because it wasn't for us. If doing the base camp thing then I highly suggest you look at a Casita trailer, they are amazing for the money and built here in Texas. If I were to consider a non-tear drop style adventure trailer to setup as a base camp for my wheeling adventures Casita would be on my short list.

Travel Trailer Dealership Texas | RV Sales Rice, TX

Casita Travel Trailers offers RV sales. Visit us in TX, or call us at (903) 200-4981.

casitatraveltrailers.com

 

[Lenny33]

I have a Garmin backup / rear view camera mounted on my trailer and it wirelessly connects to my Garmin DriveSmart device. Works great as a rear view / backup camera.

How is the quality of the image? I was always told that wireless video signal quality is pretty bad?

 

[giovanni]

It is good enough to make out what's behind you, with very little lag. Good enough to be useful for sure.

 

[Lenny33]

Everyone had different circumstances and everyone had different needs - that much is very apparent from this discussion!
For me, I have a small hybrid camper that will be our main source of camping in both established sites and, more commonly, Colorado boondocking.
BUT, I also need something to take for solo camping with my son’s scout trips and some overlanding style trips with buddies. While a trailer would be great, I don’t think I can justify having two trailers for camping and my wife and kids would lose their mind if I got rid of the camper! So, it seems like RTT is my best bet. I don’t want to have a tent on top of my vehicle at all times. Too bulky and I won’t fit in my garage. So my very specific needs are to have a RTT that I can take off and put on my vehicle easily enough that I won’t get tired of doing it. When I look out at my yard I envision rigging a pulley and winch up in a tree to aid with install and removal. If I get a hard sided RTT, it can just stay outside when not in use. Pic included for reference...

 

[r2m]

With what looks like a nice piece of property, you could build a simple "shed" that is tall enough to pull your vehicle under and hoist your RTT from. Then you have an extra garage, storage, whatever. The shed could be something as simple as a aluminum sided one or even frame one up with 2x4's and side it.
If you make it large enough, you can even keep your trailer under it.
But the point being is that you would have a method of loading/unloading your RTT and storing it.
Just an idea.

 

[r2m]

One type of trailer that I haven't seen discussed yet are the folding and A frame trailers like Starcraft Comet, Forest River Flagstaff, Jay Sport, Coachmen Clipper and others along that style.
Aside from usually having 2 large beds, many come with a galley and often even a shower/toilet.
I'm kind of attracted to them on several levels.

• Low profile, so you may have some rear view.
• Low profile so they're not pushing a lot of air above the roof line of your vehicle = better MPG.
• I believe they are pretty light.
• Compact.
• Pretty much everything my wife and I would want (read: toilet and shower), and even have room for the daughter and grand kid.

The obvious down sides would be, the is applying mostly to trails:

• Tires and wheels are usually pretty small diameter.
• Low ground clearance, which helps with some of the positive comments above.
• Are they fragile if they get bumped or dragged?
• I believe they are kind of wide?

 

[eatSleepWoof]

One type of trailer that I haven't seen discussed yet are the folding and A frame trailers like Starcraft Comet, Forest River Flagstaff, Jay Sport, Coachmen Clipper and others along that style.
Aside from usually having 2 large beds, many come with a galley and often even a shower/toilet.
I'm kind of attracted to them on several levels.

• Low profile, so you may have some rear view.
• Low profile so they're not pushing a lot of air above the roof line of your vehicle = better MPG.
• I believe they are pretty light.
• Compact.
• Pretty much everything my wife and I would want (read: toilet and shower), and even have room for the daughter and grand kid.

The obvious down sides would be, the is applying mostly to trails:

• Tires and wheels are usually pretty small diameter.
• Low ground clearance, which helps with some of the positive comments above.
• Are they fragile if they get bumped or dragged?
• I believe they are kind of wide?

I looked into those quite extensively. The only one of those that's somewhat worth buying is the Aliner, or maybe some Chalet models/years. They are both very expensive for what you get. The others (especially anything made by the Forest River umbrella) will be utter crap. The Aliner and Chalet will be better, but not problem free. People report the main hinges (that hold the triangular pieces which make up the sides) like to bend, especially off-pavement. Also lots of reports of leaks and drafts coming through the edges of side walls and "roof."

 

[r2m]

Great info! Wasn't aware. I can see how they can be kind of fragile with all the articulation and all the hinges mounted aluminum.