Tow Capacity & Trailer Choice

[Gene]

I think Memgrove's idea may be a solution that the rest of us missed because it's so obvious. It would be a newer vehicle and hopefully have less restoration to deal with.

Tom's idea also is worth considering. A friend just bought a "hybrid" trailer. The kitchen/dinette/bath area is a small hard sided trailer with fold out for a bed on each end. I think the dinette also becomes a bed. He bought it because he couldn't maneuver anything bigger than 19' up his driveway. The fold out parts are soft sided. It's called Trail Cruiser. I haven't seen it yet and don't know what it weighs, but it may be a solution. This would not be a 4 season unit. I would think light weight may in some instances mean poor construction. A well made lightweight trailer will probably have an aluminum frame because it saves a lot of pounds.

But it wouldn't be as cool as an Airstream Moho.

Gene

[hampstead38]

Personally, I like the TrailManor. If my wife and I were choosing a weekend "camping" trailer rather than an "up-to-a-year-full-timing" trailer, we might have bought one. A 27' TrailManor weighs less than 2900 pounds dry and given the "folding" design, it has a much lower profile than a standard "box." While I haven't towed one, I think it would be very well behaved given the low center of gravity and reduced sail area.

Unfortunately, TrailManor still feels a little 70s in its interior design and as noted, it lacks the "cool" of aluminum... but it is does seem to be a good technology.

[Road Ruler]

For many years we towed a 2,000lb pop up with our 150HP Nissan Van. With that set up we averaged 19MPG towing.

Then we went to the 4,500lb 23' Airstream and the fuel usage only dropped to 16MPG (imp gals). Not a lot of difference in towability between the two trailers.

[Aage]

Well, come to think about it, before we fell in love with Airstream TTs, we were quite taken with Hi-Lo trailers. They are all metal, and have a motorized top half that lifts and lowers at the touch of a button.

This makes a huge difference in overall weight, PLUS gives better (less) tow-resistance than about any other trailer.

And yet, while they are up, they have all the benefits of a square trailer: better headroom and more space, AND they are metal, no canvas.

Here's a link to a used one, a 21'unit that sleeps six, and here is the company website. Only showing the used one for some more "real" photos that it shows.

Here's to open minds....!

[IronGiant]

Fellow Campers

Thank you all for such great feedback. I appreciate everyone's concern given my predicament, and will work with CanAm Rv to find a workable solution for the safety of both my family and the vehicle. If towing modifications let me haul 5000-6000 lbs that would be great

However, after how loud my 2 little girls were screaming tonite; they'll definately be backcountry camping someday. Anyways, baseball going on all day tommorrow, pictures, then practice for 2 with one pink princess in tow. Thanks again for the help will keep everyone updated when I know more.
Pat

[jmallgood]

When I was a kid in the 50's we had a very small teardrop trailer. There were 8 of us. My parents slept in the trailer and the kids slept in tents. We had an umbrella tent for my 4 sisters, and my brother and I shared a pup tent. Most of our cooking was done on a Coleman stove and the campfire, only breakfast was made in the trailer. I rarely went inside the trailer, usually just to load or unload all the camping stuff we brought. We camped for a month each August, all over California and once at Yellowstone. We never camped at commercial RV parks, always at the National Parks, National Forests, and state parks. There was always a restroom nearby. When in rained or a plague of flying sucking insects, we zipped up the tents. Bathing was in the river or lakes (the Merced river is the coldest river in the world, BTW). We never went in the trailer. It was great, and we never even considered getting a larger trailer.

The purpose of autobiography is to emphasize that the size of your trailer depends on what kind of camping you intend to do, where you will camp, and how much "roughing it" you want to experience. My wife and I now share a 25' Classic. No kids or dogs. We still avoid commercial RV parks, and boondock it in National Forest or BLM land. The reason we went with the Classic is the water carrying capacity, as we often times are out for two weeks at a time with only the water we bring with us. We ride our mountain bikes every day, so showers are a must, and long showers are greatly appreciated after a long uphill ride on a hot day. We certainly do not rough it. The 25 footer is larger than we need; we would have been fine with a 19 footer, but the water situation was key for us as we almost always camp in the desert (Utah, AZ, NM, and Mexico). Since we are retired, we camp all summer and into the fall.

I see no problem with buying a small light trailer that your Mazda can tow, and buy a couple of good tents for the kids. They will love it.