Hello to all , I am new to the forum . I have been tent camping and truck camping for about 35 to 40 years . The kids are now older and have better things to do . My wife and I are interested in buying a nice small lightweight trailer camper . It doesn't have to be loaded . Something that can sleep 2 , maybe 3 comfortably with and indoor shower and toilet . We both own 4 cylinder Mitsubishi's , a Lancer and an Outlander . The Outlander would probably been doing the pulling . I have looked into a few models on the internet . Does anyone own a small camper trailer ? What do you think of it ? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated . Thanks , Don

Welcome. We went that root. I have a F150 and we were trying to save gas so we purchased a small hybrid. It was to small. The bathroom is useless. My DW hated having to make up the bed when we arrived at the CG. I guess it depends what kind of camping you are going to do. The hybrid was OK for a couple days but after a week it got old. We wound up getting a light TT. Be care full with your tow vehicles. There are a lot of post about salespersons saying you can tow this with your SUV. BUT...

Check out what LivinLite offers. They have some small travel trailers that may be light enough, and they also have a nice lineup of popups. We have the Camplite 21BHS, which would be too big for your situation, but we love it. They make TTs much smaller and lighter, although the 21BHS is only 3500 pounds (5000 max loaded). Their popups are very nice and light as well.View their offerings by CLICKING HERE.

Welcome to the forum. Lots of good information to be found here. We started with a 23 foot hybrid. The bathroom was way too small for me but my wife used it. We started pulling it with an E150 Ford van with the largest V8 they put in them but quickly discovered that it was waaaaay underpowered on hills and we like to camp in the mountains. We got rid of the van and bought the 1 ton diesel in my signature. We are preparing to become snowbirds next year and upgraded to a big TT earlier this year. My advice is to find the trailer you want and then buy a new tow vehicle to pull it as you can't pull much with your current TV (I wouldn't even try to pull a folding trailer with no bathroom).

Most new RVers try to stay small to begin with and then find quickly they would like to have more space as they begin to enjoy the RVing experience more and more.No matter how small of camper you get the outlander will have trouble towing and stopping it on hills.You would be better off getting a good used larger camper (as large as you can afford) and large SUV or Pickup (you want something rated to tow more than the trailer you choose). Most Rvers go through 3 RVs before they get to the size they really feel comfortable with.Or consider a motorhome and tow the outlander behind it.The rule I use for choosing the size of RV is..... if I was stuck in this for a week due to bad weather how small would it feel when cabin fever kicked in. I'd rather be in a 40ft RV vs a 16 - 20 foot RV

If you aren't going to purchase a new or bigger TV you will need to know the GVWR of your Outlander. Then you can narrow down your TT(using GVWR and not dry weight) to find out what TT will fix your tow window. Be sure to leave yourself at least 500# or more in difference or buy a bigger TV.Good Luck

New To RV'ing | Good Sam Community

djsamuel
Nomad
Nov 04, 2013
Here's a post from the LivinLite Yahoo Group about someone towing a Quicksilver popup with a 4 cylinder RAV4:

"We towed our QS 8.1 from NH to UT and back this spring with a 2008 RAV4 V4. After market hitch. This was our first trip, but won't be the last. We were probably a bit overloaded on the way out. Car handled the load ok, but I did feel that we were laboring on hills and I definitely was a bit uncomfortable trying to keep up with some of the traffic on I40. Mileage is mid-20s without the trailer and dropped drastically as soon as I went over about 60. Were I buying a new car, I'd definitely look for one with a factory towing package."

QUICKSILVER 8 INFO
cdlaine
Explorer
Nov 04, 2013
how does a Trailmanor help, if he has a max tow capacity of only 1500lbs

Apologies...I missed the max towing capacity. Looks like a
replacement tow vehicle is needed...or ignore weight recommendations.
(not recommended). Good luck.

1500 lbs. ain't much.

Charles
2012Coleman
Explorer II
Nov 04, 2013
I don't think you are going to be happy towing anything with your TV. Good luck though.
bikendan
Explorer
Nov 04, 2013
cdlaine wrote:
Don,

Might want to check out TrailManor.

Charles

how does a Trailmanor help, if he has a max tow capacity of only 1500lbs.?:h

the smallest and lightest Trailmanor has a stripped-down "dry" weight of 2150lbs.
cdlaine
Explorer
Nov 04, 2013
Don,

Might want to check out TrailManor.

Charles
AppleValley
Explorer
Nov 04, 2013
We started with a small camper trailer, 16' with a small bathroom, pulled with an F150. We barely got up some steep hills in the mounains, going slow with the heater on to keep it from overheating. It was fine for the first summer when we lived outside much of the time anyway. Not long after we went bigger and bought our basic 5th wheel and also an F350 to tow it. No more towing problems.

We still find the basic 5th wheel to be a bit too small for long term living and might buy a bigger one with slides the next time we upgrade campers.
Dtaylor
Explorer
Nov 02, 2013
I would suggest you guys spend time visiting several RV dealers to get an idea of what you want. After looking at different sizes and models you may find your thoughts changing. Once you have an idea of what you want then upgrade your vehicle to match
bikendan
Explorer
Nov 02, 2013
DonNYM41 wrote:
I looked into my towing capacity. The engine is a 2.4L and can tow up to 1250 lbs without a trailer brake. It can go from 1250 to 1500 with a trailer brake. The sticker inside my door says the car can have a weight and cargo capacity of 826 lbs. Does this affect the trailer weight? Thanks, Don

even at 1500lbs. with the trailer having brakes, that severely limits your choices.
very few options out there, with such a low capacity. most of the smallest popups will weigh more than that loaded.

and yes, the tongue weight factors into the cargo capacity.

unless you upgrade one of your cars, you won't have much to choose from.
bsinmich
Explorer
Nov 02, 2013
Parrothead Mike wrote:
You are obviously looking for a very small camper based upon the weight ratings. About 20 years ago we started with a 20' travel trailer and pulled it with a Chevy Astro Van (6 cyl.). Then we pulled it with a GMC Jimmy. Hills were always interesting, but it pulled okay.

Take a look at these.

http://www.casitatraveltrailers.com/

I was always amazed at the 4.3 litre in the Astros. That was a powerhouse. They were rated pretty high on towing. I never towed with mine because we had a MH at that time.
ncrowley
Explorer II
Nov 02, 2013
For space to weight ratio, a pop-up is great. There are some with a bathroom area but do not expect much in the weight you are restricted to. Things will be very tight.

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