Forum Discussion
tatest
Aug 17, 2015Explorer II
Sounds like you are looking at R-Pods, not teardrops. Teardrops are sleeping boxes, sometimes with an outdoor kitchen in the rear, and probably not what you want.
R-Pod is one of several brands of full size (but small) travel trailers selling into the "under 3500" pounds or "under 5000 pounds" markets, some having a teardrop like shape, others the same size and weight but more boxy. All R-Pod models have the wet bath you describe, and you'll have to decide whether you want to live with that or go with another brand of ultralight that sacrifices a little more living space to give you more bathroom.
My preference in this weight range, for pulling by compact SUVs or minivans, would be the 13-17 foot molded fiberglass trailers like Casita or Scamp, but you sould like your budget requires something with less expensive construction. Having seen a few of these full scale but lightweight trailers on their sides at the edge of the road, still attached to an Escape or Liberty or similar size SUV, I'm inclined to say: find the size trailer you want to live in, buy used to get it at a price you can afford, then shop for a used vehicle capable of towing it.
In the 90s I had friends who owned a pop-up camper, modest size at 10 foot box, and towed it long distances (Colorado, western New Mexico, east Texas, NE Oklahoma) to Michingan for 15 years, behind station wagons and minivans, with no problems. Then one summer they hitched it to their off-road equipped Wrangler to take to Colorado (from Oklahoma) and had terrible handling problems, particularly in the wind on the Great Plains. There are geometry factors that don't figure into the "towing capacity" calculation, and I simply will not try to tow a big tall box behind a short wheelbase, high CG vehicle like a Wrangler.
R-Pod is one of several brands of full size (but small) travel trailers selling into the "under 3500" pounds or "under 5000 pounds" markets, some having a teardrop like shape, others the same size and weight but more boxy. All R-Pod models have the wet bath you describe, and you'll have to decide whether you want to live with that or go with another brand of ultralight that sacrifices a little more living space to give you more bathroom.
My preference in this weight range, for pulling by compact SUVs or minivans, would be the 13-17 foot molded fiberglass trailers like Casita or Scamp, but you sould like your budget requires something with less expensive construction. Having seen a few of these full scale but lightweight trailers on their sides at the edge of the road, still attached to an Escape or Liberty or similar size SUV, I'm inclined to say: find the size trailer you want to live in, buy used to get it at a price you can afford, then shop for a used vehicle capable of towing it.
In the 90s I had friends who owned a pop-up camper, modest size at 10 foot box, and towed it long distances (Colorado, western New Mexico, east Texas, NE Oklahoma) to Michingan for 15 years, behind station wagons and minivans, with no problems. Then one summer they hitched it to their off-road equipped Wrangler to take to Colorado (from Oklahoma) and had terrible handling problems, particularly in the wind on the Great Plains. There are geometry factors that don't figure into the "towing capacity" calculation, and I simply will not try to tow a big tall box behind a short wheelbase, high CG vehicle like a Wrangler.
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