Forum Discussion
fanrgs
Oct 13, 2015Explorer
WhO2 wrote:It's not a "European-style" trailer, but we towed our 2012 Rockwood Mini Lite 2109s to Alaska and back in 2013 with a Nissan Frontier King Cab 4x4. The 22' trailer had a GVWR of 4,770 lbs. and the Frontier was a mid-size pickup with a 265 HP, 4.0L V-6 and a towing capacity of 6,300 lbs. We averaged 13 MPG over the 10,000-mile trip, which consisted of about 90% towing and 10% non-towing miles. But we also seldom traveled with anything in any of the tanks to save towing that excess weight.
I don't want a full-sized truck so want to tow with a mid-sized SUV (currently drive and love a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 6200 lb tow capacity). It looks like 24 ft (give or take 2 ft) offers some good options.
Does anyone know of any other trailers similar in style to the Jay Smart and Caravans?
A Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 3.0L turbodiesel pulling that same trailer should get really exceptional mileage and would pull the Lower 48 and Canadian mountain passes with much less effort (ie., RPM's) than the Frontier. And with diesel fuel prices in Canada and the western U.S. now less than gasoline prices, the cost savings might pay for the diesel engine premium fairly quickly. We just returned from south-central Canada a week ago and generally paid at least 10 cents a liter less for diesel than the posted prices for regular gasoline.
PS--We got the hickory, not the dark cherry, interior wood in the Mini Lite and were very happy with the brightness of the interior. We also changed to LED bulbs to save on battery use when dry camping (we carry no generator to save on the generator and fuel weight).
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