Ease of towing an 8-ft wide trailer vs a 7-foot trailer

There have been a lot of good responses to your question. I agree with most of them. Camping in a Casita will be different than camping in a larger box trailer. Only you can decide to what extent that will impact your decision.

But, to answer your question, the Casita will be an easier tow, perhaps not a lot easier but easier than the larger box. A wider an longer trailer is a bit harder to deal with. Backing, parking and pulling into gas stations and tight spots is easier with a more narrow trailer.

I pulled a white box and now tow an Airstream. The Airstream is wider and it is harder to see around and I have to be more careful when towing it into tight spots. It is also 5 feet longer and 2000 pounds heavier than my old white box. Towing both of them with the same truck I get the same gas mileage and that is all because of the shape of the trailer. Those who have mentioned this about the Casita are spot on. I also don't worry about how stiff winds and passing trucks affect the Airstream. For ease of towing I can't see how you could beat the Casita.

IMHO if the trailer has no slides the 8' width is a better choice. Our Futura is 8' 5" wide and in the shopping process at the time we deliberately wanted a trailer with no slides. It's a little more liveable if you find yourself cooped up inside for a prolonged stretch of bad weather. When I go to RV shows anymore and check out some of the 7' wide models they feel a tad claustrophobic (and so do some poorly laid-out 8' units).

As far as seeing behind the trailer, get a good set of towing mirrors and you'll have no issues. Where maneuverability is concerned I can't say we've ever run into a situation where the width of our TT was the problem (and at 28' length is usually not an issue, either). Tunnels? A non-issue in my book.

All other things begin equal, my standard advice is to get the TT that has a floorplan that works for how you intend to use the trailer. Good luck!

I think for me it would depend on what I was towing it with. Smaller vehicle I would want a 7 foot wide trailer.

With my Dodge 2500 I have some good mirrors that let me see very well. I pull all kinds of trailers and loads. I own a 8 X 20 foot livestock trailer, a 8 X 40 foot TT , a 8 x 10 utility trailer and a 8 x 35 foot long goose neck utility trailer. I often have loads on the utility trailer that are wider than 8 feet and that I do not like. I like having the mirrors wider than the load.

For me it is about thinking ahead. Do not wait till you have to stop for fuel but rather you see a place that is easy to get in and out stop. It is nice when you have traveled the road before so you know where to stop. Interstates no problem but I like state highways when on vacation. There are guides that help with this.

You have to practice backing up and turning around regardless of what trailer. Of course the three rules of trailering is 1) don't back up 2 and 3 are see rule number 1.

Still sometimes you cannot make it without backing up so the time to learn is in an open field or empty parking lot. Just make sure you are comfortable driving the vehicle before you try to tow.

I am a bit late to this thread but I do have a suggestion. Since a friend has the Casita, perhaps he will allow you to spend a weekend in it at a local campground. He could even pull it over there for you and set it up. This will help in the decision making. First of all, is this sufficient room for the manner in which you intend to use it? Major consideration. Be sure to use ALL SYSTEMS on board.
CCC

I missed what the OP is towing with, if it was mentioned. If it's a smaller tow vehicle, like an SUV, then the 7 footer is preferable, IMO, b/c there's less frontal area - less area sticking out on either side of the tow vehicle while dragging it down the road. We tow our Aliner with a Pathfinder, which is a good match. The Pathfinder is only rated for an 80 sq. ft. frontal area, which would have us picking a 7 foot wide TT over an 8 ft. wide one, for sure if we upgrade. A friend of ours tows a Casita with a Nissan X-Terra, and they like the match up. Someone else on this forum tows an Escape (like a Casita) with a Rav 4, I think.

If the OP is towing with a truck (150 or larger), then an 8 footer would be fine.

Having owned two Casitas over twelves years and camped and pulled them thousands of miles, my wife and I found the Casita's Dexter torsion single axle, along with a low center of gravity, really hugged the road. There was never any sway and they towed like a dream. And my wife and I towed them with two different Ford Explorers and our current F-250 diesel truck.

FYI, for those who do not know, fiberglass Casitas are completely enclosed under the bottom, unlike some conventional square frontal wood or aluminium framed, rectangular shaped, trailers. This contributes to less air drag underneath. Casitas are essentially two egg shaped, fiberglass clam shells fused together; a top and bottom half. Other fiberglass trailers are designed and built in a similar manner.

When it comes to overall towing ease, suspension flex, braking characteristics, and other factors, I would think you would consider comparing apples to apples; pull and compare a single axle Casita with a similar single axle box shaped trailer.

Yes, if more interior space is important by all means chose the box trailer. Space did eventually did become more important to us as more grandchildren came along and we now own another traditional box shaped trailer with an aluminium frame.

But if towing characteristics is important, for a couple of adults and child or pet, I do not believe Casitas, single axle small Airstreams or similarly designed and shaped trailers can be beat.

Perhaps there is an engineer who is familiar with air flow or towing design characteristics can chime in to help with your choice.

Finally, somewhere in this forum is a link survey of owners of all different types of travel trailers which may be useful to you when making your decision. Perhaps someone will post the link.

Sorry for the long post. Good luck with your choice and happy camping!

I suppose "ease of towing" can be defined in several ways. My feeling was that the term applies mainly to how much engine power is needed, thus the direction of my answer; mpg comparisons do reflect the wind resistance and the power consumption.

But "ease of towing" can be taken to mean other things. In terms of handling and lack of sway, when properly loaded there shouldn't be much difference between a 19' and a 17', although the 17' has a small bit of an edge there. In maneuverability around obstacles (gas pumps, etc.) and on narrow roads, the smaller trailer has an edge. In terms of suspension, opinions vary somewhat on torsion vs spring axles but the differences should not be large enough to really influence a buying decision IMO.

BTW, the Casita will hold an edge in resale value over a stick built TT. And it has no edge seams where walls and roof join, which reduces the number of potential leak points as the years pass.

Whatever you decide, we hope you'll stick around and share your travel & trailer questions and experiences with us.

GMW, thanks for posting those pics of the Milenco mirror. I hadn't seen that one before, and it looks useful! When the rubber straps on my strap-on mirrors give out (as they always do eventually), I think I might switch to the Milenco.

I have found that there are times where a narrower trailer is really helpful – in tight gas stations, in cramped campgrounds, on narrow city streets, in poorly-laid out parking lots, on narrow two-lane roads, etc. But on major highways, I don't think it's as much of a problem. There are some tunnels where size might matter -- Zion, for example. So I guess it depends, in part, on where you are going to travel.

At some point in this process, you may end up asking about towing mirrors, so that you will have a wide enough field of view to see past the width of the trailer. There are various choices available, these are what I use on the Nissan ( Milenco Aero 2 ):

If you have never towed anything before the narrower trailer may "feel" like it tows better if you did back to back comparisons simply from your field of view perspective. This assumes most things constant but the width. It will take some adjustment when you look in the review mirror the fist few tows and it looks like someone is tailgating you and you are forced to use the side mirrors. Once you gain some experience and your side mirrors are appropriate and adjusted correctly you probably will not notice much difference. So I would purchase the TT that suites your desired floor plan and remains under your tow vehicle manufacturer towing limits.