GREEEN Couple... Some questions

I don't want to by a larger truck or a huge camper. This will be a 3 dayer. Mostly within 200 mile radius. Our neighbors have a $80K used Class A and they stay local. I think the larger units are too much like a home. I don't mind the small space as it will get us outside where the real camping is..

We were thinking of a popup as well But the heat inside a "tent" may be too much for sleeping.

The biggest thing is I have been researching and researching more before going to a dealer , and decided the fibreglass units would be the best way to go initially.

There is a 16' Liberty Deluxe for sale close to me for asking $10K its a 2002!! Apparently the fiberglass campers hold their value?


I watched a YouTube video that scared me away from used stick built units. LOVED the Airstream but we won't be camping enough to warrant that price.

Thanks for the quick responses...

Dakota98 wrote:
Most of us spend the vast majority of time outside the RV.

The point here is, be as comfortable as you can when inside.

I agree with the above statement concerning sleeping arrangements. The last thing
I want to do is take down the dinette to make the bed & vice versa.

Exacty why we don;t want a big unit. Cooking and eating is outside. Only inside to sleep. If it starts raining, we will just go home.

Most of us spend the vast majority of time outside the RV.

The point here is, be as comfortable as you can when inside.

I agree with the above statement concerning sleeping arrangements. The last thing
I want to do is take down the dinette to make the bed & vice versa.

We have a V6 Tacoma, and we tow a KZ 16RBT Sportsmen Classic. There are many makes and models of small (under 21') trailers that would work for you. A Casita would tow a bit more easily as it's a bit more aerodynamic, I think. Oliver and Scamp make similar units...but Casita seems very well thought of. We liked the KZ floor plan with the twin tent areas - makes the small trailer seem much larger when set up, and the weight is still under 3000#. I just looked at the Livin Lite trailer site, and they have one model with a tent type slide out. The Tacoma V6 with the tow package is rated at 6500# but I don't think I'd want to tow much more than 3500 or 4000#...you can feel it back there. We rented a pop up once to try out and we liked it a lot, but the hard shell with the heater is better for cold mornings, and we are sure we will be using the air conditioner this summer as well. If you can get a Casita or an Oliver with a slide out tent (a hybrid) that might be the best of both worlds. The KZ was a lot cheaper than the Oliver - we paid about $10K for a 2013 model that was barely used. Casitas don't seem to exist on the east coast, but we have seen some Scamps.

Is this to be used as a weekend short trip toy? If so, it might work well for you. If you are taking long trips lasting several days or weeks, just keep in mind if you get bad weather and have to stay in all day it can get very, very small very quickly. The main weight you need to be aware of is tongue weight and payload of the TV. Don't forget to add the weight of stuff you will want to pack in to it. Food, clothes, dishes, toys, etc. Good luck, they can be lots of fun.

Hoo Boy you are going to get a lot of responses from people telling you you need to by an F350 or you are going to die, but ignore them. I towed an RPod with an 02 v6 taco without problems, but quickly decided our growing family needed more room. There are hundreds of threads talking about how to calculate towing capacity here, and maybe read a few of those. You can use an online calculator like this one too: http://changingears.com/rv-sec-calc-trailer-weight-tt.shtml
Look into a trans cooler if you don't have one already, and you'll probably need a brake controller installed too. Those are the only things I had to do it make my taco a decent towing rig.

Length is not as important as weight, and frontal area. A Casita is supposed to tow easily, but a popup will tow even more easily. A popup is generally lighter than a Casita, and you don't have to make the bed every night. From what I have seen, many short hard-side trailers have the dinette convert to the only bed. I don't like that concept, at all.