TT vs Hybrid purchase

aftermath wrote:
I had a tent trailer for 17 years. Our two daughters grew up camping out of this thing and we loved every minute. I took very good care of it and sold it, 17 years later for more than I paid for it.

The girls were off to college and although we still camped, the wife and I were looking at retirement and knew that we would be expanding our camping season. Colder and damper along with the desire for a regular shower/toilet led us to a 21' Starcraft hybrid. I never could figure out why they say they are lighter. Our 21 footer weighed easily as much as most other 21 foot trailers. I guess the difference was, when set up it was more like 30 feet. I pulled it easily with my Toyota 4Runner but this one did have the V8 engine.

We kept this one for just a few years. As retirement got really close we knew that we were finally going to get to take some long road trips and see some wonderful country we had been waiting to see. One one of our last trips with the hybrid we spent about 10 days moving around, sometimes moving every day. Boy, the set up and take down got really old.

We purchased a 25 foot trailer and it has all the bells and whistles. We load the fridge and pantry with food, the closets with clothes and off we go. We can stop anywhere and anytime for lunch or a bathroom break. For traveling, it is the way to go.

So....try to figure where you are on the space/time continuum and choose your path. Your tow vehicle will be a factor but I can't say that any of the three I have moved through was any better than the other. The one we have now just fits our needs better at this stage in life.

At this point, we are going to skip the hybrid and go right to a small TT. Are you still pulling the 25 trailer with the 4Runner? I am looking at a single axle sonic with a dry weight of #3000, however there is double axle trailer that is #3800 dry. The Toyota and Nissan has similar capacities. Our Pathfinder has a V6, max tow rating of 6000lbs, the V8 model only added 1000lbs to the tow rating. I rented a Forest River Vibe and drove through Yellowstone and the Tetons with no power problems. The issue was with sway control on a single axle trailer. The rental place didn't have a sway control option because of the front V-Frame. I would have gladly paid extra for that. Let's just say it was rather uncomfortable going down I-90 with trucks going past us at 90MPH. Fortunately we weren't on the interstate much and all the roads in Yellowstone had speed limits of 45.

Our kids are 9 and 11, so there is certainly a price point to consider. I am not sure I want to spend 20k on a camper, find out the kids are too busy and the camper provides them an expensive "hotel" for friend sleepovers on the weekends. I guess getting them out of the house has it's advantages too. I do like the Sonic SL169VBH. It is small, has a murphy bed and full loaded, is still around 4000 GVW. When the kids are out of house, the rear bunks seem kind of of worthless. A similar mini-lite camper has bunks, but the lower is a combo bed/table - which I didn't like initially, but you make a good point about where we are at in our lives. As you well know, 9 and 11 becomes 19 and 21 at a scary pace. thanks for your input - Matt