looking for TT manufacture recomendation for dry camping

[g_lcamping]

Hello campers and happy new year! My wife and I are looking to purchase a new TT. We currently have a 27',4X4 motor home that works great but, 8mpg, no mobility once camped and very slow rough ride on the dirt roads.

We have a specific way we like to camp and most campers will not work well. We pretty much only dry camp in national or state forests for a few days in a row. It will probably never be used in a camp ground with connections. We like to go to the end of the dirt road and explore from there. Here are some of the qualities I'm looking for. I'd like to keep the overall length below 21'. This is so I can get it turned around at the end of the road:) It needs to sit high, have good amounts of storage and water holding capacity. It only needs to sleep two. We need air conditioning and a generator. I would probably install solar panels and extra battery.

Thank you all for your help,

Gary

[BizmarksMom]

I trashed the frame on my Keystone Bullet hauling it up a graded 25 mile dirt road. If you leave pavement, you do not want that trailer.

I have not had any issues doing the same thing with my Nash. Dirt roads, some washboard, desert boondocking - all have been no problem.

[g_lcamping]

The shortest ORV Mountain, Creekside is 23'2" and the Backcountry 23'1". Quality does count, I'm leaning towards the Nash. I doubt muddy rutted drags. But I've been on many long washboard dirt roads and hauls across the plains states. Both can be hard on campers. I just can't see spending $50K on a small trailer.

[RamRider]

We dry camped in a Keystone Bullet many times at National parks and found it was up to the task, However we upgraded to an Airstream and we found that these TT were much better prepared for dry camping, Our unit came with larger propane tanks and 2 batteries. Add a generator and we were ready to go. they have a good selection of units in the size you are considering, I also think you will be impressed with the towing experience when out traveling with an Airstream.

[Ralph_Cramden]

g,lcamping wrote:
I'm not looking for anything real high or soft sided. I intend to pull it with a full size van that I may upgrade to 4X4. The closest I've found so far is a Rockwood mini lite 1909S. A slide isn't necessary but the smaller campers are narrow. I do want to stay shorter so that I can get it turned around at the end of the road. A lot of the camping will be in Colorado. Thanks for all the ideas so far.

You may want to look long and hard at the frame on a Rockwood Minilite before taking it on anything that is truly "Off road". A gravel road is one thing, a rutted logging drag is another. The Minilite will have a typical Lippert frame with minimal cross members, fabricated main rails, questionable welding,etc. When it comes to off roading I would be concerned about a couple of things. The frame rails themselves only have a 5-1/2" web and the trailers have low ground clearance, take a look at the height of the dump valve connections. Also Rockwood uses torsion axles. Dexter makes a 2-1/2" frame spacer kit for them, but do not recommend it be used on the 3" profile axles that Rockwood uses. My Rockwood Roo uses the same frame and suspension as the Minilite. Personally, despite owning one I would not recommend Rockwood or any other Forest River product in general.

[Vintage465]

g,lcamping wrote:
I checked out all of the recommended campers. I couldn't find the engine in the Oliver for that price, LOL. Lance wasn't far behind. We need more capacity than a K-Z can provide. The Camplite is nice but a little shy on capacity. ORV doesn't have a shorter camper. I also can't find a width listed. They do look great for back country camping. The Nash, although a little longer than I'd like, looked very good. The generator would see little use but I like the built in LP unit. I wouldn't have to drag one out and carry gas. I think it is between the Nash and Rockwood unless there are others out there. Thank you all for your help!

Outdoors RV goes down as far as an 18' box. That would likely be a 22' trailer from the ball to the bumper. We have a Creek Side 20fq and it's 24' long. I consider it nearly ideal for boon docking regarding the 66 gallon water capacity and two 45 gallon holding tanks. Also ours came solar ready and it really did have a good factory installed solar ready kit. 8 gauge wires from the controller location to the batteries. The only thing that sort of cracks me up about our rig is the fact that it had so much water and holding tank storage, plus the good solar ready set up along with LED lighting everywhere...............but there was no way you'd get enough food and supplies in that rig to last a week in the boonies. That's where some fancy wood working to make drawers, extra shelves and some plumbing drain alterations to make room for more supplies comes in handy. I could make it a week pretty easy now.

[TurnThePage]

Have you looked at Jayco? They have a wide variety of floor plans and a pretty good reputation.

[profdant139]

I don't know anything about Rockwood, but I have read that the chassis on Nash is specifically designed for off-road use. If that is true, that is impressive.

[g_lcamping]

I checked out all of the recommended campers. I couldn't find the engine in the Oliver for that price, LOL. Lance wasn't far behind. We need more capacity than a K-Z can provide. The Camplite is nice but a little shy on capacity. ORV doesn't have a shorter camper. I also can't find a width listed. They do look great for back country camping. The Nash, although a little longer than I'd like, looked very good. The generator would see little use but I like the built in LP unit. I wouldn't have to drag one out and carry gas. I think it is between the Nash and Rockwood unless there are others out there. Thank you all for your help!

[webwrangler]

rexlion wrote:
But the shortest Black Rock TT is about 23' overall, isn't it? And the 17k Nash is 22'4". The OP wants something shorter.

ORV makes shorter, just not in the "Black Rock" line. I don't have one (yet) but I think the Creekside TTs from ORV are just as suitable for dry camping as the Black Rock. It just depends on how you set it up with batteries, etc. The OP did mention needing a generator, so maybe the Nash is the way to go..you can get a built-in generator with one of those.

[BizmarksMom]

The bulk of my camping is in Idaho. My 25' trailer works really well, but I sure wouldn't go longer.

I have a Nash 22h

[theoldwizard1]

goducks10 wrote:
All aluminum, light weight and short.
https://www.livinlite.com/products/camplite-travel-trailers/CL16TBS.html

I am pretty certain they no longer have aluminum floors.

Big cost saving.

[goducks10]

All aluminum, light weight and short.
https://www.livinlite.com/products/camplite-travel-trailers/CL16TBS.html

[g_lcamping]

I'm not looking for anything real high or soft sided. I intend to pull it with a full size van that I may upgrade to 4X4. The closest I've found so far is a Rockwood mini lite 1909S. A slide isn't necessary but the smaller campers are narrow. I do want to stay shorter so that I can get it turned around at the end of the road. A lot of the camping will be in Colorado. Thanks for all the ideas so far.

[GordonThree]

Is the OP looking for something like an overland trailer? Something with giant truck tires and suspension, pop up tent on the roof, galley and storage underneath?