Toad Campers

exploringcarolina wrote:
We had a Chalet A frame camper a few years ago and really liked it. It was easy to tow & took less than 1 minute to set up walls & roof. Towed it with a 4 cylinder 2.4L 87 Toyota pickup getting 21 to 23MPG @ 55MPH. The Chalet was a 2004 1000lb LTW and eventually had wood floor rot. The next year Chalet started installing composite floors and says there should not be any future floor issues.

Did not realize how efficient the A frame was towing until we purchased the non-folding 2010 CampLite 11RD 1400lb aluminum travel trailer with aluminum plank flooring. In "non" mountain areas we get between 16 to 18MPG @ 55MPH towing with an 2003 4 cylinder 2.4L Tacoma. Problem we run into is in the NC mountains on interstates, we don't have much power on grades with the additional wind resistance of the taller TT. Plan B is to test the Tacoma/CampLite rig on as many secondary roads in the mountains as possible, not going over 55MPH.

Will keep the 4 cylinder Tacoma & CampLite 11RD, but may eventually buy a 6 cylinder Tacoma for towing the CampLite.

As a minimalist myself I really appreciate the looks of the Camplite. I just Googled it and its a very nice set up but man the price of admission is high. I am thinking though that with all that aluminum and with the price of fuel bound to keep edging higher you are on to something. Nice rig you have by the way, I saw your set up on the Popups site.