Trailer touring pros and cons

[my04tone]

Originally Posted by mr turbo

Welcome home mate. Would love to hear about you adventures in Tassy when you get a chance.

Regards
Mr Turbo

I am doing up a blog a few movies etc as well..

[Barry]

Originally Posted by my04tone

May as well bring this thread to life with my latest purchase, its an old Jayswan tare 750k and in immaculate condition. Itsa project of love that will take awhile including a whole new paint job, draw bar extensions etc etc. Having said that its good to go as is.

I was speaking to a person the other week who was towing a new Jayco Eagle (200kg heavier) with a 2000 N/A Fozza and he said with the WDH and not loading the thing up with junk he had no trouble touring it, so that lead me to my decision to purchase the one i did for very little $$ in immaculate condition that will well do me for years of travel to come. It will see some outback roads and tracks but not serious offroad.

I still have my tents etc if need be, but i can find a spot set up in 15 and enjoy a coldy in comfort.

The Foz will only be around probably another 2 yrs and then i am going for a twin cab diesel ute, i really miss my old one.

my04tone,
What do you recon your all up weight is?
I'm looking at a second hand Heaslip camper for a good price, however it has an ATM of 1100kg, and probably 1200kg all up.
Just wondering if that would be too much for me to pull - although I'm guessing it would be fine in low range - provided I don't fit the ultra low gears, which are supposedly not suitable for 'continuous' use.
Of course, I'd need to fit a brake controller...

[Barry]

Took the Heaslip for a tow yesterday, like it a lot.
It will go anywhere the loaded Outback will go - will certainly get into the Vic Alps, but just on the logging roads, not the 'jeep tracks'.

[Barry]

THIS is amazing ... AND ... would co-ordinate with my victorinox knife!

swissRoomBox "Home on Board" World...

[Barnboy]

That is some clever Swiss army camping gear!! Never seen anything as smart as this for space saving with all the creature comforts.

Some good ideas for making your own version.

[Hunter]

bugger the $8k price tag though!
pretty clever though

[Barry]

Originally Posted by Hunter

bugger the $8k price tag though!
pretty clever though

I hadn't been game to look at that!
Puts the cost of a camper trailer in perspective...
However, could provide some ideas for building an 'expedition' vehicle.

[Scooby2]

Scooby2 & the Love Shack!


Mmmm... I am Picture Challenged. How does everybody post their pics here without as many dramas as I have? I thought if you were a member it would be EASY to cutnpaste... but apparently not.. Anybody have any ideas?

[Venom]

Bored at work so thought i'd add my ramblings to this thread.

I think there is a lot of merit to keeping weight off the roof or the rear end if you have a tyre carrier and towing it instead. I have been thinking about extended trips into remote area's and where to carry a second spare tyre and maybe 40 - 60 litres of fuel? Sure i COULD have it all in/on the car but i do not like the idea at all.

Long range fuel tanks? Don't exist for Suby's. Off the shelf tyre carrier? Haha. Decent heavy duty shocks? I wish. Almost makes me want to get a Landcruiser... almost.

I'm not a fan of the rear tyre/fuel carrier anyway. It's adding weight to the car just so you can carry more weight on a less than ideal place on the vehicle. Not as bad as having the weight on the roof, but any additional weight outside of the wheels is not ideal. That extra distance from the "axles" amplifies the effect that weight has on the car. It also realistically needs to be atleast as heavy as what it carriers to have the strength to do it reliably. Plus you need to carry it around for daily duties.

Front bar, sure. Simple roo/animal impact protection so the little buggers don't take out your radiator and leave you stranded. That's just common sense, although i don't have one yet...

My vehicle outfitted for a long weekend/week long trip is about as burdened as i would comfortably have my car. It starts to feel a bit wallowy, and the shocks start to get fully compressed more often than i think is good for them. With a higher centre of gravity and less clearance with the weight compressing the suspension, all of which compromises the cars ability off road. Plus as the car starts to get loaded to it's limits i think that the chances of a mechanical or component failure grows exponentially. How many bent shocks on this forum are from a very heavily loaded car? I'd say all of them.

Subaru's just aren't designed to carry big weight in rough conditions.

Even with just a little box trailer you could have the weight of the second spare, extra fuel etc borne by a third set of wheels and suspension. Maybe put the second battery and fridge in there? To my mind it wouldn't compromise offroad ability any more than if you had all that weight on the car. It would certainly ease the pressure on the components of the car giving them a longer life and less chance of a critical failure. Plus you can leave it loaded up, hook it on when you want to go and unhook when you get home. I think of it this way: if i had to transport 60 litres of fuel and a tyre i'd much rather tow it a cart than carry it on my shoulders. Much easier going.

I'd probably still keep my little hiking tent etc and load everything in my car as per usual. Extra fuel, water, wheels and tyres in the trailer. That way even with a catastrophic trailer failure i could just leave it and keep going. The more i think about it the better it seems.

I should add i'm single with no kids and almost never have passengers, so i'm obviously in a different situation to a lot of people on here.

No offence to people with tyre carriers Just my opinion and everyone's situation is unique.

[NachaLuva]

Originally Posted by Venom

Subaru's just aren't designed to carry big weight in rough conditions.

Even with just a little box trailer you could have the weight of the second spare, extra fuel etc borne by a third set of wheels and suspension.

+1. Although my lil engine wouldnt cope an EJ25 or H6 would be fine