Trailer touring pros and cons

my04tone said:
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.
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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...
 
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'.
 
So who needs a camper?!

THIS is amazing ... AND ... would co-ordinate with my victorinox knife! :ebiggrin:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cy3gKwirLk"]swissRoomBox "Home on Board" World Innovation - YouTube[/ame]
 
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 said:
bugger the $8k price tag though!
pretty clever though
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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 & 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?
 
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 :iconwink: Just my opinion and everyone's situation is unique.
 
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Venom said:
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.
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+1. Although my lil engine wouldnt cope an EJ25 or H6 would be fine
 
Gidday V

My thoughts exactly ...

My 7'x4' box trailer has lighter than normal springs, rated at 12 cwt each side when it was originally built around 30+ years ago. Most 6'x4' trailers of the time came standard with 18 cwt springs each side. I wanted the softer ride, and also knew that an un-braked trailer weighing close to 2 tons all up was courting disaster. Of course, these thoughts have now been passed into law, so it seems that the Legislature realised what I did ...

Back to trailers ...

Even with springs having a rated capacity of 600 kgs per side, this is a far greater load rating per wheel than our cars have. GVM for our SG is 1950 kgs; SH is 2015 kgs. The car GVMs are therefore about 500 kgs per wheel.

Another couple of thoughts. All that really heavy recovery gear that is an absolute necessity for expeditioning - e.g. creeper winch - can be safely carried in the trailer. Two benefits - gets it out of the car, where it is a deadly missile in any kind of prang; gets the weight out of the car, and off our springs. Mine weighs around 40 kgs ... .

A creeper winch is great, because you can disconnect the trailer from the vehicle, then winch the trailer out backwards. Then winch the vehicle out. Then turn around and go back the way you came. Cowardice is the better part of valour, IMNSHO ... .

I also had some panniers for 20L steel water and fuel jerry cans mounted behind the axle. Another ~17 kgs each out of the car.

Do remember that the standard height of box trailer sides is 12"; but that the "standard" height of things like Eskys etc seems to be about 15". i.e. get a trailer with 15" sides! I should have thought of this before I bought the new front/rear gates and had the lid pins welded on ...

My trailer rebuild thread is here, FWIW:
https://www.offroadsubarus.com/showthread.php?t=3352

I also have wheels/tyres the same size as my SG (OEM Subaru 16" steelies).

I plan to have a set of roof bars attached to the lid so that I can put my roof basket on the trailer. Almost no drag, and I can put my tent in there. When a tent is wet or damp, it can sweat, causing rust ...

Just a few thoughts on the subject.
 
I use a box trailer from for camping gear, I also have roof box.

The trailer is definitely a winner for offloading weight, there are pros and cons however dragging it around in the bush, as are there pros and cons with using the roof box and loaded up boot.

If really loading up, the trailer is definitely the preference, but it does mean a lot more forward thinking on places you can turn around - backing up a track with a trailer is a real pain in the butt, however not having the car loaded definitely makes life easier crossing rough terrain.

One thing I have done, having dragged an un braked trailer around is changed my front disks to slotted disks on the foz, has made an enormous difference to braking performance and pad longevity.

I find myself preferring the roof box and boot solution for short weekends away, but as my daughters get older can rapidly see the trailer being used more as the loads keep increasing even for the short weekends away - has the really big advantage of being ready to go all the time, so faster get sways on Friday night.
 
Venom said:
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 :iconwink: Just my opinion and everyone's situation is unique.
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I TAKE OFFENCE AT YOU SAYING NO OFFENCE TO PEOPLE WITH TYRE CARRIERS AND MY TYRE CARRIER IS OFFENDED TOO!!!!!!!!











Actually, sensible post. I have thought about this for some time. If I had the cash I'd go for one of thiose lightweight pod trailers.

I have come to the conclusion that if ever I was to do a Simpson trip, it would be with a lightweight trailer with fuel, water and other heavy stuff in it. I would also make sure that it had matching wheels and if possible matching bearings.
 
Your rear tyre carrier is too busy dripping dirty Subaxtreme sex appeal all over the road to be offended.

Good point with the trailer bearings. I hadn't thought of that. Definitely matching rims and tyres, which also looks cool.
 
Gidday Venom

Better by far to get "standard" tapered roller trailer wheel bearings with "Subaru" hubs These hubs are an off-the-shelf item from Melbourne Trailer Supplies. They have the correct offset and stud pattern for the OEM Subaru rims. They cost the same as any other trailer hubs, but the external machining is slightly different to accommodate the smaller central rim hole.

Make sure that you specify that you want metric wheel studs that are the same thread pitch as your car's studs. Mine are 12mm x 1.25 pitch.

The "standard" wheel bearings and axle means that you can have a replacement made and shipped to you anywhere with (almost) no problems. Having Subaru wheel bearings would make axle, hubs and bearings non-standard.

I also suspect that "standard" trailer wheel bearings are designed to take far greater loads than those in our cars.
 
Another good point RB.

There seems to be a disturbing level of agreement and common sense in this thread.
 
I've been considering whether being able to set the rooftop tent on a trailer and be able to leave basecamp and hoon around would be worth towing the thing to and from the camping destination.
 
Gidday ST

Beats the heck out of breaking/setting up camp every morning/evening if staying for a while in the same area IMHO.

That has been my thinking all along.

Really depends on whether the camping area is relatively secure or not, I guess.
 
Ratbag said:
Better by far to get "standard" tapered roller trailer wheel bearings with "Subaru" hubs These hubs are an off-the-shelf item from Melbourne Trailer Supplies. They have the correct offset and stud pattern for the OEM Subaru rims. They cost the same as any other trailer hubs, but the external machining is slightly different to accommodate the smaller central rim hole.
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Good point

I'd also look at lifting the trailer, poss by reversing the way the axle sits so its under the springs. Poss also lift blocks :iconwink:

Another thing I'd look at is adding some shocks to stop it bouncing around on corrugations. Shouldnt be too hard/expensive to do...

If you want to get really serious you could get an offroad hitch. These allow much greater angles & twist. Put a normal hitch under too much of either & the tow ball can snap off! :eek::shake:

stilson said:
I've been considering whether being able to set the rooftop tent on a trailer and be able to leave basecamp and hoon around would be worth towing the thing to and from the camping destination.
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Hell yeah! :lildevil:
 
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