ultra lite travel trailers

[darthspud]

Hi everyone!
I'm looking for some advice on ultra lite travel trailers. I've been a tent camper for years now but would like to upgrade to something that has a/c and a bathroom. I currently drive a Santa Fe that I would need to put a hitch on and according to the manual can pull up to 2700 pounds. I know that that is not really a lot but the possibility of getting a new car is out of the question especially since I want to get a travel trailer and would not be able to afford both new car payments and trailer payments.

I've done a little bit of research and plan on going to the rv show next month where I live..

Does any one have experience with the R-pod? or the TaDa? or the Shasta?

Any help would be greatly appropriated!

 

[ElementCamper]

Hi everyone!
I'm looking for some advice on ultra lite travel trailers. I've been a tent camper for years now but would like to upgrade to something that has a/c and a bathroom. I currently drive a Santa Fe that I would need to put a hitch on and according to the manual can pull up to 2700 pounds. I know that that is not really a lot but the possibility of getting a new car is out of the question especially since I want to get a travel trailer and would not be able to afford both new car payments and trailer payments.

I've done a little bit of research and plan on going to the rv show next month where I live..

Does any one have experience with the R-pod? or the TaDa? or the Shasta?

Any help would be greatly appropriated!

I have one of these, a T@B:

There is no bathroom but I would rather use the campground facilities than have one. These are the same makers of the T@DA which does have bathroom/shower. A R-Pod is sort of a copy of a T@b/T@DA, the Shasta is in a class by itself.

My T@B comes in at 1585 pounds stock, the T@DA is much heavier, the R-Pod next heaviest I think and pretty sure the Shasta is the heaviest/costliest of the bunch.

I love my T@B!

 

[clkelley]

I also have a T@B

(www.mouseketab.blogspot.com)

Honestly, with only 2700 pounds, you would be cutting it close with your Sante Fe on the T@DA and R-Pod. The T@DAs run about 2300 dry and the R-Pods are about the same. It is VERY easy to put 400 lbs of stuff in the camper and in the vehicle.

You really only need to tow about 70% of your weight limit MAX and that includes all the "stuff" you would put in the camper.

T@Bs are great little campers and most come with a portable toilet that you can set inside. The max that you are supposed to load the T@B to is 1929, so as long as you don't fill up the cabin with "stuff" you can stay within that.

You might even want to look at Teardrops. Really lightweight, but they do get you off the ground.

 

[ElementCamper]

I also have a T@B

(www.mouseketab.blogspot.com)

Honestly, with only 2700 pounds, you would be cutting it close with your Sante Fe on the T@DA and R-Pod. The T@DAs run about 2300 dry and the R-Pods are about the same. It is VERY easy to put 400 lbs of stuff in the camper and in the vehicle.

You really only need to tow about 70% of your weight limit MAX and that includes all the "stuff" you would put in the camper.

T@Bs are great little campers and most come with a portable toilet that you can set inside. The max that you are supposed to load the T@B to is 1929, so as long as you don't fill up the cabin with "stuff" you can stay within that.

You might even want to look at Teardrops. Really lightweight, but they do get you off the ground.

I agree with clkelley, she has seen my rig at the Fort and I'm just about overdoing it pulling the T@B with my Honda Element (Honda rated conservatively at 1500 pounds). Shopping for another tow vehicle now but for short trips the Element is just fine. Just the trip from Tennessee to the Fort was shall we say 'tedious.' Had to keep the speed down but it made it just fine.

I'd be happy with at least 3500 rating but looking for more like 5000 plus like a 6 cylinder Frontier, Pilot etc.

 

[darthspud]

thanks everyone.. i took a look at the tabs and they look good it even seems that theres a new model coming out that has a restroom (sans shower) and thats almost perfect I can't however find a dealer around here that sells them.. im hoping that they will have some at the rv show so i can look around them next month

as a hopefully soon to be newbie trailer owner is there anything specific i should know or look at when making a decision?

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Kungaloosh supplies alone will add 400 lbs to your weight.

 

[clkelley]

FYI - T@B and T@DA ended there production at the end of August 2009. There are still several 2010 models at some of the dealers. T@Bs were never widely available at all dealers anyway. Many owners (including myself) drove over 100 miles to purchase one.

Go to the RV show and see what's out there. Manufacturer's are coming out with different stuff all the time. Then do some searching on RVTrader.com to find the location of your perfect RV.

 

[disney4dan]

thanks everyone.. i took a look at the tabs and they look good it even seems that theres a new model coming out that has a restroom (sans shower) and thats almost perfect I can't however find a dealer around here that sells them.. im hoping that they will have some at the rv show so i can look around them next month

as a hopefully soon to be newbie trailer owner is there anything specific i should know or look at when making a decision?

Think about whether you like to camp in RV parks with electricity or if you would prefer state/county/federal campgrounds that are less likely to have electricity (and are a LOT cheaper). We've decided we like to spend more time in state parks without hook-ups save money for more weekend nights. In order to do that, we purchased two 6-volt golf cart batteries that will last our family of 5 for the whole weekend. Mainly for the lights and our water pump. In your case, due to weight, you may want to just go with a high quality 12 volt, deep cycle battery. Our first trailer did not come with a battery, so I was not expecting that when we bought our second trailer.

The dealer put an inexpensive battery on our newest trailer which was a nice and unexpected extra, but not necessary because we still had the two from the first trailer.

Also, LED lights are becoming more popular due to the fact that they use much less electricity. If you have a choice between two trailers and one has LED lights for just a little bit more, I would go for the LED lights. Will allow you to keep the lights on longer without worrying about the batteries going dead. Also, read up on how to maintain, charge, and deal with batteries. Using a single stage charger and constantly dumping a high charge into the batteries can cause them damage once they are fully charged.

http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I am looking into a solar charger for my battery. More on that later.

 

[darthspud]

Thanks every one.. I have another question this time about the hitch.. I do not currently have a hitch on my car so my plan was to get that put on sometime this winter when I have my mechanic change my breaks.. I was doing a little bit of research (granted all ive been doing is research when i decided to get an travel trailer) and it seems like theres are several kinds of hitches and i am at a loss i know almost nothing about car i know how to put windshield washer fluid in thats about it. thats why i have AAA does any one have any suggestions?

Thanks again

 

[ElementCamper]

Probably would help if we knew what kind of vehicle you have. I put my own hitch on, it's actually easy to do and I am not a mechanic. UHaul can do them if you don't want to do it yourself.

Since I have a Honda Element, I could do the Honda hitch (very expensive and not very heavy duty, class I). I chose to do a Hidden Hitch brand, class II or III which is far more than I could ever pull. You have to do some research.

 

[KristinU]

Hey Darthspud, we tow an Aliner with a v6 Santa Fe. Not that you mentioned any folding trailers, but you may want to check out the A Frames (I had been looking at teardrops, T@Bs, etc before finding the Aliner). We're having a great old time with ours, and have had it for two seasons now. We were also previously tent campers, so really we were just looking at getting off the ground and having a hard roof to keep us dry. We certainly get out more with it than we did with tenting. So many lost reservation fees that last summer of tent camping because of rain...

So, the Santee's hitch: we had our hitch mounted and wiring done by a local RV dealership. It is a class III 2" receiver. You know, when I was researching I found some helpful info on the hitch websites...like: http://www.hitch-web.com/glossary.asp I also remember getting a lot out of something published by one of the auto manufacturers. I think it was Ford...I found this: http://www.fordvehicles.com/assets/pdf/towing/09_TrailerGuide.pdf which has a lot more vehicle info on it than the PDF I'm remembering, but still some good basic trailering info towards the end (around page 25 or so).


I also would highly recommend electric brakes and a brake controller. Some folks think it is overkill on the lighter weight trailers, but I know the brakes saved our rears on our way to the Fort last year when a car cut across 3 lanes right in front of us on the freeway in Jacksonville. So, going with electric brakes you'll need wiring that will control the brakes as well as the turn signals and brake lights and running lights, as well as charge the trailer's battery as you drive. The connection on such a set up is called a 7-way or Bargman.

Anyway, you're smart to look at your vehicle first and decide on what you can tow then start your shopping.

Oh, and if you feel like it, you can check out our blog: www.alineradventures.blogspot.com

 

[clkelley]

I also would highly recommend electric brakes and a brake controller. Some folks think it is overkill on the lighter weight trailers, but I know the brakes saved our rears on our way to the Fort last year when a car cut across 3 lanes right in front of us on the freeway in Jacksonville. So, going with electric brakes you'll need wiring that will control the brakes as well as the turn signals and brake lights and running lights, as well as charge the trailer's battery as you drive. The connection on such a set up is called a 7-way or Bargman.

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Just an FYI, on a T@B (if you decide to go that route), you WILL NOT need electric brakes and a controller. T@Bs have built in mechanical surge brakes. So you just need to lubricate them in a couple of spots. They also have sealed bearings, so no need to lube the bearings either. However, if at all possible, a 7-pin connector, charge line and isolator is a good thing to have so that you can keep your camper battery charged while driving.

 

[hbrother]

Hi everyone!
I'm looking for some advice on ultra lite travel trailers. I've been a tent camper for years now but would like to upgrade to something that has a/c and a bathroom. I currently drive a Santa Fe that I would need to put a hitch on and according to the manual can pull up to 2700 pounds. I know that that is not really a lot but the possibility of getting a new car is out of the question especially since I want to get a travel trailer and would not be able to afford both new car payments and trailer payments.

I've done a little bit of research and plan on going to the rv show next month where I live..

Does any one have experience with the R-pod? or the TaDa? or the Shasta?

Any help would be greatly appropriated!

I have a LivinLite 11FK it weighs about 1900 lbs. It is similar to a T@b, but has more headroom. We tow it with a VW Golf TDI. We added surge breaks as an option, very worth it. No electric controller required and we still have the trailer breaks. Our first trip with it was Indiana to Ft. Wilderness in January (during which we made more than one slam on the breaks stop). You might also consider a Casita. I didn't care for the aesthetics, but they pack a lot in an keep the weight down. I tend to camp in iffy weather and really under-rated the value of dedicated dining.

As far as the hitch, if the dealer will install it do that. If not Uhaul does these. My co-worker had hers done at Uhaul and didn't have a great experience. We had ours done by the place we bought the trailer. Worked fine for 6 months or so now we have wiring issues, that is why I say dealer if possible. You want a warranty and a place you can go back to in 6 months when there is a problem.

 

[4077]

I have a LivinLite 11FK it weighs about 1900 lbs. It is similar to an RPod, but has more headroom. We tow it with a VW Golf TDI. We added surge breaks as an option, very worth it. No electric controller required and we still have the trailer breaks. Our first trip with it was Indiana to Ft. Wilderness in January (during which we made more than one slam on the breaks stop). You might also consider a Casita. I didn't care for the aesthetics, but they pack a lot in an keep the weight down. I tend to camp in iffy weather and really under-rated the value of dedicated dining.

As far as the hitch, if the dealer will install it do that. If not Uhaul does these. My co-worker had hers done at Uhaul and didn't have a great experience. We had ours done by the place we bought the trailer. Worked fine for 6 months or so now we have wiring issues, that is why I say dealer if possible. You want a warranty and a place you can go back to in 6 months when there is a problem.

Would like to see a picture of your set up ready for the road and at the campsite if you get a chance...welcome to the camping board!

 

[hbrother]

Would like to see a picture of your set up ready for the road and at the campsite if you get a chance...welcome to the camping board!

Thanks, I finally figured out how to post the picture. Mine is the small one in the rather large picture.

 

[4077]

Thanks, I finally figured out how to post the picture. Mine is the small one in the rather large picture.

Very cool!

 

[peg110]

The DW would love to have a small trailer more as a "Rolling Bathroom" then anything else. She doesn't like flying but gets nervous if a bathroom isn't relatively near by. We love the Campground at the fort (and other locations) but she would like something that could also fit (without much issue) in a parking lot of a hotel or resort. (So we can drop the trailer and stay at the hotel/resort).

We also would like something that can easily accommodate 4 of us (although we only really need 3). We have looked at a couple smaller ones, but collapsing the Dinette for 2 "Full Size" adults just doesn't cut it for us.

 

[hbrother]

The DW would love to have a small trailer more as a "Rolling Bathroom" then anything else. She doesn't like flying but gets nervous if a bathroom isn't relatively near by. We love the Campground at the fort (and other locations) but she would like something that could also fit (without much issue) in a parking lot of a hotel or resort. (So we can drop the trailer and stay at the hotel/resort).

We also would like something that can easily accommodate 4 of us (although we only really need 3). We have looked at a couple smaller ones, but collapsing the Dinette for 2 "Full Size" adults just doesn't cut it for us.

Mine has a wet bath. It is tight, but does the job. It does have an option to add a second bed in a "tip out". I didn't choose that since it is just the two of us. It fits in parking spaces no problem.

 

[makodad]

Just got a shadow cruiser 279dbs. Nice and lite.