Quote:
Originally Posted by OrrieG
Dirty Larry - I notice everyone in you group has popups, is that because the trails are not suitable for small towed travel trailers? We are thinking of getting a vintage canned ham to tow behind the 59 when its done. A lot of my hunting buddies have them with axle mods to get more ground clearance.
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Yeah, trailers become very burdensome on most of trails that get you out of the KOA campground. In fact, a few years ago my buddy Bill and I cobbled together an off-road trailer to pull around. We used it on our 2009 and 2010 desert trips and while it was handy to have along with the ability to haul more goods the trailer became an absolute burden on these tight Canyonlands trails as well as mountain trails. We found it no fun to make 3 and 4 point turns on narrow cliffs with pinpoint switchbacks and backing up on a technical trail is practically impossible without winching the trailer on spot. We since sold the trailer and do not miss dealing with it.
Interestingly enough we started our week at the Overland Expo which is like the Sturgis of the overland / backcountry adventure crowd. They had every imaginable off-road camper from 6 digit Earthroamers to any size and shape of roof top tent on display not to mention every imaginable decent off-road camp trailer. There were some outstanding trailers that leave you salivating but the bitter taste of pulling our homemade trailer quickly curbs any envy of those nice little trailers. I’ve also noticed over on Expedition Portal the retention rate of off-road camp trailers is pretty short. People go crazy over them then after a few trips in the wild they learn trailers suck on technical trails and up for sale they go. About 6 years ago I seriously considered a Jayco Baja or the Fleetwood version off-road popup trailers and so glad I did not pull the trigger on one of those.
Here is the trailer we built and pulled for two desert trips. Good riddance! I did like sitting on top of the trailer in the camp chair at night though. Less likely to have a bitting critter encounter during beerthirty!
