Travel trailer experiences?

[NeoPhoenix83]

Do You have any inside pictures of this?Thanks

I was checking out some of them. The models and gallery can be found here:
https://www.kz-rv.com/products/sportsmen-classic-travel-trailers/floorplans.html

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[Mavster Mechanic]

One of the points that seems important here is the wind resistance of the trailer. There are certainly trailers (the Scamp or Rove for instance) that have a much lower wind resistance than the boxier shaped trailers.

If 10% is "much lower" to you, then yes.

I'll take better aero too, all else being equal.

But giving up a full time full size queen residential quality bed for a dinette that folds up every night? Well I'm not giving up that up that high quality bed for better aero.

That's my preference.

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

I was checking out some of them. The models and gallery can be found here:
https://www.kz-rv.com/products/sportsmen-classic-travel-trailers/floorplans.html

I have the same as the 17MB with just a different sticker on the outside but made with aluminum studs and plastic core floor and 500 lbs lighter.

 

[Deleted member 42654]

I got my Maverick with the 4k towing package, in part to plan ahead for a camper upgrade.

Currently I have a pop up camper that weighs in a hair under 2,000 lbs. It's always been easy to pull, but the day is coming that my back will no longer put up with the beds on these things.

Wondering what experiences you guys have had with small travel trailers? I see rPods, various "retro" trailers and several oversized teardrops, most of which seem to be in the 2,700-3,000 lb weight range.

Being a little shorter of a tow vehicle, I am concerned about models that offer too much wind resistance, so hoping some of you have some real life experience with some of these campers and can share?

I got my Maverick with the 4k towing package, in part to plan ahead for a camper upgrade.

Currently I have a pop up camper that weighs in a hair under 2,000 lbs. It's always been easy to pull, but the day is coming that my back will no longer put up with the beds on these things.

Wondering what experiences you guys have had with small travel trailers? I see rPods, various "retro" trailers and several oversized teardrops, most of which seem to be in the 2,700-3,000 lb weight range.

Being a little shorter of a tow vehicle, I am concerned about models that offer too much wind resistance, so hoping some of you have some real life experience with some of these campers and can share?

We Have a 2022 2.0 Ecoboost with factory tow package. We towed a nuCamp teardrop weighing around 2000# 8k miles in summer of 2024 and moved to a Rockwood Hardside A-Frame weighing about 2200# for 7k miles this past summer. Both without trailer brakes and about 300# in the bed. Added Air Bags in the rear springs which seemed to assist bed and tongue weight. Great easy performance with no problems. We did have a tire blow out but only because I believed the Camping World salesman and didn’t notice the tires were 6 years old with good tread. Still the truck and trailer pulled over to the side with no issues. (Lesson learned) Always used tow gear and turned auto stop off. I get 31 mpg without trailer and an astounding 21-22 mpg with trailer in mountains and flat lands. Do not need stabilizer as trailers never swayed in rains or winds. Tranny is still in great shape and engine purrs like a cat. Keep it reasonably small and close to weight but don’t worry if you are over a bit. You will feel it if you are.

 

[Busyobeforever]

Just boondocked for a few days with my '24 ecoboost 4k awd pulling a sun lite 15 mbx, 2600 lbs dry, probably about 3500 lbs total accounting for passengers and gear and full tanks . First off road trip as well, 10 miles of dirt roads round trip, 70+ miles gravel/rock roads, and 200 highway miles with plenty of hills. No problem for the little truck!

 

[chilicharger]

Just boondocked for a few days with my '24 ecoboost 4k awd pulling a sun lite 15 mbx, 2600 lbs dry, probably about 3500 lbs total accounting for passengers and gear and full tanks . First off road trip as well, 10 miles of dirt roads round trip, 70+ miles gravel/rock roads, and 200 highway miles with plenty of hills. No problem for the little truck!

What kind of mpg did you get? I am also in NM

What was your power solution for those few days of boondocking?

How do you like that tip out bed on the Sunlite? I want a very similar model of Sunlite, the 14THX.

 

[Busyobeforever]

What kind of mpg did you get? I am also in NM

What was your power solution for those few days of boondocking?

How do you like that tip out bed on the Sunlite? I want a very similar model of Sunlite, the 14THX.

Normally I get 27 mpg, got 16 mpg this trip. The frig is a real battery drain so I only used the freezer as a cooler and the frig for storage. I have the champion dual feul 4000W generator, also a small solar package. Only used the generator the 3rd day. The tent bed was a little chilly, temps dropped to 12°, I kept the furnace at 60 to preserve propane. It's really nice to have that extra sleep space. I recommend a cold weather sleeping bag for cold weather camping. It felt stable, I was pretty comfortable in there. The 15mbx has the off road package, excellent clearance and very good interior height, 6'6. We were in the Gila National Forest.

 

[MiMav]

I have an Atia camper that has a roof that raises ~14". With the roof down the height is just under 7 feet so it fits in a garage with a 7' door, which was important to me. Dry weight was ~2300lbs, but after many upgrades and loaded for camping it's now ~2900lbs. It pulls pretty well and I average 16 MPG @ 65 MPH with my EB Mav with 4k tow package.

 

[Manollo3]

Just boondocked for a few days with my '24 ecoboost 4k awd pulling a sun lite 15 mbx, 2600 lbs dry, probably about 3500 lbs total accounting for passengers and gear and full tanks . First off road trip as well, 10 miles of dirt roads round trip, 70+ miles gravel/rock roads, and 200 highway miles with plenty of hills. No problem for the little truck!

Great little trailer. I am looking at the Sunlite 14THX (tiny toy hauler) which weighs about the same. How does pull once it gets windy or if you are being passed by trucks? A lot of sway? It is a fairly short unit and quite high.

 

[Busyobeforever]

Great little trailer. I am looking at the Sunlite 14THX (tiny toy hauler) which weighs about the same. How does pull once it gets windy or if you are being passed by trucks? A lot of sway? It is a fairly short unit and quite high.

I got the Anderson hitch (make sure you follow manufacturers recs exactly!)-- zero sway and very little teeter totter bounce (typical of single axel trailers). You feel a tug on bumpy roads, dips, and uneven ground but other than that, I'm very pleased! I previously towed with a Silverado and a 22ft trailer, the Mavericks handling was just as good..

 

[Escapologist]

WRT previous aero musings. Saw a paper on windshield angle for trucks and apparently angle should vary with length. I think it was 55 degress for 4m, 50 degrees for 4.5 and 45 degrees for 5m. But they gave it as the reciprocal from 180 in direction of travel, 125, 130, 135.

Conceptually I guess, it's about what shape of half "raindrop" you can fit your vehicle into for best aero, a short squat one, or a stretched out one, which will approximate the pressure flow.

So my comments about the short trailers barely having any rake might be a bit off base, since they might need less rake than longer ones to achieve better overall aero for their size. I mean you still get the cD about 0.03 lower with a longer trailer with a 45 degree rake, but if you stick than on a shortarse, you don't get the cD that low, it's higher than it would be if you give it the 55 rake.

Visibly I think you're guesstimating a 2 cube trailer, about twice as long as wide, vs a 2.5 cube, vs a 3 cube which probably brings us to max size for our platform.

Double angles and curves still do better, and radiused corners seem to help a hell of a lot.

_______ ________ _________ ________ _________

I am getting interested in some of the KZ sprees and Escapes in smaller sizes. Looking for a good layout, I think we'll be at about 70% just wife and me for weekending and 30% want to bring some family. So looking for something that you don't have to put the dinette up and down for the main bed while weekending. Though it's possible I might consider hybrids that look like they wouldn't be claustrophobic in "turtle mode" i.e. closed up, where it might be acceprtable to then only have the dinette bed. If the weather was okay could still pop one end out, but if it wasn't put up with having to change dinette over nightly.... However, some of them seem to have "dead space" ahead of the rear bed, which if you were not using that as bed, you could have a small camp table and chairs up and just leave dinette down as main bed.... for cold weather "turtling for two"

 

[Manollo3]

I got the Anderson hitch (make sure you follow manufacturers recs exactly!)-- zero sway and very little teeter totter bounce (typical of single axel trailers). You feel a tug on bumpy roads, dips, and uneven ground but other than that, I'm very pleased! I previously towed with a Silverado and a 22ft trailer, the Mavericks handling was just as good..

Awesome. Glad to hear that. Thanks for your feedback.
Hope to have mine in the next few months.

 

[chilicharger]

I got the Anderson hitch (make sure you follow manufacturers recs exactly!)-- zero sway and very little teeter totter bounce (typical of single axel trailers). You feel a tug on bumpy roads, dips, and uneven ground but other than that, I'm very pleased! I previously towed with a Silverado and a 22ft trailer, the Mavericks handling was just as good..

What is an Anderson hitch?

 

[Busyobeforever]

What is an Anderson hitch?

https://share.google/EXusxRV8LsXbQHBva

 

[chilicharger]

Wow, those are expensive! The towing performance is worth that much money?

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