Offroad Trailer vs Offroad Teardrop

[whitee27]

I'm in the market to purchase a camping trailer and am in the research phase. To those who own or have seen, what are the pro's and con's to either option. I'd like an offraod trailer with a RTT (like CVT https://cascadiatents.com/shop/cvt-trailer/ or Smittybilt scout https://www.smittybilt.com/product/index/276.htm ) or an offroad teardrop (like hiker offers ). I just don't know which route to go.

Thanks in advance

 

[James Deaton]

I’ve owned RVs, and am currently the Parts & Service Writer at a small RV shop... RVs break all the time. Avoid anything RV at all costs. They break while driving down a smooth road, so I can’t imagine them doing well offroad...

We have small trailer we are building to hold our Plano cases, roof top tents, and Road Showers, but I’m not going any farther than that. No RV parts is my motto.

The appliances break often, the roofs leak, they are built out of 2x2s.... they are extremely fragile.

James

 

[FireMedicPQ1]

I went through a similar decision last year. As I approach my 60s. I found that I really don't want to sleep on the ground anymore. I thought a trailer would be the best option to keep exploring the back country. I decided on a teardrop. I purchased a partially built project from Justin at Anchor Mountain Overland. He provided a pretty good template for me to finish. I took it on three off-road trips this past spring/summer. I love it. The teardrop does have some drawbacks - they are not as maneuverable as the RTT/cargo models due to the longer wheelbase. My trailer did OK on the Kokopelli trail in Colorado and Utah, as well as the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The advantages of a teardrop is that it is better to whether the weather. I went through a few rain and wind storms that would have been miserable in a tent. In fact, a friend was in a RTT when this horrible wind kicked up in the middle of the night in southern Utah. He had to pull the tent down and sleep in his truck that night. I have attached a photo of my project trailer if you want to check it out. I am not terribly handy in the garage, but was able to complete Justin's project without much difficulty. Good luck on the search.

Paul

 

[whitee27]

I went through a similar decision last year. As I approach my 60s. I found that I really don't want to sleep on the ground anymore. I thought a trailer would be the best option to keep exploring the back country. I decided on a teardrop. I purchased a partially built project from Justin at Anchor Mountain Overland. He provided a pretty good template for me to finish. I took it on three off-road trips this past spring/summer. I love it. The teardrop does have some drawbacks - they are not as maneuverable as the RTT/cargo models due to the longer wheelbase. My trailer did OK on the Kokopelli trail in Colorado and Utah, as well as the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The advantages of a teardrop is that it is better to whether the weather. I went through a few rain and wind storms that would have been miserable in a tent. In fact, a friend was in a RTT when this horrible wind kicked up in the middle of the night in southern Utah. He had to pull the tent down and sleep in his truck that night. I have attached a photo of my project trailer if you want to check it out. I am not terribly handy in the garage, but was able to complete Justin's project without much difficulty. Good luck on the search.

Paul

Thanks

 

[jkxj]

I'm in the market to purchase a camping trailer and am in the research phase. To those who own or have seen, what are the pro's and con's to either option. I'd like an offraod trailer with a RTT (like CVT https://cascadiatents.com/shop/cvt-trailer/ or Smittybilt scout https://www.smittybilt.com/product/index/276.htm ) or an offroad teardrop (like hiker offers ). I just don't know which route to go.

Thanks in advance

you have any dogs?? RTT's are awfully tough my parents with with an Rpod and they love it. They went with that over the RTT cause aint no way their tank of a golden retriever is going to make it up the rtt ladders.

 

[Captain Chaos]

I have a Bantam trailer with a tent and all the other stuff I built last year. I like it, but, as mentioned above, rtts suck in downpours. I’m going to build a cargo trailer next. Unless I decide to just build a sleeping platform in Number 7.

If I was in the market for a teardrop, it would be a Oregon trail’r terradrop. We did look at a NoBo 10.7, the build quality is terrible for the price tag. The rv builders in Indiana have a long way to go before they will catch up with the off road market.

Here’s a couple pictures of my Bantam. It will go anywhere I want it to. I have a Dometic Cfx65dz inside it.

 

[whitee27]

I have a Bantam trailer with a tent and all the other stuff I built last year. I like it, but, as mentioned above, rtts suck in downpours. I’m going to build a cargo trailer next. Unless I decide to just build a sleeping platform in Number 7.

If I was in the market for a teardrop, it would be a Oregon trail’r terradrop. We did look at a NoBo 10.7, the build quality is terrible for the price tag. The rv builders in Indiana have a long way to go before they will catch up with the off road market.

Here’s a couple pictures of my Bantam. It will go anywhere I want it to. I have a Dometic Cfx65dz inside it.
View attachment 76377 View attachment 76379

Thanks for the info, what brand basket is that you've got above the spare?

 

[Captain Chaos]

Thanks for the info, what brand basket is that you've got above the spare?

Homemade. It’s a harbor freight basket. I made the rest. I didn’t want to spend to much time or money on building it if it wasn’t going to last. That was 2 or 3 years ago. It worked out pretty well. I’ll find the build thread for ya... hold on

 

[whitee27]

Homemade. It’s a harbor freight basket. I made the rest. I didn’t want to spend to much time or money on building it if it wasn’t going to last. That was 2 or 3 years ago. It worked out pretty well. I’ll find the build thread for ya... hold on

Thanks

 

[Kent R]

We had the same issues with what to buy and we ended up after a several year search with a Anchor Mountain Overland Enduro trailer. We hope to pick it up in mid January and give it a shake down before our annual Mojave Road Trip in March.

Good luck!

 

[smritte]

My trailer is similar to @Captain Chaos set up. The advantage to the trailer/RTT is the amount of gear you can bring as well as the weight and size. I built mine about six or seven years ago. Ive camped in heavy rains, moderate snow and heavy winds. This year im considering building something with hard sides (teardrop ish). The desert winds suck in the tent. I deal with it ok and the RTT has held up well but, no sleep is no sleep. Ive only had to sleep in the back of my cruiser once. I actually thought the trailer was going to tip over in the wind.

The only thing holding me back is the size and weight of a hard side. I wont be able to stand in it so I need to build an annex on the side for dressing and possibly a cook area out of the rain. I don't know what your towing it with but rent something about the same weight as the tear drop your looking at and just drive it around. I know some of them can weigh a bit loaded.

 

[Todd & Meg]

We just went through the same thing last year. We knew we wanted to get away from camping on the ground. We wanted some place to keep our camp gear so we can decide last minute to head out, grab some food and cloths hook up and head out. So the choice was Expo trailer with RTT or teardrop. For us hands down it was a teardrop. First my wife hates ladders, any kind or ladder. Add that to having to pee in the middle of the night and it's not going to turn out good. I found a few trip reports for my wife to read to get an idea about doing trips with a camper. Well I should have read them though first. One report was with 3 RTT's on trucks and trailers, and two teardrop campers. The trip was in SE UT in Nov, and they had every weather possible in 7 days. One night got to camp late, in the rain and had to setup camp. RTT people waited in the rig for the rain to let up teardrop people climb in and went to bed. In the morning RTT's had to pack up wet, No issues with the TD. Next night the wind kicked up in the middle of the night. Two RTT people had to take down the tents and sleep in the rig, the other stayed in the tent and didn't get much sleep. One of the TD people in the morning didn't even know it was windy. Another night it got cold and the aluminum ladder got all frosted and the person coming down slipped on the last rung and slipped off. No injury but something to think about. There were a few other things that convinced my wife that it was a teardrop or nothing. I was push up till then for the expo trailer and RTT because I planed to build myself. But knew that wasn't going to happen.

There are drawbacks to the TD, longer, probably heaver and wider. At first I wanted an all out hardcore off-road teardrop. But we are not hardcore off-roaders. We like easy to intermediate trails. We won't be doing Black Bear with our TD. LOL. Since we live in the desert we wanted to be able to carry water, if we had water I wanted a shower. Which added a hot water heater, and pump. If we that might as well put in a galley sink. All that adds more weight and more money. I made the inside much nicer than it needs to be, but why not, we have to live in a small space why not make it nice. My neighbor made a comment than the TD cabinets are better looking than her kitchen cabinets. She is probably right but that is added weight. I'm 6'2" so I wanted a queen length bed and a full galley which = more length. We also will have a real 8" thick memory foam mattress, sure beats the 2-4" foam in you find in a RTT.

So I guess the bottom line is where do you want to go. If you want the trailer to go anywhere the TV can go probably look into an expo trailer and RTT. If you want comfort and ease of camping go with a teardrop.

Todd

PS I'll be finishing my teardrop in the next month or so. Can wait to give it a good workout.

 

[Tim N Michele Davis]

We bought the Smittybilt trailer and have been very happy with it. We do some off road trips in it, we also do some glamping at State parks, it does a good job at both. Just came back from Rendezvous in the Ozarks and are headed to North Georgia Mountains this weekend. Here is a picture when we went to Gulf Shores state park. Little buddy heater in the annex and you will be warm and toasty at least down to the 20's anyway.

 

[Winterpeg]

I'm in the market to purchase a camping trailer and am in the research phase. To those who own or have seen, what are the pro's and con's to either option. I'd like an offraod trailer with a RTT (like CVT https://cascadiatents.com/shop/cvt-trailer/ or Smittybilt scout https://www.smittybilt.com/product/index/276.htm ) or an offroad teardrop (like hiker offers ). I just don't know which route to go.

Thanks in advance

That Hiker Trailer has a few things that would absolutely NOT work here.
The main thing that popped out at me immediately was the cabinet door from the inside to the outside. There is no screen on it. I can only imagine the amount of bugs that would end up in the sleeping area when the back is opened up.

 

[whitee27]

Thanks everyone for the insight. I would be towing this with my 2 door JK. SOme great input!

 

[ArkansasDon]

I've own truck campers, 5th wheels & now adventure trailer I built from ground up. My wife & I are up in age 60 plus & 59yrs old & we enjoy the adventure trailer more than any other rig we've own. We know that in time (few years) we will be selling our trailer to go to a offroad teardrop style because our age wont allow us to climb the ladder to the RTT. Right now both of us have zero problems climbing the ladder for sleep time or mid night bathroom runs. I wouldn't have it any other way to have a adventure trailer\RTT to dispersed camping any time of the year.

We run 200 watts of Renogy solar system producing power to run Engel 12v. fridg\freez, Proplex Heat Source H2000 tent furnace, Endless Breeze Fan, our shower system, & the filtered green LED tent rack lights. This coming 2019 spring (March) my wife & I are doing the Arkansas & Oklahoma Trans American Trail run.

 

[Elblanco chingon]

Been looking myself...consider an intech flyer. They are ALL aluminum construction aka: NOTHING to rot! and appear to have an excellent build quality. Also priced reasonably (comparatively) and can be bought with slide out kitchen,rear barn doors,heat a/c...pretty much everything but a crapper.weight is also good since it's all aluninum. I found them after starting my rtt trailer build or I'd have one! Probably will eventually anyway

 

[Elblanco chingon]

Intec also has a very sturdy roof rack and can come with a batwing awning as well as a tent that connects to the rear doors....damn...now I want one again! [emoji36]

 

[TNcaveman]

I'm in the same boat - mainly wanting to get my wife to camp again. I don't mind a tent but the thought of a real mattress and roof fan sounds great. And an AC for summer trips to campgrounds. Right now I'm divided between these three - and all are on the larger side of what is off-road friendly. Larger because wife wants it taller. All three of these are less than 2000 pounds and are aluminum.

VRV Flyer - 4.7 ft tall inside 9.5 ft by 5 ft tall 5 ft wide plus fenders

inTech Explore w/ tipout bed - 5.5 ft tall inside Box is 6 ft tall and 10.5 ft long by 6 ft wide plus fenders

And a recent find - Trailmarker - a little taller at 5.5 to 5.9 ft tall inside. Generall5 12 ft long box and a newer smaller Bushwacker with a 10 ft by 5 ft box. All are 6 ft wide plus fenders

One problem is availability - VRV is 6 hrs away, inTech is not in stock with in 2.5 hrs, and Trailmarker is about 10-12 hrs away.

Stephen

 

[Elblanco chingon]

Check Bankston rv in nashville...they usually keep intech and will transfer from their other stores for free if necessary