Question:
I need some advice here. I'm in a 3-piece band, and we'll
be hitting the road in about 6 - 8 months. We'll be going on quite a
few 3-10 day long excursions. I've got a Chrysler Mini-van that we'll
be driving. We want to tow a camper around to stay in. Rather than
dealing w/ hotels and restaurants, we'd rather cook our own food, and
sleep in the trailer at camp-sites or whatever.
I'd like some advice here..
A) What kind should we look at? Mind you, this has be towed behind a
V6 mini-van. I've been looking at Scamps, Casitas, and Burros. It has
to be fairly small, I guess. I don't know how big a trailer a V6 can
tow. any advice?
B) Ok. we're musicians, we don't make a whole lot of money here.
Where should I look to find one used?
Answer:
-You can go pop-up or expandable like a Bantaam trail-lite. They have more
amenities than a pop-up but are lite. Look at tow ratings for your vehicles
on-line and see what it can handle
-When I looked at mini vans back in 98 all of them came with a 2000 pound
towing rating. If you ordered the trailer towing package it went up to 3500
pounds. I do remember on the Dodge that the package got you bigger brakes
and a full size spare.
Bottom line, unless you ordered your van for towing it is unlikely you got
the tow package. 2000 pounds is not much trailer either.
-I guess the V6 can pull, but the
Dodge is a front wheel drive, so watch
your weight. Check a chart for the
weight rating.
If you use a trailer you might be able
to put some of your gear in it, but don't
count on adding much weight. The
scamps, casitas, burros weight 1500-2200
lbs, depending on options and the size.
( there is a trailer of this type that is only
12', weighs about 1000, but the 17' models
will be over 2000 with options).
Get ELECTRIC BRAKES on the trailer,
at least you can count on it slowing
down when you need it to. Learn to drive
slow, take only very short stops, and keep
going.
Check out the Aliner and ChaletRV web
sites... easier to tow because they
fold flat for low wind resistance.
