All things Camp Trailer

[Rot Box]

What do you have? What do you tow it with? I thought I would start a camp trailer thread for those that use them. Issues, thoughts, interest, trip reports—anything goes.

I never thought I would see the day I’d use one but at this point in my life it sure is fun to get out with the family and having a camp trailer makes life easier.. for the wife anyway not me haha I still prefer simplicity but if it gets us outdoors I’m happy with it.

Here’s my 98 TrailManor. My good friend @Die Blaue Ziege turned me onto these when he bought his. It’s roughly 3200 lbs so my truck doesn’t even know it’s back there. Popping it up only takes a few minutes easy peasy.

 

[Rot Box]

 

[Pile of parts]

I don't tow my camp trailer, I tow with it. I hope that still counts. It's just the two of us and we're always towing something when we take it out, so it works for us.

 

[jeeper]

We LOVED having an in-bed camper. With the 3 kids growing though, we had to go to a pull behind. Nothing fancy or expensive for us, but that also allows be to be a little more comfortable to drag it to places a camper doesn't normally go. I think it's an '06, 32ft. The slide out makes a HUGE difference. We will probably always have a slide out for future trailers.
More recently than this photo, we did a SOA lift and more sturdy stabilizer jacks.

 

[Die Blaue Ziege]

Tow vehicle 2001 f250 4x4 7.3l, trailer is a 2006 Trailmanor 3223. 23 feet while towing with room of 32 foot when it's up. I am posting this while on a trip. So it's pretty dirty. It pulled great through the passes of the Utah side of Flaming gorge area. The trailmanor is great to tow, and takes us no longer than 10 min to setup. My record pack down is 5 min flat...... Waking the girls up and everything. That is a story for a campfire, let's just say it had lots of poop involved and I felt like I was in a national Lampoon's movie.

 

[dutchman]

We’ve got a 21’ Coleman trailer that we bought a couple years ago. It’s bigger than I’d like, but the wife and kid love it so that makes it worth it.

 

[Bart]

Just sold this trailer and will probably end up with a camper of some kind, but not as nice as Pile of Parts.

 

[Unimog]

Don't really consider this camping, but we enjoy it! Our trailer is a 2006 Carriage Cameo 35'. Pulled with a 2012 Dodge 3500.

 

[DesertRam]

We have had this 2018 Jayco Eagle HT since August 2017 when we picked it up in SLC (well, more or less). It replaced an older smaller Jayco that was destroyed in a fire at the dealership while being repaired. We love this thing! We use it for family vacations and frequently as a base camp for various hunts. It also serves as our "mother-in-law apartment" for guests. It's surprising how often we put people up in this when they come for a visit. It's nice to offer guests their "own" place. I still tow it with that 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 that I'll probably keep until I die.

 

[TRD270]

Anyone have any experience with palomino backpack slide ins?

 

[Rot Box]

Over the weekend I had my batteries drop to 11.5 volts while using the ARB fridge, ceiling fan, lights etc.. When plugged into the house (or generator) my 12v voltage jumps around from 12.2 volts to 13.2.. I’m thinking this isn’t going to recharge my batteries. Is my inverter suspect or is this normal?

Should I look into a battery charger instead of trying to rely on my inverter to charge? If so will a 12v battery charger work with my 6v batteries wired in series? Thanks for any help!

Andrew

 

[Unimog]

I'd say it needs to get above 13.5 to charge. If it isn't doing that, find out why - converter/inverter, cable size, connections, etc. If you get the voltage up, you can charge the 6v batteries in series as long as they are fairly well equalized. Once they rest a little, measure the voltage across each 6v battery and then measure it again after charging. If they are pretty close in voltage, you are ok.

 

[Rot Box]

Thanks @Unimog ! If I do go with a battery charger vs. trying to use my inverter/converter how many amps should I look for? I assume the 1-5v chargers I’m seeing are for maintaining not charging… but I don’t know enough about them.

I looked at my converter and all connections and everything seems to be in order. Maybe it’s just weak or bad. Definitely not getting enough voltage to charge batteries it’s been plugged in for a few hours now and my voltage hasn’t increased much off of 11.5…

 

[Gravy]

We picked up this situation last year and parked it up on our property in Eden last year as a kind of temporary cabin.
We love it. It's a Wilderness bunkhouse which works great for my 3 boys.
I used a Harbor Freight solar setup to keep the batteries topped off until I could install a power pole a 3 months ago.
Works good. I don't see us towing it places that often. This was my first experience towing a fifth wheel (and first real camper) after decade plus of towing around other bumper pull trailers and I don't see myself going back it's such a better experience.

Some minor roof repairs (I had to replace. A cracked bubble skylight) and I'm changing the kitchen faucet to something better than the leaky garbage that comes stock with all trailers.

 

[Pile of parts]

Just sold this trailer and will probably end up with a camper of some kind, but not as nice as Pile of Parts.

View attachment 138543

Thanks! We got lucky on that camper. We had been keeping an eye out for that model for a couple of years. About 2 years ago it popped up on KSL for probably $5000-$6000 less than it should have so we jumped on it. We love it. Dry bath, plenty of room but short enough to tow without crazy extensions.

 

[ID Bronco]

I have an older 2007 29 foot bunkhouse. For our family with 5 kids it's awesome to have 4 bunks in the back. The slide makes it roomier since the bunks take a lot of room. I tow it with my tired and true 03 Duramax 2500 GMC. It's an older set up but it works and was relatively inexpensive. We've been rocking this set up for about 10 years. I have contemplated going to a fifth wheel set up so I can tow in tandem but this works and I do pull small boats behind with no issues.

 

[OCNORB]

Our toy hauler was totaled in the fall of 2019.

I picked this up for $1200 just before Covid hit. Wanted to see how we would like it now that the kids are on their own and we only occasionally have the grandson.

It works. Pros include quick setup and we can get into sites that others cannot. Cons are it’s small and no dry bath. Wife hates it.

 

[Rot Box]

Our toy hauler was totaled in the fall of 2019.

I picked this up for $1200 just before Covid hit. Wanted to see how we would like it now that the kids are on their own and we only occasionally have the grandson.

It works. Pros include quick setup and we can get into sites that others cannot. Cons are it’s small and no dry bath. Wife hates it.

View attachment 138555

Want to trade trucks?! That one is a beauty 😎

 

[OCNORB]

Want to trade trucks?! That one is a beauty 😎

She photographs better than she actually is. Still my dream truck, though!

 

[Unimog]

Thanks @Unimog ! If I do go with a battery charger vs. trying to use my inverter/converter how many amps should I look for? I assume the 1-5v chargers I’m seeing are for maintaining not charging… but I don’t know enough about them.

I looked at my converter and all connections and everything seems to be in order. Maybe it’s just weak or bad. Definitely not getting enough voltage to charge batteries it’s been plugged in for a few hours now and my voltage hasn’t increased much off of 11.5…

Maybe a bad battery. You should be able to charge your 6v batteries in series at 20 or 30 amps when they are low. If you use a regular battery charger, 10-15 amps is fine. The battery charger should have support for deep-cycle since the charge profile is different from a starting battery.