Bergger said:
I agree Matyn. Once you load up any small off road trailer the weight is going to climb fast.
Mine is configured as follows:
Eezi Awn 1800- 145lbs, Waeco 50- 44lbs, Deka Battery- 69lbs, steel rock crawler wheel with Firestone tire- 80lbs each, that's 418lbs just for that. I have no idea how much the following options weigh, nosebox, trailer lid, thule rack, water tank, battery tender, but i'd imagine it'd be in the 200lbs range. I'm guess my Chaser without any of my gear in it and no water hits the scales at around 1300lbs. Loaded with gear and water 1700lbs or so. Like I said earlier the trailers tow really well and I've only had mine on pavement and some dirt roads so far.
Truth be told, I'm l a bit surprised that the weight issues came up. When we first starting in the business back in 2001 it was everyone's concern. "My vehicle can't tow that" was right up there with "That will never go over the Rubicon". Well the Rubicon was easy to disprove, we just did it.
Then over the past 7 years we have been actively educating people about the towing capacities of their vehicles, and how a good balance between tires size and gearing is critical when towing off road. Almost all the people who have off road towing problems have lifted their vehicles, fitted larger tires, and never re geared. When you add a trailer to that mix the results are not good.
But despite the additional weight a small trailer being towed on the highway reduces your fuel consumption less than adding a roof rack. If you drive a Wrangler or Rubicon a Chaser almost triples your storage capacity. If you are going on expedition it will provision four people in one vehicle instead of four people in two vehicles.
What is a trailer for? Basically increasing cargo capacity, and cargo means weight. If you didn't need all of the things in and on the trailer you wouldn't be towing one.
So you could decide to pack everything you need into the back of your SUV and add about 500 lbs to the vehicle, stress the suspension and reduce interior space. Or you could tow a trailer weighing 1500 lbs, but it is only applying 150-225 lbs of load to the rear of the vehicle.
The biggest blessing is the small conveniences a trailer brings to expeditions and weekends in the outback, things like a soft bed, cold drinks, fresh food, shade, and safari reclining chairs to name a few.
But as you can see I have had seven years to think about this.