The quest for the perfect family (5 of us) overlanding/camping setup....

[gatorgrizz27]

A 6x12 cargo trailer ticks most of the boxes if you’ve got a place to store it and fuel mileage isn’t a major concern. Mine is primarily used for my construction business, so the camping stuff is modular, but it would be easy to build out with permanent beds instead. You can fit a queen mattress in the back lower area, with room for a countertop in the nose and space to walk inside. Bunk beds for the older kids above your bed and the your younger one can sleep on a small cot inside the door.

I’ve got an 8x8 awning with a drop down room and portable stove/water, as we prefer to be outside when camping but it solves the bad weather issues. If you have to put the awning away wet you,can just unzip and roll it down at home, no need to completely set it up.

Mine was $2,150 new, I’ve got less than $1,000 setting it up with a 12v battery system, roof fan, lights, RV door latch, E-Track, etc. Bonus is you can carry bikes, kayaks, etc, inside it.

 

[canyonrider]

Bumping this thread up. Does anyone have more real-world feedback on using an offroad trailer/RTT combo for a family of four (think Boreas and the like)? We currently have a perfectly good 19-foot fiberglass travel trailer, but I'm getting frustrated with the limitations in accessing more remote locations. On the other hand, I'm concerned that an offroad trailer/RTT would only be marginally more comfortable than a ground tent, but for a lot more money.

 

[OregonJKU]

I had an FSR Overlandter trailer with their RTT. My experience lines up with your thoughts. We now have a Rockwood 1640ESP. Way less overland-cred, much, much worse built, slightly less capable, but a million times more comfortable and practical.

How well does the 1640ESP do off pavement, e.g. on forest service roads, etc?
Also, did you do any suspension and/or tire/wheel mods?

 

[OregonJKU]

I initially intended to replace suspension, wheels and tires, but discovered that when properly aired down, (18PSI hot) the trailer is very compliant over rough FSRs at moderate (40-50kph) speeds. At this point I don't think I'll be changing suspension, wheels or tires any time soon.

I've got a build thread for the trailer here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/eatsleepwoofs-rockwood-1640esp.1210948/ . Still have a ton of work to do to it, but not much time to do it...

Thanks for your reply, and I'll checkout your build thread!

 

[Coastie24]

Bump on this thread. I have 3 boys, 7, 4 and 2 and soon to be another little one in 7.5 months.

Any real world experience with the tear drop and RTT for a family of 6? Whats your tow rig looks like? Suburban, exped el/max?

Just sold our 1994 Fleetwood Coleman Arcadia for the set up and tear down times and having to put it away wet. Want something easier if we want to move around or explore with.

 

[Awkragt]

We’ve been using this teardrop/RTT combo the last two summers. Works pretty good but even a small trailer is still a trailer and a RTT is still a RTT. Trailering is kinda annoying, you gotta have your route planned and street park/avoid small parking lots. That said we can probably turn around a lot tighter than most class C as our total length is 31ft and the Landcruiser has an abnormally tight turning radius. RTT main downside is all about setup time which is surprisingly a lot when you gotta scramble all over the trailer to fully set it up or spend 20min zipping on the annex. Also I’ve found RTT is annoying because Dad is the only one who can do it while the kids are now at the age they could setup their own ground tent, which they do when backpacking.

Pro is that the teardrop really is nice. Insulated, good kitchen setup, super easy to level, great base camp when you’re in one place for a week. Also the 100series full of people has almost no cargo space left. With the teardrop you can just toss everything inside. Teardrop is a great size where we don’t pay for storage, fits in a standard garage, easy access to it anytime pre or post trip.

 

[fireball]

Bump on this thread. I have 3 boys, 7, 4 and 2 and soon to be another little one in 7.5 months.

Any real world experience with the tear drop and RTT for a family of 6? Whats your tow rig looks like? Suburban, exped el/max?

Just sold our 1994 Fleetwood Coleman Arcadia for the set up and tear down times and having to put it away wet. Want something easier if we want to move around or explore with.

My boys are almost the exact same ages. We had a Landcruiser pulling our trailer with a FWC Hawk on it. With 4 kids and a dog, we couldn't really fit in the LC and ended up with a Sprinter. The camper works great for us - it is a shell model with essentially two queen size beds. Me and two boys up top. Momma and two boys down below. Dog on the floor. In a few years the two oldest boys will be old enough for a ground tent and the camper will hopefully continue to work for us.