Downsizing to small, lightweight, but full height T/T

[DavidEM]

I am selling my MH and downsizing to a small, lightweight T/T. My criteria are:

* Full 6’+ height inside
* Tow weight of 2,500lbs or less, preferably much less.
* Reasonably aerodynamic
* Garage storable, ie height less than 7’
* No fold ups like the Aliner
* Minimal toilet, cooking and cold storage capability. No shower is ok.

I have found only one that meets all of these criteria: the Meerkat made by Little Guy Trailers, although it cheats a bit with a pop up central overhead, but that will work for me. I realize that 6+’ inside height is impossible with a <7’ outside height without some sort of pop up.

Any others that might work? What do you think about the Meerkat?

David

[ocbizman1]

Good luck with that. I'm 6'4" and for 20 years we were part-timers. We owned a Jayco Kiwi. It was a hybrid trailer with hard sides and pop-out ends. I could (just) stand up everywhere except in the shower and under the HVAC vent. Hit my head on that thing more than once.

That is one of the reasons we went for a 5th wheel as full-timers. Even my 6'8" son can stand up when he comes over. Even in the shower.

[YosemiteBobR]

How are you going to find a trailer less than 7' on the outside when you are 6' on the inside? You need a minimum clearance under the trailer and then you have at least 1.5 inches of ceiling and let's not forget the AC and vents and possibly other things on top?

That given how about a hard faced fold up trailer. (tent trailer)
. That would have all you ask. I've seen them at shows, but really have not checked them out except just looking in.

[DavidEM]

The Meerkat has a pop up that gives you 6’ 4” of headroom. See the attached pic.

[Sunnyfalls]

Our fiberglass Casita trailer has a 73" head height, is 17 feet long, weighs 2480 lbs empty and 3500 lbs at maximum weight, is aerodynamic, has a kitchen, has a bathroom with shower, can be configured as a king size nort-south bed if desired, doesn't depreciate in value and we get 23 MPG towing it with our comfortable and reliable Honda Ridgeline truck. We can travel to places the big, bloated pigs can only fantasize doing and we modified our trailer to have unlimited dry camping capability. Details and photos here if interested:

https://www.borstengineeringconstruc..._2023_Trip.pdf

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[bigb56]

My neighbor has had a MeerKat for about 6-7 years now. She first towed it with a Tacoma and then a Subaru. The two major issues she had was the cabinet fell off the wall and the tongue/frame bent. The cabinet fell off under warranty and MeerKat flew 2 guys out to her house and fixed it. (Afterwards I warned her that she shouldn't put anything heavy like canned food in the cabinet when traveling but instead on the floor till the destination is reached).

For the bent frame she had to leave the trailer in the nearest town and have it repaired then drive back for it. Not sure why it bent but she does haul it off road. It bent while the Tacoma was towing it.

She is pretty happy with it overall. The only thing I would probably do is upgrade the SLA battery and cheap charger they furnished for a Li battery and a smart charger. The charger did boil her battery last summer and came pretty close to a fire, the battery and battery box was partially melted when I smelled the sulphur clear over at my house and decided to investigate. Maybe now they offer a battery upgrade.

It's light enough that one person can jockey it around when it's unhooked, and the Subaru has no problem towing it.

[Mudfrog]

I've been researching for a small light weight travel trailer myself. Like the OP has found, the 6 foot interior height is doable but the exterior heights are always in the 8 foot and up range.

Have found a few that might work for me but all are over the 7 foot mark. I'm not interested in any kind of a pop up so it's pretty much gonna be around 8 foot using a window unit or 9 plus feet with roof air.

As mentioned, the Casita is a nice little unit, The Scamp brand is similar. Here are a few links to other manufacturers that get somewhat close,,,.

Modern Buggy A few different sized models to choose from.

Prolite RV A bit over 8 foot without rooftop air. Easy to pull with just about anything.

Rove lite Different floorplans but not sure of the interior height.

Ascape Very small but shows to be a tad bit over 6 foot inside.

[Rexlion]

Maybe an Alto R Series by Safari Condo. 83" high with the roof retracted.



Some of the older vintage Scamps could fit in a 7' garage if they had no roof A/C and if a person swapped in some plain wheels (think no tires) strictly for storage. I read about someone who did this. Can't recall if the Scamp was 13' or 16' though.

[DavidEM]

Originally Posted by Rexlion

Maybe an Alto R Series by Safari Condo. 83" high with roof retracted

I like the Alto Rs a lot. Unfortunately my garage has a 79” high opening. So I am afraid the Meerkat is the only one that will work.

David

[radar]

I posted this awhile back for someone else. Cut and paste.

This is our T@B400. A little over 18 feet and weighs in fully loaded just under 3400 pounds. Hitch weight about 340 pounds loaded. There are smaller and larger models from the various manufacturers. Easy pull for the right SUV. We have pulled ours all over Canada, western US and extensively in BC. Easy to get into forestry site etc. We love it. Made up bed and a separate eating table. We didn't want to have to make up a bed every night and we wanted one person to be able to get up and have breakfast and the other one to be able to sleep in. We say so many on our big BC tour last summer. Less common outside BC.

Hope that helps and hope you find what you are looking for.

Cheers.

John















Booth



Kitchen



Bed



Bathroom sink up



Bathroom sink down.



Kitchen.



Fridge

[Sunnyfalls]

That looks to be a well-designed and well-executed teardrop trailer!

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

[radar]

Originally Posted by Sunnyfalls

That looks to be a well-designed and well-executed teardrop trailer!

Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"

Yah. We are starting season four with it. We do 90 to 110 nights a year in it. Literally not a thing has gone wrong with it. Other than that we are replacing the tires this year it has never cost us anything in maintenance. Never been back to the shop once. Nowadays that is rare.

It has the Alde system for heat and hot water as well. Really nice even hydronic heat. Air conditioner also doubles as a heat pump. Nice unit. European but built under licence in the US.

[julianactive]

It seems like your real limiting factor is your garage.

[Sunnyfalls]

Originally Posted by radar

Yah. We are starting season four with it. We do 90 to 110 nights a year in it. Literally not a thing has gone wrong with it. Other than that we are replacing the tires this year it has never cost us anything in maintenance. Never been back to the shop once. Nowadays that is rare.

It has the Alde system for heat and hot water as well. Really nice even hydronic heat. Air conditioner also doubles as a heat pump. Nice unit. European but built under licence in the US.

Ah, I think it's the European look that caught our attention! Our French Beneteau Oceanis sailboat had similar refined European features. Europe does so many things far better than US like hydronic radiant heating...which is what we design these days, have in our Oregon home, but not in our Casita trailer...yet. We are currently working with a German company on a RV optimized electric/propane tankless water heater. We have been very happy with our modified Casita trailer and we are currently using it in Costa Rica. It's always nice to see small trailers put to great use!

Cheers,
Gayle & Bob
"Los Gatos Casita"