We have 3 kids and are looking for a trailer that can safely be towed by Honda Odyssey (3500 lb).
Travel Trailer:
- Better temperature and noise insulation - 3 season
- Toilet
- No setup time - good for long distance - one night stays
- Smaller inside
- Heavier
- More expensive
Options:
* Jayco Skylark 21FKV (~3000 lb dry) (Steel chasis, alum. frame)
* ForestRiver R-Pod171/172 (~2200 lb dry)
* Livin Lite CampLite CL13BHB (~2100 lb)(Alum. chasis and frame)
Tent Trailer:
- One season
- No real toilet
- Significant time to setup
- More things that can be broken
- Good for 8 people
- Can be stored in my garage
- Lightweight
- Cheaper
Options:
* Jayco 1007 or 1207 (1800-2000 lb)
I really liked Skylark but it will probably be too heavy for a minivan (+5 bikes).
My second choice would be CampLite but I suspect the aluminum chasis can fatigue much earlier than steel chasis. R-Pod is very small inside for a family with 3 kids.
Any other travel trailers you might recommend?
I rented Rockwood and Jayco tent trailers and I liked Jayco's quality more than Rockwood. It's a pain to setup a tent trailer but if that's the only safe option, I am ok with that. I can later upgrade the trailer when I upgrade my tow vehicle.
Thanks,
Burhan
* This post was
edited 05/07/12 11:44am by binsel *
Sorry but I think you already know what everyone will say. You will be extremely lucky to outfit the Odyssey with a decent sized popup. You need to remember the 3500 includes the Popup, supplies, bikes, food, and the people (who will get heavier, as kids grow). If you buy a nice used popup and upgrade later, you will make out okay. Try to avoid new if you don't plan to keep it long, you will take a hit with depreciation. The other option would be to rent a cabin when you want to camp. Be safe, start light and you will move up. Most of us started in a popup. It is the memories not the vehicle. Look to the popup forum for the easiest way to camp in one. Rubbermain roughnecks for all the supplies, duffle bags for the clothing at the foot of the bunks, coolers and another box for food. It can be done; we did it 10 years with twins.
Parents who still don't know anything
Twin college graduates who know everything
One lazy Westie
2000 F350 DRW 7.3 PSD crew cab
2007 Jayco Eagle 291 RLTS
2003 Coleman Sedona towed by 99 4Runner for the "graduates"
We decided to go from tent camping to a hybrid this year. We have a kia sedona for a tow vehicle and bought a nice used Jayco kiwi. Plenty of room for 3 kids,wife, dog and I. The van pulls, brakes, and rides well. A hybrid is the both worlds combined that we liked. I tipped the scales at 3146 loaded.
Another option (and it is a relatively expensive option) might be to consider a motorhome instead, and use the Odyssey as a toad (read the manual and documentation... some people say the new minivans can't be used this way.) The minivan goes up to 4560 pounds in the 2012 year, so with stuff in the vehicle, it will be near tow capacity for most MHs which tend to only have up to 5000 pounds.
The advantage of using a setup like this is that there are a lot of class Cs which can easily sleep five people. With a typical 30-31 foot floor plan, they can sleep two on the queen bed, one on a couch or dinette, one on a sofa, and one in the overhead cab.
This one a 2417 model weighs just 2150 lbs dry, can take 1000 lbs of cargo (you can easily travel light by buying supplies/groceries at your destination) and is just 17'9" closed and 21'6" opened, 67" tall when being towed, (opens to full height of 102"), sleeps 6, has all hard walls (no tents), small private toilet/bathroom/shower, kitchen, lots of huge windows (gives it an open, airy feel), Roof A/C, furnace, full time king bed, full time double bed, sofa bed.
TrailManor has 28 years in business...ultra lite technology, strong, weather proof construction. Sort of expensive, because they are made one at a time, but used ones can be found for a bargin!
Brand new they run $20,000 to $22,400.00...on RV Trader.com.
Hope you find just the right RV for ya!
My posts shouldn't be taken for factual data. They are purely fictional, for entertainment purposes and should not be constituted as actually related to scientific, technical, engineering, legal, spiritual or practical advice. Amen.
As Fordsooperdooty stated above the Trailmanor would be the best with three kids. The trailmanor is hard sidded and safer for kids, a pop-up with its soft sides can be dangerous for young kids, they can roll out the ends. For those who will say it can never happen, i had a pop-up and yes it did happen.
Don't really know if your looking new or used? If your looking new and consider that trail more another option is trade the odesey take a little hit and get an suv that is more capable to tow and get a travel trailer used that fits the family well. You could get a nice used unit under 10grand which is half the cost of a trail more. I dought the highly rated odesey would take that big hit. Just a suggestion. It's always easy to spend others money. If you stay w ur setup get a pop up IMO
Depending on where you camp, a tent trailer can be used from 3-4 seasons. They do have furnaces and often air conditioning.
Many tent trailer have toilets. Cassette toilets are real toilets and some people prefer them because they're easy to dump. Some have showers--sometimes even inside. Problem is you can't pee while you're pulled over at the side of the road.
Of course setup is an issue. Setting up the trailer is pretty fast, but getting your stuff where you want it for use can be annoying if you aren't wonderfully organized.
On the bright side, leveling a popup is much faster than a double axle TT. You get tons more living space for your family. Probably the only thing you can pull for under 3500 lbs that will suit a family of 5. And much easier to tow due to the low profile.
We pulled a popup trailer for a few years with our 3500 lb tow capacity CUV and while it's great with small kids and when you're in one spot for a while, the setup and lack of on-the-road access started to bug us. Unlike most, we didn't want something bigger. To us, having the kids older means more time outside and less in the RV so we switched to a tiny truck camper. Way more fun than towing anything. But if I had to tow something, I'd take the popup tent trailer. They have windows!
We have 3 kids and are looking for a trailer that can safely be towed by Honda Odyssey (3500 lb).
Travel Trailer:
- Better temperature and noise insulation - 3 season
- Toilet
- No setup time - good for long distance - one night stays
- Smaller inside
- Heavier
- More expensive
Options:
* Jayco Skylark 21FKV (~3000 lb dry) (Steel chasis, alum. frame)
* ForestRiver R-Pod171/172 (~2200 lb dry)
* Livin Lite CampLite CL13BHB (~2100 lb)(Alum. chasis and frame)
Tent Trailer:
- One season
- No real toilet
- Significant time to setup
- More things that can be broken
- Good for 8 people
- Can be stored in my garage
- Lightweight
- Cheaper
Options:
* Jayco 1007 or 1207 (1800-2000 lb)
I really liked Skylark but it will probably be too heavy for a minivan (+5 bikes).
My second choice would be CampLite but I suspect the aluminum chasis can fatigue much earlier than steel chasis. R-Pod is very small inside for a family with 3 kids.
Any other travel trailers you might recommend?
I rented Rockwood and Jayco tent trailers and I liked Jayco's quality more than Rockwood. It's a pain to setup a tent trailer but if that's the only safe option, I am ok with that. I can later upgrade the trailer when I upgrade my tow vehicle.
Thanks,
Burhan
Not really sure why you think the CampLite can fatigue much earlier than a steel chasis. It's really all about the engineering in them. Haven't you seen hundreds of 20 year old aluminum fishing boats around, all in very usuable shape?
Now compare that with the 1x2 wood construction of most pop-ups and I'll take the aluminum studs and walls any day. 90% of the old trailers I've looked at (of any type) that had problems were due to leaking and rotting wood.
Just my opinion that might make you rethink your position.
2011 Silverado Crewcab 4x4
2012 Passport 238ML
Hope your travels are safe and the friendships made camping are lasting.
I used to tow a pop up and now tow a 17ft. 2009 R-vision Trail Cruiser with my 2003 Ford Windstar (tow rating 3500#). Towing the pop up was a breeze, even through the Rockies. Towing my 17 footer through the same route is not as fun but manageable. I love our hybrid as do my wife and three kids and we all fit comfortably. Your Odyssey is probably capable of towing a hybrid but get all the necessary things to go with it like brake controller, anti-sway, tranny cooler, and regular fluid changes. Oh, and I noticed you want to carry bikes, too. Don't attach the bikes to the rear bumper. It's not designed for that.
Safe travels.
2003 Ford Windstar
2009 R-Vision Trail-Cruiser C-17
3 wonderful kids
Wife/co-pilot "Are we there yet?"
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But if I had to tow something, I'd take the popup tent trailer. They have windows!
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