We braved the snow, bundled up, and looked at a few teardrop trailers as an improvement over the rooftop tent. They resolve the matter of climbing a stepladder at night, however, the smaller units don’t have a toilet. We would still need to fabricate a private screen for a portable outdoor toilet.
Kitchen space is very small, and in the case with the GeoPro, it’s on the rear of the trailer under a door that folds up to form a roof, exposing whoever cooks, to the elements.
Basically, the entire inside consists of a small mattress and a cupboard for personal belongings. The sales people told us how cute they were. I had visions of us towing these “porta-potties” behind a rugged off road 4×4. I’m sure it would turn a few heads.
Each time we arrived at the dealerships in our Jeep Rubicon, with lifted suspension, 35 inch tires, and short wheelbase – the sales people would physically cringed when we asked about the weight of these tiny trailers – boy, we were in for a rude awakening.
Evidently, the 2 Door V6 Jeep Rubicon has a maximum 2000 pound towing capacity. We were advised, It’s not about the pulling power, it’s all about safe handling and braking.
We felt like our new dream imploded with this information. We needed time to think, and found the perfect place to do it – an all inclusive hotel in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with our four sons. Nothing like a bit of adrenalin to stimulate the senses.
The week in Mexico went fast, and we returned to more snow during our search for a travel solution. We realized we would have to upgrade from the Jeep, and get a vehicle with a higher towing capacity. We liked the Toyota Tacoma, and started looking at larger travel trailers.
The more we looked, the more we were overwhelmed by the different configurations. We also noticed a vast range of quality across the different manufacturer’s. The fit and finish on some of them was shockingly bad.
We decided it was time to step back and make an essential list of what we want in a trailer. Time for us to get serious and narrow down our options.