Camping trailers

[DaddyO]

I am new to off-roading with a 2024 Badlands SAS 2.7L hard top. I have done a little off-roading but nothing major, probably some medium trails. I am trying to get my wife interested in trail camping but need a trailer under 4500lbs with ALL the amenities. Won’t be out during hard winters and will be out for 1-week stretches to start with. She’s (wife) a mall queen. Any suggestions?

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[Cobrafang]

https://mammothoverland.com/

Been watching these ALOT. Have not pulled the trigger myself, but I love the concept and options.

 

[Bronco SWAT]

I am new to off-roading with a 2024 Badlands SAS 2.7L hard top. I have done a little off-roading but nothing major, probably some medium trails. I am trying to get my wife interested in trail camping but need a trailer under 4500lbs with ALL the amenities. Won’t be out during hard winters and will be out for 1-week stretches to start with. She’s (wife) a mall queen. Any suggestions?

I have enjoyed two R Pods, made by Forest River. Small but very towable with all amenities.

 

[BroncoChallenger]

I have enjoyed two R Pods, made by Forest River. Small but very towable with all amenities.

This is one of the units I'd suggest, especially if your trails will be relatively easy getting to your campsite. They're pretty lightweight, and surprisingly on the roomy side.

 

[Luckylat]

There is another thread that has evolved over the past few years with many options and a lots of good information on camping trailers: https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...anding-camper-trailers-ideal-for-bronco.3162/

Take your time to research! Good luck.

 

[AZ_Craig]

Definitely refer to the other thread, but I think one of the first big things is to try to identify what you're really after. Budget is a secondary huge contributor then, but you can find some pretty nice stuff used (and trailers do definitely depreciate).

I've played with the idea of getting a trailer for awhile but haven't done it due to combination of cost, opportunity to use it, and having to accomodate 4 people. I'm more biased to something that would be rather offroad capable living out in Arizona.

The Opus air trailers have always been a curiosity of mine for an offroad capable pop-up style trailer. Check out opuscamper.us. They started making some burlier offroad trailers also, but you really need a vehicle that can tow 6000 to 7000 pounds for one of them. Another 2 really nice options are the Base Camp series from Airstream and also the different Bean Trailers (beantrailer.com). Bean has a new Bean squared coming out that is larger than their other traditional trailers and I could really see myself ultimately picking one up. They're very spendy though (somewhere around $65K from what I recall).

Keep in mind the tow rating on your Bronco is only 3500 pounds if I am not mistaken.

 

[Montana Bronco]

My advice, since you want ALL THE AMENITIES, is sell your Bronco and buy a vehicle that can tow more.

 

[AZ_Craig]

My advice, since you want ALL THE AMENITIES, is sell your Bronco and buy a vehicle that can tow more.

Some truth to this. Low weight camping trailers are always inherently a compromise and often you are paying for design and weight savings as opposed to amenities for sure.

 

[Darcyjs14]

https://mammothoverland.com/

Been watching these ALOT. Have not pulled the trigger myself, but I love the concept and options.

i will second that Mammoth are incredibly built.

at the weight limit we have, you’re going to struggle to find a well-made camper with interior amenities (kitchen, shower, toilet) that falls within your truck’s limit. Your badge says Badlands, in which case you’re limited to 3500lbs, not 4500lbs (Braptor only). Of course you can exceed that weight limit but don’t until you’ve watched a few videos of the risks of what exceeding your tow limits can do.

re toilet and shower

In the under 4500lbs off-road capable category, you have as an option an outside shower (i have a joolca with a double shower tent, and this is a fantastic unit and solution for showering.) And for a toilet, well, i think I have the best solution of anyone. I am known to my friends as a “heimscheißer” (you can look it up for a laugh.) I love to camp but am unwilling to conduct my morning ablutions in a pail. I’m unwilling to use any of the options that most others will suggest. My solution is the Laveo Dry Flush, which is a normal sized toilet (made of ABS, so carryable). It uses mylar bags and operates like a diaper genie. Do your business, press the flush button, and the machine encapsulates your offerings. The unit holds 10-15 of such contributions before you lift the lid, pull up the sides of a black plastic bag in which the myler bag has been resting in, and you throw the whole thing in the trash. There is no smell. I keep it in the back of the Braptor, in hot weather and nary a whiff. Liquids are congealed by sprinkling in a congealing agent before you go potty (sort of like a talcum powder), so when you throw everything away, you pull up the black trash bag inside the unit, it gathers up your sealed mylar tube-of-grossness (again, think Diaper Genie) and you just drop all your encapsulated moments in a trash bin or dumpster, no chance of leaks, no smells. And you won’t be like the jerks who shit in the woods, and barely cover their mess and leave toilet paper blowing around at dispersed camping sites.

downsides? Cost of the unit. A Home Depot buck or a shovel or cheaper, but are you really a savage? Cost of the consumables: The myler packages, each good for 10-15 uses, are spendy. You’re creating non-recyclable landfill, and size of carting around a toilet. But you either set up a poo tent or use one of the “rooms” in your shower tent, and you’re either the object of envy or the subject of derision by your friends. This is a winner for all but the most feral of girlfriends and wives.

the orange tent in this photo is my single lav tent at King of the Hammers this year. If doing #2 in the wild is going to be a sticking point with your spouse, this is an expensive way to definitively solve it. There’s also the Wrappon toilet from Japan. Same idea, smaller, but you get a little sealed bag everytime you go. That works if you have a trash to immediately drop it in, but not if you need to carry large ziplocks of poo in the back of your truck for a few days.

Wrappon: https://wrapponusa.com/Trekker-WT-4-Toilet-System/

Laveo Dry Flush https://dry-flush.com/

Joocla heater: https://www.joolca.com/products/hottap-v2?variant=43416580685858

Joolca 2-room Tent: https://www.joolca.com/products/ensuite-tent-double

Single Poo tent (the orange one)
NEMO Equipment Heliopolis Privacy... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083BHD96S?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

For showering and dish water in the Bronco I keep this behind the rear seats
https://www.ironman4x4.com/products/50l-tapered-water-tank-13-gal

on sale for 25% off for memorial day

if you have a Brap and can tow 4500lbs, you could do this:

https://www.rvsofamerica.com/shop/karavan/

and personally i really like OGT Off Grid Trailers, and they have several models to chose from that fit in either 3500lbs or 4500lbs ranges. But no toilet, they offer a shower but it’s outside, as is their kitchen.

I have a Hero Camper from Denmark but I cannot recommend it for two reasons: there’s zero factory or dealer support in the US (there was when I bought mine but dealer support ended in 2022 and factory support appears to have ended earlier this year when the guy who was importing them wound down his business due to lack of investment by the factory in growing the US market). It’s also a soft-roader in stock form. i have hardened mine extensively to address the limitations, at considerable expense. If I was doing it again, I’d buy a Mammoth.

I live around the corner from Off_The_Grind on Instagram, David Jenkins. He now works for Mammoth, which is in Woodinville, WA. Should you want to have a conversation about their to models, I can connect you.

 

[broughtie]

My advice, since you want ALL THE AMENITIES, is sell your Bronco and buy a vehicle that can tow more.

This is 100% true. The low towing capacity of the Bronco means some real tradeoffs. Is it more important to get your wife out camping, or your Bronco out camping. We keep a vehicle we don't really want so we can tow the smallest trailer we'd consider using, which is more than the Bronco can tow. You can do some pretty glam tent camping setups, so might consider that all packed in a small off-road trailer. More setup and tear down work for sure, but you have a lot more space and can pull in more luxuries for less money. But if your wife demands the indoor toilet and protection of four hard walls, it is possible, but don't expect all the amenities.

 

[AZ_Craig]

This is 100% true. The low towing capacity of the Bronco means some real tradeoffs. Is it more important to get your wife out camping, or your Bronco out camping. We keep a vehicle we don't really want so we can tow the smallest trailer we'd consider using, which is more than the Bronco can tow. You can do some pretty glam tent camping setups, so might consider that all packed in a small off-road trailer. More setup and tear down work for sure, but you have a lot more space and can pull in more luxuries for less money. But if your wife demands the indoor toilet and protection of four hard walls, it is possible, but don't expect all the amenities.

Clearly OP needs to change up his vehicle. I suggest this. Happy wife, happy life. Except for the 2nd mortgage required to get it.

 

[Darcyjs14]

This is one of the units I'd suggest, especially if your trails will be relatively easy getting to your campsite. They're pretty lightweight, and surprisingly on the roomy side.

agree. Like these. But the most offroad you’ll want to take this is state and national parks. This is not an offroad trailer for any kind of single track or BDR trail. Not saying it’s not awesome but it doesn’t have the clearance, the suspension or the articulation hitch you’d want if you want to get out of campsites and into more secluded parts of the trails.

that said, if you’re not taking it offroad, get this or the Winnabago Hike or something like that. And if you don’t already know about Harvest Hosts, you can thank me later. On the drive from Seattle to Johnson Valley near Joshua Tree, I stayed every night at a different Harvest Hosts: A lavender farm, the parking lot of a pizza restaurant at a private airstrip near Willow Springs and a midnight-at-the-oasis date farm in the desert somewhere. Each great experiences. You’re expected to buy about $30 of whatever they sell for your night’s parking spot and every place offered something we wanted. The date farm had private cattle watering tanks fed by a hot springs. Legit!

One last suggestion. A campfire is awesome. But not always possible due to burn bans. The Howl is expensive but is indestructible and more importantly unlike any other propane fire can or portable fire pit, it gives off real heat, like a campfire. Like a lot of heat. And it’s indestructible. I take it on every trip.

Howl: https://www.howlcampfires.com/products/the-howl-r4

they offer a smaller unit. Lighter, cheaper. But does not give off the same kind of heat. Pick your weapon.

i wanted more propane and less weight. So I got this Norwegian composite tank from Viking Cylinders, commonly in use in commercial fisheries. It weighs half what a traditional 20lb propane tank weighs and holds 2lbs more propane (a 20lb steel tank weighs 37lbs empty and will hold 4.7gal of propane, for a total weight of 57lbs. A Viking cylinder weighs 12lbs empty, tank holds 5.24gal of propane, and will weigh 34lbs filled. Bottom lines: Weighs less, holds more).

https://www.fisheriessupply.com/viking-cylinders-composite-tank-vertical-22-lb/1420-0022

You might need to mount that bracket. This is the bracket you want, marine grade, won’t rust.

https://powertank.com/collections/p...ank-bracket-for-viking-composite-propane-tank

 

[texastob86]

My Dad got a T@B Outback that he has been happy with.

 

[Darcyjs14]

My Dad got a T@B Outback that he has been happy with.

I like those and have looked at them. Can’t take them offroad too far but they do offer the amenities in a package that fits within the weight limit. You can easily do something like KoH in a Tab because there’s a main sand road into Hammertown. Personally I would not take it on any trails. It’s not fortified enough to take any really bumpy, rocky trails (but will do just fine in state and national park campgrounds)

 

[CalvinT]

She’s (wife) a mall queen. Any suggestions?

Buy a trailer with fast room service.

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