Why do you have a trailer?

The question occurred to me today... Why do some of us have trailers? Extra food? CDI factor? Expedition-capable psuedo-RV?


Just curious really. I've been spending a better part of the day researching storage containers for my M101CDN build, and it popped in my head "why?"

I suppose my reason for a trailer would be I have a need for an off-road capable RV (RTT), and the ability to take the extra junk we bring (paddling, firearms/shooting gear, firewood, camping gear, photography equipment, food). I have a family of four, and we're young, so I am planning for the future as we grow and expand our "minimum requirements", as the kids will. That, and my tow rig is too small to fit the same equipment in it and expect it to maintain the same capabilities off road as it does unladen.


So, what is your reasoning for adding a trailer to your setup?
 
D

Deleted member 9101

Guest
I can't fit a sport bike, riding gear, and all my camping gear in the back of my tundra...lol
 

Honu

lost on the mainland
comfort and room for the family ?

to me way less packing and unpacking I can have the tent up in a few minutes drop a side door pull out a stove and be cooking in a few minutes tops
 

Titanpat57

Expedition Leader
All the obvious reasons..RTT easy to set up, lightweight, rugged and reliable


#1 reason.....all the stuff is one spot and ready to go at a moments notice...:)

I'll never miss rounding up the gear, getting to where your going and forgetting something, unloading and putting it away when you get home.

I use a "covered" type setup and love it...mostly for the simplicity!
 

Cody1771

Explorer
you can keep all your gear in the trailer, then last minute when your buddy phones you up and says come camping! all you have to do is grab some clothes, load the bikes in the truck and hit the road
 

BigDaveZJ

Adventurer
I most likely won't do an RTT on mine, but my M416 helps overcome some of the shortcomings of my rig for expedition type adventures. Up until a year ago or so, I had spent 8 years building my rig exclusively for crawling big rocks. I also made a dumb mistake and hacked off the back end of my Jeep. I have enough storage capacity in my ZJ for tools and parts for the rig, a medium size cooler, and sometimes the dog depending on how many parts I bring for that trip. My wife's ZJ is still fully intact, so that helps, but I still find myself looking for more storage space. The dog is most comfortable in the rear cargo area of my wife's ZJ, and we want a 2nd dog soon, so hopefully they don't mind sharing the rear cargo area.

On our recent 5 night 6 day trip all the food went in the back seat of my wife's ZJ, a couple coolers and a few bins for food. I carried my usual tools and parts in my ZJ. Our water jugs went on the floor of the passenger seat in my rig. The trailer held all of our actual gear, sleeping bags, tents, cooking equipment, clothes, etc. We weren't overwhelmed with gear in the rigs, and the trailer never held us back on the trail at all. I was very happy with it and it was really only our 2nd trip with it, and we haven't made any modifications to it to assist with functionality once it's in camp, which we plan on doing.
 
Same reasons as everyone else. Family of 5 means not enough space. It's always loaded so add food and clothes and we are on the road. It's easy to leave at the camp site and go exploring in the Jeep and it's locked up while on the road. Also has a high CDI factor and it's an easy storage spot for all the camping gear at the house.

Brian
 

UK4X4

Expedition Leader
Extra space for gear, babies seem to attract "stuff"

Ready to go- add food hook up and go

More comfy....Minimal camping is fun, but also having a nice setup makes for longer more comfortable trips.

ie remote beach and a cooler- 3 days and your done as the ice has gone

remote beach and engle you could go up to a week without re-supply

and still have ice for the Cuba Libres
 

telwyn

Adventurer
Mine is for the "ready to go" reason primarily...

I use my m416 a lot to haul my kayaks and gear. With two little kids, my kayaking time is limited and I hate wasting so much of that time getting everything loaded and ready to go. Will be much easier to hitch the trailer up and go.

Prior to this, I'd have to first install the roof rack on my Disco and now Rover Sport because my employer's parking garage is too low to keep them on there all the time.

While the kayaks were the primary reason, I have used the trailer a bit for hauling my camping gear.

Ultimately, I'll use it for some true expediitions as I get the Lightweight ready for that.
 

spressomon

Expedition Leader
A few of my top reasons which have already been listed: Convenient, comfortable, majority of the load is unladen from the tow rig, quick to get going since everything is basically loaded and ready, can get 'out of the weather' if need be, frees up space in the two rig for the dogs, etc.
 

JIMBO

Expedition Leader
:sombrero:I wanted a trailer that I could carry anything I wanted, to camp/fish

That would look GOOD

That would GO ANYWHERE

That I could put where I wanted, with/without the 4wd

That would carry tools/boats/tables/solar/cooler/tents

:coffeedrink::safari-rig::safari-rig: JIMBO
 

atavuss

Adventurer
I have a trailer so I can have enough room to haul enough stuff on our camping trips. with a short bed double cab tacoma we can easily fill the bed and the trailer! the trailer is also used to haul two Hobie pedal kayaks. since I added a Max Coupler to the trailer to replace the worn out and unsafe original Fulton ball hitch it is magically much more capable off road.
 

CA-RJ

Expo Approved™
We want to have a family and that means the rear seats need to be useable. We usually load everything inside with the rear seats folded down, but that won't be an option once we have kids. I also don't really like the roof rack as an option so that leaves us with a trailer. The only drawback to owning a trailer in CA is the 55 mph towing speed limit.
 

compactcamping

Explorer
To downsize my daily driver/tow vehicle. Expanding my available space only when needed, has saved me a lot in gas.

To have everything packed, organized and ready to go. Just add food, hook up and go.
 

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