Old guy with a Subaru & cargo trailer

[57Vintage]

View attachment 23818View attachment 23818View attachment 23818
I've been following Bob on Youtube for quite a while so thought I'd join this forum. No van but thinking that's the way to go in the future. For now a nice little lightweight 4x8 aluminum trailer w/145w panel on top, and a Subaru Forester to pull it. Just getting my feet wet to see where it might lead.

 

[cyndi]

57vintage! Welcome to the CRVL forums!

That looks like great set-up. Hope to see you out there, somewhere!

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[RoamerRV428]

HI
love pics thanks for posting.

it is a nice set up
when you travel, down the line you will know if you want a van or ?? or ??...you will have experience on the road to know what you desire in the end as your home!

 

[tx2sturgis]

I like the flip-up rear door....those are kinda rare, did you order it that way?

 

[eDJ_]

Welcome to the CRVL forum.  

 Having the Trailer may have you half of the way there.  In recent times here we've kicked around the notion of high tops(like I own) or conventional Vans with pop up tops.  Let me say I like my high top for the room when stopped and in camp.  But it eats fuel and is a bit un nerving when in heavy winds or a Tractor Trailer whips by and you are in the turbulence it stirs up making your Hightop feel like it's dancing the Hula.  

But an extended Van with pop up roof may be my next Van rig towing a 6 X 10 that's 6 to 6 1/2 ft tall.  

It would make it easier to move around in a campground with low hanging tree limbs,  low underpasses, and traveling down the road with a more fuel friendly height ratio.   Once parked I can pop up...and if a heavy storm blows in I can 
fold her down till it blows over and then pop it back up.   I wonder if pop up trailers may be the next big thing.

I was never considering Pickup Campers and some of them have pop up roofs.  I had always been looking at Vans.  I just thought it was because of their exceptionally tall presence in the Pickup Truck. 

Just some stuff for you to consider before buying anything.

Good luck !

 

[57Vintage]

Thanks for the welcome...I bought this 3+ year old trailer used so it's the way it came. I was interested in a 5x8 but saw this one on craigslist and checked it out. Very small and 700 pounds and I wanted something to tow with my Subaru. I can tow 1000 pounds without trailer brakes so this was great in that regard...I do have a brake controller but of course this small of a trailer has no brakes. I didn't think I'd like the flip-up rear door when I saw the ad but immediately loved it when I saw it in person...can hang out under it if sunny or wet. Too good of a deal to pass up so I grabbed it. I'll do a little show and tell of my setup shortly. My battery, panel and Honda 2000 generator are around 130 pounds themselves. I'm probably right around 1000 lbs easily.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Very cool. 

If you plan on keeping the trailer, and if the axle has the brake mounting plates (square pieces of metal with 4 holes) you can add brakes, you would also have to swap the existing idler hubs for brake hubs and drums.

If there are no brake mounting plates it's just easier (unless you can do precision welding) to swap in a new axle with brakes.

Shipping a new axle by itself is expensive, but many dealers can arrange to have an axle shipped on the trailer delivery truck from the factory to a dealer with no added shipping cost, they just load it on the truck that's already headed to the dealership with a shipment of new inventory.

Brakes on a trailer are a good safety feature, especially in city traffic.