Towing through rough terrain vs van

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Hi, Scoping out options for 1st rig. I have done some camping out of my RVenza, lol. How do light travel trailers, 16' rv corp fun finder x, fair on rough terrain/roads. Also looking at vans. Are older model chevys or GMC best for interior space?

 

[rvwandering]

Welcome to the CRVL forums jamhast2! Sorry, I can't answer your questions but hopefully, some of our members with experience towing light trailers will chime in.

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.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Travel trailers on rough roads: depends on the trailer and the roads....generally, they are not made for that, but there are some small ones that are kinda capable of articulating and surviving rough roads.

Do GMC vans have the 'best' interior space? Nope. You will want to look at Ford Transits and Mercedes Sprinters and Ram Promasters, if interior space is a primary requirement.

 

[highdesertranger]

first off welcome

generally speaking most travel trailers do not fair well off road. that is why a lot of us use cargo trailers and build our own interiors.

highdesertranger

 

[bullfrog]

A lot of that answer will depend on your driving and judgment abilities. Desert BLM land hosts several RVs every year and if that is what you are referring to just follow the big motor homes and you will be fine. We need a better description of “off road” to better answer your question but the majority of manufactured camping trailers are not very well built in most people’s opinions here. It takes a lot of skill and patience to keep one together full timing and traveling rough roads but it can be done as I’m sure a few here will tell you. Vans that are loaded with everything required to live full time tend to get heavy and that can limit their life span off road if we are talking gravel roads. Starting with a 3/4 or even a 1 ton chassis is a good idea.

 

[tx2sturgis]

The OP asked about 'rough terrain', and 'rough roads'......there IS a difference, because dirt roads, forest roads, etc are technically on a road.

'Off-road' or 'rough terrain, means (to most of us) not on any kind of 'road'. Cutting your own path thru rocks and brush and gulleys and deep sand. THAT'S 'off-road'...and usually rough terrain is a part of that. I seriously doubt the OP will try that with any kind of travel trailer.

ATV trails...well some of those are on a 'road'...and some of them are thru some really gnarly terrain...and I dont think the OP intends to try any of those either, with a travel trailer. 

I think we can assume the OP means: dirt roads with the occasional dips, potholes, and ruts, maybe some loose sand and gravel in places. Might even pull off the traveled portion of the dirt road to get a good spot...

And yes, some smaller travel trailers (and pop-up trailers) will handle some of that, occasionally. It depends on the tow vehicle and of course the ground clearance that the trailer has available, along with some other factors, including tires, suspension travel, modifications to the trailer hitch and drawbar/tongue, ability to self-extract or self-recover if traveling alone, etc etc.

I dragged my little r-pod trailer off-road last year, YES...OFF ROAD, and neither myself nor the trailer liked it...we wont do THAT again!

 

[bagabum]

Hi, Scoping out options for 1st rig. I have done some camping out of my RVenza, lol. How do light travel trailers, 16' rv corp fun finder x, fair on rough terrain/roads. Also looking at vans. Are older model chevys or GMC best for interior space?

Jam,  we have guys that pull there low priced bumper pull travel trailers to our deer camp every fall. It is 19 miles down a rough rocky chattery road with pot holes and high spots you have to keep an eye out for.  Those that  always seem to do well without damage, issues, etc.   go  slow and deliberate, those that had issues were the ones that usually demonstrate  a heavy foot, there are exceptions, but taking it easy helps also,  with whatever you get. Good luck finding your RV!

 

[wayne49]

There are towed travel trailers/toy haulers that are somewhat more off pavement capable than others.
They can either be manufactured, or modified afterwards, for extra ground clearance. They also have shocks added to the axles. These are towed by 4x4 P/Us with matching high clearance.

The house part is usually built using the same cheap, fast methods and materials used to build the majority of RVs.

There are unpaved roads that are better maintained than some paved roads. Usually a well maintained unpaved road ends at a tax paying profitable mining operation. All roads, paved and unpaved, leading to the Barrick Cortez gold mine in Eureka County, NV are well maintained.

Then there are the unpaved, unimproved "roads" that are marked as "unmaintained" with signs advising caution and lack of liability for any damage.

 

[jimindenver]

I tow a 25 foot/7000 pound lifted travel trailer down roads that in general most can't take a van down due to the lack of four wheel drive. It's not something that you do at 30 MPH. The rougher the terrain, the slower you go. By the time I am shifting into 4x4 low to climb over rocks the speedometer isn't registering any speed at all. At that point and even much sooner, I don't care what you are towing. Do it stupidly and it WILL fall apart.

Now for the reality. Outside of washboards most of the roads that we are ALLOWED to drive on are not that bad . The worse that washboards will do is cause my cabinets or fridge to open and I find stuff all over the floor. I have never had them shake my trailer apart and it is a low end trailer costing less than most will pay for a cargo trailer of the same size. The difference is I didn't have to build anything other than putting on my solar. It came with all the comforts of home built in.

Vans can make it down narrower trails and around tighter corners than I can. I can go over rougher terrain than they can. It's a case of 6 in one hand and a half a dozen in the other.

By the way. HDR is one of the few that I know that would follow me or that I would trust to lead the way.

 

[highdesertranger]

same here as far as following you, buddy. I hope all is well. I already side swiped a tree with my new trailer. I had to do some body work on the door. good thing I was going about 1 MPH. highdesertranger

 

[bullfrog]

Should have built a foamy with Poorman’s Fiberglass (PMF) much easier and cheaper to repair! Lol!!!

 

[nomad46]

same here as far as following you,

 

[CrowsWingTeardrop]

Our teardrop was custom built by us for the express purpose of going off road or at least on very rough roads. And some of those forest roads can be plenty rough with no maintenance. With 33 inch tires, a low center of gravity and a max coupler hitch it has continued to impress me with its ability to follow the truck wherever I point it. It does slow your travel time down when the going gets rough but the reward of camping in an out of the way place is worth it. I have seen many "stock" trailers with some sort of lift and better tires going some pretty rough places. I don't know about their longevity for that purpose though

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[tx2sturgis]

I'm considering a change also. And it will likely be a smaller, lighter trailer, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound...or maybe not quite that, but close.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

 . . . able to leap tall buildings in a single bound...or maybe not quite that, but close.

Able to drive over a low curb with a running start?

 

[bullfrog]

And feels like you are trying to change in a phone booth! Lol!!!

 

[highdesertranger]

hahahaha good one. highdesertranger

 

[Cammalu]

You get down those unknown roads you are also keeping your fingers crossed that somewhere, somehow there is a place to turn around safely. I know some bring a bike or atv and pull over and go down the road first.

 

[CrowsWingTeardrop]

If we're on a fairly decent road (wide, gravel) and see a smaller two track, we'll get out and walk it first. If it looks fairly ok we'll decide to drive up it. Sometimes the road gets worse and there's along slow backing up to do. Sometimes you can turn around. A lot of times if we find a decent campsite, we'll drop the trailer, then go search the smaller roads for a better site. If we find better we go pick up the trailer and move it

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[tx2sturgis]

And feels like you are trying to change in a phone booth! Lol!!!

 
I went thru about 40 years changing clothes in a truck sleeper...by that standard ANY RV feels like a mansion!

Back in the good old days, truck sleepers were what we called 'coffin sleepers'...a tiny little box with a bunk, and with no way to stand up, so you learned to get dressed lying down. These days most OTR trucks have 'stand-up' or 'condo' sleepers, but they still are relatively small, compared to even the smallest RV.

Just depends on what you get used to.