Best Toybox Camper/Trailer???

Do a search on my user name here and at www.turbodieselregister.com - lots of info on both sites.

Brian

Right there with ya KXRider! We have been looking for the same thing recently, more specifically the Carson Fun Chasers. We missed out on a really good deal on a used 1998 but the new one's aren't that expensive so we're going to look at some this weekend. KTMster has one and I grilled her about it. ;) I'll paste her very informative reply for you.

"Hi Aimee:

We don't mind trailer questions at all, we were there once ourselves.

We bought our trailer at a Carson Trailer dealer located in Corona called
Road Hauler. (909) 737-2618

Yes, we bought it new.

It is a 1998, it has a 20ft box, made by Carson Trailers. (Sounds like the exact one you were going to look at)

We paid approximately $12,000 for it. The asking price was only $7995, but
we had them custom make ours to suit our needs. They did not offer the large bathroom/shower/dressing room on this model at the time for this small of a unit, but they custom designed one for us--I think since they kept the
blueprints that they are now offering these on the smaller units, not sure.
It came stock with a 50-gallon water tank & we had them add another one on
since they had to build it anyhow. Our total fresh water capacity now is
100-gallons...when everybody else runs out of water in the dez, we don't, and we both take at least two showers a day. The unit only came with the three top burners & so we added the oven. We also added an upgraded stereo system, an extra battery, front jack stands, and an extra propane tank. We also had a heavy-duty wire mesh door installed in the rear because we had dogs back then & this allowed us to lock the trailer with total wind flow for them.

I do know that Carson Trailer totally stands behind their trailers. Thom took ours back to have something else added & they completely went through it and fixed every little thing we broke at no charge & even replaced our roof antenna that we broke off...our fault, and didn't charge us a cent.

Carson Trailers & Weekend Warriors are basically the same trailers except
that Carson's are much more affordable. Carson Trailer hired the production
manager from Weekend Warrior way back when & he made Carson Trailers the same as Weekend Warriors, but better. You can hang on Carson's cabinets the same as Weekend Warriors without them budging, they have the same strong steel framing, and are definitely built to last. We looked at another trailer that was made by a company that is actually called "Toy Box" Trailers.....They are totally inexpensive, but built very cheap--unless they have changed since we last looked.

The only other thing we wish we would have upgraded to, but didn't, is the
smooth siding that they offer. Personally, I don't think you can go wrong
with a trailer."

W e've got a Keystone Tailgator, 23 ft model. It has a wall between the cargo area and a pop out bed on the front. It is a well designed trailer that is of high quality.
Which ever trailer you buy be prepared, they are heavy. I just sold my gas pickup and moed up to a diesel. Also don't scrimp on the generator, buy a quiet one.

:) We looked at a TON of toy movers ! by far the Keystone 235RR is the best bang for the buck ! we got ours for 12,000 brand new. it has the wall in the middle , and sleeps 4.. its prefect for MX, out side shower,AC,Heat, stove, TV, FULL BATH, we set ours up to haul 3 bikes, and thier is still a TON of room !
And wieght is not that bad with the bikes loaded in.
Anouther cool thing is it holds 60 gallons of fresh water !! this i love, most tracks do not have fresh water hook ups, and on the 2 day events i would always run out of water with my old travel trailer ! not anymore :)

Weigh one of those WW BEFORE you sign on the dotted line. You couldn't pay me to load it with 6K (claimed payload). The tongue weight can be an issue with 100 gallons of water & 18 gallons of gas - just depends on where the tanks are mounted.

Brian

I agree, the claimed weight is not what the actual weight is ! this is for sure, my tail gator tows 10 times better with bikes in the back then with out ! the reson being it balances off the weight behind the axels. they weight on my toung is 970 punds. ( with out a load on the back ) when i put 3 bikes in the back, and a 30 gallon drum of water for the pressure washer. it drops the weight in the front down to about 550.. or so. wieght distribution is a MUST on these rigs.
So, when you pull your fancy new rig off the lot. dont be upset if it tows like crap. loading the trailer right is everything when it comes to towing !:)

You won't be happy trying to pull a 26 footer with a Chevy 1500. Trust me. You won't be happy pulling a hill at 35mph or more importantly trying to stop. You'll need a bigger truck or smaller trailer. They will tell you "sure your truck will pull it fine." Heh, heh, heh. :p

We've got a 18 foot Thor "lite" toybox. And a '99 5.7ltr Tahoe LT with the same rear end, and when fully loaded it's maxxed. It's rated at only 6500, and the trailer is 3600 lbs. After a KTM200, a YZ125, full fridge, ~100 gallons of water, 10 gallons of gas, all our gear, firewood, generator, etc, etc; it's more than you'd expect.

Take the max tow rating as a high end, and then shoot for the middle. Figure the weight of the trailer alone, dry, at half what your can pull. Then guesstimate all the crap you'll load up, plus 8lbs per gal of water and gas. Leave yourself plenty (1500 lbs, maybe) of wiggle room UNDER the max rating.

We thought we could have gotten the next size up (trailer) last time we went to the beach (few hills, plenty of power). Then we went to the mountians (one big hill, truck tapped out). It would have been an expensive mistake.

we have the weekend warrior FK2200(front kitchen). We love it. Our first trip, I made the mistake of filling the water at home :silly: It has 120 gal cap(x 8lbs per) I was really disappointed with the performance of my van, duh! I do not prefer the divider wall types of trailers for the types of camping we do. Riding or just camping we usually have kids and grandkids along and we all eat/play in trailer. The extra 7-8 ft of floor space has been a highly prized piece of real estate on numerous occaisions.While camping in the desert at Barstow Ca., a nasty wind came up in the night and almost destroyed my daughter's tent trailer. They (4) came to our trailer and joined us and my son's family. (9 in all, sleeping comfy) If I had it to do over I'd get the smooth side and a built in generator. But we got a deal on the show demo unit. Go for it...which ever one suits your needs and $$$

I have the 2001, 21' Fleetwood Wilderness SUT (same as the prowler, just different graphics....which I removed :) )

I pull the trailer with a 2001 Chevy Z71 with the 3.73 axle and 5.3 engine. The Chevy pulls this trailer just fine...albeit a bit slow on a steep climb like the Grapevine on the way to Southern Calif.

We did look at Weekend Warrior, Thor, Dutchman and others. We found the quality to vary quite a bit between makes. You can NOT go wrong with Weekend Warrior.....service in our area was not good however. Fleetwood also has excellent quality and you can always find a Fleetwood dealership for service. Other than quality and cost, my other major concern was the bed height. I am 6'2" and almost all the other trailers had beds in the back that would hit me about in the middle of my forehead when walking up the back ramp into the trailer. I didn't want to duck as I loaded the bikes. I believe Weekend Warrior has some models that have the beds on a scissor-like lift to move the bed up and away. The Fleetwood bed was just right.

As Dirty Dave mentioned, try not to fill the water tank to full before you leave. If you have a 100 gallon tank, that's 800lbs. of extra weight. There are a bunch of things you'll learn, but it's all worth it......very fun! Take a look at www.campingworld.com for some great forums.