Travel Trailer Recommendations Needed

[5S Dude]

All the great folks at my other home (RV.Net) suggest you purchase your second travel trailer first! The good news is you guys really enjoyed your times in the Coyote180 enough to upgrade. We we’re really close to buying a Rockwood Roo/Shamrock 21SS with living room slide but I couldn’t haul the two dirt bikes as the tongue was too short and it was very close to the Ridgeline’s towing limit once it was camp ready. Thanks for the awesome photo, you’ve always got the beautiful backgrounds in your shots!

[wb1dby]

We love camping too. But we're in a popup. We used to pull it with a 03 Mazda MPV whcih is why I now drive a 07 Ridge. But we have our sights on something larger in the next few years....I also tow on occasion my sons boy scout troop trailer and the ridge tows it with ease. I found myself doing 80 with it on the NY Thruway last year. The other guy who also tows it with his Dodge Ram says he can barely make 60 with it!

[avenger]

Originally Posted by nolaridge

It will replace the Coyote Sport 180 that I pulled to Alaska last summer -- this has been a good little trailer!

nolaridge - What kind of fuel mileage did you obtain when pulling the CS180 ?

Also, what is the dry weight of the CS180 ?

[nolaridge]

Hello -- I usually got 10mpg towing the Coyote Sport 180, although if the wind was at my back it was somewhat better, like 12 or 13. However, in a heavy head or crosswind I was sometimes towing at 3500 rpm going 55 mph and that meant 8 or 9 mpg.

The trailer weighs about 3400 lbs dry and around 4000 lbs fully loaded. I'd like to sell it for around 9k if anyone in the Dallas area is interested, otherwise I'm just going to trade it in...

[ToyTruck]

If you can find a pop up hard sided unit like the TrailManor, Hi-Lo, or Tow-Lite that meets your needs, you will gain the advantage of much lower wind drag and hence, better mpg's and better handling in crosswinds. I've towed both, and will never go back to towing a "brick". Just my $0.02.

[RidgeStream]

We have a 2008 Tab Trailer ... http://www.tab-rv.com

Its a Great little trailer.

[nolaridge]

Yeah, a part of me knows you're right about going lighter and lower, but I suppose I'm on that trajectory that a lot of RV owners follow: small - bigger -smaller. I'm going on a 3 or 4 week trip this summer with a friend and I suspect that I'm going to want the bigger space. Let's hope gas doesn't hit $4 a gallon......or I may park my new trailer and move into it.

[LimaMike55]

Originally Posted by RidgeStream

We have a 2008 Tab Trailer ... http://www.tab-rv.com

Its a Great little trailer.

Nice looking rig. What do you like best and least about your TAB? Does it have a bathroom?

Thanks in advance.

[Joanne]

Space vs weight is one of the biggest challenges with a 6 cl engine. I have found that towing a Trailmanor 3124kb trailer (open 31 ft/closed 24 ft and 5 feet high closed up) from coast to coast and top to bottom meets this challenge and is a great match up for the Ridgeline. The only time the Ridgeline had to really work was when I was towing above 6,000 ft.

[RidgeStream]

Originally Posted by LimaMike55

Nice looking rig. What do you like best and least about your TAB? Does it have a bathroom?

Thanks in advance.

We have tent camped and backpacked for years.. We had a 2005 CRV and starting looking for a lightweight trailer. Retro Teardrops etc..

We came acrosss the Camp Inn teardrop ( http://home.centurytel.net/edevold/) and liked the "outside kitchen" as we looked for more trailers we found this site.. http://www.johnweeks.com/stuff/campers/index.html and once we saw this we loved the Tab.. you can stand up in it and they have 4 floorplans to choose from..

Cons:
No bathroom (we do have a port-a-potty), pretty small inside

Pros:
lightweight ( 2 people can pull it by the handles), AC, TV/DVD, Stove, Fridge, Sink, We also go the add a room tent..

plus everywhere we go folks ccome and talk to us and wanna see it.


there is a great yahoo group for tab owners and wanna be owners..
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/tabtrailers