Camper Trailer

The on-road camper trailer is a little more like a caravan which uses a wind-up or pop-up mechanism to open and set up the living space. They are compact in design and pretty easy to set up.

Some have end sections that fold out into bedspace and create quite a bit more living space without increasing the overall towing length of the unit. This type of camper is pretty inexpensive and great for young families who need a bit of extra space. The other thing is they are relatively light in weight compared to a full van or other pop-up caravans. This means they can be towed with a medium-sized vehicle or light 4WD. Whilst they generally don’t have very high road clearance and are not suitable for much off-road, the centre of gravity is lower, and there is less wind resistance which is great for fuel economy.

These trailers tow well, but keep in mind there are limits! Many bush tracks will be too rough for this type of trailer.  Jayco’s blurb states, it’s best to use your unit. “as a base station, and head out in rougher the  country without anything under tow.” A camper trailer is not as expensive as a caravan. However, you will still part with considerable cash, so be careful if you travel along gravel or dirt roads.

You want to avoid damaging your prized home on wheels by thrashing it through the scrub or trashing it on corrugated roads. You can buy a hybrid camper trailer for off-road use. So if you are going bush, you might want to explore this option. Here is a site where Paul and Nicky have built an off-road unit. An off-road version will cost you much more than a camper trailer designed for black tar roads. Check out the tips on buying a caravan as much on these checklists would apply to a camper trailer.