Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Im kinda curious about how efficient the cargo trailer is to tow. I was looking at a 7x14 with the curved roof almost like my lil vardo. I normally get with my Rav4 21 mpg, like 14 to 15 towing...its like towing a barn lol(sorry BH). Im figuring the rounded front and rounded sides might give some better fuel economy...any thoughts?

Thanks

Deryk

I really hope your not planning a 7X14 trailer with a Rav4. That is over doing it on your towing weight. Once you get that loaded with camping things you will break your hitch right off your rav4. You will need a pickup truck that has that power to haul that. I haul my 6X10 CT with my ford escape with a V6 and 4X4 and towing package and I wish I had a pickup truck to haul my Ct because the MPG is horrible I get 12 miles to the gallon. I am not over my towing weight but you can tell your pulling it because on Highway it will really take a tow on the RPM's.

My Rav4 is a V6 with the towing package with a 3500lb tow capacity so i will be well within my spec's...is your CT a flat topped squared corners kind? I was hoping for some better fuel economy lol

I feel that a 7' X 14' is way too much for an RAV4 no matter what the shape of the trailer. I wouldn't try to tow an enclosed cargo trailer wider or taller than 5' and wouldn't want it to weigh much more than about 2500 pounds with that vehicle. If you want a 7 X 14, buy a pickup.

Deryk the Pirate wrote:My Rav4 is a V6 with the towing package with a 3500lb tow capacity so i will be well within my spec's...is your CT a flat topped squared corners kind? I was hoping for some better fuel economy lol

I have a 2012 6X10 Haulmark trailer and yes your truck might be 3500 pounds but 7X14 is way to big for a small suv like that. Trust me 7 feet wide your going to be not able to look out your side mirrors and you are going to be blogged down. Why go to the Max in your towing weight because what is the dry weight of the 7X14? now think what your all going to have in there the hitch weight is problably 350 pounds max and then towing weight is 3500 pounds. 7X14 is way to much for small SUV trust me. You might think you will be able to do it now but why wreck your SUV and the transmission and engine due to thinking you can pull something that is not safe to pull. You can ask around and I hope others reply as well to your post. But your just asking for trouble. The only way I think you could pull it off was buy a Legend Enclosed trailer that is all Alliumium but your going to spend alot of money for that.
Or just buy a old pickup that you can use soley for towing this because your RAV4 will not last long.

I have a suburban that get 17mpg and when I pull my 7x16 it drops down to 10-mpg it took a while to get used to.
when I started researching the mpg and I found I was only going to get 10-mpg I almost backed out on the project.
For a while I felt like the trailer was a handful for the suburban but now I think it's just right,my buddy bought a car hauler which I think is 8.1/2 x20 and he said that the trailer was to much for the 1/2 ton he had and he bought a larger tow vehicle so there is alot of truth in matching the right trailer to the TV.
And yes maybe think about a used van or truck or evan a older motorhome they are pretty cheap on ebay.

Bkcreation34 wrote:

Deryk the Pirate wrote:My Rav4 is a V6 with the towing package with a 3500lb tow capacity so i will be well within my spec's...is your CT a flat topped squared corners kind? I was hoping for some better fuel economy lol

I have a 2012 6X10 Haulmark trailer and yes your truck might be 3500 pounds but 7X14 is way to big for a small suv like that. Trust me 7 feet wide your going to be not able to look out your side mirrors and you are going to be blogged down. Why go to the Max in your towing weight because what is the dry weight of the 7X14? now think what your all going to have in there the hitch weight is problably 350 pounds max and then towing weight is 3500 pounds. 7X14 is way to much for small SUV trust me. You might think you will be able to do it now but why wreck your SUV and the transmission and engine due to thinking you can pull something that is not safe to pull. You can ask around and I hope others reply as well to your post. But your just asking for trouble. The only way I think you could pull it off was buy a Legend Enclosed trailer that is all Alliumium but your going to spend alot of money for that.
Or just buy a old pickup that you can use soley for towing this because your RAV4 will not last long.

Ditto! I have a Jeep Wrangler 2dr that is rated to pull 2000 lbs. The same vehicle in the 4dr version is rated to pull 3500 lbs. They have the same engine (V6), transmission, and gear ratios. Only the wheelbase is different, hence the lower rating for the short wheelbase 2dr. I have a 5x10 cargo trailer that is only about 7' tall overall. I can pull it fine, but I can definitely tell it's there. Mileage is normally 18.5 and it will drop to 12.5 to 14.5 mpg. There is no way I could or would attempt to pull a 7x14. My Jeep has a truck type chassis whereas your RAV4 is car based. As stated above you will destroy your vehicle in short order. I'm not sure where they get the 3500 lb. rating. Maybe you could pull something low profile like a boat or flatbed trailer, but the aerodynamics of a cargo trailer probably would not work.
Just my opinion, your mileage may very (no pun intended.)

Deryk,

I don't care what your specs say, you will definitely need at least a 1/2 ton pickup to pull a 7 x 14. I have a 7 x 14 v-nose flat top and I get 10 to 11 mpg with a Dodge hemi 4 x 4. Please don't tear up your RAV-4 pulling 7 x 14.

Mike

Deryk the Pirate wrote:Im kinda curious about how efficient the cargo trailer is to tow. I was looking at a 7x14 with the curved roof almost like my lil vardo. I normally get with my Rav4 21 mpg, like 14 to 15 towing...its like towing a barn lol(sorry BH). Im figuring the rounded front and rounded sides might give some better fuel economy...any thoughts?

Thanks

Deryk

I have a 7x12 v nose Haulmark enclosed trailer.
I pull it with a 2003 Dodge 1 ton dually.
I get 20 to 21 mpg when not pulling the trailer .
I get 12 to 14 mpg when pulling.
II wouldn't dream of pulling a 7x14 with a Rav4.
You''ll smoke your tranny atleast. You need more horses
or less trailer.
Rando

Derek: Check the "brakes" part of your RAV4 manual. Yes, your RAV4 may pull 3,500 lbs but I don't think it would stop it if you had to stop quickly. My previous tow vehicle was a '96 Toyota Tacoma. The tow section stated that it could pull 3,500 lbs but the brake section said that it would only safely stop 1,000 lbs. Therein lies the problem. Most Toyotas tend to be too lightweight to safely stop a heavy trailer if it doesn't have brakes. But, if you're going to have brakes on your trailer, you'll probably be okay. Alternatively, you could build a foamie.

My current tow vehicle will tow 2,000 lbs and stop 2,000 lbs. It gets 19 mpg on the highway. After towing MyAway about 6,000 miles, I have found that I average 15 mpg when towing. The trailer weighs about 1,000 lbs empty and about 1,200, loaded with all but water.

I get an avg of 21.0 with my cummins running dry. Pulling my 16x7x7 I got 12.3 running 70 mph. We don't want to seem like we are hammering you on your choice of TV and CT. Your vehicle is probably able to tow what it is rated at. The problem you are facing is drag created by any trailer of that size. When you have a trailer of that size it increases the force needed to pull it. As far as aerordynamics, the round nose does get better mileage than a flat nose or a v-nose. The reason is less drag. http://www.nosecone.com/table.htm Here is a link showing the drag coefficient of various shapes if this helps any. Good luck on your venture and I hope it works out for you.

Earnest

Now I appreciate the concern, and trailer breaks are a definite, my lil vardo is at around 1700lbs and my Rav4 stops fine with it but I decided the next trailer will have electric breaks. I agree the drag and weight are always a problem with towing, my overhanged roof on the vardo and flat front are why my gas mileage drops a third when I tow.

But the trailer Im looking at http://www.trailershowroom.com/7x14sal.htm (granted thats not the picture of what I want) weighs 1400lbs with a max weight of 2990lbs. Now somewhere I read its a good plan to not exceed 80% of your tow weight and I can respect that just because its less of a strain on the engine and tranny. Now that 1400lbs includes the 3/8 plywood walls that Im not going to be useing and being replaced with the appropriate amount of foam sheeting and 1/8 luan/paneling/ or the same kinda 1/4" plywood beadboard I used on the inside of my current lil vardo. Now its also what you add to it can easily overload it but I have no plans of tanks and a galley and all that. I wanted 14' because Im thinkin either a 2 or 3 foot back porch option so it will drop my inside to around 11 feet, and 5 feet of that is my bed. I enjoy camping so cooking outside under an awning with my lil rocket stove is fine for me, yeah I am adding a small porta pottie to slide out of a cabinet and a bunk down each side for seating and possibly extra place for people to sleep on or possibly a 1+1 dinette

I have been giving serious thought to a rooftop wind deflector. A friend said not to expect miracles from it but even an extra gallon to the mile is a plus. Now alot of this is speculation, depends if my current lil vardo sells lol, but if I built a standup vardo the dimensions (and drag problem would be similar) or got a 16' scamp or casita. Im loseing my friends shop so I thought buying a finished shell and doing the interior myself I could work on it and at least be indoors lol

thanks
deryk

It would be money well spent if you installed a transmission cooler on your TV. It will extend the life of your tranny many many miles.

Earnest

What will likely help more is a deflector on your TV to get the wind above the trailer, but whatever you to wind resistance is going to be a killer of MPG. Our teardrop which is a 6X10 is not much taller than the TV but it is wider and we had a constant 3 or 4 MPG drop.

Yeah that was sort of my concern. My current lil vardo sits a little taller then my tv, and slightly wider. On the Rav4 owners forum the best mileage I saw for someone towing a camper, and yes several tow 17-19 footers (and I dont see that there is a big difference in the shape of most travel trailers vs CT) was the 2 couples that had a Casita/Scamp type trailer and they were getting similar to what I get 14-15mpg and the trailer is sittin about 20 inches taller then my current trailer but much more curved so better wind resistance.

I put about 3800 miles on my lil vardo this year, with 2 more planned trips. So with riseing gas mileage its a serious concern. Im also thinking of taking a look at what else is out there. It is kinda funny how back in the 70's there were alot of manuf makin small campers and now adays most only make these huge heavy ones.

deryk