A Lame Question?

[Adrian W]

U-Haul Travel Trailers were they made originality for the U-Haul truck and trailer rental people?

I have seen them in the albums here and many people seem to have one, but I do not remember seeing one in person.

I know it could be a really lame question, just wondering about them.

Thanks, AW

[Chester Taje]

I beleive you are correct.They were used as rentals,at least thats my understanding.

[Donna D.]

I don't remember where I got this....

The U-Haul Camper Trailer was manufactured 1984-1985 by the subsidiary company of U-Haul called Rec-Vee World. It was primarily a "Rental" unit available "FOR RENT" from the U-Haul Company. It was decommissioned in 1992, and the remaining units were sold to the general public. The Burro Travel Trailer is considered to be the father of the 13' U-Haul Camper Trailer and 16' U-Haul Vacation Trailer. Commonly referred to as the U-Haul CT and U-Haul VT. Burro Travel Trailers 14143 21st Ave, Plymouth, MN were manufactured from 1978-1986. U-Haul supposedly purchased original molds from Burro. U-Haul redesigned the molds. U-Haul also designed the unit to implement existing parts from U-Haul suppliers such as the frame, taillights, marker lights, etc. Burro Travel Trailers manufactured by Burro Trailers L.L.C. from 1998-2001 are not associated in any way to the U-Haul Camper. *There was a report that Howard White of Burro sued U-Haul over the U-Haul Camper and won; but that is unconfirmed and still a myth!

Then there's this: U-Haul Company History

[Roger H]

Oh, man, Adrian... that IS a lame question!

No... just kidding... actually it's a very GOOD question. And you're exactly right. UHaul had them commissioned from three or four different factories for their rental fleet. They had them done in the 13' size (the most common) and the 16' size and they were in production for three model years, from '84 through '86. A few are titled as '87s.

They rented them for a few years, and then after deciding they weren't worth keeping, sold them off to the public. I don't believe that there are any solid production numbers available, but I remember reading somewhere that someone estimated that there may be as many as 2500 of the 13' trailers produced and probably only a couple hundred of the 16' trailers.

The UHaul trailers use the same frame and chassis components as the UHaul cargo trailers which made it easy for UHaul dealers to carry and stock spare parts as necessary. Unfortunately, all of the chassis components on a UHaul are proprietary which limits their exposure to theft, but also makes it difficult to find wheels etc. today. Fortunately, axle and running gear is replaceable with industry-standard parts when it's necessary.

I believe that the only replacement parts that aren't readily available are the taillight lenses.

Roger

On edit... I see that Donna beat me to the punch!

[Donna D.]

On edit... I see that Donna beat me to the punch!

You and Brian_B-P have to be FAST!

[jack maloney]

I've been told that the U-Hauls were all built in '84 and '85, but some were titled later. I believe there were only about 1,000 CT13s built, even fewer VT16s - but U-Haul has refused to release data on them.

The U-Haul CT13s were made to withstand renter abuse and require minimum dealer maintenance. Thus sealed bearings, solar panels, and heavier frames, doors and hardware than their Burro antecedents. The U-Hauls are remarkably robust eggs.