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10-02-2002, 05:43 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
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Trailer Durability
As I approach retirement, the wife and I are homing in on making our first trailer purchase a molded fiberglass type, such as the Casita 17' Spirit Deluxe. We anticipate much "off the main road" camping and wonder about potential problems such as road clearance, frame and shell durability, and general ruggedness of these trailer types. Would love to hear discussion of this aspect of fiberglass trailers (maybe versus conventional aluminum). We're pretty much sold otherwise.
We'll be towing with '98 Chevy Cheyenne 2500 4-wd with utility bed so there'll be weight, power, and ruggedness up front!
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10-02-2002, 07:07 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
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:wave Hi Ronald,
I have a 2001 - 17' Casita Freedom Deluxe. I have no problem going off road. I bought the High Lift axle for clearance.
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3d9b97adc3beeOffRoad-jeep.jpg/>
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10-02-2002, 09:10 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
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My stock '91 Scamp 13 has pretty good ground clearance, but it's naturally high in the rear and doesn't have any tanks or plumbing on the underside to drag, plus it's pretty short.
But I did manage to get it stuck in the mud in a ditch on my way up the gravel roads to Alaska last year.:sad
Pete and Rats
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10-02-2002, 10:50 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
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over heating
Michael, did you ever get the over heating problem fixed on your Jeep?
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10-02-2002, 11:01 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
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Short answer - YES
:r
I had the Jeep into the dealer three times. The dealer replaced everything they could think of at no cost to me. I took it for a test drive and it could not maintain a cool temp on hot days going up hill. The Jeep is fine when it is not towing. The dealer couldn't put any more money into research and I couldn't either. We both did everything we could think of.
I now own a Tahoe.
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10-02-2002, 11:18 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
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thank's Michael
Michael, it is to bad about your Jeep but you can't put up with that kind of
a problem, you want to beable to tow your trailer.
Good luck with your Tahoe. Jay Herb
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10-03-2002, 06:13 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
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off road
:wave we are pulling our 17FD 2000 with a 2001 tundra and wound up on a 4wheeler that we high centered on. was very happy that the 2wheel drive tundra got us out of there and considering the conditions that we went thru, the damage amounted to replaceing the black & grey valves, the shower p valve and eventually cutting off both stablizer jacks. we now use jack stands.
we also had dropped the sway bar because of back up demands and because we did not pick it up, it got bent by plowing into the ground. straightend it out and made some improvements on it, like welding a chain and stud too it so that will allways be where it belongs.
Michael, will show that to you along with the "t bar" shower valve at Lake Casita.
hows that Charles?
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10-09-2002, 04:34 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
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trailer durability
We have a Casita Patriot 13 that we drag through very wet and rough conditions in Louisiana swamps to get to our property. So far the little trailer has given us no trouble, despite the fact that I have had to pull it through gumbo mud and relatively deep water. Our tow vehicle is a 1994 Jeep Grand, I've added an ARB bumper and Warn winch, also lifted it 2 inches, and use "mudder" oversize tires enroute to our land. We have nothing under the trailer that can get ripped or torn off, having removed the drain pvc stuff, etc. The previous owner bought it "stripped", so we believe that it tows at less than 1000 lbs.
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10-09-2002, 05:18 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
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Overheating jeep
Hi Michael
Did you have a transmission cooler on your Jeep. Our Aerostar would heat up everytime we towed our 2000lb 17' house trailer. Up hills was by far the worst. After the trany cooler there was no more overheating.
Now we have a 13' Trillium.
Nancy
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10-09-2002, 03:40 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 18,870
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Yep, been there done that
:wiggly Nancy,
You wouldn't believe what we went through. It's a long story, but we replaced the Radiator with an extra large after market radiator, we had the extra large trans cooler checked out, the water pump and thermostat replaced, the heads check for cracks, the block check for cracks, the computer checked for timing and rich/lean. Man everything checked out. I've decided that for me the Jeep was just too marginal in terms of cooling, weight, hills, load all combined to be there when I needed it. I still have the Jeep (it's for sale) and it runs great. I have no trouble with it except when I'm pulling my trailer up a hill in the summer when it is 106°.:nope
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