Found my hard sided tent.

[The Minimalist]

Hi folks! I've been lurking here for some weeks as I looked for a small camper.

We have been tent camping for some 35 years plus and as we get along in years we find it bit harder to get up off the ground in the morning, so we decided we wanted to move up to a camper of some sort. When the two of us go camping, we go to be outdoors, so we could go with something small; really just a place to sleep, do a little cleanup in the morning, maybe make that first pot of coffee. All other cooking and any other activities would be done outside, as we always have. We camp in bear country sometimes (The Smokies), so we figured if we went hard sided as opposed to a pop up there would be less lugging around of ice chests and so forth. I know........nothing is really bear proof.

We first looked at Scamps and Casitas, but we found that all the commercial trailers immediately surpassed our needs and desires. Hey, they have to appeal to a broad audience right?

Well, we found really well maintained '08 Little Joe in really great shape and were able to reach a equitable agreement with the sellers.

We are now the proud owners of same. She's equipped with a 3 way fridge, AC (don't think we'll be using that much), two burner stove, demand water system and sink, porta potti, two batteries, fantastic fan and queen size bed. Everything works and the tires are like new. I'm also pleased with the easy lube bearings.

We towed the Joe home 383 miles behind our '05 Mazda Tribute, much of that with a strong cross wind, with no problems whatsoever. It towed like a dream, most of the time in overdrive, which I locked out when on long hills or when she started shifting too much. I brought along my infrared thermometer and checked tire and bearing temps periodically. No issues.

Hope to do at least one and hopefully two shakedowns prior to leaving for the Smokies in mid June.

Clif

[Francesca Knowles]

Hi, Clif!

Welcome! from another tent camper who's "moved up" to a hard-sided, towable tent.
It's been five years since I "upgraded", and I still get a kick out of actually having lights, heat, and an inside one-seater
The simple things really are the best, no?

Have fun with your new toy!

Francesca

[Carol H]

Welcome. I'm also a long time back packer and kayaker (still do at least one trip a year) so I know you will find the features of the trailer a real pleasure. My 3 favs are laying in bed and hearing the rain pour down on the Wet Coast and not having to worry about waking up to a wet sleeping bag, not having to get dressed and go outside to make the morning coffee and if I hear something sniffing around outside I need not worry that a big claw is going to poke through the wall as I often camp in bear, cougar and wolf country. Small pleasures that I really miss everytime I find myself back sleeping in a tent.

Hope you have some great trips in your new toy.

[2yax2go]

Hard sided tent.

Funny....that's sorta my feel about our 16' foot scamp after moving up from tent, pop-up and pop-out (really a tent on wheels)

I grew up living and cooking outside on camping trips continuing through the adult years now. The intent still is to spend the majority of our time outside, but love the feel of added security from the elements and critters that Li'l Scamp provides.

Welcome to the group and happy camping in your new rig.

Hope to see you on the road since we live in the Carolina's and are often in the Smokies and other parts of the Blue Ridge on our summer adventures.

[Mary F]

Hi, Clif. Before we got our first Casita, we looked at the "Lite House" trailers (which were just like your Little Joe). I liked them a lot, although we didn't end up getting one...

Have fun with it!!

[The Minimalist]

Originally Posted by Mary F

Hi, Clif. Before we got our first Casita, we looked at the "Lite House" trailers (which were just like your Little Joe). I liked them a lot, although we didn't end up getting one...

Have fun with it!!

I've looked at the Light House trailers here, and it looks like Weis made some good improvements, particularly the heavier trailer frame, larger tires and Dexter 3000 lb torque axle. The layout inside is great, with plenty of cabinet space and storage for 2 people.

I don't know it for a fact, just an assumption, but the extra ground clearance resulting from the torque axle and the larger wheels(14 in), as well as the heavier frame(2" x 3 in box beam) could indicate that these trailers were intended for hunters and others going off road. It is one solid trailer. The previous owners gave me a Texas weight certificate done when the trailer was fully loaded, ready to go, showing a total weight of 1420 lbs.

The one thing I don't understand is why, when they moved the wheels outboard of the trailer body, they didn't rework the molds to get rid of the Light House wheel wells. I may do this as a mod in the future, should I feel the need for extra storage.

My first mod is likely to be a 75 watt solar charging system.

Regards,
Clif

[Cathy P.]

I just happened to click on one of those rovering photos at the top of the page and came across this thread. I was excited to see that someone had one of these trailers and loved reading about the improvements over the Litehouse. I think it is great when someone takes a product of old and improves it and I believe that is what Eggcamper did with the Burro. We had considered the Burro years ago but something about the hitch weight was a turn off. I was also excited that Little Joe is making the model with the bath/shower, more or less. I think my minimal to be slightly more beefy.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Cathy P.

I think it is great when someone takes a product of old and improves it and I believe that is what Eggcamper did with the Burro.

Nope EggCamper and Burro are not related except they're both double-hull all molded trailers.

ANYWAY, to FiberglassRV Clif. We're glad you're here!

Oh my stars... you had a solar panel blow off the roof of the trailer?

[Mike Magee]

Cathy rezzed a 2 year old thread, Donna.

[Cathy P.]

Well, gosh, you rarely see anything on Little Joe so I thought I would breathe new life into it. I know for some reason when I have done searches for Little Joe, that thread had not came up.

I was thinking that Eggcamper was using molds from Burro. I know that when Burro was still in business, we had contacted them about a purchase but when we learned that the hitch weight was insanely light, not even 10%, after making inquiries on another forum, we dropped the thought. If anything needed improvement, it would have been that. I just went and looked at an ad for Burro north of us and it has a big window in the back, wonder if not having would have been an improvement as I know stickies are starting to eliminate some windows or change slants because of the tendency to leak.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

Cathy rezzed a 2 year old thread, Donna.

But, but.... Clif is still around and reading here at FiberglassRV: Last Activity: Yesterday 07:51 PM

[accrete]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

But, but.... Clif is still around and reading here at FiberglassRV...

Clif LIVES : ) the bears haven't gobbled him up.
Hard Sided Tenters Unite!

[Pam Garlow]

Originally Posted by Cathy P.

Well, gosh, you rarely see anything on Little Joe so I thought I would breathe new life into it. I know for some reason when I have done searches for Little Joe, that thread had not came up.

I was thinking that Eggcamper was using molds from Burro. I know that when Burro was still in business, we had contacted them about a purchase but when we learned that the hitch weight was insanely light, not even 10%, after making inquiries on another forum, we dropped the thought. If anything needed improvement, it would have been that. I just went and looked at an ad for Burro north of us and it has a big window in the back, wonder if not having would have been an improvement as I know stickies are starting to eliminate some windows or change slants because of the tendency to leak.

Cathy, there have been some discussions about UHaul and Burros being 'kissing cousins' but that seems to be more due to the double hull construction and vertical seam as opposed to the belly band. I haven't heard of anyone having issues due to a light tongue weight on the Burros on this forum, I'll have to do a search on that. If the tongue weight is too light, its a matter of moving things forward of the axle to give it more weight.

[Cathy P.]

Pam: When we were looking at Burros, we were very inexperienced but with a dry weight of 1800 lbs. and hitch weight of 125 lbs., it was nothing we wanted to try but now, we realize we could put BIG batteries up front, etc. and balance everything out.

And, isn't it great to see how long people do stick around, to pull up someone posting 5 years ago or so and see that they had recent activity? Also nice to see they have the same trailer. Reassuring that there are many satisfied customers!

[Pam Garlow]

Absotoootly, Cathy! I still love my little UH, no need to change perfect now

I adore the fact that it is pretty much 'wash and wear' and the repairs are simple. I do most of them myself.