Looking for fiberglass egg advice

[Rod Wylie]

Hi,

I came across your website when looking for building a homemade awning. I currently own a 1983 Palomino Pony, one of the shortest popups out there - less than 9' in length when closed. Open, it's [at]12'. We are a family of 6. We are crammed in this little trailer to sleep. But we fit..., and that's with the 42" wide bunk ends.

In my case, we are looking to upgrade to a larger popup in the near future, but our TV, the strongest in the family is a 1996 Honda Odyssey which runs 150 hp and a towing capacity of 1800 lbs including people, trailer, and gear. I can't remember the abbreviation for that capacity. We continually drive at the max weight tow weight including people, trailer, and gear. No upgrade is available, until we upgrade to a larger TV, most likely a 6 cylinder van, like a Sienna, or newer Odyssey.

I started reading through your forums and was intrigued by these little egg shaped trailers. A lot of positive talk about these little seen(in my experience) trailers.Could someone just give me a ball park figures on the weights of these fiberglass trailers per length? For example, does a 12 footer would weigh in at[at] 1500 lbs. That's just a guess, I have no idea what they weigh.

Can you pick up used trailers like these that might fit my family's size? For example, I can pick up a longer pop up, probably 12 foot for around $3,500 in decent shape, regardless of age, since many of the pop ups are used so little.

I am not asking to start a whole new discussion, I was just looking for some simple answers. I did read the first page of this forum and it was very helpful already.

Let me know if I need to post to another of the website's fora.

Thanks

Rod Wylie

[Roger H]

Hi Rod, and Welcome! We're glad you found us. I split your post off into it's own topic in General Chat. I think you'll get a better response here.

Popups are perfectly fine, and many of us have had them at one time or another, but all of us have become fiberglass converts.

We have a pretty comprehensive search feature as well that you can find in the upper left corner of the screen. As you read and have more questions, search can be very useful.

Now, on to your questions...

I suspect that you'll probably want to upgrade your tow vehicle to something that will handle at least 3500 lbs. Folks "get by" with less, but if you're going to invest, invest well. Both the later model Odyssey and Sienna both have 3500 lb tow ratings, so you'd be fine.

The dry, unladen weights on the eggs start at about 1200 lbs dry for a basic 13' model and go to about 3500 lbs for the late Bigfoot 17.5' models. You can pretty much find anything in between. There may be a few under 1200 lbs, from the '70s, but don't believe any of the advertised weights. Most of them were advertising hype, and the actual road-ready dry weight is three to five hundred pounds heavier than advertised.

Prices run from free for derelict trailers in someone's back yard that need a frame-off resto to about $35k for a new Bigfoot 17.5' model. I think Oliver makes a model that is up there at around $32k also.

Good luck!

Roger

[Donna D.]

We are a family of 6. We are crammed in this little trailer to sleep. But we fit..., and that's with the 42" wide bunk ends.

Number of beds is going to be the problem when looking for a lightweight fiberglass trailer. That becomes almost an oxymoron. We've had members that have made due by putting some of the sleepers inside the tug (van-type) or in tents. You can get more sleeping areas by building a bunk over the rear dinette/bed, for instance.

BTW: we're glad you're here!

[John Hussey]

Chect Ebay and Craigslist for used buying opportunities, as well as the 'classified' sections of the forums, too. Casita and Scamp are those more prolific models to include in your search.

Good luck!

[Gina D.]

Rod, we have many members here that tow 17 foot trailers with an Odessy. I would check your specs again and verify your tow limits.. With a proper tow package, such as tranny cooler and use of a weight distribution hitch, I believe your capacity can go up to 3500 lbs.

[Alf S.]

Hi: All... I think the tow cap. is closely linked with the cargo cap. Our Ford Taurus V6 wagon has a 2000lb. cargo cap. but only a 1250lb. tow cap. We used to rob Peter to pay Paul as there was only two of us in the vehicle with little cargo, and we had installed a tranny cooler and didn't use OD. when towing the Boler.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[April Wilcox]

The 13' model is actually 10'x6' and the trailer is 13'. Our 13ft. Scamp weighed in at 1280 lbs when we took it to the public scale, that was with the propane tank and battery on the tongue, and most of the stuff we plan to carry inside (aside from clothes and dishes) I expect after we load in a few more items we will probably push 1400 lbs. Our tow rating is 1500 lbs, so we are having to be aware of what we add. It seems you would be fine pulling a 13' trailer as long as it wasn't fully loaded with an 1800 lb tow rating. Casita's tend to run heavier than Scamps, I am not sure of the other brands, but they are almost the same, so I am sure they are all close in weight. One thing is for sure, pop ups are nice to have, better than sleeping on the ground, but the FG eggs will last and last, very few parts to have to upkeep, no cranks, canvas to tear, etc... We picked up a used Scamp we found through Craigslist, it's a 1983 model, needed some tlc, but over all it is in good shape, and should continue to be usable for many years to come. If you want to go for a newer model, you will have the benifit of some modern updates and less repair work, but there is plenty of life left in many of the used ones.
Ours has a just shy of a "full" sized bed in the back that converts to a dinette, and a twin bunk in front, that used to be bunk beds for 2 at one point. You could usually sleep 4 in most 13' models if two of the people are small. It might be a tight fit though. But really, when you camp, most of your time is spent outside. It might also be fun for the kids to be in a tent...?? With a family of 6 you are more likely to need a larger trailer, and that brings you to the point of needing a better tow vehicle as mentioned by others.

I hope you find a solution to your camping needs. Best of luck to you!

[Rod Wylie]

Hi Roger and everyone,

Thanks for moving my post to another place. I couldn't find where I had posted my questions initially. This makes it easier to find.

Thanks to all who commented. Really good comments. I think like everyone here, they saw one of the egg shapped trailers as a kid, I am nearly 50, and thought, "How cute, what's it like in there?" They have always intrigued me. Then running into this forum reignited that curiosity.

I will keep your comments in mind for the future. You have a really great group of peole on this forum. I can tell in reading the threads. I bet someone says, " You meet the nicest people with fiberglass trailers."

Cheers!

Rod Wylie

[Vi Turner]

Just had to put my two-cent's worth in here. I, too, started out with a pop-up. Then we considered trying a teardrop, but the idea of standing outside to cook, regardless of the weather, and being claustrophobic when sleeping inside a very small, low box (apologies to all the 'Teardropers') we bought a nearly 30 year old fiberglass 'Egg'. More fun, more safe, lighter, easy to tow, and the Meets with others is really great. About the price, all over the map! New or used, length, condition, and just blind luck enter into the decision. I would suggest you continue to monitor this site for a while and then make up your mind. Good luck! I would think that if your vehicle will pull 3500#, you would be good to go with most of the Eggs.

[Palmer M]

Rod, we have many members here that tow 17 foot trailers with an Odessy. I would check your specs again and verify your tow limits.. With a proper tow package, such as tranny cooler and use of a weight distribution hitch, I believe your capacity can go up to 3500 lbs.

Gina,

The later Odysseys are the minivans we're familiar with. The original Honda Odyssey/Isuzu Oasis was a light vehicle that probably couldn't tow very much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isuzu_Oasis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Odyssey

The big, honkin' minivan that we in North America know as the Odyssey is not much like the original or subsequent generations of the Odyssey that Rod has.

P