SportsRig
I love mine - two years old and still in perfect shape. The best part is that I can “fold” it up and it only takes about a 12" deep space in the back of the garage.
My only complaint was that the lights were a little buggy. As with most trailers, the grounding isn’t always well-executed due to various factors like in my case, the powder-coating. I added a short wire from one bolt to another and it solved the issue.
I agree with JackL…
you don’t want to break camp every time you want to leave it.
Either a motor home towing a car, or a truck towing a trailer seems to make the most sense to me.
A truck towing a trailer gives the advantage of being able to be repaired about anywhere.
Not so much with the motor home.
A decent truck will be less expensive than a camper van in similar condition. A used camping trailer may be found for the difference in price, I think.
We use a SUV and a hard sided trailer, as we tote the dogs in air-conditioned comfort. The bikes go in the trailer. The yaks go on the roof of the Tahoe. The rear overhang looks like trouble, but in reality they will never hit. We’re talking 17’+ boats.
A camper van with a kayak trailer will probably get better gas mileage, but is the hassle worth it?
We’re hitting about 12 mpg on the east coast, for what it’s worth.
I’ve run into folks with older camper vans that were doing worse than that. Besides, the wifey has a bathroom close to the bedroom, and that’s what it’s really all about 
T
We are considering this issue
We have received lots of great advice so far. Now the problem seems to be how to sort all of this out. We have a 2005 Subaru Outback 4 cylinder that easily carries two approximately 18 foot sea kayaks (qcc700x, qcc600x). If we keep the Subaru then we need a light weight camper trailer that won’t be a problem for hitting the kayaks on turns. Or we need a pickup truck and rack system that handles this system ($$$). Or we need a camper van ($$$) and a kayak trailer ($). We are investigating pop-up camping trailers that can be towed by the Subaru but when compacted will not hit the kayaks on turns. Or maybe we should just put the kayaks on top of the Subaru and stay in motels, which may not have vacancies or may not be in the area. Arrrgggghhhh!
Don’t be the guy…
…with te big screen on the side of the camper. He just needs to go home. Unless that is his/hers home.
Or just tell your wife/signifigant other to fork up the extra 50 grand for the shitter down the hall. Then if she baulks, too damn bad. That’s reality.
Check out the A-Liner brand pop-ups.
They aren’t large but with the Sub you won’t be able to trailer a large unit anyways. They have hard sides and are much more weather resistant than canvas side units such as Starcraft and Coleman.
Question on the sports rig
In terms of parking. If you take your boats off to paddle, can’t you fold it and have it against the back of your car effectively using only one parking space?
Now if you have a gear box or something I guess this woudln’t apply but I’m thinking about taking a trailer to Brazil and the sports rig seemed pretty versatile for not only storage but as an efficient means of transporting boats with small cars.
Paul
You need to get a hold of Mark in NC
He pulls a neat little lightweight TT that has everything with a Vw station wagon, and he carries a QCC-700 on the roof of the tow vehicle
He was supposed to be coming down to meet with us, but we haven’t heard from him.
cheers,
JackL
Getting mine titled was no problem
I did extend the tongue, just went to a welding shop and they did it for about $90. That included some brace pieces also. The only downside is that it won’t fold with the extended tongue.
Yep, had a HF 4x8
trailer and used it to tote kayaks over thousands of miles. Never had a problem. Definitely used the 12" wheels, they roll better and go across pot holes and RR tracks better. Still, slow down for RR crossings. With kayaks on board, it will bounce.
I left the stiffer springs in it 'cuz I used it for other stuff.
I am inlterested
Let me know when and how I can get in touch with him.
thanks.
trailers
I too have a Rack and Roll with the extention tongue to accomodate two kayaks. I pull it with a Miata and don’t feel any strain on the engine or on braking. Cost an arm and a leg (or the price of a great kayak) but the convience of loading at waist level is great. I usually fully load the kayak at the house so I’m ready to go when I arrive to launch. The trailer tracks very well. The tongue comes off the trailer and the trailer is set up against the wall in the garage in the matter of less than 5 minutes. Quality!
You could I suppose…
…but I’m fairly careful about parking it and sometimes, taking up two pull-through spaces is a better option than trying to cram it all into one space.
Most of the lakes here have plenty of parking and the only time I worry is when we go to San Diego. The last time we went, we took Kevin’s Mini but next time, we’ll take the Camry and trailer since we want to take both kayaks and probably at least one if not two bicycles.
just thinking of options
Brazil has some stringent laws about stuff overhanging the bumpers and this will require either ongoing multiple permits or the other option is a small trailer which surprisingly doesn’t seem to have that many restrictions.
Being able to fold it up and have it butted against the back of a mini suv and chained in place would eliminate any issues with parking places.
I have also been looking at that basket tray that fits on the trailer hitch which would allow for a gear box and lengthen the dimensions of the car as well…
Paul
Still on the road
Posting from Florida now.
I drove my truck pulling the 10-yr-old modified snowmobile trailer. About 2800 miles so far, and then there’s the long return trip.
I sleep in my truck bed. If I don’t need the kayak or trailer, I detach the trailer and leave at camp.
However, there is some gear-shuffling involved in switching between “sleep mode” and “drive mode”. Still better than dealing with a wet tent, but with two people there would be more gear and more shuffling. Might not be too bad if you were in a full-sized truck with 8’ bed, well-organized inside.
If you don’t need 4WD, a full-sized van would give you the advantage of moving between front seats and sleeping area without leaving the vehicle. Nice when there’s strong wind and/or rain and/or snow.
Where are you ?
Any where near Collier Seminole SP ?
cheers,
JackL
Sounds likek a great trip
It may be more roughing it then we envisioned. But you never know. Enjoy Florida!
Got home yesterday
I had to time my return and route very carefully to avoid tornadoes, hail, flooding-out at campgrounds (they close them in some places), and the inevitable snowstorms closer to home.
I did NOT manage to avoid high winds on the plains but did get home before the next snowstorm hit.
'Twas a great trip, and you are right: migrating south in winter could get to be addicting, and in ever-greater lengths of time away.
BTW, Nick and Sandra met me in Cedar Key for a short but very pleasant paddle to two of the little islands. Wonderful people, as you already know
8" tires not necessarily bad
– Last Updated: Mar-15-10 1:08 AM EST –
I've been using them on the snowmobile trailer (for kayaks--no snowmobiling). It's 10 yrs old, is used 2 to 4 times a week from spring through late fall, and got its 3rd set of tires last summer. Just normal wear, nothing unusual.
The fat little 8" tires and rims have served well. I run the psi considerably lower than the rated max of 80 psi. These are multi-ply heavy-duty tires, and their sidewalls are so stiff that with a light load such as one or two sea kayaks, I have been running only 45 to 48 psi with no problem, not even odd tire wear. They don't even feel warm (let alone hot) after hours of driving Interstate highways at 70 mph. At first, I was checking at every pit stop, but every time the tires were fine, nice and cool. No Bridgestone/Ford Exploder syndrome.
(The first set of tires on this trailer developed odd wear patterns after a few years due to gross underinflation, but those tires were lighter-duty and max psi was only 45 in the first place...they were being run sometimes at only about 25 psi.)
This recent road trip came to just over 5000 miles, most of it on western/midwestern Interstates with high speed limits. The tires are fine.
The worst aspect of these 8" tires is that nobody will balance them. And usually you throw the entire tire-rim assembly out when the rubber is worn. Last time I actually got the old tires removed and had the store mount new ones (trying to minimize waste). Unfortunately, there is high risk that the shop will incorrectly mount the tires, damaging rims. They ruined one of mine that way (which of course they replaced at no extra charge).
Camping and paddling
Thought it through the same issue. The best conclusion we have reached is to cartop the boat(s) with our mini-van and add a pop-up camper.
HF
Also you can usually find a 20% off coupon for Harbor Freight purchases.