Advice for my first camper trailer

[Curytntm]

Hi . 
The missus and I decided a few weeks ago that a ct, would make life a lot easier. I've been looking around but can't really find what I want for a price I can afford. So thought I'd ask and hopefully get some ideas. 
The main things I'm looking for are : 
A real matress. 
Very quick and easy to set. (Looking for a small tent less poles. Has to be as easy as the 30 sec tent)
Water storage
And preferably running 33' 6 stud. With patrol wheel base. 
And all for under 10 grand.
Any ideas? I'm sick of setting the bed up every night and hate rooftop tents. 

Thanks in advance
Bryce

[staghornflat]

Welcome to myswag Bryce. I'd say a good second hand tambo would be what your looking for, but find it is the fun part.

[Bird]

Advice? Buy a quality used trailer.

[Rob C]

Welcome Bryce,

Search the forum for advise on the many different CT types, then look at the Oz made second hand ones available here and other sites.
All the best,

Rob

[KingBilly]

Firstly welcome to the forum Bryce.  If it is just you and your wife, and you want a quick setup, a rear fold hard floor CT would be my recommendation.  There are some cheaper imported forward fold CTs coming onto the market which may also suit your purposes.

As for the mattress, they are easily replaced or upgraded.  Worry about the CT first.

Happy camping
KB

[DannyG]

As others have said keep an eye out on the classifieds on this site you should find a good aussie made camper at that price but I seriously doubt you will get something as easy as a 30 second tent thats trailer based with a full innerspring mattress.

[Brucer]

Hi Bryce and welcome to the forum!
The reasons your give are pretty much the same for most CT users, and there is no doubt that a basic CT setup is quicker and easier to deploy than a tent and associated gear (bedding, cooking facilities, etc). It's when you start putting up awnings, walls, extra flooring, kids beds, etc that the differences begin to erode but even then it still has many advantages over tent based camping.
Beyond the basic requirements of quick setup, decent bed, water storage; all of which you can find in almost any CT, there are a few more questions you need to consider...
- do you need offroad capability?
- kitchen?
- brakes?
- 12v electrics, lighting, etc.
You state fast setup as your top priority, and don't mind a smaller size tent. This suggests a hard floor model, but these a usually more expensive than soft floor and except at the higher end of the market are typically less rugged. A soft floor will get you a more rugged and better quality trailer for the same money but is more fiddly to setup and pack away.
My suggestion is if you want a rugged offroad CT then look for a soft floor Australian made with about 9ft tent. You can easily find near new second hand CT's in this category for under $10k. Even brand new there are several aussie made options on the market at that price, and of course a multitude of imports.
Good luck.

[GeeTee]

Mine sets up fast!   

But you may not like the tent I use .. unless height/access is why you don't like roof-toppers

[Bird]

... but I seriously doubt you will get something as easy as a 30 second tent thats trailer based with a full innerspring mattress.

I missed that bit - stick with your 30 second tent then.
or go with an extender or similar.

[GraemeL]

This is just a suggestion but.....

Why don't you look for a cheap second hand camper trailer, don't worry about the tent side of things when looking, just look for the kitchen setup, storage, off road or on road etc.
Once you have found a trailer you like, rip the tent off if it's not what you like. Now get yourself an Oztent RV5 (if you have one already it's even cheaper) make up a base to fit your trailer, you will probably need to have part of the base slide out to support the tent. Throw in a mattress of your choice, have a canvas cover made to suite and you're set.

[muzza01]

Hi .
The missus and I decided a few weeks ago that a ct, would make life a lot easier. I've been looking around but can't really find what I want for a price I can afford. So thought I'd ask and hopefully get some ideas.
The main things I'm looking for are :
A real matress.
Very quick and easy to set. (Looking for a small tent less poles. Has to be as easy as the 30 sec tent)
Water storage
And preferably running 33' 6 stud. With patrol wheel base.
And all for under 10 grand.
Any ideas? I'm sick of setting the bed up every night and hate rooftop tents.

Thanks in advance
Bryce

I don't want to enter in to the OZ vs Chinese debate but to answer your questions.

I have a Chinese CT, the initial setup of tent etc is not 30 seconds but by myself around 2.5 minutes without any assistance.  The additional annexe that I will use for longer than overnight stays takes around 20 minutes to erect with my wife helping.

The mattress is currently foam but I can replace with a inner sprung mattress for $150 locally.

The price for my trailer was $10300 new but I am spending further $$ on it to lift the CT to my standards.  I am changing the OM wheels and tyres to incorporate 32" wheels and offroad tyres. I have 100 lt SS storage tank with pressure pump (12v)
I expect that the total cost of reinforcing and modifying the CT will cost an additional $2K to lift it to an offroad 4X4 standard.

Once again I wont compare the overall quality of this trailer to a Cub, Kimberley or Cape York trailer as these CT's are quality made without the need for strengthening or modification like mine.  These CT'swill cost you more than $20K for something second hand though.
In saying that, I am confident that after all of my modifications, this CT will be more than capable.  Once again reluctant to get into the debate of OZ vs Chinese.

If you are interested, the link for my build thread is listed below and is highlighting the pros and cons of this CT modification.

http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=30421.0
 

[berlitza]

personally i would be going the quality second hand route, there's some great buy's atm that have been modified with kitchen,power etc etc for under 10k, keep us all updated what direction you take

[Ynot]

It is possible to hire a soft floor camper which may help you decide, I know of two hire companies in the Bris/gold coast area.

It would be good to hire for a week with a plan to drive and make one or two stops like you would do on a extended tour to get a real feeling for this style of camping.

Good luck!

[oldmate]

I missed that bit - stick with your 30 second tent then.
or go with an extender or similar.

Or buy a box trailer and put the 30 sec tent in it.

[nbd73]

Mine sets up fast!   

But you may not like the tent I use .. unless height/access is why you don't like roof-toppers

Have you got a sale on at the moment? Or do you just get the tent only for $10k?? That was the OP's budget unless I read wrong 

[Curytntm]

Hey thanks for all the replies.
I have looked at 30 second tents on trailers now its an interesting idea I will look in to it a bit more.

now to clear up some confusion I may have caused.
Rooftop tents I HATE because of being so high to hard to get in and out of. I do like the hard shell ones I've seen mounted on trailers.

Setup with a 30 second tent definatly takes longer than 3 minutes once you untie and unpack all your bedding.

Thanks again, ill keep looking

 

[GeeTee]

yeah but at waist height they aren't so high 

[Curytntm]

 

yeah but at waist height they aren't so high 

They Look great.
Might look a bit silly behind the patrol.

I am now thinking of starting a new trailer with a hard shell  rooftop on it. Will tick every box then. kinda like the 'Track Mate' just not the $24,00 i was quoted.
Anyone know of a build thread using this type of tent i cant seem to find any.
Cheers Bryce

[GeeTee]

Have you got a sale on at the moment? Or do you just get the tent only for $10k?? That was the OP's budget unless I read wrong 

I've quoted a few 'Kit' GT Campers by deleting the fridge, fridge slide, spare wheel and winch, slide-out kitchen, 12v sockets, battery and base, off-road hitch - even the tent, and new wheels and tyres - for people who already own these things.

This is ideal for people who want just a bomb-proof off-road touring trailer, rather than a full camper, so they can use their own equipment (tents, fridges, blah).

As anyone who has bought all that equipment knows, buying and fitting all that stuff is a big chunk of $.

So yeah a $10K budget is in the ballpark