Message Forums

I found this really interesting as we have been considering this question

I have got somewhere to store it so it looks like a trailer for us

Do you have to pay an additional cost on campsites for a trailer?

Get a trailer

I had this dilemma only a few weeks ago and we got an erde 122 from Halfords for our last camping trip (last week). It was fantastic to tow and I found that my fuel economy was better than when I normally drive without because of the speed restriction of towing the trailer. If you have a roofbox, your fuel economy would be worse due to wind restriction.

So, over time, you would end up saving money on your camping trips.

We bought our accessories for the trailer from towing and trailers.co.uk and they were much cheaper than e-bay or Halfords.

Quote: Originally posted by pjnm on 26/8/2009

---

Ive never paid extra anywhere. Just put trailer behind tent between guylines once its erected. One tip though, if you have room carry a spare wheel. Had tyre blowout on my trailer on M20 2 weeks ago. Had spare on my trailer & was up & running again in 15 minutes x

---

We've got an erde 102 and although we have a spare wheel on board we have also had all 3 tyres filled with that stuff that seals 99% of punctures. If I remeber rightly it cost about £7 a tyre but if it helps us not to change a tyre then all well and good.

In answer to the original poster we have both. A roofbox first and then we bought a trailer. As we have a 4x4 a roofbox poses some problems, not just the obvious like reaching stuff but trying to park when away due to those pesky height barriers. The other pain in the a** is putting it on and taking it off everytime.

We've now found if we take the smaller tent (tamor) then we can usually manage with just the boot and trailer, it's only when we go for longer we take the monty 6 and need both. As alot of people have already said you can keep your trailer packed ready to hitch up. Mine's in the garage packed ready for Sunday (whoopee!) The only negative I've found with towing those small trailers is reversing with one on the back, especially as we're in a high car you can't actually see it through the back window and not in the mirrors until it's too far one way or another. I've towed a 20ft plus caravan for a number of years prior to turning to canvas and although a trailer is less hassle to tow going forwards, going into reverse is a different kettle of fish, give me a caravan to reverse any day. Just something to think about. 

the more storage you have the more you fill-up, I reckon you should decide what storage you want (not 'need') and then take as much as you can in that space. I got the biggest roof box I could, we fill it of course, and if we had a tailer we'd fill that, but now the rule is, if it won't go in the car, its not coming !

Do you really need 17 wind breaks to mark out your pitch, or 3 wardrobes or 5 pairs of shoes, or 3 different cookers ? I mean, really ? I used to carry my camping stuff in a  rucksack! (mind you I never had a blow up bed either, and I'm not going back to a carrymat now!)

We have an estate car and a roofbox. For next year we are going to get a trailer.

We were fully packed up fot Cornwall this summer, the boot was packed to the roof (the passengers were protected by a load retention net) and the roofbox was full. There were items within the car as well such as the camera equipment. We left some items at home including the wellies having decided the forecast was not too bad. At least the boys had fun splashing around in the new lake called a camping field for a while!

As a result we are also going to add a trailer to our equipment list. The tent just takes up so much room but we are glad of the size of it as we have tons of room when the rain does not stop. We will, for the main trip, still take the roofbox as it will just make life so much easier when packing and we will be able to take what is needed, all of what we take is used. The safety when travelling is just too important for us, some of the cars we saw amazed and shocked us as to how they were loaded and the way some children were packed in with all sorts of heavy equipment, boots loaded to the roof without anything to stop it moving forwards under braking etc..

Just need to decide on which trailer and towbar to get now.

Cheers.

Hi The Survivors.

                       We strugled this year with just a box on the car, and thats with just the two of us, although the VW Golf, was never designed for all the camping gear we have, so like you, we are going to add a trailer, when I have been getting quotes for a towbar, it seems the electrics can push up the price, most firms will fit a bypass unit, but the proper way to do things is to have plug in electrics which wake up the cars computer via the cam-bus system, these are known as vehicle specific electrics and can add well over £100 to the to the price compared to the bypass systems, and I have been advised that using a bypass can cause warranty issues especialy on a new car. My last car had the 7 pin single socket elecs, but for my current car I am looking at having the 13 pin single socket elecs, as that will provide a feed so that my leasure battery so it can be on charge in the trailer, also I think the single 13 pin socket is a neater solution than twin 7 pin sockets, especialy as they both provide the same solution.