Another Expanding Trailer

[ChefLamont]

I saw this while surfing the web the other day. Whil I dont know that these would be a direct competitor of the TM, it ticks a lot of similar boxes in that it is light weight and towable, seems pretty well equipped, etc. It also checks the "they are very very proud of it" box too.

Alto expandable teardrop.
http://www.safaricondo.com/en/caravanes

They look pretty nice, but a new one is about 36grand. For that, a TM seems like a better value.

[[email protected]]

at least it has a REAL flush toilet!
Tom

[Padgett]

Been around for a while, something of a combination of an A-liner and a teardrop. Floor area stays the same but headroom increases a bit.

Can tow with a small car in the European sense - slowly. Any speed and the drag will kill you.

OTOH with my TM, the living space expands from 112 ft2 (typical 19 ft) to 161 ft2 about the same as a 26 ft conventional and when closed the whole rig is in the slipstream of my Jeep.

In fact I suspect a pick-em-up truck would see a 1-2 mpg increase in flatlands with the addition of a camper shell just from reduced turbulence.

Not important at low speeds but above 50 mph now.

[BradS7535]

Very cool! Found a video on youtube of the retractable roof and it looks really nice and well built. The video cut several times during the "pop-up" of the roof and it looks pretty slow to go up. Would be perfect for a couple, but probably a little tight for a family of 4.

[BradS7535]

Originally Posted by Padgett

In fact I suspect a pick-em-up truck would see a 1-2 mpg increase in flatlands with the addition of a camper shell just from reduced turbulence.

Adding a camper shell won't change your mpg any noticeable difference one way or another. Without the cover, a circular air current forms in the bed of the truck allowing air to essentially pass over as if there was a cover present. If you drive with your tailgate open you will actually get reduced MPG as this circular current doesn't form and you get more drag.

[Padgett]

Well since I've never had a pickup it is just an educated guess but should be easy enough for someone to test particularly with OBD-II.

[jswinner]

This illustrates what is happens with the gate up or down.

http://media.gmc.com/media/us/en/gmc...ckup-aero.html

[Padgett]

And the best thing is a tonneau cover to keep air flow out of the bed entirely. But that says nothing about pulling a wall behind the tailgate. For that you want to keep the airstream high and a well designed camper shell will do that.

[Craigrrr]

I have always liked the vintage teardrops, Very cool idea. More like the Hi-Lo's But I gotta say I will stick with the TM