Trailer tents can often be towed by a small family car
A critical consideration before going ahead with the purchase of a trailer tent or folding camper is to ensure your car is capable of towing it. In most cases, this shouldn’t be a major issue. Some of these units use unbraked trailers that can legally only have a maximum gross weight (Maximum Authorised Mass – MAM) of up to 750kg, while trailers with MAM over 750kg must have brakes.
For comfortable towing, we recommend you should tow with the loaded trailer weight no more than 85 per cent of your car’s kerbweight and of course keep within your car’s maximum towing limits for braked and unbraked trailers, as appropriate.
You may need extension mirrors to tow a trailer tent or folding camper
You also need to ensure your car’s noseweight limit is adequate for the trailer, although this is only likely to be a problem with larger units. For more information, see the Data Sheet Matching Car and Caravan.
Remember, trailer tents and folding campers are subject to the same laws as any kind of trailer or caravan, including the legal requirement to use extension mirrors if necessary. If in doubt about your car’s towing capabilities, always check with the Club’s Technical Department.
You’ll also need to check the limits of your driving licence before you take to the road with a trailer tent or folding camper in tow.
Datasheet 40 – driving licences has detailed information about the limitations of a licence.
There isn’t a massive market for new trailer tents or folding campers, but there’s still a decent choice of make and model, so it pays to do your homework to decide exactly what’s best for you.
- Find out what you can get for your money in terms of unit size, layout and features. As far as the latter is concerned, make a list of the items you want – awning, kitchen, food storage facilities, general storage, toilet – then sub-divide them into ‘essentials’ or ‘desirables’.
- Visit more than one retailer. General advice may vary and they’re likely to have different makes and models in stock, at different prices too. Rather than just price, try to assess how helpful a dealer is going to be once a sale has been made.
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A trailer tent (left) can be significantly smaller and lighter than a folding camper (right)
Ask for a demonstration of how to pitch and take down the unit. Trailer tents sometimes have excellent kitchen units but they can be heavy to manoeuvre into place. Similarly, while folding campers are usually easier and quicker to pitch than trailer tents, sometimes internal furniture units can be heavy to erect.
- Check exactly what you get for your money. Look at the optional extras list to see if there’s anything you deem essential. Usually a spare wheel and carrier are optional but consider these essential. Similarly an optional jockey wheel could be essential for ease of manoeuvring as would be a leisure battery if the unit is fitted with 12V lighting and appliances.
- If you’re new to camping, you’ll need to budget for other items such as a gas cylinder, security fittings (such as a hitchlock and/ or wheelclamp), water carriers etc. Again, a good retailer will be helpful here, and may even have special offers in place for such scenarios.
- Bear in mind general availability as well as lead times for the building of brand new units. Typically, the more options you want (especially factory-fitted ones) the longer you will have to wait.
- Check compatibility with your car. Any specialist retailer will be able to advise here (see earlier sections).
- Other aspects to note vary from canvas thickness and type (generally the thicker the better and water-repellent acrylic fabrics are starting to become available) to ventilation, window size and how the unit is likely to perform in extreme weather.