Why all this weight on so called light weights

[capucine]

Light weight trailers are supposed to be light weight. There is one place where there is a lots of improvement in weight reducing. The cupboard doors and tables. On my big Terry Taurus 1984 all the doors were hollow and the table was sandwitched. You could not believe how light these items were compared to todays press wood that most manufacturers are using. It is cheap to built and so heavy. My free standing table on my so called minilite trailer is very heavy and need a big trim to loose weight. We could see hunndreds of weight loss by learning from the eighties. My taurus was weighting less than 4000 lbs and it was a 29 footer . Here is a picture of my old lightweight. It deserved this title!!!!

[tncruiser]

it would be interesting to know how govt. regs effect the way they are built 2day/yesteryear
ie my jeep is 4300lbs vs 1941 willys 2000lbs
brianj

[Dave_Monica]

Originally Posted by capucine

Light weight trailers are supposed to be light weight. There is one place where there is a lots of improvement in weight reducing. The cupboard doors and tables. On my big Terry Taurus 1984 all the doors were hollow and the table was sandwitched. You could not believe how light these items were compared to todays press wood that most manufacturers are using. It is cheap to built and so heavy. My free standing table on my so called minilite trailer is very heavy and need a big trim to loose weight. We could see hunndreds of weight loss by learning from the eighties. My taurus was weighting less than 4000 lbs and it was a 29 footer . Here is a picture of my old lightweight. It deserved this title!!!!

Campers with inexpensive hollow cupboard doors and tables may still be available on a basic, entry level camper. Most campers feature solid, raised panel cabinetry now as that's the level of quality that customers want.

I don't think many will agree with you to step back to the eighties as far as materials and manufacturing processes. Materials used now are definitely more stable, stronger and lighter.

As far as weight, you're also comparing old trailers without slideouts.

Dave

[prof_fate]

Cars have gotten FAT - I had a 79 lincoln continental and it was 4800 lbs and 20 some feet long - the last of the full size cars and today an explorer, a smaller vehicle weights more yet nobody seems to notice.

Today a hybrid gets 40 some MPG and people rave - yet a mid 80s Honda did that without fuel injection or hybrid power trains - smaller, lighter cars and less powerful engines.

OK, as for trailers...I don't know. I don't find 'light weight' to mean light weight, but I've not compared them to 'standard weight' to know how much heavier (if at all) they are. My 29' 'light weight small SUB towable' TT has a steel frame, 16" OC wall studs, 15" tires/rims, two propane bottles, steel framed articulated sofa..things i think could be lightened and it comes in at 5400lbs dry. I never saw a sign that said '10% less weight than a regular camper' on anyone's sales literature, or what made it lighter, or on 'standard' campers what made them 'better'.

We are 'missing' a few things - light switches in the walls , a door or two, a drawer or two but I attribute these deletions not to weight savings but to our getting a lower end (price wise) TT.

[Oakman]

I agree with the comments of Dave-Monica. I don't want the old way things were made. There are still light-weight trailers out there. Rockwood, Flagstaff, and Salem have some in the weight range that you mentioned Capucine. Rockwood has a bunkhouse model (2701SS) that is 32 feet long with a slideout and has a dry weight of just 5177 lbs.

[backin15]

One reason I chose our Flagstaff is because of the sturdy cabinet doors. On some of the others we looked at the doors were very flimsy and didn't look like they would last. I would rather sacrafice a little weight to get better quality.

[flyrotor]

Originally Posted by Dave_Monica

Campers with inexpensive hollow cupboard doors and tables may still be available on a basic, entry level camper. Most campers feature solid, raised panel cabinetry now as that's the level of quality that customers want.

Problem is, the raised panel cabinetry only looks better, reality it is cheep laminated MDF, it's not even veneered, rather a sticker over the top that looks like wood.

[Terier]

I have learned that "Lightweight" if often more like "Lighterweight". The dry weight of my Cruise Lite trailer is 3631 lbs + 3656 lbs of allowable cargo = 7287 lbs.

[Dave_Monica]

Originally Posted by flyrotor

Problem is, the raised panel cabinetry only looks better, reality it is cheep laminated MDF, it's not even veneered, rather a sticker over the top that looks like wood.

The cabinet doors in our camper are solid oak, raised panel. The cabinets themselves are veneered particle board...maybe 1/4". This is the same as residential other than the veneered panels are usually 3/4".

Dave

[Bama Rambler]

For truly light weight construction look at a Trail Manor. While I'm not a fan of Trail Manor, their construction techniques are to be envied. All in all, you'd only gain a few lbs by changing to the lightest constructed cabinetry and people are concerned more with style than weight.

[flyrotor]

Originally Posted by Dave_Monica

The cabinet doors in our camper are solid oak, raised panel. The cabinets themselves are veneered particle board...maybe 1/4". This is the same as residential other than the veneered panels are usually 3/4".

Dave

I've seen the pictures inside your trailer, glad to see it is better quality and it looks a lot nicer than what I have, which is as I stated a lamitated sticker over MDF.

Problem with mine, I like to build my own stuff from wood, it's almost impossible to even come close to matching the color of the cabinets.

I accidently broke one of my doors off, it tore the MDF, I replaced it with real wood and even as I know it is now stronger, it looks awkward.

[SaskCampers]

Even our elcheapo Sunnybrooke Edgewater had solid wood cabinet doors and our V-Lite has very nice cabinetry in it with solid wood doors.

[Dave_Monica]

Originally Posted by flyrotor

I've seen the pictures inside your trailer, glad to see it is better quality and it looks a lot nicer than what I have, which is as I stated a lamitated sticker over MDF.

When our camper was ordered, we requested through Rockwood to have the standard mirror inserts and faux stained glass inserts in the cabinet doors replaced with solid oak raised panels...so all cabinet doors throughout the camper are the same. Hard to believe but they did that at no additional cost.

Dave