Plus, where to you store the trailer the 49+ weeks a year it is not in use?
The Westy goes in the garage and I can drive it to work on a occasion, like
today, since my son blew out the clutch on his Golf and he is driving my
Jetta!

                                                                  Jay

David Brodbeck <gull@CYBERSPACE.ORG>@gerry.vanagon.com> on 09/09/2002
09:51:19 AM

Please respond to David Brodbeck <gull@CYBERSPACE.ORG>

Sent by:    Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>

To:    vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
cc:
Subject:    Re: Westy to Weekender or just buy another one?

On Mon, 9 Sep 2002, David Wilhite wrote:

> Three, Sell the van, buy a 7 passenger SUV and pull behind trailer.  Most
> people (non-VW) would think this the best alternative.

Well, if it'll make you feel better, I can give you some reasons why this
may not be the best idea. ;)

It does have advantages, not the least of which is the ability to leave
the trailer set up and drive the SUV somewhere.  But consider:

- You won't get the same gas milage.
- You'll have a much harder time parking.  When you're travelling with a
  trailer you have to limit your stops to places with large parking lots.
- You'll always be conscious of that heavy object coupled to the back
  of the vehicle.  There's a very noticable change in how bumps affect
  the combination, for example -- you get an odd out-of-phase seesawing
  motion that always makes me vaguely seasick.  Crosswinds can be a bit
  trying as well, even more than in a Westy. ;)

I just find a camper van much more pleasant to drive than a truck+trailer
combination.  If you've never towed a trailer you may want to rent or
borrow a trailer and tow vehicle so you can see if you like it, before you
commit.
             _ _
  __ _ _   _| | |  | David M. Brodbeck (N8SRE)              Ypsilanti, MI
 / _` | | | | | |  +-----------------------------------------------------
| (_| | |_| | | | @ cyberspace.org
 \__, |\__,_|_|_| "The VW camper is a brilliant invention -- it's like a
 |___/             Swiss army knife for the road... It's the stealth RV."
                                                        -- Wayne Curtis