8 Comments on “1951 Article From Travel Trailer”

1. Dave from Mn February 12, 2018 at 4:48 am

   That’s nuts. That would be one scary and slow adventure.

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2. gordon west February 12, 2018 at 5:01 am

   The guy was definitely a major geek. Those fuel mileage numbers are amazing – I suppose that comes from driving at speeds matching maximum torque. Some of the downhill parts must have been hair raising. I once towed a 12′ U-Haul trailer with my ’47 CJ-2A, loaded to the gills, from Missoula to Bozeman in the winter. There is a pass on the east side of Butte with a long, steep downhill (6 miles?) and the road was snowpacked and icy. I shifted into 1st at the top and stayed off the throttle, and using the brakes at all started it to jackknife. Sometimes I’d have to give it a little gas to straighten out. We gradually picked up speed and I’d have to shift up to stay ahead of the trailer (the Jeep had an overdrive, giving me 1/2 gear increments, which helped a little). Near the bottom we had gotten up to 50-55 – faster than I wanted to be going under those circumstances on flat ground. It was white knuckles all the way! We got to Bozeman late in the afternoon and stayed with some friends who fed us duck soup for dinner… it was fun thinking that the drive was duck soup, but it didn’t feel that way coming down the mountain!

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3. gmwillys February 12, 2018 at 5:28 am

   To support the tongue weight put on a swivel dolly. This supported all the weight, while the Jeep just had to pull the rig. No thank you. This reminds me of the Lucy and Desi movie, The Long Trailer.

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4. CraigInPA February 12, 2018 at 6:36 am

   After reading how he was “pushed” down the hill, and his hours-long mountain climbs at 5mph, I’m sure he was thinking he bought the wrong vehicle.

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5. Bob in nc February 12, 2018 at 8:30 am

   It’s got a crapper in it. I am sure it had a good plumbing system.

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6. Neil Russell February 12, 2018 at 11:04 am

   When my folks got married in 1957 they lived in a Sparton trailer just like that.
   My dad used to deliver them for the factory with a bobbed off Studebaker truck all over the midwest.
   I wish I could report he had a Jeep to pull it with but he actually had a 1955 Buick

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7. Dave from Mn February 12, 2018 at 4:04 pm

   For Sale :Jeep CJ, never driven over 35 miles per hour, used to move my camper around.

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8. Bob February 14, 2018 at 6:31 am

   Damn, that guy must’ve had cajonies of steel to drive that rig 8,000 miles! The movie is “The Long, Long Trailer” and is a comedy classic!

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